Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

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  • Written Words Wednesday – Book Wyrm Post

    Written Words Wednesday – Book Wyrm Post

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    I believe I mentioned previously that I am a bibliophile. I consider myself a Book Wyrm rather than a Book Worm, because I horde books like a dragon. Today I thought I would share what book I am currently reading, and a couple of books I recently purchased.

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    I am currently reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. If you have ever read, or attempted to read, the Poetic Edda you know that it can occasionally be hard going and sometimes things just get lost in translation. In Norse Mythology Gaiman successfully modernizes the language of the myths, but loses none of the meaning and beauty. My favorite re-imagining in the book so far is The Treasures of the Gods which is the tale of when Loki stole Sif’s hair and, after being threatened by Thor, comes up with a way to get the Dark Elves (Dwarves) to craft her new golden hair. The twists and turns and Loki’s slippery nature are a very entertaining read.

    I am in the middle of reading the story The Mead of Poets, so I am about halfway through the book. That being said I would already recommend it highly, especially for lovers of mythology.

     

    Seth and I wandered into Barnes and Noble the other day, because I was wanting to pick up a Squirrel Girl comic or two. As you can see above I found one, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl – Like I’m the Only Squirrel in the World.

    I also picked up another Graphic Novel called Spell on Wheels by Kate Leth, Megan Levens and Marissa Louise. The tag line on the back reads: A road trip story. A magical revenge fantasy. A sisters-over-misters tale of three witches out to get back what was taken from them.  Sounds intriguing, right? I will report back with what I think.

    On a sale rack I found The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer for $6.98. I already have the book in audio form, but could not pass up a physical copy for that price. If you have not read this beautiful book, do it. Or buy it as an audio book and Amanda will read it to you.

    Happy Reading!

  • Day 2 – Beautiful Freaks Fest

    Day 2 – Beautiful Freaks Fest

    Not as dark as some, but today I decided to create a pair of actual beautiful freaks. This is an altered journal page. Enjoy the Amazing Lafontaine Sisters.

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  • Day 1 – Beautiful Freaks Fest

    Day 1 – Beautiful Freaks Fest

    full-moon

    On night’s like this the blood calls

    with an ache that pulls from the

    marrow of my bones.

    The moon impels my limbs to move,

    to run, to seek, to rend, to rip.

    to HOWL.

     

    So, I sit in the dark of this room.

    Chains binding my arms and legs.

    That moon staring at me

    through a single window;

    taunting me and tempting me.

    Freedom is here, it says,

    Just let go and come play.

     

    I feel the change coming.

    I will not fight it off.

    The chains will hold.

    The chains will hold.

    The chains…

     

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  • Magickal Monday – It’s almost the Solstice

    Magickal Monday – It’s almost the Solstice

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    The solstice is on Wednesday and we are heading to Newark to attend a drum circle inside the Newark Earthworks. I grew up in Newark and often went to walk and play within the Great Circle Mound. The mounds were built by the Hopewell people between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D. You can read more about it here. The drum circle is being hosted by my friend Heather, the lovely proprietress of Violet Flame Gifts.

     

    The Sun: XVII The Star – A time of creativity and spirituality, of hope and good things. (This is a good sign for the solstice.)

    1. What in my life has been in shadow, that I need to shine a bright light on so I can see clearly what it is? XIV Temperance – I need to work on finding better balance in my life. I also need to find balance in my personal life.

    2. What in my life am I trying to force into happening when instead I need to be still and patient? XXI The World – I cannot force myself into happiness. I need to calm down, be still and let my happiness happen.

    3. What in my life is fertile and productive now? Where are my opportunities for growth? XVIII The Moon –  I need to listen to and follow my intuition. My dreams are leading me in the right direction and I simply need to heed them.

    4. What is waning in my life? What do I need to release? Seven of Wands – I need to let go of self-doubt. I am more than capable of making my life more, and it is up to me to do it.

    That is a lot to think about for the Solstice. I also think I will be joining Molly Roberts in a 28 days of Beauty challenge, so look for more on that soon.

    Solstice Blessings!!

     

  • Things I love Thursday – Go Team!!

    Things I love Thursday – Go Team!!

    I will be walking in a 5k this weekend called the Cheddar Challenge at a local Dairy Farm. We have participated in this 5k for a couple of years, and it is seriously fun. You get a milkshake, and cheese samples. The course takes you through the barns and by the baby cows. It is so much fun.

    Our team for this race consists of myself; my husband, Seth; my sister, Traci; and my mother, Karla. We are The Lactose Intolerants. I laugh at that stupid name every time. Last night, I made the team shirts for everyone.

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    My shirt with nickname, AlphaBetsy
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    Seth’s shirt with nickname Tuna.
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    Traci’s shirt with nickname Shmoo
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    Karla’s shirt with nickname Kage.

