WRITER'S DREAM: My Classical Mythology Oracle Deck!

 

"The deck is designed to offer guidance as you venture out upon your own personal Odyssey, which is the journey of your life."

My latest card decks were released on the 1st of October and I am thrilled to say that The Classical Mythology Oracle Deck is one of them! I had such a lovely time creating this Oracle kit last year.  I have always loved mythology and folklore, so after the success of my Celtic Magic Oracle Deck, it made sense to continue with other aspects of world mythology.  We began with The Egyptian Book of the Dead Oracle, which was published in spring this year, and now my Classical Mythology Oracle, based on the legends of Greece and Rome, is out and it is gorgeous! 

Just look at that beautiful cover, featuring an angelic depiction of the goddess Nike! I love it. It is everything that I envisioned as I was writing the project last year. Working on these oracles kits is always such a pleasure. It is a privilege to know that people will be using my oracles to gain insight and guidance in their lives, so it comes with a weight of responsibility too.  I want my decks to be valued tools of magic and reassurance for my readers, so I try to avoid any scary interpretations or symbolism. This wasn't easy with the Egyptian deck as you can probably imagine, because the Egyptians were basically a death cult! But I think I managed it. That deck is certainly the spookiest I've created and written so far though.

The Classical Mythology Oracle on the other hand is light and bright, featuring some of the fine art and Pre-Raphaelite style prints, that I love, as part of the deck imagery. This is something of a dream come true and to have my work partially illustrated by the works of John William Waterhouse and similar artists, is something I have dreamt of for years. When I first suggested the idea to my editor, she was non-committal, saying that it would make the deck very expensive, due to paying licensing fees, if we were to use all fine art images, but I'm delighted that we got to incorporate a few of them in the deck, with other cards being the silhouette art that I like too. Now some of my favourite Waterhouse witches, such as Circe and Medea are in my Mythology deck and I couldn't be happier. I've had Waterhouse prints hung on my bedroom walls for decades so I'm thrilled to have such beautiful and well-known examples of his art incorporated into my own work. It feels like such an honour. 

I took a fairly scholastic approach to creating this deck, because I wanted it to reflect the Homeric and Ovidian texts that are so closely associated with Greek and Roman mythology. To that end I did a lot of reading and research, looking for ways to lend the deck the same mysticism as these ancient texts. I chose to incorporate several quotations from the Homeric texts, specifically The Iliad and The Odyssey.  These epigraphs help to make the past feel that much closer, bringing an ancient echo into the deck, almost as a guiding spirit. 

Another reason I love this deck so much is because it is the very first project I have worked on where I have not included any magical spells or rituals. I felt that it was far more important to give an overview of the folklore itself, rather than assuming that all readers who pick up the deck already have a sound knowledge of classical mythology. To that end, this is the project where I got to indulge my love of storytelling, and I was able to recount the myths and legends in my own words. Writing prose is something I love to do and it was great fun exploring legends such as Eros and Psyche, Hero and Leander, Boreas and Orithyia, Apollo and Daphne, Persephone and Hades, Perseus and the Gorgons, Artemis and Actaeon and so on, re-telling them in my own authorial voice.  In addition I have touched on the legends of Medusa, King Midas, Pygmalion, Pandora and the Minotaur.  It was tremendous fun to write and to lose myself in the rich world of ancient mythology. I had a great time creating this Oracle and I'm delighted that it is finally published and people can enjoy it, just in time for their Samhain divinations. 

My only gripe with the deck is that there is a typo on the interpretation of the last card. The first paragraph has been printed twice! This is an error that happened in typesetting, and when the proofs were ready for correction, I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from a riding accident, so I couldn't go through them myself. It just goes to show though, that a copy editor will never care as much about a project as the author does! My apologies for the error, but there's not much I do about it now. Hopefully it will be corrected for future editions. Other than that, it is a gorgeously evocative and mystical oracle deck and I hope that you all enjoy performing readings with it, as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

The second deck I had published on the 1st of October is The Practical Witchcraft Book and Card Deck. This a collection of spell cards, featuring all new spells and it is perfect for neophyte witches and those who are new to the Craft. As part of this kit, I also created a handy poster of correspondences that you can hang on the wall in your ritual space, so if you need to make a quick adjustment to a spell's ingredients, you can use the correspondence tables to help you. The poster also features moon phases, crystals, colours and magical days of the week too, so it's a great beginner's kit to get started with. 

