What will you do when your familiar paths and methods no longer work? This is the question of Saturn’s Return. The wide orbit of Saturn, the planet that rules discipline, responsibility, and structure takes approximately 28 years to return to its exact position in the sky at the moment of your birth. You will feel … Continue reading Saturn’s Return: The End of an Era
October is the twilight of the year. We enter the month with bountiful harvests from fruit trees and begin to pull gourds from the ground. We call this the Witches' Thanksgiving - a time to count your blessings. I'm celebrating the Season of the Witch with a slew of good fortune: my first book, The … Continue reading Witchy Manifestations
“When did you become so political?” my partner Joey asked me. I set down the irreverent flipbook while laughing at his response to the image that I posted with much glee on my Instagram page. “Mommy, when I grow up, I want to smash the white racist, homophobic, patriarchal bullshit paradigm too.” “I have always … Continue reading The Face of Courage
My literary agent had been a model in the early 1970s. She was dark haired, tall and willowy like an English Cher. The metaphor strengthens with Julie Castiglia’s sharp English accent, contrast of black hair, green eyes, and paper-thin skin and her infamous curt communication. Julie used words like scissors and would assign her brutal … Continue reading A Tribute to my Literary Champion: Julie Castiglia
I am experiencing an unexpected and yet fully welcomed surge of power amidst this fear today. Like stepping into a familiar river, I feel as secure with Kobe here under my wing, as I did when my beloved Grandpy held me in his bear hugs when I was a child. I am steeped in my early … Continue reading Looking for Unexpected Blessings
Sometimes all you need is a bulldog in your corner. My sixth grade teacher, Miss Kneece, championed her students with a tenacious, sometimes, well actually oftentimes, blunt manner. At a time when all I wanted to do was hide my vulnerbility and pre-teen angst, Miss K would look right through my guise and remind me … Continue reading Mentors, Teachers, Sheroes
As we stood on the steps of my AirBnB in Berkeley, my hostess Yvonne told me she was heading to a story slam. She’d been working on an essay for weeks and would probably tell the story of a cad she once loved if her name was picked. A bright ascot stylishly tied at her … Continue reading Take a Ride on a Witch’s Broom
I wore out the cassette tape of Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrisette while writing The Teen Spell Book: Magick for Young Witches. Unapologetic lyrics about the pain of perfection or daily indignations women endure, while striving to love ourselves just as we are, could bring me to my knees with wracking sobs or raging … Continue reading Unapologetic At Last
To publish a book is to look inside your heart, describe what you see, feel, hear, taste, smell, and know, then share that with the world. Signing The Book of Spells for Kimmy Tejasindhu, my editor at Ten Speed Press who came out to my book launch party at Copperfield Books with designer, Sara Weitzman. … Continue reading Vulnerability of the Heart
My first book, The Wicca Cookbook, was released on September 27, 2000. It is the most incredible feeling to hold a book that you grew inside the cauldron of your soul and spirit. I wrote eight books from 1999-2009 and then took a decade off of writing books to raise my beautiful sons. And now, … Continue reading The Book of Spells is on Sale!