The Witch's Broom and a Magickal Broom Giveaway

We're rapidly approaching the most magical holiday of them all, Halloween--or as many Witches refer to it, Samhain. This day is often referred to as the Witch's New Year, when we say goodbye to the old year and welcome in the new.

So what better time to welcome in a new cover for one of my favorite books, THE WITCH'S BROOM? Llewellyn has decided to give the entire series new, matching covers, and while I loved the old one (sniffle) I think the new one is very cool too.

As it happens, my pal Robert Skinner, of Blue Moon Broom, Brush, and Besom, just sent me some very cool magickal brooms to give away as I chose. (Isn't he sweet?) So one lucky winner will get a copy of the book with its new cover, and a fun broom to go with it, just in time for the holiday (you know, or close).

As always, just fill in the Rafflecopter form to enter, and you get credit for things you've already done, like following me on Twitter or following the blog here. (You do that, right?) No purchase necessary, but feel free to buy a book, leave a review of one you read and liked, or otherwise spread the word about how fun my books are. You know, unless you don't think they are!

So, do you like the new cover?

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Yule Celebration Giveaway!

Yule, also known as the Winter Solstice, starts either Monday night or Tuesday morning, depending on which part of the country you live in. (If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, you're observing the Summer Solstice instead, of course.) In celebration of all the holidays at this time of year, as well as my new Llewellyn book contract (you KNEW I was going to do a giveaway for that, right?) I'm going to do one last giveaway this year. It's a cool one!

Everyday Witchcraft tote bag and notebook, plus a broom ornament, plus swag!

Isn't this adorable?!

OMG! Look what's on the back of the tote bag!

The giveaway includes a reversible oversize tote bag with EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT on one side and The Witch's Broom (still on sale in Kindle form for only $2.99, but I have no idea for how long!) on the other side. Also, the last of my Everyday Witchcraft notebooks, and a cool Yule broom ornament I special-ordered from some lovely Pagans in France on Etsy to give to my family and friends--this was the last of those, too. See how special y'all are? Plus, of course, some misc. swag and bookmarks and such.

By the way, check out how popular Everyday Witchcraft still is! (I tend not to check, so when I happen to look at the page, it is always a pleasant surprise. Thanks SOOOOO much to all of you who have bought a copy!)
#11 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age & Spirituality > Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism > #15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Paganism & Neo-Paganism

All you have to do to enter the contest is to use the Rafflecopter form below and choose some or all of the options. (USA only this time, alas. Don't worry, I'll do another world-wide one in the new year.) 

Tell me, what do you celebrate at this time of year? Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, or some combination? What do you do to celebrate?

Wishing you all a fabulous holiday season and a blessed Yule!

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Halloween-Themed Giveaway!

We're at three weeks to release day for Veiled Magic, so it must be time for another giveaway! Big congrats to Diane P. of Canada, who won the last one. And be sure to check back next week, because IT'S GOING TO BE EPIC. Just sayin'.

This week's giveaway has a Halloween theme, as befits the season. Whether you celebrate it as Halloween or Samhain, you'll probably like this week's goodies. I have to admit, I had a LOT of fun putting together this prize pack.

The winner gets his or her choice of The Witch's Broom (Llewellyn nonfiction) or Wickedly Dangerous plus a cool "You say wicked like it's a bad thing" magnet, a witch ornament, a broom pen, some small twisted black beeswax candle (for magic or everyday use), a magical black cat magnet, plus some misc. swag. And also, this little guy!

To enter, just use the Rafflecopter form below. As always, you can do one or all of the options, but to get credit for a review it either has to be a new one (you can always review a different book of mine) or posted in a new place (if you put a review up at Amazon, you can put it on B&N or Goodreads, for instance). The Tweet about the Giveaway option can be done every day. No purchase necessary and the giveaway is open to everyone, everywhere.

