Heddy M. Johannesen's Blog, page 18
October 14, 2015
Halloween Haunts: Tradition by Heddy Johannesen
The ancient Celts celebrated the Sabbat of Samhain on the eve of October 31st, marking the Celtic New Year. Samhain means summer’s end, pronounced “samhuinn” (Scots Gaelic spelling) when they protected their herds in the stables and stored their harvest for the cold winter. They feasted, burned need-fires, and divined with the spirits of those […]
Source: Halloween Haunts: Tradition by Heddy Johannesen
October 9, 2015
Divine Divinations
Merry meet all,
Necromantic Divination
Necromantic Divination can be an awesome way to connect to your loved ones. I hesitate to use the word ‘ancestors’ because it has such an implication of ancient ancestors. That’s not what I am talking about here. I mean the ones who have passed on who were close to you in life, even pets. I have photos of my deceased pets on my altar. I also have a photo of my grandfather on my altar. It is always there, next to the racoon skull. This is what feels right for me. I have left offerings and prayed to them.
So now that you may have a general idea of who to call on, the next point is when to call on them. Well the easy answer is when you meditate at your altar, are in a ritual, and to try to do it everyday. This is to keep up a relationship with them. They want to be heard, acknowledged. The love they felt for you doesn’t cease because they are dead. It still exists.
THE COLOR BLACK
I am still in favour of purple or deep blue. I wear purple a lot and black even more so. I have to take Wednesday Addam’s side on this one. I get gawked at when I wear my goth velvet gown but who cares? Let them stare. I bask in it. Why should I hide an aspect of myself to look like every other Walmart customer? Perish the thought. Spirits are attracted to those who stand out from the crowd. Black attracts spirits. Black is slinky and mysterious, looks cool, and can make you look more intelligent. Just watch a black cat some time. Watch her slink and prowl, strut and groom herself. But black draws energy in. When you want to pull energy towards you, it makes sense to utilize best what would make that happen.
Conversely, white draws energy away from you. When I had to perform a serious banishing/ cleansing of my hone, I used white candles. The white light draws the energy away. Black draws it in. Deep blue or purple are also good for psychic work, I like to think that you can start a ritual/ spell with a black candle and keep it burning, but if you want to get deep into psychic work (use candles that have been dedicated to the tasks), use the deep blue or purple candles. But a black candle will help draw spirits to you for a seance or skull dedication ritual.
The colour of the candle is crucial and so is the type or shape and size of the candle. Larger candles leave you with more time to do your psychic work. Taper candles should be allowed to burn within a safe vessel. Put a long candle in a hurricane glass. Do use safety when burning candles Keep in mind its not cool to be evicted during cold weather season and suddenly searching for a new apartment because your candle burned the place down.
A black altar cloth, with a silver pentacle, silver or bronze athame, and glass candleholders can look so magical. But bronze daggers don’t scare off spirits. Silver and iron turns off spirits. That is just something to keep in mind. Fairies hate iron!! Just ask Maleficient.
I personally would find a bronze dagger to be hard to find here, unless I order it online. Most daggers or athames and even bolines though are silver. Not many people are aware that bronze athames attract spirits. If you want to hold a seance or other similar type of divination session, then do try to acquire a bronze athame or use a wooden wand. Wooden wands would not scare them off.
Consider the moon phase and planetary rulers when performing your magick too. The waxing to full moon is an ideal time. The waning moon can be for cleansing your home of unwanted negative energies. The dead are around all the time. They are dead, they face eternity. They can be called on anytime. Just make sure that when you call on them, you have something serious to request of them or to make an offering of honey, beans, herbs, or wine, etc. Be solemn and respectful. They will be the same way to you. Never diss the dead. Showing respect ensures a harmonious relationship with them. They can inflict some damage on you if you diss them. They don’t share our reality or rules. Trust me on this.
With all these pointers, you are well on your way to a successful divination session. Enjoy!
Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch
September 30, 2015
Time to Scare
Merry meet all,
Tomorrow is October 1st. Time to dust off your cauldrons and lift your striped socks. It is Season of the Witch. To kick off the most spookily awesomeness of October, I have an announcement!!!
