Elhoim Leafar's Blog: About your own Abundance. - Posts Tagged "witchcraft"

Samhain is coming... Day per day

One more year is about to finish, you can feel in the air the delicious aroma of apples and pumpkins, pinches of cinnamon decorate all dishes and coffee cups, orange and black flags stand at the entrances of all witches and wizard houses, priestesses prepare their best clothes and polish their amber necklaces, while the oldest spirits in dresses with wings and feathers of crows and owls circle over the blessed homes spilling thousands of blessings.

Samhain approaches, the end of the year approaches, the new year approaching, it’s time to light candles, burn incense and sweep with that old broom resting in a corner of the kitchen, magic is perceived more powerful with each passing day, ghosts and spirits manifest everywhere, it is inevitable to hear the sweet delight of joy and devotion of the deceased celebrating admiring their own graves in cemeteries, wine glasses and jugs of alcohol are spilled on the sacred soil, aromatic herbs and flowers seem to grow faster in every corner, every grave, every mausoleum in the cemetery, in each city, and the moon shines over them, sparkling her divine silver halo on the darkest nights.

An old year is gone and a new cycle begins, it is time to look back, deeper into ourselves and remember, in some detail, in what position and where were we exactly one year ago. The eve of all witches and all hallows is here, the true life cycle of nature and the moment the moon makes a “reset” of her energies, purification of the earth and all the inhabitants of it. It is time to admit our own mistakes, see how far we have come and analyze because we still there, we need and want to achieve more.

The entire universe is dressed in black to honor the mourning of a cycle that ends, an old year dressed in clothes from the past hunches and slowly turns away, forgiving step by step over time with his languid figure, a willow cane and that old hat with large wings as white as the hoary wisdom beneath it. It’s time to honor the memories, to thank the entire cosmos, mourn for those who have left and advanced in the process, it is time to thank and smile all that has happened, it is time to understand the mistakes, understand the misfortunes and embrace a new future that is born. A new year begins, for witches and believers, for shamans and nonbelievers, among all the currents, who perceive a change in everything around them.

Old books seem to recapture youth on their pages of birch and eucalyptus, for wisdom always rejuvenates, the spirit of Samhain is the preserver of wisdom and the old caretaker of books and works that has seen everything and knows everything. Samhain walks among us in the form of a bent old man, sometimes also as a sweet old lady selling her oatmeal cookies on the street, or even as an innocent child running through the alleys.

Samhain is approaching, and like every year, we welcome him as a great deity, the spirit that guards the old days and the keys to the future hanging from his neck is present again, and will continue to come every year until the end of the times. Get ready to receive him again at home, with sweet pumpkin pie, apples covered sweet candy, potato cake freshly baked and… Never forget, a plate with fruits of all colors, dark brown like sweet night, orange circular pieces with honey, large jars of wine and those old glasses that have seen every family celebration from your hand.

Samhain approaches, Samhain is coming, the new Celtic year is starting and hopes sitting at the doorsteps of every home. Druids and mediums shake hands this magical night to communicate with the ancestors, witches fly higher, so high the tops of the great trees seem to be a dusty carpet underfoot, while between smoke snuff and incense, drawing ancestral faces in each mirror, come shamans honoring those who have died and spilling wine on the floor to help them to cross to a breathtaking astral world full of light and wonderful colors that are beyond the understanding of our eyes.

Samhain approaches and walks among us, between our homes and is present with his old smile between each of our dreams, makes communion with the spirits and souls of our ancestors while his fairies fly around and above his head tangling between his long hair and playing with his horns, he departs with an old friend, an old year, to that part of the world where the past never dies and fairies are born.

An old year has departed and a new year arrives, begins to renew our magic, our spirit and our dreams, which in this new year will come true… See you again in a year when Samhain comes back to take this newborn son, then aged, and leave with us another new son.

Happy Samhain & Happy Pagan New Year… Blessings

www.elhoimleafar.com

Great News! I can finally reveal this! My beautiful editor Judika Illes and my publisher Red Wheel / Weiser Books has confirmed that Devin Hunter is working on the foreword to my next book 'The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags'.

