Ex Penna

After much deliberation, I've decided to close Quill's Occult Supply on Etsy.

This wasn't a flippant decision, nor one based on monetary reasons. On the contrary, the shop was doing quite well and I was finding it difficult to get orders out in a reasonable amount of time. After over 1,000 sales and over 530 followers, I was enjoying interacting with customers but not feeling able to do justice to their trust with my shipping issues. My other projects--including manuscripts still in the pipeline for publication--were suffering while I tried to keep all these separate plans orderly. As you can imagine, it didn't work very well.

So let's talk about where we're at now...

What's Happening to the Shop?

Quill's Occult Supply is no longer with Etsy. I'm relieved about this for the above reasons but also because they've been cracking down on their new rules about metaphysical products in a firm but totally random fashion, and it was starting to eat away at my listings. I had a rather devious trick planned to ensure that customers still got to hear all the details about what my products can accomplish and how to use them (Etsy's main grumble was the descriptions; absolutely no insinuation that magic actually works is allowed), but it was looking like a long-shot that they still might pick up on. If that was the case, I could end up banned from the site and lose everything without warning.

So, instead, we're hitting the road! From my love of working Comic-Cons with the indie comic book group with whom I collaborate, an exciting plan has sprung to offer the same wares of the former Etsy shop to customers in person at live events aimed at the Pagan and magical community! All your favorites will be there, plus live tarot readings and magical advice for getting the very best from your situation.

 What About This Blog?

To keep with the new goal of streamlining my public practice I've chosen to switch things up around here, as well. Monday Quick Links, Wednesday Witch Tips, as well as the long Friday articles you're used to will be replaced with shorter, quick-read pieces once a week plus event schedules, photos, and observations from traveling in the magical world. Hopefully this will be as exciting an adventure second-hand as I'm sure it will be for me!

In the meantime, I'm going to bring back some of the older posts you may have missed, dust them off, and pop them on the front page for you to enjoy. So look for this old/new content every Friday. It's sure to be a grab bag of unique snapshots from my earlier days!

What's Replacing Them?

The biggest excitement of all of this is that moving my schedule around this way will give me the time I need to really focus on my manuscripts! Though I indeed have a possibility of professional publication, it is a very long process that has not yet garnered much. So I will be putting all my efforts into another edit, plus illustrations and cover art for all four of them and then to a local bookbinder to create for you a homebrewed edition of my work. I believe very deeply that these manuscripts are able to provide some of the renewed vigor and beauty that the magical community is sorely needing. I write for the intermediate to advanced practitioner with a solid education and a willingness to experiment. I bet this sounds familiar to many readers!

Naturally, I'm hard at work making these books beautiful enough for all of you to enjoy at every event I attend. I don't know how long this will take, of course, so bear with me as I dig through the mountains of unused material from earlier drafts, work up countless hand-drawn illustrations, and play around with just the right wording to get these new books out to the world in the best possible version of themselves. It's just another trip we'll take together.

Something else exciting that you'll see with me at events will be a custom quarterly magazine. If you find yourself missing the articles of Ex Penna or are just in the market for more bite-sized magic than a whole book, I know you'll love what this new exclusive mag will provide! It's as yet untitled but the focus is clear: modern, upbeat, snappy articles with ideas and spells throughout for a fresh take on the magical life. You're going to want to grab a copy of this a.s.a.p.!

Also note that one of my newer projects will be stepping into the spotlight now--The +1 Pencil--a side-business my husband and I have of drawing custom RPG character portraits and painting minis. We are both gamers and also have lots of friends in the geek community (and I mean that with both respect and also a noogie) and the demand for quality representations of player characters is pretty damn high. Minis are fun to shop for and dream about painting, but actually doing it--and doing it well--requires more than patience; it's a skill requiring a steady hand, careful attention to detail, knowledge of color theory, and practical experience with portraiture. In short, it's really hard and worth the money for someone else to do it for you.  lol

My work in comics is also a part of my life to which I would like to dedicate more of my time. Deerborne, who you'll remember from her first issue available at the shop (and the piece that I both write and illustrate), has a lot more story to play out, as do the MixmeN, the neo-futuristic fantasy taking place on a defunct prison planet (in which I am the illustrator). There's so much to explore in these stories that I really want to get more time to dig around in their respective universes! Happily, with this shift, I can.



