Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Gail Bussi, author of the new Enchanted Herbal. Let's face it: life is not always easy even at the best of times, and given the uncertainty and change we have all been experiencing in the past year, it's not surprising that many of us are feeling more stressed, anxious, and fearful than ever before. With the coming of the holidays, we all can do with a little calming magic! This is why I have developed what I call a "tranquility tool kit" to help us feel a little better; gentle self-care and support are always important, of course, but in the midwinter season perhaps more so than ever! These simple-to-make products all contain essential

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Linda Raedisch, author of Night of the Witches and the new Old Magic of Christmas. In Coming of Age in Samoa, anthropologist Margaret Mead coined the term "postmenopausal zest" for the creative energy that seizes women once they are freed from the responsibilities of childcare. Coming of age in New Jersey, I noticed that some of my mother's friends, the ones with grown children, had started putting up what I have come to think of as "postmenopausal Christmas trees." No, they weren’t decking the halls with Samoan bark cloth, but instead of hauling out the usual toy trains and macaroni angels, they were buying new and sticking to strict color

I'm pet-sitting over the holidays, which means I am in a house with a lot more tv channels than I'm accustomed to. While flipping through the endless options this weekend I came across a program talking about the origins of varied holiday traditions that abound. While I've pondered the meaning behind some of my own automatic traditions before, this show offered history and reasoning I'd never heard before. One of my favorite traditions is decorating an evergreen tree and making a holiday wreath for the front door. The historical interpretation I find most connection to is that of hope for spring and a new year, shown by the tree's green life surviving through winter. We also burn

[caption id="attachment_7924" align="alignright" width="180" caption="The Yulish Tree by DairDair"][/caption] It’s that time of year again…time for gift shopping! Whether you celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice, Christmas or Hanukkah with your family and friends, the season has come to be synonymous with the giving of thoughtful gifts, trinkets or tokens of goodwill. This puts some degree of stress on all of us; though giving is joyous, often the expense and energy spent on tracking down “the perfect gift” is not. I am a book lover, so I happen to think books always make good gifts. There’s no need to worry about whether it fits or is the right color; no need to buy