This is a great honor for me, because I am a follower of his work. When I was just beginning to write my first books and publishing my first essays in local magazines (In Venezuela and Argentina), Devin had already come a long way and had published 'Modern Witch Magazine', and I am sure that Devin would become one of those great authors, whose books eventually became classics of #witchcraft and found themselves in a decade in the indispensable repertoire of every modern witch.

The collaboration of Him in this project is for me, more than an opportunity, it is a true blessing and I am sure, I am sure he will place his vibrant spark and a hundred magic blessings inside and on this Great little Book!

Thank you Devin.

"Elhoim Leafar has created a beautiful, empowering, and immensely accessible manual for crafting charm bags. Teaching simple and effective ways to make charms bags for every purpose under Moon and Sun, these portable powerhouses of magic will enhance your daily life and spiritual practice. I enjoyed using charm bags before, but after reading The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags, I absolutely adore them!".

–- Michael Butler Smith, shamanic witch and author of Embracing Isis: A Witch’s Guide to the Great Goddess

"The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags blends multiple cultures into a working system of magical potency. It is a useful grimoire and reference for any magical practitioner. Within its pages, you can learn to put magic in the palm of your hand."

-- Adam Sartwell, co-founder of the Temple of Witchcraft and award-winning author of Twenty-One Days of Reiki and The Blessing Cord

"Using a combination of methods from various traditions and cultures, Elhoim Leafar presents us nothing less than a manual on the magical arts. From magic circles and planetary correspondences to utilizing color associations, herbs, stones, bones, and the phases of the moon, Leafar offers simple methods for the creation and consecration of charm bags for a veritable plethora of practical purposes. Easy to understand and full of interesting details, The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags is a great guide for the beginner, but will also provide the seasoned practitioner with new perspectives on the art of making one of the most beloved forms of spells that folk-magic has to offer."

―Storm Faerywolf, author of Betwixt and Between: Exploring the Faery Tradition of Witchcraft

"Charm bags rank among the most popular amulets in the world today and yet up until now there has been precious little accessible, practical information about how to make them. Elhoim Leafar remedies that situation with his comprehensive book The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags. Elhoim leads the reader through all stages of creating these powerful magical tools, as well as enumerating and describing their various components, ranging from crystals and perfumes, to bones and herbs. This book will be a welcome and useful addition to any magical practitioner’s bookshelf."

--Judika Illes, author of the Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, Magic When You Need It, The Big Book of Practical Spells, and other books of magic

I wrote this for the advice of my friend, I hope some of you find it helpful.

This is a list of very basic steps for those new authors who are not social media experts. #socialmedia #digitalmarketing #marketingtwitter #writingcommunity

Marketing & Promotion Advice for New Authors
(very basic steps for those not-social media experts)

https://abundanceandmagic.blogspot.co...

A month ago, my latest book, Dream Witchery, was released by Llewellyn Worldwide and hit the shelves everywhere. I AM delighted with the amazingly positive response everywhere, from a total Sold-out in several US stores to an immediately Out-of-Stock in Amazon UK.

Also, during the edition process, the book was adapted into a 12-hour audiobook, narrated by Gary Tiedemann and distributed by our absolute favorite: Tantor Audio

Also, the rights have been acquired to translate and adapt the book into Portuguese later. Published at any moment in the next few years.

Because it is a 400-page book, some stores still do not have it, which is easy to understand; even if they need it, this book takes up two or even three books in a shelter. We are talking about 400 pages of pure magic and South American folklore curated (as it should be) by someone from South America.

Dream Witchery began as a small collection of notes on dream magic from various journals I brought from Venezuela & Brazil, translating these and constantly comparing notes while curating each line as much as possible.

All of these notes had something in common with the manuscript. They came from different tribes, cultures, and parts of South America. I group these notes by country and later by tribe of origin. I was making it a tribal-dreams-magic grimoire.

From the Caribs and Yanomami to multiple other families/tribes that inhabit the central and northern region of the Amazon, especially those near our most significant rivers, learning sorcery, hunting, and medicine is just a part of Dream Witchery.

This manuscript had about 65k words written at the time of its presentation to the publishing houses. This was before including all the collaborators and guests from different regions and cultures who agreed to be part of this work.

