The last week has been one filled with spirits. While that’s generally to be expected at this time of year, as our minds naturally fall toward thoughts of death and the beyond, so many of these spirits that filled my days were the beloved dead of others. Here, a collection of photos documenting this week.

It’s hard to believe this blog has been existence for seven years now! Throughout this time, my life has gone through rather extreme changes, however, this blog has stayed fairly well focused during it all.  These past seven years has seen my family grow by three more children, we’ve been homeless, bought a house, sold everything and moved to wilderness to live off grid, reluctantly returned to civilization and now travel about the West biding our time till we return to the wilderness.

Thanks to my beautiful backers on patreon, my first book is now available for purchase!

​For as much as warding is a fundamental part of witchcraft, it really isn't given much discussion. Even the ambiguously worded and highly generic topic of protection magick is rarely discussed in enough detail to be of actual effective use. With an emphasis on warding your home, this books aims to correct that and to provide you with practical information you can immediately put to use.

​The book begins by taking an in-depth look at what warding is, identifying the three things that are generally warded against, how those things effect you and why you would want to ward against them, as well as taking a look at what you cannot ward against.
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​The second half of the book focuses on putting that theory into practice, diving head first into practical means of warding your home, with a detailed look at construction, charging your wards, and where to place your wards within your home.

​Throughout this book, you'll find the no-bullshit and no-excuses approach to witchcraft that dominates both my writing and my own practice as a witch. This book emphasizes results, a willingness to do the work, and stresses the need for common sense.

You can purchase a copy here. It's available in a wide variety of formats and so is compatible with virtually all ereader apps and devices.

Originally intended for a Dark Moon release date, an error in communication with my distributor has caused the book to be released today. Ah, so much for that deliberate magickal timing.

Throwing the bones is an ancient form of divination that can be found in numerous cultures throughout the world. There are many different approaches, techniques, and even pieces used in bone divination. It is not a divination method that belongs to any one particular culture nor religion.

The ability to achieve an altered state of consciousness is a fundamental skill in witchcraft. It facilitates the use of psychic abilities as well as the application of magick. It is also a critical component of awareness and paying attention -the most important skill one can develop as a witch. However, the term altered states is frequently discussed in a manner that makes it seem as if achieving an altered state of consciousness is difficult to accomplish or that it requires the use of hallucinogenic or toxic plant material. In reality, however, this simply isn’t the case.

We stepped lightly, feet sinking into the soft sand that lay beside the creek. The air was heavy with the recent storm, the desert air saturated with wetness, and the undeniable feeling of Other. The babyman demanded we walk, pointing to the creek and providing the sweetest little grunts as encouragement. This he did, again, now, pointing at the birds that lay just ahead on the trail.
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The oldest two girls followed closely, listening, feeling. This was to be an awareness walk, an exercise in extending the witch sight, in developing awareness of one’s surroundings and of the Unseen. Lessons in functionality begin early in our family, with emphasis placed not on the idea of having skills but in the development and use of those skills. This was a perfect opportunity to stretch awareness and cultivate that skill.

Committing oneself to adventure and living life on one’s own terms almost requires that the unexpected is to be expected. The plans that one has for themselves are frequently found to be tossed into the wind, with Fate taking, rearranging, and replacing the pieces at will. It necessitates a need for internal calm and adaptability, for stubbornly trying to adhere to that which can no longer work will only make one miserably frustrated. That sort of stress, while to be expected on some occasion, will cripple an adventure and leave one questioning all the choices they’ve made, stretching back through the years to before the adventure ever began. That, for what I hope are obvious reasons, accomplishes nothing but to further one’s misery and prevent one from rising up, pushing through the current challenge, and continuing forward with a life heralded by freedom.

I’ve been negligent here.

Life is very full right now, poised on the brink of adventure. The last few months, the children and I have been paused, waiting, biding our time. But now… everything is falling into place and the remaining details are being worked out.

The road calls, the wilderness beckons.
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The baby is nearly 9 months old now. The resulting hormonal changes have left me spread thin. I am here, and there, and also over there. Watching, feeling, seeing… A foot in both worlds; some days are easier than others. Easier to be functional, easier to handle the high energy of the children, easier to handle the emotional rollercoaster of doing the deep work, easier to handle the heavy weight of waiting.

I’m sick of waiting.

There’s so much to do and so little time to do it, yet there’s always enough time to toss out a misquote that borders on cliché.

Scattered thin and pulled in so many directions. The promise of reclusion, of solitude, of quiet, of no other people around for miles …it’s enticing, intoxicating, my mental-caffeine (as it were) right now. It is this goal and coming future that are keeping me going right now, keeping me breathing and pushing away the garbage that only serves as a distraction.

Why are there always so many distractions?

Pulled so far, so thin… signs and omens are compounding, spirit whisperings are growing louder, binds that are being unraveled and cut are fighting back, winding tighter. But the force they once held is gone, burned by the brilliance of a future that rests strongly upon nothing more than daring, nothing more than the strength to say no.

Don’t be afraid to say no. Don’t be afraid to do the irrational and adventurous things that your soul demands you do. Don’t allow other people’s fear and refusal to act keep you in place, keep you afraid, keep you waiting.

The Spring holds promise. That’s only metaphorical if you choose to allow it to be so. I choose for that promise to be adventure. What do you choose for that promise to be?

The Dark Moon holds an interesting place within witchcraft. Far more poetic and filled with mystery, just the name alone conjures thoughts of the unknown and makes it seem more plausible that truly nefarious acts are being done beneath its shadow than at any other point in the Lunar cycle. After all, just the name Dark Moon means that this night belongs to those of a more misunderstood bent, those who more comfortably dwell in night, alone, with naught but starlight and candle flame to light their way, right?
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Not so much. While it may seem tempting to buy into ideas that dark and light have some sort of actual meaning within witchcraft, they don’t. Especially when you look at witchcraft from a historical and/or modern Pagan approach. Dark and light with any sort of implied connotation of good and evil is childish at best, and purposely ignorant at worst. The Dark Moon is just one of eight points within the Lunar cycle and there is nothing intrinsically good, bad, or adhering to a misunderstood teenage witchcraft aesthetic about it or any other Lunar phase.

But, Dark Moon magick is a different sort of beast than that of Full Moon magick. The energy of the Dark Moon has a different effect upon us, pulling us deep within ourselves. And what lays inside can be scary.