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Visit their website for more
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21 Spells for Assured Success
by Boudica
Kindle edition
Fire of the Goddess:
Nine Paths to Ignite
the Sacred Feminine
by Katalin Koda
Mrs. Darley's Pagan
Healing Wisdom: A Magickal Journey
of Healing Through the Senses
by Carole Carlton
Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
Who Are You in the Tarot?
by Mary K. Greer
Seasonal Banners on TWPT courtesy of Mickie Mueller
A Useful Resource for the Solitary Practitioner
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Next Holiday: Beltane May 1, 2018 May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar
year, the month of May. This month is named in honor of the Goddess Maia,
originally a Greek mountain nymph, later identified as the most beautiful of
the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. By Zeus, she is also the mother of Hermes, God
of magic. Maia’s parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph. The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane (in its most
popular Anglicized form), which is derived from the Irish Gaelic Bealtaine or
the Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn, meaning “Bel-fire”, the fire of the Celtic God
of Light (Bel, Beli, or Belinus). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle
Eastern God Baal. Other names for May Day include: Cetsamhain (opposite
Samhain), Walpurgisnacht (in Incidentally, there is no historical justification for
calling May 1 ‘Lady Day’. For hundreds of years, that title has been proper to
the vernal equinox (approximately March 21), another holiday sacred to the
Great Goddess. The nontraditional use of ‘Lady Day’ for May 1 is quite recent
(since the early 1970s), and seems to be confined to For the rest of Mike Nichols' article on Beltane click here.
Next Holiday Southern Hemisphere: Samhain For an article on Samhain by Mike Nichols click here. |
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Your Own Celebrations of Spring Three months. Three glorious months. After a long cold winter, it comes just when you need it most: Spring. We may not realize it, but we spend 25% of our lifetime experiencing Spring. While many people mark the first day of Spring with ritual, Spring itself is a ritual; it is a celebration that lasts for three months. You already may be celebrating the season in more ways than you think. The Ghost of Springtimes Past Keep a journal? (Of course you do, even if it’s in your head!) Page back through your memoirs of last Spring. What was going on in your life? What troubled you? What filled you with joy or kept you busy during those months? What was life like for you just a wheel’s turn ago? Now page back even further, back into the memories of Springs long ago sprung. How many Springtimes back does your journal go? Two, three, a dozen? Frolic through you own recollections of things that took place in late March, April, May and early June. Do you see a pattern? Do similar challenges keep springing into your life around this time of year? Look at how your situation has changed since then, and see the progress you’ve made over the seasons. Note both what has changed and what has stayed constant. Now, after looking back at your own life through your journal, look ahead at what you might expect for this coming Spring? |
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TWPT's Upcoming, New and Notable Releases
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Coming in January 2018
The new Winter issue of Witches&Pagans will be mailing in January 2018 Witches&Pagans #35 "Natural Paganism" This special issue features the stories of Pagans who find their spiritual center in Nature. "I never ask myself — as I sit at my altar to pray and offer and worship — if my gods are really real. Because my gods speak through the wind, and the rain, and the night sky, and the colors at dusk, and those little cracks that open up in time when I stand still in the sun and hear bird-song and leaves rustling. In those moments, I feel the earth move. And I move with it." (Aine Orga, "Gods of the Earth, Gods of My Heart", W&P #35). People, Place, & Practice It’s All About the Water. I stand shirtless and barefoot on the dry ground. Everything is desperate for water. Then I feel a change in the air and my skin begins to prickle. Article and Photos by Bryan Hewitt. Trees as Otherkin: Minoan Crete, Biblical Religion, and Paganism Today. The religion of prehistoric or “Minoan” Crete involved the cultivation of an intimate relationship with a literally living, numinous, landscape. Article and Photos by Caroline Tully. The Path of the Godless. John Halstead interviews T J Fox on the place of a card-carrying skeptical rationalist in modern Paganism. Focus on Nature-Based Paganism So You Think You Can Dance? How, exactly, do you go about becoming an animist? Walk with Alison Leigh Lilly on a journey into connecting with all beings. With original artwork by Dan Goodfellow. From Soil to Sky: Genius Loci in Pagan Practice. In paganism we often call on the genius loci — the spirit of a place — in our rituals. But how much time do we really spend with these spirits outside of that