This book had 65k words at the time of its presentation to the publishing houses before including all the guests from different regions and cultures who agreed to be part of this work. They gave the book a diverse, beautiful flavor and a - yet necessary - contrast.

Dream Witchery was rejected and questioned by multiple editors and publishers for (as they mentioned) "not being commercial enough" or "too black." They would prefer (as always) a book written by a British woman or a white American man about OUR culture. Or a simple other Spellbook.

One of the most important contributions in this book was having the help and support of my partner, David Dagnino, who, in addition to being an Engineer who graduated with honors, is a dedicated freelance illustrator and has carried out multiple projects in the past, not only for me.

I needed more than an illustrator, someone from my country and land who knew my culture and who could represent it in detail, from the old skin-changer man with his cigar and horns from Nueva Esparta to the devilish tree of Trinidad and the masks of the dancing devils of Yare.

Working on each illustration separately one by one and constantly modifying them under the editor's notes to improve their quality took hours and hours of work every day, and the result was worth every second. Because bringing positive and quality representation was always the goal.

The editor's notes made by Heather Greene during the editing process were our daily homework; she perfectly knew how to wisely press the points necessary to maintain the work, which was pure and balanced for readers.

She knew how to balance a 400-page book; she guided each step of the process gently but with due and notable experience. Dream Witchery passing through her hands was a compilation of journal-like notes that became a beautiful, orderly manuscript for Llewellyn Worldwide.

The enormous team behind Llewellyn understood that Dream Witchery was not another book on dream magic but a magical compilation of tribal stories, initiatory rites, formulas, and Amazon folklore with dozens of necessary footnotes to shape the book's spirit.

Writing formulas and rituals that you have witnessed many times but have never read in another book was difficult. This required acting like a storyteller, telling the reader every detail of what you experienced and saw from your eyes and helping the reader to understand the world from your vision, from what you lived, over and over again.

Imagine being present during a 12-hour ritual with at least a hundred people in the mountains, comparing your notes with others, and trying to detail the essential points so the reader can glimpse what you experienced at a concise age.

To close the final process, the collaborators and endorsements came, and each of them was chosen from a long list of possibilities to offer a picturesque and colorful contrast, to offer and celebrate our magical diversity.

Most of the books of Witchcraft have contributors limit themselves to inviting the AMZN-best-selling American authors of the moment (not very diverse). This community includes celebrated authors, yes, but also bloggers, event organizers, store owners, jewelers, and artists who use their platform to elevate others. And I want it to celebrate them too.

For this reason, those invited to collaborate on Dream Witchery were so diverse, and each one had something completely different to offer, from recipes from my mother and grandmother to recipes from authors and bloggers from Latin America and other parts of the world.

Featuring contributors in Dream Witchery include:

Ariana Carrasca • Oncle Ben • Maria Elena U. • Miss Aida • J. Allen Cross • Lorraine Monteagut • Hector Salva • Laura González • Phoenix Coffin Williams • Jennifer Sacasa-Wright • Dawn Aurora Hunt • Alysha Kravetz • Mira A. Gade • Laura Davila • Emma Kathryn • Temperance Alden • Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani • Ella Harrison.

They bring (literally each one of them) something unique, magical, beautiful, and authentic to this book.
The last months before publishing a book are full of nerves, constant anxiety attacks, at least in my case, and few breaks. But having the blurbs of other authors who read the book was the most positive support it could require, and that came from those who read and endorsed it.

#dreamwitchery was beautifully gifted with magical words by the people I most respect in this community. Including Vincent Higginbotham Jake Richards - Author Judy Ann Nock Claudiney Prieto Rebecca Beyer. And Annwyn Avalon they give it like a powerful blessing.

And now that eight years of work (the same time I have been living in the USA) are available in your local bookstores and virtually everywhere, it is an ancestral celebration of life, the words of the ancestors of my land, and the ancestors of many others, healing the world, one reader at a time... I Am just Happy and Grateful.

PS: Dream WItchery is available in your favorite local bookstores for those who don't have it yet. Barnes & Noble and Amazon Kindle.

with love, Elo!Dream Witchery: Folk Magic, Recipes & Spells from South America for Witches & Brujas