As you can see, now matter what comes and what goes, I will still be available for the same purposes, just in a different space. You can write me anytime through this blog, Facebook, Twitter, or by email and I will faithfully respond. In time, I'll have a printed catalog available for old-school mail order and possibly a stand-alone website from which you can find Quill's Occult Supply alive and well online. In the meantime, however, I can't wait to come straight to you, in person, with armloads of spells to enliven and enrich your life!

Thanks for traveling with me, from the first beginning and onward into this second one.

 

Van Van is a formula, most often found as an oil, that is lucky in all respects while also removing all barriers to that success. It's the standard item in any good Hoodoo cupboard.

Oddly enough, though there are many successful recipes floating around, the only ingredient they have in common is Lemongrass. It would also seem that there are sellers whose Van Van oil is nothing but Lemongrass.

You can certainly create a starter version of this all-purpose formula with just Lemongrass in a carrier oil, but if you have access to the other Asian grasses found in the complete recipe, I recommend adding a generous dose of each:

Sometimes all you really need is some uninterrupted focus on a topic, and everything will turn out in your favor. This what you are doing when you create an arranged space.

Here we're talking about making room on a shelf, on your everyday altar, or on a special zone set up just for this purpose. Put all things related to the topic on that table as well as a hefty dose of items which are lucky for it and which work in favor of your goals. I like mixing in a few colored papers with positive messages on them and some auspicious tarot cards.

Move everything around until it looks and feels done. I know that I've seen such instructions in books and I've shuddered, but I can say that you will indeed know when it's done. Leave this layout untouched for a week. Take stock at that time. How are things progressing? Need more influence? A bigger push? Add some compelling herbs. Want to smooth things over and let them settle a bit? Change the color scheme to reflect a calmer atmosphere for the work.

Don't actually do a spell.  Let the casting be in the movement and setting of the space. Put all your energy into that and not into words or thoughts. Just allow the space itself to do the work.

You may be surprised at what happens.

Witchcraft Perfume Recipes


What an exciting secret it is to carry a magical item on you and have others under its influence without them even realizing it.  It is, perhaps, the most consistently enjoyable part of being a witch!

Now imagine that doing just that was as simple as putting on a few drops of your signature scent each morning.  It can be just that easy, and this weeks link offers a few good places to start!  Whether you're seeking to add another dimension to your spellwork or to have every day guarded and enhanced by magic, perfume is an option that anyone can enjoy!

So I meet a witch and we begin to engage in that most sacred of magical rituals, the Intellect Dance. Who knows more? Who's read more books? What spells have you cast? What was your most impressive success?

We weave around each other offering tiny boasts, sprinkling the exchange with quizzes and minor tricks.

And in the midst of this--especially when it's painfully obvious that there's no need for it--I offer up too much information.  I say something that gives away what took me years to discover. Or maybe I reveal my ignorance of a popular practice. Or brag that my collection contains illegal items and then spend the rest of our conversation wondering if I can trust you to keep that to yourself.


Then there are the times I've found a conversant who thrills at the topic of magic but has very little knowledge of it. I should take it slow, lay out something soft and easy to digest, but instead, my excitement overrides my judgement and suddenly I'm chatting about my history with coercive love spells. Or I launch into a passionate rant about the value of demonic evocations. Or gossip about the trouble I've had with covenmates in the past.

Yep, I've said too much again.

As you know, I'm a firm believer that all practitioners, as to their desire, should be honest with themselves and others. We have the right to openly discuss our knowledge, abilities, and practices on the same level as any other person, and to use our magic in whatever way we choose. That being said, there is a definite point when things can go too far and that which should have been better guarded is allowed to land in front of those utterly unprepared to receive it. The one hurt by a reveal like this could be either party, or both.

So the question becomes, is there is a limit and, if so, can it be perfectly predicted?  Is there a way to prevent spilling secrets to those with whom we don't share a magical intimacy?

To this end I've devised a simple method--SCRIBE

 

 

SETTING

Does this information fit this time and place? Should I save it for a more private occasion? Would it be best shared after I've gotten to know this person better?

CONTEXT

Does this information fit the current conversation? Am I rerouting its direction just to talk about witchcraft?

RESPONSE

Is this a conversation? Will the other person have anything to add to this topic?

