Hearth and Home Vol. 9 ~ Magic in the Air
iracles,
Happy New Moon in Scorpio. Today is a time of depth and magic making. Here is a blessing to get you started, it is a blessing for the Dead and very appropriate for this time of year.
We are padding softly into November as this month is much quieter than rowdy October and begins to really unfold into the late Autumn and Winter months that are some of my personal favorites.
On Halloween we dressed up (Jasper was a gladiator, Heath was a wizard, I was an owl, and David was a Mystic) and went trick or treating. We always have a Halloween party at our house that my family joins us for because trick or treating in my neighborhood is a ton of fun. My fave costume this year: little ones dressed up as Coco from the film. There was also a pretty fantastic family of Pikachu creatures.
Then, early on November 1st as I lit candles and incense at my ancestor altar and made the first round of offerings I sent in the final copy-edited version of my book manuscript. I really took my time on this last round of edits because after sending in the manuscript there is no more editing, it now goes into the next phase of production and any significant changes result in delaying the entire schedule. It felt very good to send in the manuscript while I was also honoring and listening to my ancestors, exactly right for a book about magic!
The last few weeks have also been full of the kindest words, compliments, and votes of confidence for this work of my heart in the form of some truly fantastic endorsements. I wrote earlier about endorsement gathering – how it is this process of both great humility and also fantastic surprises.
It has been so interesting to see who is too busy to endorse, who is willing and ready to show up and endorse, who makes time even though their schedules are crazy busy and who does not. I have learned much about various figures in our community that I have admired and looked up to and have been so floored by the kind words and support that have come from corners both expected and also unexpected.
On a side note: do you keep a running document of the times that people compliment you? If not, can I suggest that you do so? My publisher has me keeping a word document with all of the endorsements the book has received and when you are having a crap day or someone has said something unkind or thoughtless it is a really powerful exercise to look at the words of kindness and praise that have been lavished on your work. It is not about feeding or stroking your ego, it is about reminding yourself that the work you do makes a difference for people, makes lives just a little sweeter, just a little better. Do it. Make your list. Pin it to your wall. Add to it regularly.
The boys are doing beautifully. Jasper had a 1st grade bike race last Friday and, though he only learned to ride his bike two weeks ago (which is better than me as I have STILL not learned how to ride a bike!) he finished in the top seven. We have been working on homework together and I am teaching him something that I constantly remind myself of and tell my students too – “to make double-sure” that everything has been addressed. This is important in math, spelling, reading, and yep, magic too.
Heath is headed into 5 month old territory. Yuletide came a bit early for him as we found this amazing subscription box that has answered one of my most burning questions: where does one find toys for infants and what toys are appropriate? Love. This. So we are playing a lot and going on lots of little adventures. He is teething and so it is very much “hold him at your own risk” because you will be slimmed by his drool, but he is so ridiculously cute that no one cares!
Meanwhile, in between books and babies and seven year old boys, David and I are creating a new astrology course that will be really incredible (I can’t wait to share!). I wrote a Magical Missive on creating a prayer bundle (and you can find all of the other Magical Missives right here), there is a new Talking Shop Podcast up, and of course Mercury Retrograde is right around the corner so you all need to freshen up on What to do BEFORE Mercury goes Retrograde.
I wrote a review on Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s The Fool’s Journey Tarot Collection. Go to the post on Canto, leave a comment, and sign up for BPAL’s newsletter to have a chance at winning an ENTIRE SET of the Magician oils – yeah, they are all out of stock so this is pretty spectacular.
We have also been in mid-term madness over here – someone stole my Beto yard sign, can y’all believe it?! The results are now in and the dissecting is getting going in earnest. News, staying on top of it, but also not letting it totally stress us out and depress us, has been an ongoing subject of interest in our Sacred Arts community. My favorite source for news these days is the Skimm. It gives me exactly what it says: a skim of major events and then I can go deeper if I want. It is delivered in a smart voice that is also just a bit valley girl funny and for some reason that mix is really hitting the ticket for me right now.
In other news, did you know my friend Alexandra has a new book out? It is called So This Is The End and it is a love story with a twist – you have 24 hours of life left – what do you do with it? Y’all know I love questions like this!
And if you need more in the way of books, you can pre-order Theresa’s latest – Tarot for Troubled Times – right here.
Over at the Sacred Artists group we are going to spend this month talking about two of my favorite subjects: FOOD + MAGIC. Come join!
Oh! And last but not least – Jupiter is moving into its home-turf of Sagittarius today. I hosted a call about this that you can listen to here if you haven’t already and there is still time to sign up for Light the Way magic – you have until noon, central time to get in.
Blessings for a beautiful and brilliant November!
xo,
Bri