sacred space? Lupa describes how we can respectfully interact with these beings both in the wilderness and at home. With original artwork by Bob Cuneo. Nature, Thou Art My Goddess. Druid Nimue Brown muses “Nature is what I hold sacred. Life is where I find my sense of the divine — not something stood behind life pulling the strings, but the moment-to-moment experience, with no more meaning to it than the glorious fact that it’s all there.” Wisdom from Our Columnists Introducing our newest columnist: Ivo Domínguez, Jr. has been active in Wicca and the Pagan community since 1978 and has been teaching since 1982. He serves as one of the Elders of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel and is the author of many books, including most recently Keys to Perception: A Practical Guide to Psychic Development (Weiser, 2017.) His new column, “Second Star to the Right,” begins in this issue. In this issue: Raven Grimassi the sentient Spirits of the Land; Archer on Awe at the Edges: Touching the Numinous, Hecate Demetersdatter finding natural magic in the city; and Jamie Della on the magic of rosemary. Jason Mankey asks, "Are you looking for a coven?”; Diotima Mantineia offers an astrologer's perspective on Pagan holidays; H Byron Ballard proclaims herself a “dirt-hugging dirt worshipper,” Shirl Sazynski shares Heathen Workings to Honor the Land Spirits; Christopher Penczak asks us to find our inner Sovereignty, abd our irreverent “Two Many Witches" advice column answers your question: "Should I Take Witchcraft classes?" Plus there's more: Pagan poetry; Pagan short fiction “River Women” by Patrick Butler with original art by Tanya Stewart ; reviews, your letters in the Feedback Loop (including short articles on Nazis in Heathery and celebrating Candlemas in Celtic countries) and Mark Green closes out this issue with a meditation on the path of an Pagan atheist. 88 pages, published in January, 2018. |
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The beautiful cover artwork that welcomes you to edition 23 is by Russian photographer Kareva Margarita. Inside this edition we explore ways to naturally improve and take care of your health. Mabh Savage looks at the mystical folklore around The Jackdaw and Steve Andrews talks about the edible plants of the nightshade family. We take a look at Lunaesque’s ‘Wheel of the Year’ photo series and Lynn Gosney unravels the significance of the shamanic rites of passage. Shelley Sishton talks about the inspiration behind her new book ‘Bringing Nature’s Wisdom Alive’ and we share news of a variety of soon to be released books and CDs including Matthew Callow’s ‘Neon Moon’. There is a photographic feature of this year’s Faerie Festival in Sussex which is being praised by visitors as being the biggest and best yet. We catch up with several of the stage acts which performed at the event and they share their thoughts about their latest projects. Also inside you can find information about how you can win ten new books by Moon Books Publishing. Plus our regular news column, event listings, The ABC of Goddesses, The Crafters’ Corner, photography, art and much more. All beautifully illustrated and lovingly created for your mystical enjoyment! |
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Digital Version is available to order from: http://www.magzter.com/GB/Children-of-Artemis/Witchcraft-&-Wicca/Lifestyle/ or download the Magzter app to your phone or tablet and search for Witchcraft. Features Witchcraft Into the Wilds - Rachel Patterson Witchcraft & Anxiety - Jenny Cartledge A Practical Guide to Moving Meditation - Raegan Shanti Mermaid Magic - Flavia Kate Peters Weaving Magic - Pete Jennings Sugar and Spice - Moira Hodgkinson Sigils and Symbolic Forms - Kevin Groves The Witches A-Z of Divination - Moira Hodgkinson 13 Signs to know if you are a Witch - Dwynt Strega Regulars Familiar Corner Witchfest International News News Witchfest International 2017 Preview Reviews Seeing whats new Gatherings & Calendar |
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Mickie Mueller
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The Witch's Mirror TWPT talks to Mickie Mueller Mickie Mueller grew up beneath the great mountains and the desert sky of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They aptly call it "The Land of Enchantment." She was exposed to art all her life, both of her parents’ were prominent artists and craftspeople in the area, and she was influenced by many of the great artists of the Southwest, all friends of the family. In her late teens, she moved with her family to the green rolling hills of Missouri were she now lives and makes her home and studio. Mickie began working as a freelance artist in 1983, showing her award winning art in local galleries, and her work appearing in newspaper ads, and CD/cassette covers for local bands. She even worked for awhile as a computer colorist for comic book companies like Marvel, D.C. and Dark Horse to name a few. Today Mickie has a growing business with her magical fantasy art. Her work has been seen in magazines and books internationally, including a school textbook in Norway. Her prints are sold in catalogues and on the Internet all over the world. She has two critically acclaimed