INTEREST

If I consider this informative, has this person expressed interest or am I just spouting facts?

BREVITY

Do I have already in mind the best way to express this concept to this person? Am I able to explain it without slowing down the give-and-take of our conversation?

EGO

(As honest as you can) Is this just bragging? What do I hope to gain by sharing this?

Some Life Experience

As often happens to those of us who inhabit a counterculture, I've been faced with circumstances that give me only a moment's pause to consider whether or not to open up to a certain person about my occult life. Sometimes it has proven to be the wisest choice.

An example that I often return to is a story that Silver RavenWolf told in her book "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" wherein she told a job interviewer that she was a witch--before she even got the job. That, to me, is the absolute wrong time, wrong person, wrong place kind of scenario. How many of the SCRIBE items did she forget to check before she came out with this information?  

Keeping Perspective

Magic is a big, emotional topic and it seems that everyone--even non-practitioners--have big, emotional opinions about it. Keep this in mind when you're talking to others, especially if you stray into the more controversial corners.  If you keep facts clearly separate from opinions, maintain a strong take-away message, and hold onto a "quick escape" statement in case you need to wrap things up quickly (especially if the other person is getting upset at your choice of discussion), and all will be well.

Remember that sharing of all kinds is about letting people in on the real you. This means that anyone from your sister to the coworker you've been hanging out with after work can hear about this part of your life and it isn't going to ruin everything. Naturally, too, other witches should hear about your take on magic.  The secretive nature of the occult really does us a disservice when we try to hide from fellow practitioners.



So go on--share! But do it like all your magic: with care, skill, and no more than is required.






Images from:

empowher.com/adult-living/content/do-i-talk-too-much
pontosdeumbanda.com.br/category/omulu
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki
relate.org.uk/relationship-help/help-relationships/making-your-relationship-stronger/talking-friends-about-relationship-problems

Flakiness exists in every subculture. There's always going to be that set of people who just seem to float from place to place, ideology to aesthetic, without any real ties to any of it. Such is the way for the ones who inhabit the magical community.

Just what are we talking about when we say "flakes" or "phonies" or "fake witches"? Usually, when that kind of language is thrown around--and generally, with as much venom as possible-- the individual in question displays one or more of the following qualities:

• False knowledge or no knowledge
• Pretentious behavior
• Unwillingness to commit to a coven's expectations
• Free-will taken to a selfish degree
• Carefree turning to carelessness

It scares us that we are surrounded by--and possibly are just such a one ourselves--people of no substance.

That happens, folks.

We need to come to terms with that. What means anything now is what we do with that knowledge. Stop acting like flakes are going to be anything but. It's okay. That's what they do; they're going to let you down, they'll tell you flimsy lies, they'll give you the runaround about the smallest, dumbest things. But that's what you should expect of any flake, not just the magical ones.

Because the magical community loves its autonomy and self-directed paths, we're dealing with a fair amount of them. Because we deal with outcomes that don't have a direct physical correlation to the work we put in, they can say a lot before we realize that they know nothing. But that doesn't mean that we should spend all our energy decrying them.

I've had coven-mates who were flakes. One was a glorious example of what not to be, and the rest of the coven was bolstered by it. We were stronger before this person was booted out. Sometimes, an in-group is given its strength by the existence of an out-group.

I've met with new people who did their level best to snow me into being impressed by them, even to the point of later telling everyone that I had begged them to teach me, which was ridiculously false.

But that's not the thrust of what I do, not then and not today. I am a stronger witch based on the storms that I've weathered, the troubles I've endured, the problems I've solved, and--yes--the flakes I've suffered and from which I've drawn wisdom.

So feel free to kick them out, to turn away every flake and every false witch if you feel so compelled. But stop acting like there won't be two more on the way. Instead, get smart, get tough, be firm, turn away from what is wrong for you and for your coven. But then let it die. Don't worry over it. Don't barrage others with expectations of eradicating them totally.

It just can't happen.

Dream Bible: the Online Guide to Dream Interpretation


Keeping a diary of your dreams can be a good way to keep track of the hidden things, the broken things, and the undigested knowledge we gain every day.  Some dreams are straight-forward replays of the waking world but others require some delving to understand their true meaning.

To aid you, I offer today's link: an expansive listing of dream interpretations for you to check against the wonderland of your dream world.