Finally, I hope you like the new look to my blog. It's been the same for a few years now so it was time for a refresh. I wanted to create a more ethereal, whimsical place that you can escape to and enjoy spending time in, and I think that the stunningly beautiful new background does just that! It certainly makes my heart soar when I see it, from the pastel pink and mauve colourway, to the Gothic arch surrounded by my favourite pretty pink roses, the burning candle and the gentle, pure white dove coming in to land - it's just so me! It's perfect and I love it. 

I also added the image of Pegasus at the top of the side bar too, as a nod to the triumph of my Classical Mythology Oracle, but also because I've been dreaming of winged horses and unicorns a lot since my riding accident. I feel like they are watching over me. They're definitely my spirit animals, so I wanted to give them a space on my blog. Winged horses are meant to be lucky too, so its nice to have Pegasus looking over my posts and watching over us all, as we spend time in the magical, ethereal space on the internet that is ShimmerCast Dreams.

I hope that you enjoy spending time in the pink, feminine, whimsical world I have created, and that you take comfort and joy in my books and oracles. 

Bright Blessings

Marie x

AD: This post features my own products and books. 

        The Practical Witchcraft Book, Poster and Spell-Card Deck

      The Classical Mythology Oracle Book and Card Deck

       The Egyptian Book of the Dead Oracle Book and Card Deck

BOOK NOOK: The Book Of Witching by C J Cooke

"But the book is on the ground, rough to the touch. The cover is made from a tree, and inside the pages are black. The pages are peices of night, for the book is from the dawn of time, before humankind, before love, and death." 

In the past few years, ever since I reviewed The Lighthouse Witches, C J Cooke has fast become my favourite Gothic author and I have been lucky enough to review a few of her more recent novels on this blog. Her work is very atmospheric and often set in Scotland, which is what drew me to her novels in the first instance, so I was delighted when her publisher, Harper Collins, sent me an ARC of her latest novel.  I fell on it immediately, putting everything else on hold until I had read the book. 

The Book of Witching is a story of the witch trials that swept through Scotland during the 1500's.  Set on the Orkney Isles, it follows the fate of Alison, a woman who is a skilled healer and herbalist who is inadvertently drawn into the political intrigues of the islands at that time. King James VI is on the throne of Scotland and he has recently made his feelings on witchcraft quite clear, having presided over the Berwick witch trials a couple of years earlier.  So this is not a great time for a wise woman to come to the attention of powerful men with a political agenda!  Even worse, Alison comes from a family known to be skilled at spellcraft, a family who hold a very special book of magic in their possession. 

Fast forward a few hundred years to the present day and Alison's fate becomes entangled with that of a young girl, Erin, who is found very badly burnt on one of the islands after a trip to Orkney with her boyfriend and best friend. When Erin comes out of a coma, she claims that her name is Nyx and that she doesn't know who Erin is. As the novel slips back and forth between these two timelines, we begin to unravel just how Erin is connected to a woman accused of witchcraft four hundred years ago. 

This is such a thrilling read! The chapters alternate between one timeline and the other so that you're never quite sure how it all fits together, but you know that it does. It skips along at a fast pace and the structural use of the turning points is designed to keep you invested in the story.  As with all of C J Cooke's novels, the Gothic atmosphere is dark and ominous, the threat building throughout the story. Her way of creating tension in the reader is second to none. In many ways, C J Cooke's style of writing reminds me very much of contemporary Gothic masters such as Victoria Holt and Virginia Andrews - her stories have that same undercurrent of mystery, secrets and tension, akin to the Flowers in the Attic series, but with witchcraft attached!

The Book of Witching held me in its grip from the opening paragraphs, which is something that I look for in novels - I like a book that starts on the very first page and this one certainly does, dropping the reader into the midst of the action and catastrophe right from the start.  It's the kind of story where you find yourself holding your breath as you read, because it does tackle some very dark topics such as torture, serious injury, incarceration, mock executions, and the powerlessness of women who were accused of something they didn't do, but who knew that the odds were stacked against them from the very first whisper of 'witch!' It brought tears to my eyes at times and I really felt for both the injured characters and their dual plight. 

This Orcadian novel has all the eerie vibes of a witchy thriller, with secret cults, a coven of witches, an enchanted and indomitable book of magic and powerful men providing lots of menace. I wouldn't describe it as a cosy read for autumn, because it evokes such a powerful and indignant response in the reader for the crimes that have been committed against women for centuries. Having read lots of books about the witch trials over the years, I thought that I had become somewhat desensitized to the topic, but this novel really drove it home to me once again how lucky I am to be able to practice my Craft in safety, without fear of being tortured and burnt for it.  There is the sense that Alison's fate could so easily have been mine, or yours, or our mother's and grandmother's. It is only the passing of time that keeps us safe. 