So tell me, how do you celebrate Halloween or Samhain? Is it a religious or spiritual holiday for you, as it is for me, or just a fun day? (Nothing wrong with that!) Are you dressing up? Do you carve a cool pumpkin? Inquiring minds (and our tiny friend above) want to know.

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The Witch's Broom: Magical or Mundane?

As some of you may know, I wrote a book called The Witch's Broom. Recently, as a result of that, I got a message from a lovely man named Robert Skinner, who has a business called Blue Moon Brooms. (Yes, my group is called Blue Moon Circle, so how fun is this?) He said he loved my book (yay) and very kindly offered to make me my own broom for the price of one penny plus shipping (double yay). These are some gorgeous brooms, people.

And then he asked me a very interesting question: did I want a magical broom, or a mundane one?

I actually had an easy answer, because I got two magical brooms in the last year (I bought myself one from a fabulous broom maker on Etsy, and got one as a gift from a former member of Blue Moon Circle) and my favorite handmade mundane broom had in fact kicked the bucket after twelve years of use, and I hadn’t been able to find an affordable one to replace it locally. I hated the crappy mass-made one I’d had to buy from the grocery store. It didn’t sweep well, and the handle didn’t feel right in my hands. So I told Robert that I would love to have him make me a mundane broom.

Generally speaking, for witches at least, brooms are either one or the other. A mundane broom is used for regular day-to-day housecleaning. A magical broom, on the other hand, is saved for ritual use only, and never used to actually sweep a floor. (Any sweeping done with it is usually energetic, not of physical dust or dirt.) I definitely believe that it is a good thing to have a broom that is reserved as a magical tool, if you are going to use one in rituals.

On the other hand, it suddenly occurred to me that there was no reason not to incorporate magical elements into an everyday mundane broom, especially if you were having one made for you by someone who specialized in making the magical sort too. After all, much of the power of our ritual/magical tools comes from our intent when using them, as well as the focus of our energy. So why not take advantage of that and add a little extra magical spark to the broom I was going to use every day?

Robert and I talked about this, and he carefully chose a handle that felt just right (he thinks it is maple, which is a great magical wood) and added a few special touches while he was creating it, including some beautiful feathers hanging from the top, some runes carved into the handle, and binding in the colors I asked for. When it arrived, I blessed and consecrated it to cleanse the energy of my home as it sweeps up dirt (and mounds of cat fur large enough to make another cat out of) and my new broom is now the perfect hybrid of mundane and magical.

I will still keep my purely magical brooms for ritual use only, like clearing the energy of the ritual space before casting the circle, or cleansing energy as part of the ritual itself. But my new broom will add a little magical boost to my everyday housecleaning, adding a little class and beauty to a task that otherwise can be a bit of a drag.

And what could be more magical than that? 

COVER REVEAL Giveaway & Surprise Sale!

As most of you know, I am getting ready to switch gears--from focusing on my nonfiction work (like this year's new release The Witch's Broom and my eBook release of Circle, Coven & Grove ) to preparing for the release of my fiction, the novella and first two novels in the Baba Yaga Series.

[Insert minor hyperventilating here.]

But before I start doing all the yelling and jumping up and down and giveaways for the novels next month, I wanted to take the time to say a giant THANK YOU to all the lovely folks who have been so supportive all these years of my Llewellyn books. No, I'm not giving that up altogether, at least not yet...there's another book coming out next year, as well as a Super Sekrit Project in the works that I can't even hint at yet. (But you're going to LOVE IT. Just sayin'.) And I certainly hope that some of y'all will come along with me on this new adventure.

In the meanwhile, here is the cover for the upcoming EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT, the follow-up book to The Goddess is in the Details (my favorite of all my books so far, and the favorite of many of my readers). EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT will be out in March 2015. I hope you love the cover as much as I do!

