Everyday Witchcraft: Simple Steps for Magical Living

Fun, simple, and easy ways to integrate your spiritual beliefs as a Pagan with your everyday life.

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Deborah Blake

Deborah Blake

Deborah Blake is the author of Everyday Witch Book of Rituals (Llewellyn 2012), Witchcraft on a Shoestring (Llewellyn, 2010) as well as The Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (2010) and several other books. She lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse in upstate New York with five cats who supervise all her activities, both magickal and mundane.

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On the Cover: A Dream Come True

Whoo hoo! I can finally share some great news I've been sitting on for a while. (It's a little squished, but still fun.) I'm going to be a cover model!

No, not on the cover of one of my books (although there are folks who think that the picture of Barbara Yager, my first Baba Yaga, looks a bit like me on the cover of Wickedly Dangerous -- yes, my abs look *just* like that...snort). And not on the cover of Time Magazine as Witch of the Year, although really, I'm not sure why not.

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Seasonal Protection Magick

Life is uncertain. If you turn on the news, you will be subjected to a constant barrage of All the Horrible Things. But even beyond that, there are always things that can harm us, whether they are acts of nature, acts of man, or just bad luck. There is no way we can keep bad stuff from happening once in a while, but it never hurts to do a little protection work to give yourself and your loved ones a bit of a boost in that direction.

I try to do serious protection work for my house and property at least once a year, in the fall as I am shutting things down and closing up the house for the winter. The coming week, leading up to Samhain on the 31st, is a perfect time for these kinds of rituals and spells (although they will work any time, of course). The darkness is closing in as the days grow shorter, and with the veil becoming thinner, it is always a good idea to reinforce your defenses.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Beth Thomas
    Beth Thomas says #
    Thank you. As a beginner I have conference I can do this
  • Deborah Blake
    Deborah Blake says #
    Great! Let me know how it went.

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Change of Season: Fall Cleaning
It is definitely autumn here in upstate NY. The trees are changing color, the garden is dying back, and we had our first frost the other morning. Days are shorter and colder, and I can feel the energy slowing from the hectic pace of summer. - See more at: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2014/10/change-of-seasons-fall-cleaning.html#sthash.th2uYNDz.dpuf

 It is definitely autumn here in upstate NY. The trees are changing color, the garden is dying back, and we had our first frost the other morning. Days are shorter and colder, and I can feel the energy slowing from the hectic pace of summer.

It is definitely autumn here in upstate NY. The trees are changing color, the garden is dying back, and we had our first frost the other morning. Days are shorter and colder, and I can feel the energy slowing from the hectic pace of summer. - See more at: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2014/10/change-of-seasons-fall-cleaning.html#sthash.th2uYNDz.dpuf
It is definitely autumn here in upstate NY. The trees are changing color, the garden is dying back, and we had our first frost the other morning. Days are shorter and colder, and I can feel the energy slowing from the hectic pace of summer. - See more at: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2014/10/change-of-seasons-fall-cleaning.html#sthash.th2uYNDz.dpuf

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
A Mabon Spell for Balance

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  • Kassandra Ripley
    Kassandra Ripley says #
    Thank you. This could not have come for me at a better time. My life has been in turmoil for several months now, and as I was rea
  • Deborah Blake
    Deborah Blake says #
    I'm so glad you found it helpful!

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Harvest Magic: Basil

We are in the midst of harvest season now. The Fall Equinox (also known as Mabon, and the 2nd of 3 harvest festivals on the Wiccan Wheel of the Year) is either the 22nd or the 23rd, depending on which calendar you look at. Either way, in most parts of the country, the harvest is in full swing, and most gardens are beginning to slow down as the nights grow cooler and the days grow shorter.

One of my favorite things to harvest at this time of year are herbs, so I've going to do a short series on a few of the ones I use the most. I tend to grow herbs that have multiple purposes: culinary, medicinal, and/or magical. Many herbs fall under this category, and they often have lovely flowers that attract bees and other beneficial insects. They're usually easy to grow, and you can harvest smaller pieces all through the growing season simply by snipping off the amount you need.

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  • Joel O'Brien
    Joel O'Brien says #
    Basil is my favorite herb so I enjoyed the article. I also use lemon in mine. I never did until I made a pesto cream sauce that ca
  • Deborah Blake
    Deborah Blake says #
    Great minds :-) I never thought of using the zest too, but that sounds like a great idea!
  • Greg Martin
    Greg Martin says #
    Just did! AWESOME!
  • Deborah Blake
    Deborah Blake says #
    Yay! I hope it is magical :-)
  • Deborah Blake
    Deborah Blake says #
    You're very welcome. Not sharing the pesto, though--you'll have to make your own!

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Meet Baba Yaga

 As some of you know, I have written a series (a novella and two novels so far) about an updated version of the Baba Yaga tales. The novella came out recently, and the first book will be released on September 2nd. But not everyone is familiar with Baba Yaga, so I thought I would introduce her to you. Here—let me fill up the samovar with tea, and we call gather around the hearth fire while I tell you a story…

Most people are familiar with the standard fairy tales (many of which were written down by the Brothers Grimm, and then prettied up into the versions we know today…the earlier stories were, well, grim). You know Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, of course. But when I set out to write an updated fairy tale, I wanted to use a story that hadn’t been done quite so many times. There are some fabulous modern rewrites of all those classics, as well as things like Beauty and the Beast, but I wanted something completely different. I wanted, as it turned out, Baba Yaga.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
A Supermoon Love Spell

As you probably already know, the full moon this Sunday (August 10th) is going to be what they call a "Supermoon." A Supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the time in the moon's orbit when it is closest to the Earth. This makes for a full moon that looks larger than usual--and the one this coming Sunday is going to be that biggest Supermoon this year.

Beyond the fact that it will be pretty glorious to look upon, you might wonder if a Supermoon is more powerful for doing magical work than any old regular full moon. I'm going to go with: yes.

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  • Jasmine
    Jasmine says #
    Nice blog.

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