Excerpt:
Beads of sweat rolled into my eyes, and I used the back of my wrist to wipe my forehead as I continued to cut flesh from the lamb’s carcass. The task became difficult as my knife had dulled over the years, and there was no way to sharpen the blade. Scraping it over a rock seemed to make it worse, not better. Taking the animals thumped guilt into my heart, but I didn’t think that the people in the valley would miss them much and I was tired of eating fish. Only once had one of them ventured anywhere near my cave, but he never came close enough to find the bough-covered entrance. I hid, just like my mother said to do. The man soon left, but I’d stayed hidden for hours.
Rumbling filled my belly, and I sliced at the flesh with greater determination. Figuring out how to make fire had come naturally. As for the rest of it—what my parents could do, but I had not yet learned—well, Mama and Papa were not here to teach me. And besides, Mama said to keep it hidden. Some, especially the Brethren, would kill us for what we were.
“Mama said to hide.” I spoke out loud to myself. It had been a long time since I’d heard another voice, but at least I could hear my own. My cave was too far from the valley to hear the people there. The few times I ventured close to the hamlet, I heard their language was not my own native tongue. Suspecting I had lost some words, I spoke more often now, and practised all the languages I knew in order to not forget more, and so my throat wouldn’t lose the ability to speak. I talked to Mama and Papa, wishing they were here. I visited Mama out there in the woods. Just bones now. I had taken the arrow out of her ribs, broke off the shaft, and wore the arrowhead on a cord woven with her hair. It was my way of taking my mother with me, keeping her close.
Heat flushed my forehead. That had been happening more often lately. Despite the warmth in my brow, I shivered. Waves of dizziness washed over me. I finished with the lamb and cleaned the knife on a bit of parchment, one of several scraps I found floating down from the sky one day. A piece had drifted across my face, and I glanced up to see what appeared to be a book flying by. The dropped parchment was no less strange: ornate script scribbled all over in green ink. I had grown tired of trying to decipher the bizarre symbols, many of which different than any of the languages I had learned to read, and found other uses for the parchment pieces.
And now I used another sheet as a mop for my sweating head.
Sitting back on my heels, I clutched the arrowhead in my fist. Once more the events of that long-ago day forced themselves into my mind. That terrible day when a man appeared on the ridge. The sun behind cast him in silhouette, and we could not see his face. He wore the dull robes of the Brethren. They billowed, though there was no breeze. His limbs writhed and twisted and cloth rent as wings thrust out, the man’s body distorting until it resolved into a white wyrm, like a dragon but certainly not a dragon. A foul stench emanated from the beast, and I started to gag.
I saw my father struggling. I knew what he was trying to do, but he could not do it. I knew why my mother could not do it right now but why couldn’t my father? Before they had a chance to ready weapons, the wyrm flapped its leathery wings and issued a bone-jarring shriek. Lightning spewing from its terrible maw, past its narrow, gleaming teeth. That creature took flight, swooped down, snatched up my father in its talons, and carried him away.
“Teban!” My mother screamed my father’s name over and over that the word may reach his ears and give him hope. She fell to her knees, wracked with cries of anguish. Clasping me tightly, she held me for what seemed like a long time, both of us sobbing violently. At last, she gained control of her breath and said, “Quosa, I must go after him. I will get your father back. You must hide.” She stood, and shaking her head, she said, “It must be because of the signatures. That’s why he couldn’t—” Her words broke off as we saw another one of the Brethren approach. She screamed, “Hide!” as the man loosed the arrow that lodged in the middle of her chest.
How to Use the Tarot to Develop a Story with M.B. Strang #Tarot #StoryDevelopment
Please Help Send My Son to Disney with His Marching Band
My youngest is registered for a Disney/Universal Studios Florida trip for Spring Break 2023 with his Marching band.
I'm praying that we don't do a backward slide with COVID.
His last big school trip was canceled in 2020. He never did get to go to Washington DC.
He'll be doing lots of fundraisers through school- candy bar sales and a Coffee Beanery fundraiser have already started with more coming soon (see below for Coffee Beanery ordering details)
In addition to his official fundraisers, you can always purchase from me which helps 100% pay for his trip. I have Patreon, an Etsy store The Bewitching Cauldron, a Zazzle store, my books on Amazon, and of course authors can always purchase book tours or social media packages from Bewitching Book Tours.
The tour company he is traveling with also offers an option for a direct donation to his trip.
For the Coffee Beanery Fundraiser, if you are local to the Flint, MI area and would like to place an order let me know, this will bypass the $10 delivery fee. Unfortunately, they have more varieties and flavors available to purchase online than they do on the brochure.
If you are not local but would still love some coffee please visit the fundraising website: https://www.coffeebeaneryfundraising.com/.All orders placed online will be shipped to your home for a $10 flat shipping fee.
In the top right corner click on shop a fundraiser and use this information to log in:
Email: pattit@beanerysupport.com
Password: coffeebeanery
At check out please enter "Flushing Band and Orchestra Fundraiser Robert Napolitano " in the “Add a note” section at checkout.
Thank you for contributing.
Join Me at Baubles and Broomsticks This October
Tarot Tuesday- Living, Breathing Archetypes with Diane Riis #TarotTuesday
Hi There!
Thank you for welcoming me as a guest blogger on Tarot Tuesday!
My
name is Diane Riis and I am a Witch practicing earth and intuition-based
spirituality. My business is called Earth and Soul, which helps women write
their stories and connect to their earthy natures as well as their higher,
soulful selves.
