BOOK NOOK; The Haunting Season

 

"Fires blazed in every hearth.  Delicious scents of cinnamon and roast meat drifted up from the kitchens, and all the windows were laced with frost.  It seemed impossible to believe that this house, this very chair, had appeared so menacing by night."

The Chillingham Chair by Laura Purcell

As winter draws to a close, I have been making the most of the dark nights before they slip away into springtime, curling up by the fire each evening to read one of these chilling tales. The Haunting Season, Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights is a collection of new and original ghost stories by some of today's most popular authors.   There are eight stories in all, most of them set in the Victorian era.

While each story is unique and unrelated to the others in this collection, there is a cohesiveness throughout the book, for it has been put together with traditional story-telling tropes at its heart.  Some of these contributions reminded me of the works of M R James, that timeless master of the classic ghost story, building in atmosphere and leaving the reader's own imagination to provide the fear. 

Each tale is set during the depths of winter, so there are snow-bound haunted houses and Christmas cheer mixed with spooky vibes.  My favourite stories were Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd, The Chillingham Chair by Laura Purcell and Confinement by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, which all cover themes of classic Victorian Gothic horror. Here you will find tales of incarceration, death and murder, while Thwaite's Tenant by Imogen Hermes Gowar is quite Bronte-esque and reminded me of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. 

It is has been described by some as a cosy book and I do think that there is something very cosy about pulling a comfy chair up to the fire, or snuggling down into bed to read a good ghost story, as the rain, sleet and snow batter the windowpanes.  Dark nights should be enjoyed and a book like The Haunting Season is the perfect companion to share them with. 

It is the kind of book best read by candlelight, with mulled wine or hot chocolate close by. I have enjoyed reading it over the past week and I know I will want to re-read it when Halloween rolls round again later this year and I'm ready for spooky vibes once more.  The final story in this collection is based on selkie folklore, so I feel that it leads me into faerie season quite nicely!  If you like classic Victorian style ghost stories then you will probably enjoy this book, so curl up and hide under the covers with these Ghostly Tales for a cosy night in at winter's end. 

BB Marie x

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Witch Supplies and Storage

 

Like most witches, I have a chest of magic tricks at my disposal - a chest which I fondly refer to as my witch's pantry.  Usually it is full of all the things I need to make my Craft fly and I like to have my supplies in good order.  The other day however, I went to my chest to find that it was almost empty.  

During the pandemic I haven't been visiting New Age shops as I normally would and now I'm kind of out of the habit of going to the local shopping centre too.  I'm sure its a habit I'll get back into at some stage, but because of this reluctance to be in large crowds of shoppers, my magical chest had run dry.

Of course herbs and oils don't last forever.  They have a shelf life, so it is good witchy practice to run things down once in a while and make sure everything is used up. Now though it was time to replenish my magical chest with all fresh ingredients, herbs, oils, smudge sticks and a few crystals for good measure.  I already had plenty of empty spell jars and pouches, so I didn't need anymore of those. It was really just the consumables I had to replenish. So I went shopping online and found some lovely things, just for witches!

First on my shopping list was Blessing Seeds.  I don't like to run out of these completely because they are just so useful.  You can literally use them for virtually any kind of spell and as the name would suggest, they lend the power of a sacred blessing to your magic. I picked up a large bag and refilled the jar I use to keep them in. 

Then I went looking for herbs.  I don't have green fingers - that's my mother's talent and she didn't seem to pass it on! - so I prefer to use dried herbs.  I had some sage, mint and rosemary that I had dried myself, which I'd picked from my Mum's garden, but I needed more and I needed a wider variety of herbs to use in spells. So I was delighted to come across this stunning box of witch's herbs.

