Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Category: Witchy Things

  • This is Halloween…Movie Edition.

    Since it is finally October I can begin my Halloween movie watching. I am a huge fan of both cheesy kids Halloween movies and spooky, scary movies. Here in no particular order are some of my favorites:

    This is obviously not exhaustive, but these are the ones I watch every single year. I enjoy horror movies, but I don’t really have a favorite one. I love old horror films, though, especially ones with Vincent Price like the House on Haunted Hill or The Masque of the Red Death.

    Do you have a favorite Halloween movie?

     

  • The Ghost in the Hall (Who may or may not watch you pee)

    I went to a pool party at a friends house yesterday, and it was the first time I had been to her home. A couple of us were standing around laughing and chatting and waiting for everyone to arrive when the woman who’s house it is, Robin, says, “Oh, I don’t know if you are sensistive to it, but this house is haunted.” Robin tells us that they have named the ghost carl, and that he appears to be wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora like Dick Tracy or a noir detective. Her son has seen him, and another friend of hers after using the bathroom came out and told her that it was just polite to warn guests that a ghost might be watching them pee. Robin said she laughed when her friend said this and gave the warning from then on. Her grandson can also see the ghost and will sometimes not want to go into the bathroom because Carl is in there. I peed a couple of times, but did not experience the ghostly peeping tom, possibly because we were drinking quite a bit.

    This brought up the question of whether we believe in ghosts. I am a believer in ghosts in a couple of different ways. One I believe that sometimes what happened in a location was so horrifying that it leaves an imprint of the high emotion that happened there ie: hospitals, asylums, prisons and crime scenes. I also in intelligent haunting, where a ghost has retained some piece of it’s personality and nature that can be communicated to the living. I do not pretend to know how that works, but I have experienced “ghosts” that were able to communicate.

    When I was a little girl we lived in this house in Heath, Ohio. It was a cute little ranch in a nice area, but I always had odd things happen to me. At night if the closet door was left open a “person” who looked like they were made of TV static would walk out of the closet and come to my bed. I would pull my cover over my head, and if I looked out the face would be right above my face just inches away. In this same house there were the white people in the basement who would call my name in the voice of my mom or grandma, and if they were not at home or hadn’t called me then I knew I should go play in the basement. When I would look down the stairs I would see three or four white faces peeking around the corner of the stairs at me.

    Many, many years later my mom would tall me that the previous owner of the house died tragically in an industrial accident. After his death his widow went insane in her grief and painted all of the walls and cabinets in the house black. When my grandparents moved in they had to paint everything back to white, which apparently wasn’t easy. I feel like a lot of the crazy things I experienced there were the manifestation of the widow’s grief and rage.

    I have been listening to a really fun paranormal podcast Ghosted with Roz Drezfalez where Roz, an LA based drag queen, brings on guests to tell their ghost stories and strange run-ins with the paranormal. Stand out episodes are Kyle Ayers, Selene Luna, David Oman, Rain Phoenix and Casandra Peterson (Elvira). Roz has his own fun and interesting tales and honestly the show is just delightful.

    I have not seen or heard a ghost since becoming an adult, but I can sometimes feel them. I honestly wish I had retained some of the sensitivity I had as a child. Can you see, hear, sense, smell or taste (Yep it is a thing) ghosts? Do you believe? Do you have a good ghost story?

  • Magickal Monday – Sturgeon Moon

    Magickal Monday – Sturgeon Moon

    Happy Full Moon, Witches!! I hope the coming of the sturgeon moon finds you well. This is a full moon in Aquarius, which according to Madeleine of Written in the Stars Horoscopes and Tarot is the full moon of the Rebel, so get out there and break the rules. Find new ways of doing things. Make things happen.

    I decided to do a spread today with The Halloween Oracle. I used a spread from the accompanying book called the Halloween Three Card Draw.

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    I shuffled until I had three “jumpers” and then laid out the spread. Imagine my surprise as I turned over the first card it was actually two, hmm… I decided that I would read with both of these cards standing in the Card 1 position. In another bit of irony I ended up with two different skulls, so Card 1 is Skull of Flowers and Skull of Light.

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    Skull of flowers is about coming back from a hard time. Learning to create again after you have been cast down. “Sometimes the universe gives us a blank slate to work from, so we can build what we really want, rather than just settling for less.” I recently got a new job after too many years of working in a department that did not appreciate my contributions, and often took advantage of my knowledge without duly compensating me for my work. My new position came with being told I was highly desired, with a lot of positive feedback, and with a substantial raise. This fits well. The skull of light is about shining light into the shadows in order to see yourself, and allow yourself to be seen. I have been hiding in a position that made me unhappy, because I was half convinced that I was not worthy of anything better. That I was not smart enough, knowledgeable enough, or talented enough to achieve anything more. In the last couple of weeks though, I became painfully aware that I cannot continue as I have. That I am worth more, and deserve more, and I achieved it fairly quickly once I turned my mind that way. Again, pretty accurate.

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    Card 2 The Challenge: For card two Zombie jumped. The zombie is about control. Do you want to control everything? Or are you allowing others to control you? What are you doing currently that you do not want to do? What are you not doing that you wish you were? Why aren’t you doing it? It is time to find a way to live your best life.

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    Card 3 The Solution: Another twofer! This time I was presented with The Veil and Scrying. The Veil rules the future. It’s presence says that the veil is thin, and other worlds are close. Listen to what messages may come regarding the future. “Plan, set intentions, think big!” Scrying is about trusting your intuition. Maybe you should try scrying, especially with this card coming with the veil. It is time to work on your intuition, and stop relying on your rational mind for all the answers.

    Tasseomancy is not generally my cup of tea (pun intended) but I think I am going to get my white cup and my witches brew tea, and see what may come up.

    I see a person jumping a fire. And the head of a bull? I saw a sword, and a circle. I think it is time I did some wilding. It has been too long. Only a little over a month until Earth Warriors Festival!

    I have put some water with a piece of quartz and a piece of moonstone in it out to charge in the moonlight. Full moon blessings friends.

     

     

  • Blessed Lammas/ Lughnasadh

    Blessed Lammas/ Lughnasadh

    It is difficult in the heat of August to think that Fall is starting. In Ohio we have at least another month of summer like conditions to go at the beginning of August, so for me Lammas is less a Fall/Harvest festival than it is a celebration of the continuation of summer. It is the time when all the county fairs begin, and when the schools are getting ready to open again for the school year.

    Lammas is a bright golden sunny holiday; it brings with it the glance of fall that comes when you think of children going to school, football games, and bonfires at night. Corn is not quite its ripest or sweetest, but it is working toward it. August is when you start to work overtime to do all the fun summer things you wanted to get in before the season was over. Lammas is a warning that your summer is winding down, and your autumn is on the horizon.

    Enjoy the last days of your summer. Go to a baseball game, eat a popsicle from a truck, go on a picnic, do all the things that make summer what it is.

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