About Tarot magic
I have been reading Tarot and using the cards to focus my meditations for over 25 years. This is a great opportunity for me to talk about something I rarely share on my blog www.bellywitch.com even though Tarot is key to self-divination and spirituality for me. What I love most about the deck I use are the archetypes and symbols that have been potent markers to what’s happening in my life and in the world around me.
About archetypes and
Tarot
Let me say that “archetype quizzes” and systems that take our
personalities and categorize them into archetypal language is all the rage.
But, a deck of Tarot cards will tell you everything you need to know about the symbols you should to be paying attention to in the moment.
Because...
You are not ONE
archetype for your whole life!
Goddess forbid! You are a creator, a spiritual being, a living,
breathing, changing, evolving soul and not a fixed, permanent personality that
is label-able for once and for all!
What archetypes seem to be governing you today? That’s where all the
power is. In the now, now, now. And if you don’t like it, you can change
it!
Circle of Life, Ocean,
Devil
So, if you want archetypes, the Tarot is an amazing resource. You will see how Mother, Queen, Page, earth, fire, stars, moon, and more play out in a beautiful, revolving kaleidoscope throughout your life.You will find these images in my latest book Midnight Pages: A Mystical Workbook for Writers, Insomniacs and Night Owls.I use archetypes to guide your journey through the night, to help you make sense of the sleeplessness, dreams and shadows in your own life and psyche.
Motherpeace
In divination and meditation I use the Motherpeace Tarot deck, which is
woman-centric and an alternative to the patriarchal interpretation of
traditional decks and religious/spiritual systems.
The images are rooted in art, myth, Goddess worship, the matriarchy and
the stages of female life. You will find this Tarot deck refreshing, even
though it dates from the early 80s.
Created by Vicki Noble,Motherpeace is a round deck, which takes
some getting used to when it comes to shuffling! It’s rich in ancient meaning
and beautifully drawn.
The accompanying book, Motherpeace: A Way to the Goddess through Myth, Art and Tarot published by Harper and Row, is comprehensive in explaining the sourcing, meaning and interpretation of all the images Vicki Noble uses. It goes into history and context and at the end of each chapter comes my favorite passages: “if you get this card in a reading…”
Here are some tips for using this deck for your own divination and
meditation.
Circles, spirals and
spirituality
Use a circular pattern for your card reading – it only makes sense
considering it’s a round deck! Put your significator card in the center and lay
out the cards in a circle around it. Then, you can use the elements and
cardinal directions to place the cards. Here’s an example:
Sometimes you can pre-select your signicator card to represent where you
feel you are that day. You sift through the cards until one speaks to you. I
let the Goddess decide for me by shuffling a few times, holding the cards against
my belly, then cutting the deck into three, three times then shuffling one more
time. The top card is my significator. Put that in the middle of your table.
North
The next card goes above the significator. It will represent the
watchtowers of the North, which correlates to earth, grounding and the
direction you might want to go in the next phase of your life. Since this card
represents earth, it might mean tangible things so you can also read this card
for insight into how you can obtain the material gifts you want.
South
The cardinal direction South represents sun, fire, passion, creativity, and what wants to come from your heart chakra and solar plexus. Place that card under the significator and let it symbolize what is hot for you now: what needs healing so your creativity can come to life or so that you can find and LIVE what you are truly passionate about.
East
East is air, thought, mind, the power of the intellect. Place it to the right of the significator card and let it represent how you might need to shift your understanding of your current circumstances. Ask, what do I need to know? as you read the card.
West
West is the direction of water, feelings, the oceans of the unconscious
which literally swims with emotion. Place this card to the left of the
Significator and let it represent what is backing up all that you do: your
emotional orientation to life, the past traumas and heartbreaks you’ve experienced,
the subconscious beliefs that might be holding you back. Let images from the
West rise up gently to your conscious mind and see what you can release before
the reading is over.
I know you’ll love the Motherpeace deck and thank you so much for letting
me share about it!
Blessed be,
Diane Riis
You can find Diane’s
most recent book Midnight Pages: A Mystical Workbook for Writers, Insomniacs
and Night Owls at www.themidnightpages.com along with writing
prompts and other things to get you through the night. This book is a journey
through the shadows of the self and the night, helping writers find their muse
and deepen their work through keeping nightly “Midnight Pages.”
Diane is an author,
writer’s coach, and flower farmer. You can find her blog at www.bellywitch.com and her business page at www.earthandsoulpublishing.com.
WRITING PROMPT From Midnight Pages:
Close your eyes. What do you hear, smell, taste? What do you sense at an energetic or intuitive level? Spend some real time. Find at least twenty-five things. When it gets hard to add to the list is when it gets interesting…”
Excerpt:
VIGILANTIA
Vigilantia: lying awake, sleepless, vigilance. The silence and stillness of midnight might feel suffocating, dense, and thick—heavy with foreboding. It might have you lying in bed, heart pounding, afraid of the dark.
Under the cloak of night, your hearing is heightened. Sounds startle you awake as you drowse. Your mind can ramp up: haunting memories, recriminations, regrets, and stuck thoughts keep you from your rest. Some “insights come up as well and sensations: the surge of adrenaline, pricklings on your neck. You might feel the weight of the dark bearing down on you or you notice movement in the shadows. Maybe you have the sense you’re being watched. Something lurks in the dark that’s imperceptible during the day. You might feel like you are not alone, and that subtle presence over your shoulder seems familiar. You wonder if it’s been there before, maybe even always. During the day, with music blaring and people talking, you just don’t perceive it. Ask what message all this has in store for you. Don’t reject what you hear. Don’t dismiss. Allow.
Night belongs to the spirits. –Proverb