The box itself is a dark, forest green with gold metallic lettering and design.  The box has a magnetic lid, which when opened reveals a plethora of dried herbs, bark, roots and flowers, selected specifically for their magical properties.  It is a beautiful work of art and something that is pretty enough to have out on display if you don't mind people knowing of your witchy interests.  Here in this enchanting box of tricks are all the staple herbs that you would expect to find in any witch's pantry - mugwort, motherwort, juniper, yarrow and willow bark, along with pretty petals of rose, peony and chamomile.  There is peppermint for prosperity, lavender for luck, dandelion for wishes and goals and many more. Altogether there are 25 bags of herbs, each one selected for its magical powers and usefulness in spell-craft, though you could also use them in candle and soap making too. 

As part of the collection, the box includes three little jars of crystal shards - mine were red jasper, lapis lazuli and malachite - along with an amethyst tumble stone crystal and the most adorable little spoon for measuring out your herbs.  I do have a herb spoon which is made of seashell that I picked up in an antique store in Castleton, Derbyshire some years ago, but it will be nice to have two. The spoon in the box is embossed with roses all over and has a clear quartz crystal at the top of the handle to amplify your spells. It could also double as a small wand to direct energy too.   It really is the most beautiful witchy item I have ever bought! So much thought has gone into making this collection as diverse and useful  as possible and between this box of herbs, my mother's garden and the jar of blessing seeds, I'm all set for spell craft!

Of course, I'm going to keep the magical herbs in their original keepsake box, because it is just too beautiful not to use everyday! This also leaves more space in my chest for other things, such as the Blessing Seeds jar and smudge bundles of white sage.  I also bought some jars of crystal shards too. I have a lot of tumblestones, but I also like to work with shards as they are very useful when making up containment spells, poppets, talismens and so on.  So I bought 12 jars, each filled with a different kind of crystal.

In addition, I replenished the things I use all the time such as spell candles and essential oils. I have spent a couple of happy hours this afternoon, sorting and organizing all my new witchy supplies and putting them neatly into the chest.  Now my witch's chest is heavy with magical possibility and I find it's weight very comforting!  These tools will prove invaluable as I start to cast for the safety of the military personnel who might be caught up in the Ukraine/Russia conflict.  Because that's just what good witches do - we cast spells to mitigate the impact of negative events.  Now I have all the tools I need to do just that!

Happy Casting!

BB Marie x

Witchcraft Herbs for Magic, Spells and Rituals Box 

BOOK NOOK; The Hemlock Cure by Joanne Burn

 

"Last week Marshall dug a grave a day, and the village filled it. So far this week those numbers have doubled. The tailor's house where it all began lies in the middle of the village.  The plague has spread from house to house, east and west. It continues to make its way like a curious visitor - unperturbed by bolted doors, the burning of gunpowder, the strewing of herbs, the dousing of aromatics and perfumes. The children play no more in the streets, but it seeks them instead in their parlours and kitchens. 

It seeks them in their beds."

Being born and bred in Sheffield,  I have always been aware of the village of Eyam.  It is a staple destination on the school trip schedule and all Yorkshire kids are taken there and taught about the enormous sacrifice that the villagers made during the time of the Great Plague.  

I have been there several times, both as a child and as an adult.  Eyam is a very pretty Yorkshire village, resembling the lid of a chocolate box. Due to its history, however, it has a very haunting atmosphere that stays with you long after the trip is over.  To this day, there is an eeriness which lingers over 'the Plague graves'.  It is the kind of place where an entire class of children will fall silent, without being told to by the teacher.  It has a very sobering effect on people.

The Hemlock Cure is set in Eyam during those same Plague years, when the villagers chose to isolate themselves to prevent the disease spreading to nearby Sheffield and beyond. It was a very heroic act and one that will always be honoured and respected by Yorkshire folk. 

Set against this historical backdrop is the story of Mae, the daughter of the village apothecary, who longs to be accepted by her father, Wulfric, as his official apprentice.  But Wulfric believes that women have no place dealing in medicines and while he is happy to let Mae pick herbs and berries etc and prepare them for his work, he won't allow her to do more than that.  Mae is secretly taking lessons from a local wise woman instead and when Wulfric discovers this, he becomes convinced that Mae is a witch.  It doesn't help her case that the Plague is rife in the village and people are dying everyday. Someone must be to blame and witchcraft is as good an explanation as any.  