divination decks published by Llewellyn, The Well Worn Path and The Hidden Path. Mickie’s third deck comes out in 2011 and is her first deck that she created on her own, concept, writing, and art. The Voice of the Trees, A Celtic Ogham Oracle is based on the rich and fantastic Celtic history, myths and legends and the Ogham system of letters used in 4th-6th century. In addition to their teamwork in The Mickie Mueller Collection, Mickie and Dan are also the proud parents of two grown daughters; Brittany, a popular Vintage Fashionista and Chelsea, a pop artist and poet, and an 11 year old son Tristan, an aspiring stop-animation film maker. They are also the grandparents of Olivia toddler extrodinarre, and Rhys accomplished walker and fabulous happy face maker. Click here to read the interview. Other Book Spotlights |
A Very British Witchcraft (Full): Documentary on Gerald Gardner & Wicca
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Articles 'Round the Web Interview with illustrator Elisabeth Alba by Kelley McMorris
When I heard that that Deborah Blake had a new tarot deck coming out in January 2017 I went looking for the illustrator to find out more about them. I found this older interview from last year that I wanted to share with the readers of TWPT. It was conducted by Kelley McMorris and I only share an excerpt here on the site with a link back to the entire interview on Kelley's blog page. You also might check out Elisabeth's artist site to get a more detailed look at some of the cards that will be gracing Deborah's deck next year. The great thing is that the ones that I saw all had cats in them. What more could you ask for? Enjoy!----Imajicka "Today is the beginning of a new series on this blog where I interview illustrators and others in the publishing industry. I've met so many interesting people at art school, conferences, and online, who have stories I want to hear! I am honored to have our first interviewee, Elisabeth Alba, on the blog today. Elisabeth has been a freelance illustrator in the children's book and fantasy industries for several years now, and recently quit her part-time job to go full-time. Elisabeth and I have never met in person - YET - but we've been online acquaintances for a year or two. I was curious about how she has managed to build up her freelance career from the ground up, and what it's like being married to ponytail-rocking fellow illustrator Scott Murphy. When did you first decide to become an illustrator, and what did you do to get started?
I loved reading, picture books, graphic novels, fantasy movies, animated
films - what all illustrators like, really! I had this urge to create
things that would be seen by other people on book covers and inside
books so that they'd have the same pleasure I got when looking at them.
It definitely started in high school, if not earlier, but I still
struggled a bit thinking maybe I should be a doctor or biologist or an
English professor or something more stable career-wise."
Click here to read more of this article. |
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Boudica
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Responsibility and the Pagan Path by Boudica Paganism is unique as a spiritual path in that it does not tell us what to do. Rather, we decide for ourselves our own personal ethical standards and set our own values of morality. While there is a Rede from the Wiccan Traditions, it is not a law; rather it is an advice, a council. And whether you adapt that Rede as Wiccan or as pagan, it is a choice that is totally up to you. We have embraced the pagan culture because we believe in the concept of free will. This also carries over into our pagan spirituality where we feel we are intelligent enough to make decisions for ourselves when it comes to spirituality and the associated philosophies. We choose the paths we walk, be they sexual, environmental, social, magical or spiritual. It is our choice and no one else makes it for us. We are not dictated to, we are not told what to believe, we are not forced into a social structure we have to adhere to, nor are we told what magical practice we need to follow. No one speaks for us other than the individual. There are no set leaders representing the whole of the pagan community. Click here to read more of this article. |
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Samhain is approaching and with only 8 days remaining before it arrives perhaps you might be thinking you want to understand the Sabbat a little better before celebrating on the 31st. Well you have come to the right place and we can point you to some great information to raise your understanding of what it is that Samhain means to a variety of people both here on TWPT and some written materials around the net that will help too. Right off the bat I can say you should check out our new interview with Diana Rajchel about her book about Samahain that was released as one of the Sabbat Essentials series over at Llewellyn. Here on TWPT we have a section called Seasonal Celebrations that has an article by Mike Nichols about each of the eight sabbats on the wheel of the year. You can find his article about Samhain by clicking here and you'll get a good look at what Samhain is all about.