The Horror Writers Association Halloween Haunts 2015 blog event begins on October 1. This online-only event presents thirty-one days of Halloween posts, excerpts, and book giveaways from some of today’s top horror writers. Celebrate Halloween with the horror writers and catch up on some good, scary reading. This event will take place from October 1 through October 31 on the HWA blog, Dark Whispers: http://horror.org/category/blog/. Updates and announcements about the schedule will be posted regularly on this page throughout October. Please share this and help spread the word so everyone can enjoy a few good Halloween chills.
My post about the dumb supper is slated to appear on October 14!!! I am excited like you can’t believe about this.
Mm I am munching on homemade pumpkin bread. I pureed the pumpkin myself. I have 2 new dolls. They are recent additions to the witch doll family. I collect witch dolls. Well the other one is a mouse. A customer at Winners titled him Mouse Warlock. He has had that name ever since. He is a handsome little guy. The tall doll witch is named Witch Allegra. Music notes are all over her skirt. The name seemed right for her.
I wrote a short story about the tilberi, which I posted about earlier, and sent it off. I hope it gets published. Tomorrow is the first of October. The month we slavishly wait for all year is here!! I also got to watch the amazing lunar eclipse from my driveway. Wow that was too cool. It was the first eclipse I ever got to watch.
Crimson Peak will scare us in theatres this month, there is of course Samhain, the most magickal night of the year, Ritual on the Commons, My garden’s winding down for the autumn season. I have harvested my veggies and herbs. I harvested onion, garlic and over 60 tomatoes!
I plan to post here to guide you all into the magic of October. Let the spooky fun begin. Happy Haunting!
Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch )O(
September 23, 2015
Autumn Equinox
Merry meet all,
Today the sun is shining strong. The outdoors coax me. I may just venture out to the garden again to see what goodies I can harvest for my feast tonight. I have invited my Mom over for dinner. We shall enjoy homemade fresh pumpkin soup, roasted seeds, and lovely bread. I have no wine nor any cash but hey even paupers can enjoy homemade soft mead.
The air is crisp. I transplanted heliopsis and some other flowers that look like sunflowers in my garden. I want lots of flowers. Next summer, they will bloom. Someone offered to send me seeds! I have been harvesting Chinese lanterns and tomatoes from my garden. I am a bit disappointed with the scarcity of the harvest this year. I expected much more. I blame slugs and other pests.
The autumn equinox issue of Eternal Haunted Summer Ezine is posted!! Here is the link:http://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/autumn-equinox-2015/
Enjoy the autumn season.
Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch
September 15, 2015
Shadow People: Who Are They and What Do They Want?
Originally posted on Welcome to ghost talk blog:
Sightings of shadow people are on the increase! I attribute this to the rising vibration of our planet and our ever-expanding realities which open a portal to other dimensions. Just as the third eye chakra is the gateway to the spirit world, the collective consciousness of our planet is the doorway into other realms. Shadow people, like Ouija boards, have been given a bad rap, but knowing what you are dealing with helps to dispel the fear and myths.
image courtesy of http://www.darkparadox88.blogspot.com
Shadow people are not ghosts. There are two distinctive types – the ‘Hat Men’ variety appears more solid, in the shape of a person wearing a hat or hood, and sometimes a trench coat. The dark shadows, or ‘blobs’ as I refer to them, are without human form and vary in size from two to six feet or more. Some people report seeing red eyes on these…
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September 10, 2015
Honoring our ancestors
Merry meet all,
I found this wonderful post. I have to re blog the post. Credit to original author.
<strong>http://voces-magicae.com/2015/08/13/ancestors-and-the-dead/
Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch
September 9, 2015
Mabon Magic
Merry meet all,
Our favorite time of year is here. September ushers in autumn with grace. I have harvested some chinese lanterns from my garden. Their orange colour is just like pumpkins. I spied a large round pumpkin on someone’s doorstep from my spot on the Metro transit. Halloween/ Samhain is nearly here. Who is as excited as me?
I wrote a blog post for the Horror Writers Association Halloween Haunts blog project. I wrote about the tradition of performing dumb suppers, which I do every Samhain. I can’t wait to see my post on the site as well as enjoying reading the other posts.