While it might not be an especially comforting novel, The Book of Witching is a wonderful and disturbing witchy thriller that will keep your heart in your mouth from cover to cover, so if you are in the mood to be scared to death by the plight of witches past this October, this is the book for you. It's certainly a great novel to curl up with on Samhain night, when the pumpkins are gleaming and it's dark and cold outside.  Light a candle in remembrance of the lost souls of  historical women who were burnt as witches, and enjoy the safety of modern practice this All Hallows Eve.  Blessed Be.

Marie x

AD: This novel was sent to me by the publisher, Harper Collins, for the purposes of review. It will be released on October 10th 2024 and is available in hardback, digital and audio formats.

The Nesting Review 

The Lighthouse Witches Review

The Ghost Woods Review

 

BOOK NOOK: The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw

 

"I can hear scratching outside, and it follows me into my dreams. As though someone is tapping at the frostlaced window, bearing a warning to heed. 

Or trying to get in.

I toss and turn, wishing I'd sprinkled salt and dried lavender around the caravan. It's all too easy for a vengeful spirit, for something other and twisted, to slither in if a proper warding isn't in place. And in the space between dreams and waking on this cold, dark night, it seems real.

Frost steals over everything in my dreams like a spell."

Harper Collins very kindly sent an ARC of this book to me back at the beginning of September, when the first breath of autumn filled the air. I read it immediately, as I am always more drawn to witchy novels during the darker half of the year. It held me gripped for two days and I couldn't put it down.

The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells is a wonderful tale of magic, curses and romance.  The story takes place in the cosy, mountain town of Woodsmoke, where everybody knows everybody else, and nothing remains a secret for very long. In the midst of this town live the Morgan women - a family of natural witches, who pass their special book of magic down from one generation to the next. However, the book is more than a grimoire or book of shadows. It is a history of romance, of all the loves and losses of the Morgan women down through the ages, told in the style of a collection of fables, in the hope that future generations of women can learn from the losses of their ancestors. 

Into this environment sweeps Carrie, the youngest of the Morgan women and the only one who tried to break free and leave the town for good. But when her grandmother, Ivy, dies and leaves her everything, Carrie has to return to sort out the cottage and the shop that Ivy left behind, and to make her peace with her great aunt, Cora, the witch who currently holds the family book of spells.

The Morgan women aren't just run of the mill witches. They are mountain witches and the mountains and hills of Woodsmoke are sentient, the mountain trails populated by the spirits of winter, who prowl in the frost. It is the legacy of the Morgan women to keep the townsfolk safe from the threat of being taken by the mountains.  So when Carrie returns, tongues start wagging. 

This is a fantastic book full of winter's charm and the practice of witchery. It has all the cosy vibes of Stars Hallow, with the enchantment of Practical Magic and the insidious threat of The Village. The author even mentions the film, Practical Magic, in the novel, giving a nod to her inspiration and the obvious parallels between the two stories.  This book is just as magical, just as cosy and it's just as hard to put down. 

In The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells you will find a mysterious love interest, family feuds, cosy cottages, witchcraft, skate dates, blood magic and blood ties and the ominous mountains brooding over the frosty town.  It reminded me of the time I spent in Glencoe, where the mountains do seem to be sentient beings that will either protect you or kill you!  As Carrie attempts to find her place in the world and make up for past wrongs, I couldn't help but be drawn into her story, although Cora is my favourite character as she is so feisty! I sincerely hope that this novel kicks off a series and that there will be more tales of the Morgan women, because I enjoyed this one so much. 

If you like the Practical Magic series by Alice Hoffman, then you will love this book too. Just don't forget to ward the thresholds before you read. You never know what's out there, ready to come tap, tap, tapping at your window!  The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells is the perfect October read. Enjoy! 

Brights Blessings

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me by the publisher Harper Collins for the purposes of review. It will be released on October 10th in hardcover, digital and audio formats and is up for Pre-Order now. 

BOOK NOOK; All the Devils by Catelyn Wilson

 

"To my little star. Follow the path of Anubis. I know you can do it."

All the Devils is a fine work of dark academia and it has held me gripped for the past couple of days.  It is certainly one of the best ARCs I have read this year and I am grateful to Penguin Random House for sending it to me.  It is a dark, atmospheric tale of ancient gods, monsters, magic and the fine line between life and death.

