During my visits to all the wonderful Under a Halloween Moon Tea Parties hosted by Frosted Petunias I came across a wonderful All Hallows Eve Give Away at Mother Moon.  You must stop by and check it out.  It is the most spectacular basket ever.

So many lovely things in it.  I have also added a button on my left side bar that will take you there directly also.  Have a wonderful week everyone.

Blessed Be!

Welcome my dear friends, I see you didn't let my invitation or my ghosts scare you off from having tea with me this evening.  I'm so glad you decided to join us here at the

So you say you'd like to have a tour of my house?  Are you sure.....it can be kind of spooky.  Well all right then, come on in.  You'll have to watch out for the glowing Jack  O' Lanterns and the spider webs.

Come in and have a little treat.  There are a few to choose from.  Take as many as you like.

Oh I see you've met some of my guests.  

Morticia and Gomez are dear friends of mine.  We've known each other for ages!!

Now it's off to my special room.  Remember to keep it a secret, all my wonderful magick is cast here.

Awww...I see the look of glee on your face.  I know you'd like to get a hold of my Book of Shadows, but I can only show you the first page.  This book has been passed down to me from my grandmother, she received it from her's and so on and so forth.  I will have the proud pleasure of handing it down to my daughter some day!

Now off to have some of what I call tea...not your average brew!

Now we really must be on our way to my ancestral graveyard to have tea with the Ladies.  Please follow me. Watch your step though, if you wake Uncle Rufus he won't be happy with you!

Well I must be off to cook a little brew.  I'm so glad you stopped by to see me.  Have a wonderful evening under the moon and see you on Halloween or as my ancestors like to call it Samhain.

Well I just have to share with you this lovely chance to win a beautiful ATC drawn in colored pencils by Angela Kennedy.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  Please visit Angela's  site for all the details on how to win this wonderful drawing.

There is also a link on my sidebar.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!  Also, check out some of the groups I belong to on my side bar.  There are some wonderful art groups.

Well I had so much fun making my Great Witch ATC cards.  They are the first ATC cards I have ever made.  Now I'm going to have to make some just to keep for myself...LOL!  I am posting pictures and I hope you like them.  I plan to experiment more with this type of media.

Bloody Mary is the first card and the "spooky" is the back of the card.  The second card is the witch with the pumpkin and the spider web and bat is the back of that card.  It was a little hard to get good pictures of them.  I used my daughter's old Pokemon cards and covered them with cardstock.  I distressed the second card with a stain and then went over it with mod podge.  The hat on Witch 1 is a little big, but I was having a hard time getting it to scale down.  In hindsight, I now see I should have scaled the witch up.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Something Wicca This Way Comes

Something Wicca This Way Comes

The religion known as Wicca does not embrace the Christian concepts of God and Satan, or sin and Hell.  With its reverence for nature and the earth, and its incorporation of goddess worship, Wicca is both a pantheistic and polytheistic religion.  Its name is the Old English term for “witch” (Although some Wiccans will vehemently argue that it derives from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means “wise one”) and its main tenet is the Wiccan Rede, which states, “An it harm none, do what thou wilt.”  It is a code of ethics that most Wiccan strictly adhere to.

The beliefs in karma and reincarnation are strongly shared by Wiccans throughout the world, and whatever energies one sends out to others—whether negative or positive—are believed to be returned threefold or more to the sender.  The belief among those who follow Wicca is that if you deliberately attempt to bring harm upon others, your efforts will have self-destructive results.  In the end, the harm you bring to others will be to yourself as well. 

Wicca is not a religion that actively seeks converts.  Witches and/or Wiccans who make the rounds on talk shows during Halloween usually do so in the pursuit of bringing education and enlightenment to the masses, not for the purpose of proselytism.

Wiccans, modern witches, and others who follow neo-pagan paths seek to live in harmony with nature and Mother Earth.  Most respect the religious beliefs of others and realize that all positive spiritual paths are but different roads leading to the same light of love.  No one religion is right for everyone, and no religion—whether it be Wicca, Buddhism, Judaism, Catholicism—is more valid or right than the other.  Religious diversity is something that needs not only to be tolerated, but also celebrated.  The good that religion was designed to teach and maintain inevitably turns to harm when one religious group claims superiority over another or tries to deny others of their constitutional right to believe in and worship the god or goddess of their choice.

