Blessings from the Other Side o’ the Solar Eclipse!

“Belief in Mysteries, all manner of Mysteries, is the only lasting luxury in life.”

—Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Witches of Worm (1972)

Words cannot adequately describe the state of post-ritual, post-eclipse experience of complete euphoria that is surging through my body-mind-spirit as I type this. I truly hope that everyone who sought to marshal and direct the powerful energies at work during the profound astronomical phenomenon that only just recently concluded experiences the manifestation of their magical intentions. I feel so powered-up it’s as though I might be capable of fueling the city of Chicago’s electrical grid all by myself! Wow! Thank you, total solar eclipse at 19 degrees Aries Conjunct Chiron! What a profoundly healing event I will forever treasure in my soul. ❤️

My Amazon Author Page Has Gone Live! Huzzah!

Give me a Follow, eh? And if you’ve downloaded/are currently reading In Praise of the Lady of Power on Kindle or in paperback format, I’d love to receive your review! Thank you from my whole heart! Viva La Santísima, La Dama Poderosa!

Detailed closeup of my boveda to La Santa Muerte Blanca. (c) Anna Urošević.

Just Released on Kindle: My English-Language La Santa Muerte Devotional Prayer Book

While I eagerly await the final production hurdles for the print version to be overcome, I am very pleased to announce you can purchase the Kindle / ePub version of my just-released devotional prayer book to La Santa Muerte, In Praise of the Lady of Power: An English-Language Booklet of Prayers Dedicated to La Santa Muerte! It’s available for immediate download on Amazon for just $3.95!

I began writing the book on Serbian Christmas Day this year (January 7) and by March 7, the files were ready to be uploaded to my distribution partner. I will let everyone know once the print version is ready, and then you can request your local metaphysical or other bookstore of the brick-and-mortar variety to order it!

Viva La Santísima! This is the culmination of my chief devotional offering to Her. ❤

Photo (c) Rev. Anna Applegate 2024.

Happy Spring/Autumn Equinox, Folks!

I wish all my fellow dwellers in the Northern Hemisphere a joyful Spring Equinox / Ostara and my friends and followers in the Southern Hemisphere an abundant Autumn Equinox / Mabon! Blessings of Balance, no matter where you are! May prosperity, pleasure, and peace be yours! And so it is!

Hail, Holy Powers, Bestowers of Blessings too numerous to count! Hail, the Deathless Gods! Hail, fecund Earth! May we be ever mindful to tread lightly upon You!

Paganicon 2024: Day Three

I feel a swirling host of deep emotional currents within me as I sit to begin this post at a quarter to eight in the evening, reflecting on the outstanding day I had and the transformative, evolutionary weekend at Paganicon 2024 this has proven to be for me. Powerful feelings of jubilation and gratitude wrestle with an increasing melancholy as my mind and heart come to terms with the fact that save for the long drive back home tomorrow, this weekend of fellowship, discovery, learning, sharing, and connecting has come to an end. Winter winds whistle through the night air, as if nature itself is keening, partaking of my waxing sadness. Swirling currents. As within, so without. But what wondrous things I have to regale you with, my friends. Do read on…

Paganicon 2024, Day Two

What a profoundly satisfying and wonderful day this has been! I am very pleased to say that my “Hands-On Heka; Magic in Ancient Egypt” workshop was a resounding success!

Imbolc Eve: Recipes and Ritual Preparations

When it comes to my personal or coven-based ritual celebrations of the Four Greater Sabbats / Celtic Fire Festivals, the eve of the Sabbat always proves to be a time as energetically charged as the day or feast days themselves. Imbolc Eve is one of my favorite liminal stations in the Wheel of the Year.

Samhain Blessings, Friends!

As I type these words, a winter storm advisory has just been issued by the National Weather Service and my little corner of far northeast Illinois is getting coated in snow. Given that the ancient Celts recognized November Eve as the start of Winter, I don’t mind the presence of snow one bit. Once I publish this post, as the last light of the afternoon dies, I’ll head out into my woods out back, strike the earth with my blackthorn staff, and welcome the Cailleach. This is Her time.

Summer Solstice Prayer to Herakles

Solstice Sovereign,

Glory of Hera,

I greet You with praise as You take Your place upon the high throne of the firmament!

Exalted Hero of Golden Glory,

You have bestowed upon all the blessings of Your bronze-beamed brightness as You completed Your Twelve Labors,

Coaxing forth flowers and fruit from the hidden treasures of seed and vine.

Thus with a heart full of gladness do I

Hail You in this season of Your ascendancy,

For Your exalted radiance becomes a gleaming guarantee that Light shall never forsake the Earth.

Lord, may I achieve Arēte (“Excellence”) in all my undertakings.

Strengthen my mind, set right my path, and drive away all evil-doers from my midst.

Son of Righteousness,

Though my offerings are humble, they are freely given.

Glory and praise unto You,

Hallowed Blaze of the Heavens,

For You are truly the Living Light!

Io, Herakles!

Saturn in Pisces: Welcome to the Great Resignation

As of 7:35 am Central Standard Time, Saturn has exited out of Aquarius and made His ingress into the Mutable Waters of Pisces. There are profound energetic shifts any time a planet transits into a new sign, but this is especially true of the outer planets of our solar system, which move at a much slower rate than the personal planets closer to the Sun. And given the fact that we have the heavyweight of Pluto also changing signs later in the month (more on that in a subsequent post), March 2023 is a Cosmic Green Light to the activation of sweeping changes / structural overhaul that will affect us collectively and individually.