A Gift from Pagan Author Vila Spiderhawk

Last week I received a package in the mail that contained two books from the pagan author Vila Spider Hawk. Vila and I have chatted online about possibly putting one of her books with one of my handcrafted items to sell as a set.
She sent me these books so I would be able to put something together that fit the books appropriately.
She sent me two books one is called:
Forest Song, Finding a Home
The other is:
Hidden Passages, Tales to Honor the Crones

Both books are enchanting to look at, the covers are done beautifully.
I decided to start with Forest Song and I started reading it Saturday evening.
I am halfway through this book and I can't put it down. Every chance I get I am picking it up to get in a couple of pages before the duties of Motherhood call to me.

I can feel this young girls pains and joys as if they are my own. As she walks through the forest, I feel Mother Earth calling to me. The characters in this book are wonderful and I wish they were my own friends!

I would love for my blog followers to look into purchasing this book so that we may all discuss it together. There are so many different aspects to this story, the twists and turns and the joys and sorrows.
I have always wanted to start a Pagan Book Club and this is a wonderful book to start with.
If any of you are interested in joining me on this journey through "Forest Song" leave a comment and let me know.
You can purchase Vila's books at:
www.vanillaheartbooksandauthors.com
as well as through Amazon.com

I can't thank Vila enough for the wonderful gift of her books! Over the last few days I have laughed and cried with Judy and I look forward to reading what the future has in store for her.
Thank you Vila!

Valentines Day and it's Pagan Origins

For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.
Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.

Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.
During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.
Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.

I hope you enjoyed that small history lesson on Valentines Day.
There wil be a short quiz later...:)
I wish you all a Valentine's Day filled with love and romance.
Don't forget to stop by Magickal Enchantments for all your magickal love and romance needs for this Valentines Day.
Brightest Blessings,
The Celtic Witch
)0(

Here are some of the enchanting wares you will find for purchase at Magickal Enchantments to make this Valentines Day one to remember. If you are searching for a new love or trying to romance your present lover Magickal Enchantments has your needs taken care of.

Love and Romance Spell Candle



Love and Romance Handblown Glass Herbal Witchball



Queen Maeve's Delight Sensual Oil



True Dragons Blood Oil



Dragons Blood is an empowering oil that has been used in spellwork for many years.
As well as empowering your spellwork, wear it daily for personal empowerment.
My Dragons Blood is made from true Dragons Blood Resin. Do not be fooled by synthetic variations of this oil.
This recipe has been handed down to me from a fellow practitioner of the craft. This recipe has been kept in her family for many years and I am thankful to her for sharing it with me.
Bottles and charms may vary upon availability.


Use for love, protection, exorcism, sexual potency, courage, Magical Power, Energy, Strength, Purification, Changes, Determination, Cleansing.
A drop of Dragon's blood added to other incenses increases their potency and power.

You will find many more items for Valentines Day at Magickal Enchantments!
Please go to: www.TheCelticWitch.com

Gypsies and their Enchanting Ways of Life...

I have a great love and fascination with the Gypsies, I always have.
For this reason I have decided to include some blogs about their beliefs, ways of life and some of their magickal practices.
Some of the following information was taken from my book:
Gypsy Witchcraft and Magick by Raymond Buckland.
If you have an interest in the Gypsies then I highly recommend this book. Buckland is one of my favorite authors of books on the old ways. He is a reliable source of information and I enjoy his honesty about the old ways.

Omens, taboos, and prophecies, it's all part of everyday life for the Gypsies. The traditional Gypsy uses herbal lore, basic magic, and divination for practical matters. In other words, magick was a part of their everyday lives.
The Gypsies earned a reputation as thieves, a reputation that still follows them till this day. It is an undeserved label and one that came from the belief that they held that everything that exists does so for the pleasure and delight of human kind. They believe the trees and flowers, the birds and beasts are all here for our enjoyment. Consequently, when a Gypsy passes along a road and saw an apple tree bearing fruit, he would think nothing of stopping and helping himself. Similarly, to trap a rabbit or a pheasant for food was to enjoy that which the Gods provided. How, the Gypsy reasoned, could a man, farmer, or landowner object to this, for surely no man can own that which is given freely by the Gods?
So the travelers helped themselves to what others saw as their property. It was no wonder that, in their innocence, the Gypsies earned a reputation as thieves.
That innocence did not last long. Later, and in the present day, thievery is a result of fighting to exist, rather then being due to any earlier philosophies.
So began the persecutions from which the Gypsy people have still not freed themselves. Throughout Europe they had become a major social problem, especially since it was virtually impossible to force them into a sedentary way of life.
King Ferdinand of Spain, in 1492, banished them from his country. Any who would not leave, he said, should be exterminated!
Can you imagine how that felt? To actually be banished from a country or be put to death?
Despite being looked upon as "dirty" people, Gypsies are very clean and very much aware of the necessity for cleanliness. Gypsies also strive to be spiritually clean. They believe in such things as the evil eye, curses, black magick, and the like, and have many ways to cleanse and exorcise.
Gypsies do not curse people for the fun of it, as late-night movies and bad novels might have you believe! However, they will certainly not hesitate to turn a guajo's (a non-gypsy) negativity back on him or her. In this they differ from the Wiccans in that they will not sit back and wait for the gods to direct retribution- they will take matters into their own hands and act immediately. If they feel that evil has been directed at them, and they don't know from whom, they have ways of cleansing themselves of it. The Gypsy witch, also known as the shuvani, is especially adept at this.
The Romany believe in the "evil eye". They believe it is possible for someone to put a curse on someone else merely be looking at this person. This may or may not be done deliberately, for there are those who possess the evil eye without even realizing it.
A remedy for the evil eye, found among many Continental Gypsies, is to take a kettle to a stream and fill it with water, taken with the current, not against it.
Seven pieces of coal are placed in the vessel, along with seven handfuls of meal, and seven cloves of garlic.
The kettle is put over a fire and the water brought to a boil. Then it is stirred with a three-forked stick and the following is said:

"Evil eyes that look on thee,
May they here extinguished be!
And then seven ravens
Pluck out the evil eyes.
Evil eyes now look on thee,
May they soon extinguished be!
Much dust in the eyes,
So may they become blind.
Evil eyes now look on thee,
May they soon extinguished be!
May they burn, may they burn,
In the fire of all good!

I plan on posting more blogs on the Gypsy way of life as well as spells, charms, and divination's.
Thank you for stopping by Magickal Enchantments blog.
Don't forget to join my blog and leave a comment to be entered into the next giveaway which will be starting soon!
If anyone has a particular item from my store that they would like to see offered as the next giveaway prize I would love to hear about it!
The item that I hear about most I will offer.