Narrated by a ghost, this novel wings along at a good pace. It captures the haunting atmosphere of Eyam beautifully, transferring it to the page and showing the devastating effect the Plague had on the village.  The author has inserted her fictional characters seamlessly into the real history of the village, drawing in actual historical characters too, to add weight and authenticity to her story.  

It is a marvelous book and one that has added poignancy as we begin to emerge from a similar pandemic ourselves.  It has also made me want to take another trip to Eyam, to repeat my gratitude at the Plague graves, with a new understanding and empathy of what it means to face and live through a pandemic.  The Hemlock Cure is a novel that would have been a great read at any time, but which will find an even more sympathetic audience in the years that follow the Covid outbreak.  I have very much enjoyed curling up with this novel in the winter evenings, as various storms rage around my home. I highly recommend it. Happy Reading!

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me by the publisher for review purposes.  It is available now in hardcover and digital download formats. 

 

BOOK NOOK; Witch by Finbar Hawkins

"Wood creaked beneath my feet, like I stepped out upon a still pond.  And floating upon it, I saw a bed of cotton sheets with a quilt of many threads.  A table and chair, a silver brush waiting for hair. And an oval mirror above them all, filled with the light that fell from a gilded window." 

I have just finished reading Witch by Finbar Hawkins which is an extraordinary novel of the witch trials.  I have read lots of novels that tackle this subject, but I have to say that this is one of the finest in terms of the style of writing.  As you can see from the extract above, Witch is a lyrical novel, told in a poetic style and the language has that magical, fairytale quality that I love. It sings off the page, like a cross between a nursery rhyme and an old fable, retold around the fireplace on a cold winter's night. 

It is a book that draws you in from the very first sentence and as it is written in regional dialect, it feels very authentic and original right from the start. It is clear that this author loves language, that he enjoys the musicality of words strung together in just the right way. I got the impression that he thinks very carefully before choosing a particular word, creating magical phrases that are entirely original, such as a blade being hatched from a cane.  This is the kind of training we had on the MA, so it came as no surprise to me to find that he too holds an MA in creative writing. 

The novel is about a young girl who witnesses her mother's death during the witch craze of the 1600's.  She is torn between the need to keep her little sister safe and seek revenge on those who killed her mother.  When it comes to the crunch, she takes the path of revenge and the novel follows her journey as she seeks out her enemies.

There is magic and spell-casting woven throughout the tale, with themes of betrayal, war and superstition being key factors in the turning of the plot. At times it feels quite threatening, as witches are hunted, but I wouldn't say that it's a scary book.  It is a book which questions if revenge is justified when it turns the victim into the perpetrator?  It could also serve as a warning, never to cross a witch!

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel over the past couple of nights and I was completely absorbed by this dangerous world. If you like witchy books you will enjoy this one. And if you enjoy reading poetic prose, Witch is one of the finest examples I've read in a long time. Happy Reading!

BB Marie x

AD This book was sent to me by the publisher for review purposes. It is available now in paperback and digital formats. 

BOOK NOOK; Write It All Down by Cathy Rentzenbrink

"Let me tell you a secret about my writing. I have wanted to write books for as long as I knew what one was. I have spent my whole life immersed in books and reading. I make sacrifices for writing."

As an author, I have read a lot of books about writing over the years, from the beginner books that tell you how to set out your work and submit to publishers, to the ones that promise you will have a novel in less than a few months, with an agent and publisher not far behind.  

I have found some writing books to be condescending, with the author assuming that all their readers are completely unpublished, and others to be wildly optimistic about one's chances of getting a full-length manuscript picked up. Some books promise best-seller lists and awards, while others sap away the reader's enthusiasm from the start with statistics on the slim odds of getting a publishing deal.  