The story begins when Andromeda is mourning the death of her sister Violet, yet a chance discovery makes her wonder if Violet is really dead after all, or if the body is fake. She decides to enrol at her sister's old school, Ravenswood, in order to solve the mystery of what exactly happened there and why her sister suddenly disappeared, then turned up dead. 

This is a book that is rooted in mythology and Egyptology. Andy must learn to read old symbols and hieroglyphic messages, as well as unravel a series of clues and signs left behind by her sister. The result is a novel that descends deeper and deeper into darkness, with plenty of action to keep you turning the pages. 

Although it is set in an elite school, much of the story takes place in the shadowy Underworld, as Andy seeks out the gods and ghouls who can help her to discover if her sister is dead or alive.  There is a touch of romance included and a very satisfying dénouement which is full of adventure, strange twists and dark thrills. 

Its a difficult book to review without giving away any spoilers, but if you enjoy reading stories based on ancient mythology then you will probably like this one. It doesn't stick to one single pantheon of gods, but mixes together all the deities connected with the Underworld, so you have Anubis and Hecate in the same story. This can be a little jarring to those of us who are familiar with the different pantheons, but it doesn't spoil the storyline and it all makes sense in the end.  This novel ends in such as way that it sets up the premise for a sequel too, so it certainly looks like there is more to come. 

Although I read this novel back in the spring when I was healing from an operation to mend my two shattered wrists, following a serious riding accident, I wasn't allowed to share it until closer to its release date. I must say though, that All the Devils is the perfect read for foggy autumn days, so grab a cup of cocoa and snuggle under a blanket as you descend into the Underworld with Andromeda and her gods and monsters.

Happy Reading!

BB Marie x

AD: This book is published by Penguin Random House and will be released on 19th September 2024 in hardcover, digital and audio formats. It is available for pre-order now. The cover is subject to change. 

BOOK NOOK: Broken Ghosts by J D Oswald

"She put her hand out, touched the old bark of the trunk for support until everything settled again. And that was when she heard the voice. It was quiet, female and young. Coming from the other side of the tree. Phoebe couldn't quite make out the words, or was it just that it was humming rather than singing? A slow, almost mournful tune she didn't recognise, she found herself drawn to it all the same."  

As we edge into autumn, publishers begin to drop their spooky new releases. It can be a very busy and exciting time for book reviewers and I always enjoy reading new drops and sending my reviews and feedback to the editors. So as it has been raining all weekend I have been curled up on the chaise-longue, listening to the raindrops pattering on the windowpane, completely absorbed in a new novel, an ARC which was very kindly sent to me by the publisher, Headline.  

Broken Ghosts is a wonderful novel about the effects of grief and how people mourn their dead. It isn't exactly spooky, but it is full of ghosts, in one way or another. This isn't one of those eerie ghost stories you might reach for on Halloween night. Nothing goes bump in the night here. It isn't a scary read. Instead, the ghosts in this book are the gentle spirits of the past, the long-time dead but never forgotten, or the recently dead and currently mourned. 

The story begins in 1985, when twelve-year-old Phoebe returns late from a school trip to find her house in flames and both her parents dead. She is quickly taken under the wing of her uncle, her new legal guardian, who spirits her away from her life in Scotland, to live with him and his partner, Maude, in the Welsh valleys. This is a move that Phoebe isn't happy about at all, but she has no choice. In this respect, the novel perfectly illustrates the powerlessness of children, who are often pushed from pillar to post when the worst happens and they find themselves without parents, for whatever reason.  

Uncle Louis and Aunt Maude are a kind, if rather eccentric couple, and Phoebe finds herself swept into their quiet rural world of gardening and bee-keeping. With the closest school miles away and her guardians' approach to home-schooling being sporadic, Phoebe is often left to her own devices, so she begins to explore the local woods. It is there that she meets a girl of her own age, called Gwyneth, - a girl who wears old-fashioned clothes and who appears and disappears without warning. When Phoebe asks her aunt about Gwyneth, she is told that no such person exists in the village. Her aunt gently suggests that perhaps Gwyneth is an imaginary friend, someone Phoebe dreamed up to console herself in her loneliness and grief, but Phoebe knows that Gwyneth is real enough and so she sets about trying to discover who she is.