I wanted to make sure you all know how very much I appreciate the enthusiasm you have shown for the nonfiction books, as well as celebrate getting this great cover. So I'm doing two things. One, I'm having one last BIG GIVEAWAY, starting today, Friday the 13th and also the full moon, which seems fitting, and running for the next few days until Tuesday the 17th. There are a few options you can do every day, so be sure to come back more than once. PLUS, as an added gift to all my readers, I am putting CIRCLE, COVEN & GROVE up on a .99 sale starting today and running through Thursday June 19th. So if you haven't gotten your copy yet, be sure and pick one up now! (Sorry Nook peeps--this is only on Amazon. But you can still download it to your computer.)

I'm giving away all sorts of goodies, as usual:

TWO tote bags: one with the Witch's Broom cover, and one that is reversible and has the Circle, Coven & Grove cover on one side, and the lovely Magic the Cat on the other. (I know it shows 3, but that's just so you can see both sides.)

TWO notebooks: one with the Circle, Coven & Grove cover by Mickie Mueller, and one with The Witch's Broom cover (and, as you can see, a black and white version of the CC&G cover on the back).

One Circle, Coven & Grove mug

FIVE swag bundles with a mini-notebook, and some other goodies.

And the last of the Witch's Broom refrigerator magnets. You can see how impressed Samhain is.

But wait...that's only 11 prizes, and this is a Friday the 13th giveaway. Shouldn't there be 13 prizes? Yes, I thought so too. So I guess I'd better give away a signed copy of The Witch's Broom

 and one of The Goddess is in the Details.

*Sorry, but only the swag bundles and the broom magnet are open to those outside the USA. And non-USA folks who win one of the other prizes will get a swag bundle instead. (And my undying affection, of course.)

Do you all feel appreciated yet? Are we having fun celebrating the cover reveal? I hope so, on both counts! So enter the contest, and run over to get your sale copy of Circle, Coven & Grove if you want one. And don't forget to spread the word, please!

So, which prize do you want to win?

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Big Happenings: Radio Event and Giveaway on Bitten By Books

I'm going to be on  the radio live this Thursday night from 9-10 pm EST at Blessed Be Garden's Radio Show -- you can join in by calling in or using the chat room Here ya go--the chat room!

Blessed Be Garden is a cool shop and so much more, run by a couple of very nice ladies named Krista and Andrea.They're strangely excited by the idea of having me on their show... I hope a few of you get a chance to stop by and say hi--you can actually hear my voice and everything!

Here's the event poster

Next Thursday on BLESSED BE GARDEN.......

I'm also taking part in a HUGE giveaway for Rachel Smith's amazing blog Bitten By Books. It is the blog's six year anniversary and she is doing six big days of giveaways, including prizes from really cool authors like Jim Butcher, and smaller (but also cool) folks like me. Today's prizes include a KINDLE FIRE! And I believe that you have 4-5 days to enter each day's contests, so it isn't too late. I don't know exactly which day she'll be giving away my prize pack, but I can tell you that I sent her...(wait for it)
Signed copies of the new Witch's Broom book, Everyday Witch A-Z, Everyday Witch A-Z Spellbook, and Everyday Witch Book of Rituals PLUS one of my handcrafted necklaces. You don't want to miss a prize pack like that, do you? No, I didn't think so!

Rachel was kind enough to invite me to do TWO events later in the year to celebrate the release of the two novels, so I definitely wanted to help her celebrate the anniversary of my favorite review and contest blog. Go check it out!

What an exciting week!

Addendum: As requested, the Necklace of the Week that I posted on Facebook, for those of you who aren't on there. (The stone is aventurine, in case you were wondering.)

 

A Reader's Broom

No, this is not a special broom covered with books. (Although, HEY!)

One of my readers sent me a note last week, telling me that she was enjoying her copy of The Witch's Broom but...

I've been reading your wonderful book about broom lore, but I suddenly came across something that is disturbing to me. "Never carry a broom across running water." Why??? The reason I ask is because I live on a sailboat for 6 months each year and traverse the coast of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. The water runs fast in the ocean. I was going to make myself a small besom for the boat, but then I read this broom lore in your book and now I don't know if I should?