When I heard that Cathy Rentzenbrink was going to release a book about writing, I was thrilled, largely because of how much I had enjoyed her previous book Dear Reader, which I read as part of my MA in Creative Writing.  Cathy was one of our guest lecturers, giving one of the most useful classes of the whole course.  I found her to be warm, friendly and extremely funny.  I liked her immensely.  She is very down to earth and this comes across in both her writing and teaching style.  As I sat in her class last year, I found myself wishing that she was a permanent member of our faculty staff, because her lecture was so fun and informative.

Luckily, she has now shared her teaching tips, tricks and professional know-how in her new book Write It All Down.  Like Dear Reader, I read this book in one sitting. Although it is centered around writing memoirs, the information Cathy shares is useful for all forms of writing. The book is structured in four parts, which collectively guide you from the very early stages of discovering your theme, to the final act of polishing the last edit. The book features writing prompts throughout.

For me, reading this book was like stepping back to my time as an MA student and taking part in her class again.  I recognized some of the tools in the book from her lecture and it was lovely to revisit them in a more relaxed manner, without the pressure of assignments hanging over me.  I could simply enjoy the teachings and the memory of that class. 

In a way, Write It All Down is like a special souvenir of my MA days, now that my graduation has taken place and I am back in the world of writing books again myself.  I can revisit that class whenever I want to, just by picking up this book.  It also means that you too can enjoy a taste of what I experienced on the MA as well, without the pressure or expense of going to university - you can read Cathy's book to benefit from the same level of teaching.  

It's a book that will challenge you to explore your motivations for writing, while encouraging you to write authentically and trust your own voice. It will make you laugh out loud and tap into your courage as you find your place upon the page. It will gently persuade you to show yourself, warts and all.  As if all that wasn't enough, the book ends with a tour of Cathy's writerly bookshelf and tons of top tips from dozens of other well known authors. 

Write It All Down is a book that should be on every writer's bookshelf, and whether you write for yourself or for publishers, it is a fantastic primer and a source of valuable inspiration for writers of all levels.  It has earned a permanent place in my study and now sits snuggly alongside Dear Reader. Happy Reading and Writing!

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me by the publisher for review purposes.  It is available now in hardcover and digital formats. 

SILVER SIREN; SAS: Red Notice

 

I have just finished watching a fabulous film on Amazon Prime called SAS: Red Notice.  It's not the kind of film I would normally watch. In fact it's the kind of film women often sit through just because their boyfriend wants to see it.  All I can say is, Sam Heughan made me do it! I've had a thing for him ever since I fell for him as Jamie Fraser in Outlander. I also have a Sam Heughan calendar for this year and he is smoking hot on every page - he will put a spark in all my days! 

So, when I saw that he was playing the lead character in this film, which is based on a novel by Andy McNab, I thought it was an interesting combination and I was curious.  I wasn't disappointed at all.  It's a fantastic story! The plot is something I'd never even considered as a possibility - the hijacking of the Channel Tunnel by a gang of baddies - who even guessed that could be a thing? Well, apparently Andy McNab has seen it coming and it is not pretty! The off-duty SAS guy Tom, (aka my one true love Jamie Fraser!) has to sweep on in and rescue everyone, including his future wife. So it's a high stakes plot and the film moves along at a good pace.

Sadly, we don't get to see Sam Heughan bear-chested and dripping in the water, but he is running around in a black leather jacket for most of the film and he also has quite a sexy water-drinking moment, which I greatly appreciated. Also, he is acting in an English accent, rather than his native Scots, plus his hair is short, not the long luscious locks we dream of running our fingers through - but hey, it's still Sam, running around playing the hero and protecting his girlfriend, so what's not to like?