The Horned God, who represents the male polarity of nature and is honored in many Wiccan traditions is an extension of the old pagan gods of fertility and the hunt.  Worshipped throughout Great Britain and Europe for many centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ or the penning of the Bible, horned deities such as the Celtic Cernunnos and the Greek Pan were benevolent by nature and in no way linked to evil in any way, shape or form.  But with the advent of Christianity, the gods of the old religion were diabolized into the devils and demons of the new religion in the Church’s early effort to convert the pagan population to the ways and beliefs of Christianity.  As a result, the horns, hooves, and goatish beards of the old horned gods became the attributes of the Christians’ diabolical Prince of Darkness, also called The Devil and Satan.

In some traditions of Wicca, the Horned God is believed to pass into the Land of the Dead at Halloween and remain there until He is once again reborn at the Winter Solstice, when the hours of night are the longest.

to be cont'd

Well to my wonderful surprise today I have been blessed with 3 blog awards!!  Thank you so very much Dragonfly!!  With no further ado here are the lovely awards.

Now with all awards come rules and these are the ones for these,
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this on to 15 other great bloggers you recently discovered.
4. Contact the selected bloggers and tell them about their awards.

So 7 random things about myself
1. I love art and creating beautiful things
2. I love to cook and bake
3. I love to grow herbs and plants
4. I love animals
5. I write poetry
6. I make 1 inch scale doll houses
7. I sew, quilt and cross stitch


Now the 15 other great bloggers.
1. Sensual Decadence
2. My Goddess Self
3. Frosted Petunias
4.Witch Mom
5.One Witch's Way
6.Hedge Witch Cottage
7.Jasmine Moonsong
8.Lady Jasmine's Mystic Temple
9.Plumrose Lane
10.Hedge Witch Hollow
11.Hedgewitch Inn
12.Tansey Firedragon
13.Lilyth's Path
14.2 Witches Blog
15.Wendy


Thank you Dragonfly!!

I just have to share with you some of my beautiful finds on our family day out yesterday at the Apple Orchard.   I just love my little ghosty and witchy.  I plan to make some similar witches out of clay for next year that I will list for sale on my etsy store. I think they are just adorable.

Also, I received my Great Witch ATC card from little Missy Messy.  I just love it!!

Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of my father's passing from stomach cancer.  In memory of him I have written a little poem.

Dad I Miss You

Hello there the angel of my nightmare

  the shadow in the background constantly haunting me

Sleep eludes me, hungry for acceptance and love

Frustration and anger stimulate my wakefulness

The voice inside my head screams continually you're not worthy

I miss you....Where are you...

The only man in my life who ever truly loved me

I miss you...Where are you...I need you...You left to soon

Perception hits me like a brick wall

The angel of my nightmare is no angel at all...but death

He stole you...He took you too soon

My heart cracks...it does not heal

Dad I miss you...I miss you still!!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients

FOR THE FILLING

1 1/4 c Sugar

1/4 c Cornstarch

1/4 ts Salt

1 c Water

1/2 c Fresh lemon juice

3 lg Egg yolks

2 tb Unsalted butter

Grated zest of 1 lemon

THE PIE SHELL

1 ¼ cup flour ¼  teaspoon salt 1/3 cup shortening 3 to 4 tablespoons water I use my food processor to mix the dough up until it looks like small peas.  The roll into a ball and on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough, forming a 12 inch circle.  Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll the crust into the pie plate.  Ease pastry into the pie plate, being careful not to stretch the pastry. Trim to a ½ inch beyond the edge.  Fold under extra pastry and flute it or pinch it to form a scalloped edge.  Prick the bottom and sides and bake in an oven preheated at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or till golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

FOR THE MERINGUE TOPPING

6 lg Egg whites; at room

1/2 ts Cream of tartar

1/2 c Plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

For the filling, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a nonreactive saucepan. Gradually add the water and lemon juice, stirring to make a smooth mixture. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, still stirring, as it turns thick and clear, then remove from the heat. Pour half the hot- mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly, then pour the mixture back into the pan, stirring to keep the eggs from scrambling. Cook over low heat, stirring, a few minutes more. Stir in the butter and lemon zest. Pour the lemon mixture into the baked pie shell and smooth with a spatula. Preheat the oven to 350F. To make the meringue, beat the egg whites in a large clean bowl with the cream of tartar. When they make soft peaks, gradually add the sugar and continue until the meringue becomes stiff and glossy and the sugar crystals are dissolved (rub a little between your fingers to feel). Spoon the meringue over the lemon filling, making sure the edges are covered and sealed (otherwise the filling will bubble out). Smooth the meringue, then make peaks (or whatever design you wish) with the back of a spoon. Bake until the surface is lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool before serving; refrigerate if not serving right away. 