 I wrote Sharon back and told her not to worry--all those bits of old lore are just that, old lore--many of which contradict themselves. I certainly didn't see any reason why she couldn't have a special besom for her boat. I also added that I'd love to see pictures of the broom when it was finished, and she kindly sent me pictures of the entire process, along with permission to share. Thanks, Sharon!

Here's what Sharon said about making the broom:

 I will be making my new boat besom from aged Sable Palm leaves (I live in Florida when I'm not sailing) on a piece of bittersweet vine (collected on my sister in law's 200 year old Mass farm).  I love the twist of the vine and it's a very dense, hard wood.

I just LOVE the fact that my book inspired Sharon to make her own broom (since that was one of my goals, to inspire people) and that she made it out of materials and based on a theme that suited her own particular needs. Thanks for sharing, Sharon!

Has anyone else been inspired to make a broom? If you haven't made one yet, are you planning to? If so, I'd love to see it what it is done!

In fact...maybe I should have a contest. People could send me pictures of brooms they make, and the one I like best could win something cool...what do you think?

A Little Light (Blog) Housekeeping

First, thanks to everyone who took the blog poll. If you haven't done it yet, there are still a few days left. I'm mostly just trying to get an idea of what I should be writing about the most (although I'm still going to talk all over the place, probably). So even if the poll doesn't seem to apply to you, feel free to give me your two cents in the comments.

Second, if you remember, when The Witch's Broom first came out at the end of March, I put up a link on both the blog and my website so people could buy a signed version directly from me if they wanted to, and said that I would take it down after I'd sent out 100 copies. We're not there yet, but we're getting close, so if you wanted to order a signed copy from me, you should probably do it now. Just sayin'. Addendum: Reminder, this is for USA folks only. Anyone outside the USA can contact me for special arrangements to get a signed book, but be aware that postage outside the country has gone up dramatically. I think Canada is about $6-7 and overseas is anywhere from $10-$18.

Also, not a blog thing exactly, but I posted some pictures on Facebook of some of the jewelry I took to last Saturday's book signing, and people got kind of excited. (That is to say, I sold three of them to people who said "I WANT THAT." Lol. That wasn't the plan, but it was fun.) I got a bunch of requests to put up pictures of the jewelry on a regular basis, so from now on I am going to do a "Necklace of the Week" on Facebook...probably on Mondays, but maybe Wednesdays. Just so you know. Do you want me to post it here too, or all you all following me on FB?

And now a couple of quick questions:

1. One of the folks here asked for an occasional post on "magical recipes"--food that also has magical properties. Is that something other folks would be interested in?
2. How many of you own/buy tarot decks?
3. How many of you are interested in the writing "how the writing biz works" posts? (As opposed to the "this is what I am working on" type.)

Okay, that's it. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...and thanks in advance for taking the time to answer!

xxx Deborah

Imagicka Book Signing Report

As some of you already know, I did a rare book signing at my pal Robert Wandell's shop in Binghamton yesterday. I thought I'd let those of you who couldn't be there get a taste of what it was like.

GREAT. That's what it was like. Okay, that's the short version. Here's the long one.

Rob has been asking me to do a signing at his shop for years, but it is about an hour and 15 minutes from me (which doesn't seem like much, but I don't do long drives because I have an unfortunate tendency to get drowsy behind the wheel after about half an hour) and frankly, book signings tend to be kind of a hit and miss affair unless you are famous. Which I'm not, for all that Rob likes to call me his favorite BNP. [Big Name Pagan.] Snort.

Still, The Witch's Broom has been generating a lot of excitement [side note--it's down to #50 on Amazon now. Pout. Someone go buy a book!], and Rob moved the store to a new location that I hadn't seen yet, and frankly, it's good to get the heck out of town every once in a while. So I said yes, enlisted my best friend Ellen to do the driving--in the new Honda Fit, which she enjoyed--and our pal Jo went with us. Rob suggested I bring some of my jewelry too, so I packed up a box of books, picked out a few pretty pieces of jewelry, and hit the road.