The thing I liked most about this novel is that it explores all the many ways in which people can be haunted. Haunted by memories, by the past, by grief, by a lost love, by a crime unpunished, by a lost child, a lost future or opportunity, haunted by madness even. There are ghosts all around us all the time, when you think about it, its just that not everyone can see them.  All of these ghosts are explored here.  Two of the main characters earn their living as ghost writers, which is a rather clever play on the theme of ghosts and what they may or may not be. And yes, there is an actual spirit at the heart of the novel, so it is certainly a ghost story, but it's so much more than that too. 

In some ways, the novel reads like a mystery, with Phoebe turning detective and heading to the library archives to see if she can discover more about the valley in which she lives and the people who have lived there in the past. I had never read any of J D Oswalds work before, but after reading this book it came as no surprise that he generally writes detective novels! If this is his first foray into ghostly fiction, then he's done a good job of it and I hope that he will continue to write more ghostly tales in future, perhaps with more spookiness.

Although the book is set in Wales, I found myself thinking about Strathpeffer in Scotland as I read, because there are similarities between the fictional village and the small Highland town, where nothing is forgotten and the dead can be felt in the air. No-one ever fully leaves Strathpeffer, not even me, and a part of the soul always remains behind to walk the town with ghostly steps. This novel had that same atmosphere and yearning quality about it. It's a very moving story. 

Broken Ghosts has a duel narrative, so we get to see both the Phoebe of the past in 1985 and the adult version of her in 2023. Each time-jump leads neatly from the last chapter and smoothly into the next, so this isn't jarring in any way. The duel timeline has been clearly thought out and it is well executed. I very much enjoyed reading this novel, which is a moving tale of endurance, resilience and recovery from grief.  

At its core, Broken Ghosts is about what happens to the ghost of the whole-heart, after that heart has been broken. How does it survive the loss, the damage, the pain? How does it recover? And how many ghostly encounters does it take to heal a heart?

Broken Ghosts is released on Thursday and is up for Pre-Order now. Happy Haunting!

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Headline, and is released on 12th September 2024 in all formats. 

BOOK NOOK: The Ravenswood Witch by Jenni Keer

"There's a wickedness within this house, on the Greybourne lands, and even in our village. It's like Ravenswood has pulled in all the dark forces for miles around - a terrifying whirlwind sucking everything that is monstrous into its eye." 

As today is the first day of meteorological autumn it seems fitting that I have just finished reading this spooky witchy novel, which has held me in its grip for the past two days. I was sent a ARC of The Ravenswood Witch by the publisher, Boldwood Books and I have enjoyed it immensely. Autumn is the perfect time of year to read witchy books and I am always on the lookout for exciting new titles in this genre. 

I would describe The Ravenswood Witch as being a Gothic mystery, with a subplot of witchery. The witchcraft isn't the main thread of the story, but more of an intriguing backdrop to a murder mystery which is set in the late 1800s. It is quite a slow burn, but this adds to the atmosphere as you come to know the house and its inhabitants over a period of time, just as the main protagonist does. 

In this novel, she is fleeing from a troubled past when she bumps into Marcus Greybourne and suffers a broken ankle from her subsequent fall. In order to escape the policemen who are following her, she agrees to play the part of Marcus's wife Luna, who has mysteriously disappeared. In the arms of her rescuer, the newly named Luna is carried back to his house, Ravenswood, a dilapidated Gothic mansion standing on the edge of a dense forest.  

There they make an agreement not to pry into one another's past, but to focus on building a believable marriage together.  Luna sees this as an opportunity to escape her own troubles and is willingly drawn into the shadowy world of Ravenswood. However, her new husband failed to mention that his missing wife was rumoured to be a witch and now the new Luna has to live with that reputation and all the danger it brings.

The novel has a duel narrative, with well-drawn characters in both storylines. The way these plots merge together was quite a twist and this novel has lots of surprises to keep you guessing. Just when you think you've foreseen what's going on, the plot thickens or turns and turns again. It's certainly a page-turner!  It has echoes of Jane Eyre and Rebecca, with a touch of Victoria Holt's mastery of Gothic storytelling. Personally, I would have preferred it to be a little faster paced, but the slow unfolding of the plot didn't diminish my enjoyment of the novel, and things do speed up at the last few chapters, so it leads to a breath-taking ending. 

The Ravenswood Witch is a suspenseful novel, with plenty of satisfying twists, a very Gothic atmosphere and an adorable raven familiar and psychopomp, named Bran, who I simply loved! It's not the strongest witchy book I've ever read, but it was very enjoyable and it is the perfect eerie mystery novel to kick off the autumnal spooky season. So as the nights begin to draw in and its time to light the candles again, this is a novel that will keep you company during the chilly evenings this autumn. It's worth reading just to meet Bran! 