    After the race we will grab a shuttle down into the Yellow Springs Street Fair. Yellow Springs is a wonderful little alternative community just outside of Dayton Ohio. There are beautiful galleries, lots of little shops, and a generally lovely feeling to the whole place. This is the town where Dave Chappelle lives.

    At the street fair I know we will find our absolute favorite soap company, Elder Forest Soap. We swear by Katie’s soap, as well as her salves, and natural deodorant. I am so excited to renew my stash.

    This is a photo from our team in 2014. I can’t find a more recent one.

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  • Magickal Monday – Grimoire Thoughts

    Magickal Monday – Grimoire Thoughts

    The front of my Grimoire
    The inside front page
    My favorite page.

    I have a problem with Grimoires (Books of Shadows, Mirrors, Light, etc.). My problem is that I never know what to include. I don’t want to treat it like a journal, but I also don’t want to make it impersonal. It is a struggle for me. I am getting ready to jump back into it again, and I am trying to decide what I want from my grimoire.

    In the past I have done a lot of copying from books, and adding pages from the internet. I really do not want to do that again. I want something more personal. I am thinking that rather than regurgitating what I find online, or in a book, I should be recording my personal take on things.

    Molly Roberts has a couple of amazing videos about this. This video and this one are both good starting points to giving your grimoire a makeover.

    I am going to go back over some pages I have made that I am not very happy with. I will share what those look like as they happen.

  • Art, crafts and other creations

    Art, crafts and other creations

    I had the day off to allow for our plumber to come and replace our vanity in the upstairs bathroom, so I got a little crafty. I had some charms that I had bought to make myself a charm bracelet and I finally took the time to put it together. The charms were tiny tea cups, saucers and such, so I bought some complementary charms and created what I am calling my Mad Tea Party Bracelet.

    I have not made myself a piece of jewelry in years and I am really happy with the turn out.

    This weekend is going to be a long haul of painting and finishing up the minor repairs necessary to finish our refinancing of our house.  Among these things is the painting of the porch floor to black, and eventually coating it with glitter epoxy. Because a black glitter porch is the best thing I can imagine.

  • Things I love Thursday – Bath and Booze Edition

    Things I love Thursday – Bath and Booze Edition

    Last Friday my husband and I used a Groupon to take a tour and tasting at Middle West Spirits/ OYO, a Columbus Distillery. We were beyond impressed with the breadth of flavor that they have achieved in their spirits. They also have a really impressive set up, and the restaurant/ bar is going to be amazing once it is complete. We purchased a bottle of their barrel aged honey vanilla bean vodka and their Pumpernickel Rye Whiskey. The groupon got us two of their glasses as well. And we purchased a bourbon board game for Seth’s dad for Father’s day. You can find out more about them here.

     

    Of late I have become a frequent purveyor of the bath bombs from Witch Baby Soaps. I am beyond impressed with the quality of the bombs. They smell delicious, last a long time, and leave your skin feeling soft and beautiful. In the last two weeks I used two from the Tarot Card collection: Death and Two of Swords. I highly recommend both. You can find Witch Baby here.

  • Magickal Monday – My Magickal Life

    Magickal Monday – My Magickal Life

    I mentioned at least once during my 30 days of introduction writing challenge that I am a practicing witch. I took a Wicca 101 course when I was 18, and I have been practicing since. I started as a wiccan, but as I have studied and read I have taken to calling myself an eclectic cottage art witch. That is just a fancy way of saying that I borrow from many different traditions, use items that I can find easily in my home, and make art as a type of magick.

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    My Dining Room Altar at Halloween. 

    I am a tarot card reader. My current favorite deck is the Deviant Moon Tarot. Some of my other favorite decks and oracles are: The Wildwood Tarot, Robin Wood Tarot Deck, and The Faeries Oracle. These are pretty common decks, but I am always on the lookout for new and interesting decks to play with. I love to watch unboxing videos on Youtube from other witchy people getting new decks. There are so many beautiful decks out there.

    I am going to use Mondays to talk about all things magickal; what I am reading, loving, working on, studying, and such.  I may do some tarot work and post it here, and I will show off magickal art. It will be a Magickal Monday on this blog. I hope you enjoy. If you have something you would like to see here, or learn more about feel free to leave a comment.

    Betsy

     

  • Writing Challenge – Day 29

    Day 29: What are your goals for the next 30 days?

    My goals for the next 30 days are to blog every day, create one thing every week, exercise in some form three times a week, and get all the work done on the house that needs done so we can finish our refi. These are very acheivable goals, so I have no doubt that I can succeed in making them all happen. For this blog, I am hoping to set a pattern for posting to cover my interests without being too random. Here’s hoping I can make it work. 😀