(Here's what's left)

The weather was a little crappy, but the atmosphere inside the shop was warm and lovely. And filled with temptation, since a Pagan/New Age/Cool Stuff store is My Kind of Place. But more on that later.

I was really thrilled with the turnout. Not only were there lots of enthusiastic folks, I got to meet a few people in person who I had only talked to here or on Facebook. The lovely Sarah Mawson drove FOUR HOURS with her family to come see me, because that was all she wanted for Mother's Day. That just made my day. (Waves at Sarah.) Caitlin Disler brought her mom Kathleen Livingston for Kathleen's birthday.

My friends Robin and George, who live nearby, stopped in with my goddess-children Nate and Sophie. That alone made the trip worthwhile! (You can see Jo guarding my table while Rob sells things on the right. Look at all that cool stuff!)

Nate found something he liked. Luckily for his sister, he didn't get to take it home. But he looks like his ready to take on the ravaging hordes, doesn't he?

We had an impromptu tattoo show-and-tell among my fans. (No, I don't have any.) This was my favorite. It was definitely the most relaxed and fun book signing I've ever done! I have the best fans on the planet. Just sayin'.

Rob was really happy I'd finally made the trip. And so was I.

I sold lots of books (including almost all the copies I brought of my older books, which I didn't expect) and a few pieces of jewelry. And everyone had a great time, which is even more important.

Of course, in the end, I did succumb to a few treasures for myself. (Hey--I worked hard! Besides, he had a store full of amazing stones, and I have a major weakness for stones.) I get this fabulous chunk of celestite, which is good for serenity (OY, could I use more of that!) and a wonderful little dragon bowl. I have always been fascinated by dragons, and they are the only thing besides cat-themed items that I could be said to collect. Now that I'm publishing the Baba Yaga books, which all feature dragons (in different forms), I am using that as an excuse to get a few more. Check it out.

Eventually we had to pack everything up and head home, but a great day was had by all.

Well, maybe not all. The cats were a little put out because dinner was late.

Truly, it was a fabulous day.

And speaking of days and fabulous, happy Mother's Day to my fabulous mom, Judy. Love you the most, mom.

Booksigning Reminder!

Just a quick reminder that I'm going to be at Imagicka (a very cool Pagan and New Age and neat stuff shop) at 75 Court Street in Binghamton, NY on Saturday May 10th from 1-4.

I'll have a stack of the new Llewellyn book The Witch's Broom of course, as well as a couple of copies each of all the previous books (including hard-to-find copies of the now out of print Circle, Coven & Grove and The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction).

And owner Robert Wandell asked me to bring some of my jewelry too (which isn't exactly typical at book signings), so I put together a few pieces to bring, including these:

I know a few folks who frequent this blog are planning to be there. I hope if you live anywhere nearby you'll come in and say hello!

Of course, I'll report back here on how it went. You know, as soon as I recover. Have a great weekend!

It's My Birthday! The Birthday Giveaway

Me, about 50 years ago. As you can see, I've barely changed at all. And I always loved reading...

My birthday is today, the 28th of April. I will be (wait for it...) 54. Yawn. I'm sorry, but 54 is not an exciting birthday. 50, now that's worth getting all het up about. 80 (which my father will be celebrating on the 18th of May)...holy crap. 54, however, just seems to be one of those birthdays that fall a little flat. To be honest, I don't even have any plans to celebrate, other than a traditional shared birthday lunch with my friend Bobbie whose birthday is May 2nd, and a mutual pal.

But people keep insisting I have to do something to observe the anniversary of my birth (hey, it's not like I did any of the hard work...oh, and THANKS, Mom!). So I'm going to do a birthday giveaway.