Click here to read more articles about Samhain |
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Imajicka |
Reflections I sometimes sit on Sunday morning listening to the music
that has shaped my life since the early Click here to read the whole blog |
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Lasara Firefox Allen
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Jailbreaking the Goddess TWPT talks to LaSara Firefox Allen Lasara Firefox Allen is the best selling author of Sexy Witch (2005), and Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality (7/2016), both published by Llewellyn Worldwide. A wild hearted change agent, Lasara delivers tools for transformation, provides strategies for embodiment, and creates vibrant spaces for personal and collective liberation. Lasara’s coaching and teaching work weaves together themes of empowerment, embodiment, body positivity, sexual liberation, feminism, and owning our whole selves. Lasara has been the proud proprietor of a thriving online teaching and coaching practice for over a decade. She has helped hundreds of clients through major life transitions. Her Entrepreneurial Trainings for Wild Hearts program is rooted in the joy she derives from helping clients find their purpose and make their mark. Lasara loves to help clients transition to online teaching and coaching, and start making money doing exactly the thing that is in them, waiting to be done. While still working in the world proudly as an ordained Pagan clergy member, she consider herself a true Mystic at heart, and have experienced the awareness that the teachings at the heart of all religions and spiritual methodologies offer opportunity for enlightenment, liberation, and the opportunity for merging with the divine One. Over the years she has offered workshops and classes on diverse topics; relationships and intimacy, sexuality, Mysticism and spirituality, and many others. She is married to the love of her life and partner in all things wonderful, arduous, glorious, and transformational, Robert Allen, and mother to two amazing daughters. These three are some of her greatest and truest teachers. She is grateful to live in the wilds of northern California with her sweet little family, and to surround herself with a community of loving, like-minded souls. Click here to read our interview with Lasara Firefox Allen |
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Ashley Mortimer
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The Doreen Valiente Foundation and more TWPT talks to Ashley Mortimer In
March 2011 Nottingham's Ashley Mortimer became one of five trustees of
the Doreen
Valiente Foundation which oversees the legacy of magical artefacts,
writings, documents and copyrights that belonged to Doreen Valiente.
Ashley is also a director of The Centre For Pagan Studies, a
firekeeper for WaNaNeeChe's Human Circle Of Life and a prominent member
of
Nottingham Pagan Network, Pagan Pride and Nottingham Empyrean as well
as a
frequent representative of the Pagan Federation. Ashley is an occasional writer, even more occasional
musician and a prolific contributor to many different Pagan events and
interests in and out of the East Midlands region. He speaks about the origins
of Paganism, the history of Wicca/Witchcraft and leads ceremony and ritual with
an ecclectic and pragmatic approach to spirituality underpinned with warm
humour. |
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(photo by Brittany Sherman) Mickie Mueller
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Art of Fantasy, Fairie, and Myth: TWPT Talks to Mickie Mueller “I decided to make my dreams reality, drawing upon the magic that I grew up with, singing to inchworms with my mother and watching nature create miracles in the sun and under the moon. I love researching the legends of fairies, Goddesses, nature spirits, folklore and history. I feel these themes are a part of us all on a deeper level, so when I have an opportunity to reach into that realm and bring something back, it’s an honor and I feel that I have a certain responsibility to do it with respect to these powerful entities. When I work on a piece, these beings speak with me, and when someone else sees it, and loves it, they get to be a part of that fantastic realm where anything and everything is possible too, and bring that energy into their lives.” -Mickie Mueller Today Mickie has a growing business with her magical fantasy art. Her work has been seen in magazines and books internationally, including a school textbook in Norway. Her prints are sold in catalogues and on the Internet all over the world. She has two critically acclaimed divination decks published by Llewellyn, The Well Worn Path and The Hidden Path. Mickie’s third deck comes out in 2011 and is her first deck that she created on her own, concept, writing, and art. The Voice of the Trees, A Celtic Ogham Oracle is based on the rich and fantastic Celtic history, myths and legends and the Ogham system of letters used in 4th-6th century. |
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Secret Lives
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Secret Lives by Barbara Ardinger Being of the male persuasion I had my doubts as to how much
I would relate to and be drawn into a novel about a group of older women who follow
Goddess traditions and teachings. After reading Secret Lives I now see that my
doubts were wholly unfounded and that Barbara Ardinger has written a marvelous
book that is engaging, heartwarming and even instructive if you are open to the
spirit in which this novel was written. The grandmothers, the daughters and the
granddaughters of this novel are well drawn characters that personify the
struggles that women in general face living in a world that still sees them as
worth less than their male counterparts but in particular it also delves into
the struggles that women face who follow a spiritual path that does not adhere
to a patriarchal model that has come to dominate this modern world we live in. |
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Taylor Ellwood |