Mabon begins later this month! I love Mabon. Mabon is so enchanting. Mabon leads up nicely to Samhain but it’s the first stirrings of autumn. My garden is winding down. Soon I have to prepare the garden for winter and dig in my spring bulbs. I plan to grow more garlic and tulips and maybe some other spring bulbs, like crocuses.
I love walking on the nature trail behind my apartment in autumn, There are so many trees on either side of the trail. When they are showing off their colourful splendour, it’s just too beautiful. I love it when I feel the Samhain energy in the air too. The leaves are falling and sound crisper. We all know what this means! The sight of the colourful autumn leaves on the trees on the trail takes my breath away.
Now is the time to scatter those seeds in the soil to bloom in spring. I have scattered the mandrake I sent in the mail that aren’t growing and rose seeds. I hope the mandrake seeds germinate outside. They could bloom next year or not at all. It they don’t, then I will order more from a different supplier.
There’s a lot to look forward to this fall. I shall keep you posted on how to connect with spirits and keep yourself safe. For now, harvest your goodies from your garden, throw salt over your shoulder and plant rosemary and lavender in your garden for luck.
Blessed Be, Lady Spiderwitch )O(
September 3, 2015
Under Psychic Attack
Merry meet all,
Penny, my beautiful Norwegian Forest Cat, perches on the windowsill, watching all that moves. Well she was. She goes wherever she pleases. Magic, my guinea pig, was treated to some dandelion greens this morning. I am growing carrots in my garden. He’ll get to dine on the carrot leaves when they are harvested.
I have been thinking about psychic attack lately. I say this because I may have suffered a psychic attack. I don’t care what you say, it’s not normal to be mysteriously ill at 3 am. It’s not normal when you go to bed at night perfectly healthy. It may have been an anxiety attack and I sure prefer that explanation over that one. The hospital staff were busy because the moon was Full. That should help explain things.
I have since that horrid night smudged my apartment, and did a special floor wash to banish the bad energy. I do believe it worked. It is based on a Voodoo spell and the steps to it can be found in Michelle Belanger’s book The Ghost Hunter’s Survival Guide. She knows her stuff. I gathered protective herbs for a banishing spell I want to do, once the herbs are dry, which should be soon. I plan to do more banishing this weekend. I must need to be more careful than I initially believed. Sensitives, psychics, Witches, what have you, are especially vulnerable to certain energies. We can sense them and so they practically hunt us down and cause disturbances in our body, our mind, and/ or our homes. We need to protect ourselves from that and lately. I have been a little lazy.
http://munchies.vice.com/articles/we-asked-salems-official-witch-what-to-eat-at-a-pagan-sabbat
Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch )O(
August 23, 2015
Horror and Hangovers: Writing Until It Kills You
Originally posted on Horror Novel Reviews:
Written by: Mack Moyer
The majority of writers who dedicate their lives to the craft come to a point where they write not because it’s their dream to ‘make it’ as an author, but because we cling to it like a raft in the vast, awful ocean that is real life.
Kind of like the ocean that killed Marky Mark in The Perfect Storm, only with more rejection letters.
I’ve written here before that there are everyday things far more horrifying than any scary story, and I think that’s especially true for writers.
My friend Alfie would agree.
And if you dedicate your life to writing at the expense of all else, you’ll probably agree one day too.
Alfie is like any number of authors who decided, quite too young, that all he wanted to do was write. He ditched college, eschewed any semblance of a career, and set to…
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August 15, 2015
Witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries
Originally posted on How do Historians Account for the Comparative Differences in Witch Hunting and the Witchcraze Throughout Europe?
Title page of the seventh Cologne edition of the Malleus Maleficarum, 1520 (from the University of Sydney Library)
The witchcraze was a period in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where so-called ‘witches’ were hunted and punished for practising witchcraft. This belief in witchcraft was most noticeable in Scotland and continental Europe as this is where the majority of accusations took place.[1] This essay will look at several different areas of witchcraft and the witchcraze, including where beliefs did and did not take hold, the proportion of men and women who were accused, the influence of the Protestant Reformation and the prosecution of witches across Europe. Historians tend to agree that the witchcraze took off in Protestant areas more than Catholic areas, and also that it was largely female-identified. Historians also agree that there…
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