I know, I know--it's more traditional to get gifts on your birthday than it is to give them away. But you guys have made the last couple of months pretty shiny for me, what with The Witch's Broom hitting number one briefly, and consistently staying in Amazon's top 15 for Witchcraft, and my ebook re-release of Circle, Coven & Grove staying at #1 on the Kindle Witchcraft list for ages. I pretty much already have the gifts I wanted.

So I'm going to do what makes me happy, and that is sharing my happiness with y'all. I've got a little bit of new swag...

And rather a lot of old swag

(since the person who won the last giveaway never contacted me so I could send it to her).

And I will also throw in a signed copy of one of my books--winner's choice. That includes the new one, a copy of the (now out of print) paper edition of Circle, Coven & Grove, or any of my other Llewellyn books.

You don't have to do anything special to be entered, either. No big contests, no "you must spread the word" (although if you want to brag about my books or this giveaway, I won't stop you), nothing to buy. Just leave a comment here. You can share a birthday wish with me--for me or for anyone else. You can just say "hi." I'll pick a random commenter on the day after my birthday, to receive all these celebratory goodies. [Make sure you leave an email so I can get in touch with you.]

Thank you all for making the last year so amazing. Having you in my life is all the gift I need. Although if you wanted to put up a review for either of the books mentioned above, that would make an awesome birthday gift :-)

Otherwise, feel free to just email me some cake!
 

Broom Magick for Spring Cleaning

When I sat down to write my latest book, The Witch’s Broom, I suddenly realized that there were a lot of ways to use a magickal broom that I hadn’t been utilizing. Mind you, I’d been doing magickal spring (and fall) cleaning for years, but my main tools had been the basics: salt and water and a sage smudge stick. Which worked just great, don’t get me wrong, but there is something quite fitting about using the magick of a broom to clean and clear the energy of your house, especially after a long winter.

There’s an entire ritual for doing so in the book, so I’m not going to try to recreate that here. But I will share the basics, in case the growing sunshine and longer days have made you suddenly feel like flinging open the windows and clearing out the stagnant energy of the cold, dark season. (This also works really well if there has been any kind of turmoil in the home, no matter what time of year it is—arguments or illness or that sort of thing.)

Really, using broom magick is pretty simple—mostly you just sweep, but add in INTENTION and FOCUS, which as we all know, are at the core of a witchcraft practice. You can also ramp up the energy of your magickal work a bit by using some herbs, consecrated water, and a few other extras. I’ll get to that in a minute.

There are two approaches to using a broom for magickal house cleansing. The first is when you use your everyday household broom (the one you always use for sweeping the floors) but add in some magickal elements along with your focus and intent. The second is for those folks who happen to have a broom that is dedicated to magickal use only (only used in rituals and not for regular cleaning).

To use a regular broom, you can give it some magickal oomph by smudging it with sage (or the cleansing incense of your choice), and/or dipping it into some water that you have blessed ahead of time—either by putting it out in the moonlight, or putting it on your altar, or adding any magickal oils. It is also nice to add a squeeze of lemon juice, which is energetically good for cleaning, as well as smelling very pleasant.

If you are using a magickal broom, you probably don’t need to do anything extra to it, although it certainly won’t hurt to give it a “freshening” boost.

Start by standing still in front of your altar or at your front door, and visualizing the broom glowing with a powerful magickal light, filled with the power to clear away any negative or stagnant energy. If you want, you can say the following:

Bless the witch and bless the broom

Bless the spirit that lies inside

Sweeping clear each household room

So peace and harmony there reside

[From The Witch’s Broom, Llewellyn 2014]

Then walk from room to room, sweeping as you go, and continuing to visualize the light from the broom whisking away anything that doesn’t belong in your home. If you are using a regular broom, you may wish to actually sweep the floors, wipe up cobwebs, get the dust off the top of radiators, and so on. If you are using a magickal broom, you probably won’t want to get it sullied, so in this case merely concentrate on moving the energy instead of the dirt. When you have gone through the whole home, you can sweep the last of the negativity and old crap out the front or back door.

Then thank the broom for its hard work, and enjoy your newly invigorated living space.