The Samhain Elemental Ritual by Taylor Ellwood Traditionally, Samhain is considered to be the day when the
dead and living can mingle. The veils of the world are at their thinnest and
there is a sense of liminal space in the air. Liminal space is border space,
the in between place, where anything can happen. This flexibility time means
that contact with our ancestors is easier than during the rest of the year. A
lot of rituals I've attended for Samhain have involved remembrances of the
dead. For me, Samhain is a time for change. The nights are getting
longer, the air is cooler, the leaves are falling, and we are going into a time
of the year that tends to make many people insular. At this time of the year I
remember past regrets and assess the overall direction of my life. This has
caused me to start doing an annual ritual for just this time of the year. This annual ritual involves choosing an element and
dedicating myself to working with it for an entire year. I originally chose the
five classic Western elements to work with. Since these elements have a lot of
behavioral characteristics associated with them, I felt that choosing to work
with an element that represented desired behavioral traits could be useful for
helping a person modify hir behavior. Other Samhain Articles for Samhain |
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Jesse Wolf Hardin
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Pitfalls on the Magical or Spiritual Path. Otherwise benign New Spiritual practices can suffer from some of the same pitfalls as conventional organized religion. Fortunately, once we’re aware of these diversions we can make the informed choices that reunite us with the inspirited world, rather than contribute to our estrangement. In my life of pilgrimage the voices of the earthen Anima have repeatedly contradicted what I’ve read, was taught, once thought, and so badly wanted to believe... Thus as I became a teacher myself, I deferred again and again— not to presumed authorities or established traditions, but to the actual Source of every real truth they contain. Our realization of wholeness/holiness begins not in contemplation or conclusion but in a great listening. It begins in a vulnerable condition of openness, with fierce focus, gentle humility, and the overwhelming gratitude that makes us worthy of such gifts. |
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Featuring the links page
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David Rankine |
Developing the Magickal Personality By David Rankine "I for my part, knew how
little the true adept needs for his magic, but I had to work upon men's
imaginations, and for that I needed a stage setting...and to this end I had to
have about me that which should suggest the great days of the past when the
cult to which I belonged was at the height of its power...And so, little by
little, I had collected ancient things from the old temples...I also used
colours for my background, knowing their power over the mind - over my mind as
well as over the minds of those who came to visit me. There is a science of colours...for my
purpose I use the pale opalescent moon-colours on a base of silver; the purple
that is a plum-colour, and the reds that are magenta or maroon, and the blues
of sea-water and the sky at night; never the strong primaries such as a man
uses when he is a magus. Always the
shadowy, blended colours are mine, for I am the shadow in the background. "As for my body, I had made
that to be an instrument of my personality, training it, supplying it, learning
its arts and powers. Nature had not been
unkind, but she had not been lavish, and I had to make of myself something that
I could use for the purpose I had in hand...I am bold, even rash, in the matter
of lipsticks, and I love long ear-rings.
It would require Huysmans to do justice to the ear-rings I have
possessed - jade, amber, coral, lapis, malachite for day; and for the night I
have great jewels...I wear my own fashions, and they come from the "soft
furnishings" as often one does not find in the dress materials...I like
rings, too, so big that I can hardly get my gloves on over them; and bracelets
like fetters on my wrists. My hands are
supple with ritual...and I wear my nails long to match my tiger teeth. I like my shoes to be very soft and light and
supple, like gloves rather than shoes, so that I can move in them without
sound...I know the meaning of movement - how it should flow like water. I know too how the body should swing and
balance from the waist..." The above passage, from Dion
Fortune's magickal novel Moon Magic, gives a description of how her character,
Vivien Le Fay Morgan, has developed her magickal personality. She chooses clothing, colours, jewellery, and
even the way she moves her body, and speaks, in a conscious way, to project her
magickal personality. The way we dress,
and how we look, not only tells others a lot about ourselves, but also affects
the way we feel about ourselves. When we take our clothes off to work
rituals sky clad, we are casting off our social selves, and coming to a more
natural state, closer to nature. Putting
on ritual jewellery, which is associated with the magickal personality helps
one to transform into the Magickal Self, or to identify more strongly with
it. If you work robed, changing into a
robe is also a way of changing one's identity to that of the magickal
personality, and this should be done consciously. |
Witch: For Those
Who Are
by Ly de Angeles
Circle for Hekate: Volume 1: History & Mythology
by Sorita d'Este
Llewellyn's
Magical Almanac
for 2018
Llewellyn's
Witches Datebook
for 2018
Llewellyn's
Witches' Companion
for 2018
The Witches' Almanac,
Issue 37,
Spring 2018-
Spring 2019: The
Magic of Plants
by Andrdew Theitic (editor)
A Year and
a Day of
Everyday Witchcraft
by Deborah Blake
The Witch's Book
of Spirits
by Devin Hunter
The Goddess in America
Edited by Trevor Greenfield
Doreen Valiente Witch
by Philip Heselton
Lifting the Veil
by Janet Farrar
& Gavin Bone
The Witch's Athame
by Jason Mankey
The Witch's Wand
by Alferian Gwydion MacLir
Complete Book of Aquarian Magic
by Marian Green