"Quoth the raven, nevermore."

Bright Blessings

Marie x

AD: This novel was sent to me by the publisher for the purposes of review. It will be released on 30th September 2024 in all formats and is up for Pre-Oder now. 

ONCE UPON A DREAM: Preparing for Autumn Studies

 

As summer wanes to a welcome close I am making preparations for the autumn season.  I start my final term at Oxford University next month and I will be studying until December when my course finishes. Although the academic year usually runs from September to the following July, most universities also offer an alternative program of January to December studying, for those who wish to start a bit later. This is ideal for the shorter courses such as the kind I am undertaking. 

I have recently received my required reading list from my Professors for this coming term and so I have already ordered the textbooks from Blackwells. Sadly, my local branch of Blackwells closed down a couple of years ago, so I now have to order from them online, which isn't quite the same. I used to love wandering around the store, browsing the shelves. It was a great way for new books to find me.  I am looking forward to getting a head start on the core text and reading around the topics that we will be covering this term. I've also bought myself a new Oxford notebook ready for Michaelmas term. I love stationary shopping at the end of summer. It's so nostalgic, giving all the back-to-school vibes as children and adults alike prepare to return to a more scholarly way of life. 

In addition to my Oxford studies, I am also writing new projects for my publisher too, so it is a very busy time. It isn't always easy juggling my publishing work and my Oxford course work and assignments, but I'm managing. The hardest part is when the deadlines clash and I have to get both a book and a major assignment in on the same day! That takes some quite serious planning and time management. Of course, there are days when I wish I could just curl up with a book and read, but for the most part I am enjoying being so busy. It's nice to be working on new books and its interesting to write assignments and essays. I enjoy both types of writing, both commercial and academic. Each has its own challenges and it is nice that I have the chance to develop these two authorial voices, because many writers go one way or the other.  I am lucky enough to write both. 

As I am spending so much more time in my study lately, I have decided that I want to make it more autumnal, so I have been on the hunt for a few pieces to make the space as cosy as possible. I want to bring in more witchy and dark academia vibes and so, to that end, I picked up a few little bits to dot around the room. First, I got a set of autumn leaf string lights that I plan to fix around my bookcases. Then I got an autumnal witch cushion to place in my buttoned leather desk chair, along with a cosy throw that has autumn leaves and pumpkins on it. It will be lovely to snuggle into during the colder days and dark nights when I'm up late writing or studying. 

I love having candles flickering around me as I work, with the shadows dancing on the walls and along the spines of my books creating a cosy, magical atmosphere that I find quite inspiring. I write better in the dark, by candlelight. So I was delighted when I found a tealight holder shaped like a witch's hat! It's so cute and whimsical and it looks lovely when its lit. I keep this on my desk as I write, along with a spooky witch's hand candle holder that holds a small tinned candle from Upturned Cauldron, in their Poison Apple fragrance which is perfect for September.  I love their candles and I have a few of them. Bewitched Pumpkin is my favourite, but I also like Mermaid Tears which I believe is new to their collection this year. I have this burning in my bathroom and it smells amazing! Its like the scent of a rock pool by the sea.  They also do some fun wax melts shaped like vampire teeth too, so they are definitely the place to go for seasonal scents to fill your home with witchy atmosphere. 

The dark season has always been my favourite time of year. I hate summer and I am always glad to see the back of it. I much prefer dark nights, foggy, rainy days and golden leaves, followed by the crisp cold days of winter. To me, there is nothing nicer than being outside on a chilly autumn or winter's day, then coming in from the cold to a cosy library, or a comfy chair pulled up to the fireside, and settling down to read spooky books by candlelight, with a cup of hot chocolate beside you. It's just the best season!  

So I plan to spend this coming weekend, listening to Duran Duran's wonderful Danse Macabre vinyl album and preparing my study for a long dark season of writing and studying, putting out all my new things. I want to have everything in place by the time Michaelmas term starts in a couple of weeks, so that I have a magical, autumnal library to escape into on chilly days, when deadlines are looming and I am deeply absorbed in new projects and assignments.  I love working from home, I have been enjoying my studies at Oxford all year long and so I want to just hibernate in my study and see what magical new books and scholarly essays I can conjure up. Its going to be a very productive dark season and I simply can't wait for it to begin! 

Autumn Blessings!

Marie x

AD: Some of the items mentioned here were sent as gifts for the purposes of review.