A full moon illuminates the night, and you have the impression that everything around you sparkles – a fine, fine glitter- under the silvery light… You clearly see pastures and forests; you hear the gurgling of a stream, the fluttering of leaves, the hooting of owls in the distance…
You approach a house… A rustic cottage beside the stream, amongst the trees… You can clearly see the glow of firelight in the hearth, and the twinkling of candles through the windows…
You approach quietly; your footfalls soft as you approach the open door… You notice a broom, propped up on the threshold…
You step inside, carefully avoiding stepping on the Toad that eyes you from the foliage by the front step… Resting beside a wax sealed bottle filled with sharp, rusted nails, broken glass and other rust coloured and strange curiosities…
In the windows hang colourful fishing floats, their coloured glass sparkling in the candle-light… On the window-sill ,and on the many shelves, sit a collection of bottles, white pebbles, smooth river stone, herbal infusions, salves and balms, seashells, freshly ground herbs, resins, roots, driftwood, dried flowers, wooden boxes, and jars… Hanging on the walls are bouquets of various medicinal and sacred herbs… Earthen-ware and wooden pots are placed on a roughly hewn wooden table, stained with over-use, reds and greens worn into the very wood… In the hearth rests a cauldron, and propped up in the corner; A forked staff of Oak wood… The bleached bone of a Stag’s skull, antlers still intact, rests with it…
A woman with long raven hair, streaked with grey – A few small braids woven with coloured thread, small beads, trinkets and feather of her birds – works her pestle and mortar… Her black dress hangs to the floor, her bare feet peep out from beneath its folds, a red cord wrapped around her waist, as she pounds the fragrant smelling herbs into submission… Adorning her fingers; her Handfasting band of silver knotwork, and a silver serpent that is eating its own tail… She wears a dangling necklace of carved bone, various small shells, garnet and jet, it glints in the hearth-light, falls to her breasts, and swings with the motion of her grinding… The torc around her neck, reminding her of her oaths…
You are in the cottage of a Witch…
Come in from out of the cold and stay a while… She might tell you a secret, or three…
Welcome to ‘Of Shimmering, Hidden and Crooked Ways’, my own wee nook of the blogosphere… A place for Witchcraft and cunning … A place for folklore, song and celebration… A place for my Witchy ‘Workings’, gardening, cooking and travels… A place to honour the Old Ones, the Old Ways and the Ancestors…
A place for learning, and growing and teaching…
Once a week I shall be featuring an interview – The first person I have the privilege to interview is the beautiful, and incredibly talented, Carolina Gonzalez of The Hoodoo Shop , which is a business ran by herself and her husband, dedicated to all forms of Folk and Traditional Magic… You can read the interview at the re-launch of this blog on the 1st March…
Carolina Gonzalez - Working on Samhuinn
As well as some secret planned fun, the re-launch on 1st March will also feature…
…A Giveaway – A stunning, Ancestral divination pendulum –
I would post a photograph, but it’s still a work in progress, so I’ll have one for you at the launch as well as the details on how you can get your mitts on this piece of Witchy goodness…
…The details of the upcoming Blog Tea Party! Not to be missed! Fun for all…
… A very Cailleach inspired theme…
So, until then, I invite you to have a look around… There’s a little about me, and details for contacting me…
Mud & Blood, Sticks & Stones, Roots, Herbs & Bones... 