Deborah J. Martin's Blog, page 3

Crone: Part Three

“Crone” by Lane Brown used with permission

Seasons turned into years. Crone started to feel the passing of those years more acutely. She was slowing down, she knew. It took her longer to get going in the morning, and the garden chores became almost too painful to think of. What had taken her only two weeks to accomplish in the spring took almost twice as long. She soldiered on, knowing it all had to be done. Tom became even more of a blessing. Without any direction, he knew exactly where to knea...

Crone: A Story in Three Parts

“Crone” by Lane Brown used with permission

She woke to unfamiliar surroundings. The bed beneath her was much harder than a waterbed, the covers not her usual sheets and duvet but two quilts – they appeared to be handmade, too. She rolled onto her side to see a bedroom much smaller than the one at home, and it contained only a wardrobe – no dresser or closet in sight. The bedside table held a candle in a simple candleholder rather than her grandmother’s electric lamp. The view out the window wasn...

Crone: Part Two

“Crone” by Lane Brown used with permission

Looking out the window and seeing the clouds, Crone knew the first snow was on its way. It was time to finish putting the garden to bed for the winter. Changing from slippers to her outside shoes, she pulled on her jacket, buttoned it up, and walked outside. Someone had left a huge pile of leaves at the garden’s edge. She knew if she looked out the front door, the path through the trees would be completely clear of fallen leaves. She wished whoever pile...

Eye Update

This isso much easier than trying to fit everything into 240 characters for Twitter!

If you follow me on social media anywhere, you know I’ve been having vision problems. It started seven weeks ago…I started having flashes – like lightning – in the corner of my right eye. It happened about seven years ago, too, and then I was diagnosed with a partially detached retina. Doc said, “it’s not that worrisome. Give it a couple of weeks and it’ll probably heal on its own.” It did. So, I wasn’t all...

Celebrate Yourself!

You’ve done (and perhaps even planned) the office parties. You’ve done the family thing at Yule/Christmas/Hanukkah/Diwali, whatever. You’ve done the friends thing at the New Year. Now it’s time to do something just foryou.

I’m giving away a $25 American Express gift card to one lucky person. The gen-you-wine real thing you can use anywhere AmEx is accepted…not just Amazon (although they’ll take it, too)! Spend this on you. Treat yourself to:

A manicure A facial That book you’ve been eyeing...

Using Herbs in Ritual

To select the proper herbs to use in a ritual of any kind, there are several questions you must ask yourself (and/or those you’re working with).

I’ll start by saying intent is everything in magic and words, actions, or even thoughts can change its course. For example, you’ve got all the herbs you need for a healing spell but change your words up a little? You’ve got yourself a hex intended to make your target ill.

To figure out which herbs you may want to use, imagination is the key. Yes,...

Herbal Magick: A guide to herbal enchantments, folklore, and divination – A Review

I was really looking forward to this book. Anything related to herbs and folklore always makes me sit up and pay attention. For the most part, I liked it. The good stuff:

She does a really good job of incorporating folklore and divination from a variety of sources, most of which I’ve already read but there were a couple I hadn’t and are on my TBR list. (Or TBL – to be looked up? list. They’re old. My kind of book!)

(One I chuckled at: “swatting a child or animal with one [willow branch] stun...

Type A Personality ProTip

Are you like I was: have a difficult time falling asleep at night because you’re thinking about all the shit you didn’t get done today and/or need to do tomorrow/next week/next month? There’s a fix for that. You’ve probably read all this before but it doesn’t hurt to hammer it into your brain. I have a cast iron frying pan you may borrow, if needed.

Step One: put your cell phone to sleep for the night. This is probably the most important step for many people. If your cell phone is your primar...

How I Spent My Summer…Weekend

/begin rant/

I am pissed. And my back & hips hurt like crazy – even after more or less relaxing yesterday.

Over two years ago, I decided it was time to do paths from the house to the garden steps and down to the compost bin. We have a chigger problem here and I was getting tired of having to slather on repellent even for the quick trip to the compost bin. It was either that or one or more of those little buggers would find me in the 30-second trip.

I have this thing about blending into our fo...

The Interconnectedness of Man and Plants

This is an article I wrote for a now-defunct magazine almost ten years ago. I believe it still holds true.

I live in the woods and frequently have city friends come to visit, to “connect with nature”.  While getting out into the country, away from city noise, light and smell, is a great thing to do, Man and Nature are already connected, even for city dwellers.

Plants have nourished every other living thing on this planet since time immemorial.  When thinking about eating plants, most people’...