I loved every minute of the film and I am totally surprised by that, as conflict films are not really my thing. I'm more of a period drama girl to be honest. But this is the second time that Andy McNab has pleasantly surprised me - first with his non-fiction books that I have reviewed here and here on my blog, and now this.  It has made me want to read some of his novels, which I have always avoided as I thought they might be too gory for me, but if the film is anything to go by, it's more about big explosions, than soldiers losing limbs, which is good.  I can cope with that. So I might download the book too. Alas, it's unlikely to have Jamie Fraser on the cover, but at least now I can imagine the sexy Sam in the role as I read the book in bed at night 😏

It's a fab film, Sam is sexy as hell, and you should definitely watch it, even though it's a movie for men. Enjoy - I certainly did! 

Marie x

MUSICAL DOLL; Music for the Wolf Moon

 

January marks the time of the Wolf Moon, which falls on the 17th of this month.  After the hectic festive season, I always like to think of January as holding a quieter kind of magic.  It is a time to bunker down from the cold weather, eating hearty foods which keep out the chill and toasting your toes by the fire. It is a time to keep the wolf at bay. 

The Wolf Moon reminds us that scarcity can snap at your heels if you do not make provisions for the lean times. There is an old saying 'the wolf is at the door', which means that want, hunger and poverty are being keenly felt.  It has been a time of great hardship for many during the pandemic, so the message of the wolf moon is even more poignant.  Fill the cupboards, light the fire and wait out the winter months, which have only just begun. Better times will come. 

In the past, wolves would venture closer to villages at this time of year in search of food. If hunting was not providing enough sustenance for the pack, they would resort to scavenging from humans.  This gave rise to the belief that they would snatch children and babies - which might not be far from the truth.  Any infant or small animal would have been an easy target for a hungry wolf! But they are not evil creatures.  Quite the contrary, for wolves are loving, loyal pack members, who maintain family groups and work together for the survival of the pack as a whole.  They are extremely intelligent and courageous animals.  

Having no natural predator, wolves are at the very top of the food chain. Humans require traps and weapons to kill a wolf, so even we are no match for this magnificent creature. I have heard that wolves are being reintroduced to certain parts of the Scottish Highlands, in a re-wilding program and I hope that this is true.  I would love to meet a lone wolf on my rambles there but I don't think I'd want to meet a whole pack at once!  It is lovely to think that the Highlands might soon be even more vibrant with the sound of howling wolves! I would dearly love to hear that.  I'll have to keep my ears open when I'm up in the Highlands this autumn. You never know your luck!

In the meantime, I have discovered a couple of beautiful albums from New World Music that perfectly capture the spirit of the wolf and the energies of the wolf moon. The first is called The Wolfstone by Medwyn Goodall.  This is an enchanting album! It has strong Celtic vibes. In some ways it reminds me of the soundtrack for season one of Outlander, which I love!  It has that same quality of sound, with Uillean pipes and drums, so if you like the Outlander music then you will probably enjoy The Wolfstone too.  

It is the kind of album that gets you up and moving, so it's good for cleaning and organizing the house, or for rearranging your altar and sorting through your magical supplies.  There are some stunning tracks on this album, but my favourite ones are Shield Maiden, Northbound and The River Folk, which I must say, is the perfect track for dancing with a Highlander! 

The second album is called White Wolf Spirit by Wychazel and this one is more of a shamanic journeying type of album.  It makes me think of Native American Indians, with the male chanting and the rattles.  It is a lovely album, very good for more meditative work, spell casting, dream work, journaling, yoga etc.  I would say that this album is one that you can play in the background while you are busy crafting art, or Witch-Crafting. If you have a thing for American Indians, this one will be right up your street. 

Both these albums are ideal soundtracks for the Wolf Moon Esbat, so if you are planning a gathering or a special ritual then, either one would provide the right sort of atmosphere. Personally, I prefer The Wolfstone and that is the album I will be playing on the night of the wolf moon later this month as I cast out my intention spells for the year ahead.

Until next time, enjoy the Wolf Moon and all that the cold season has to offer!

Blessed Be

Marie x