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds chicken (breast halves, thighs and drumsticks)

1 1/2 cups mushrooms sliced fresh

1 each onion (medium) sliced

4 cloves garlic minced

14 1/2 once Diced tomatoes undrained

6 once tomato paste

3/4 cup Dry white wine

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon rosemary dried, crushed

1 teaspoon thyme dried, crushed

1 teaspoon oregano dried, crushed 1 teaspoon basil, dried, crushed

1/8 teaspoon Black pepper

1 tablespoon parsley snipped fresh

Fettuccine or Linguine cooked

Preparation

1) Skin chicken. In a 12in. skillet cook chicken in hot oil about fifteen minutes or until light brown, turning to brown evenly. Remove chicken from skillet, reserving drippings in skillet; set chicken aside.

2) Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic to drippings in skillet. Cook and stir about five minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Return chicken to skillet.

3) Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar, salt, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and pepper. Pour over chicken in skillet. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink 

(170F for breasts; 180F for thighs and drumsticks), turning once during cooking. Sprinkle with parsley. If desired, serve over hot cooked pasta

A Witch’s Perspective of Halloween

Halloween is a holiday that has fallen victim to numerous misconceptions, and many people today believe it to be a night of demonic mischief, evil doing, a night full of terrible and hurtful pranks, and unholy terror.

To many children throughout the world, Halloween is a time of the year when monsters become real.  The invisible, frightening things that hide in old spooky attics full of cobwebs, and even underneath the bed seem to become scarier when the shadows of Halloween begin to grow and the setting sun retreats and the night sky become ominously dark.

Halloween fears are not felt by children alone, but are even common among adults.  The old saying that “only the brave—or very foolish—go out after sundown on Halloween” remains popular among many country folk in the British Isles.  It is believed that walking alone through a graveyard is particularly dangerous on this night as bloodthirsty creatures of the undead are supposed to rise up from their cold and silent graves in search of human souls.

Some say that Halloween brings out the evil side of human nature in certain individuals.  The number of vandalism acts committed each year on Halloween certainly seems to support this, and nearly everyone has heard horror stories about innocent neighborhood children being poisoned by tainted Halloween candy or being injured by razor blades hidden in apples.  Luckily, such incidents are isolated ones, but it is sad indeed that these images have come to symbolize Halloween today just as much as the jack-o’-lantern has.

It is very unfortunate that many crime-ridden communities around the United States have been forced to put bans on trick-or-treating, and some schools, bending to the pressures of local religious groups, have eliminated Halloween parties and even decorations from their classrooms.  Some people, including Conservative Jews, Fundamentalists and Evangelical Protestants and Muslims, object so strongly to Halloween that they will not even permit their children to trick-or-treat or participate in any way in the celebration of Halloween due to the holiday’s pagan roots.

But I must, most emphatically state that Halloween itself is not a holiday of evil.  It is not rooted in anything of an evil nature.  It does not symbolize evil, nor does it advocate evil in any shape or form.  Why, then, does it appear to affect some people in a way that can only be classified as evil?

I believe the answer lies somewhere in between the negative stereotypes created and perpetuated by the media and anti-pagan propaganda, both of which feed off mankind’s basic fear of the unknown. John Carpenter’s classic slasher film, Halloween, and its numerous sequels feature a character by the name of Michael Myers, a silent but unstoppable and soulless murderer in a mask who goes on a gruesome killing spree every October 31.  The underlying message that this movie and others of the Halloween-style genre convey is that Halloween is the appropriate night of the year for evil.

Each year at Halloween, many radio and television shows become a forum for an array of colorful and controversial characters such as teenage vampires, flying saucer abductees, victims of demonic possession, and so on and so forth.  However, the annual Halloween media blitz does serve a positive function.  It enables many contemporary witches and pagans to come out of the proverbial “broom closet,” speak publicly about their spiritual beliefs and lifestyles, and address many of the misconceptions that the general public holds about them.

stay tuned for part II