Is Magik REAL?

I do not doubt for one moment the existence of witches.

I know many, and some are great friends.

When I was young I bought a book from a old store called The Abbey in Elizabeth, NJ, as I was waiting for my dad to finish taking pictures of some local characters. This was no Barnes and Noble. There were books from floor to ceiling, in boxes, in barely-lit back rooms, and in bookcases that covered every inch of wall space. Wavy glass let the light into the front of the store, and the original light fixtures and scrolly woodwork gave the store a slightly ominous feel.

Although not labeled, my favorite section was in a corner and thankfully low enough to the ground for a little girl to view. As wide as my arms could span, this section would be called OCCULT in today's bookstores--but unlike today's bookstores, held copies of dusty and out of print gems I can only dream of now.

The book of my choice was filled with spells and illustrated in an almost Edward Gorey-esque style. For twenty five cents I could pay for the book myself, and I did.

The first spell in the book was for love and consisted of finding a personal artifact from the person you wanted to love you. After certain words were spoken the item was buried deeply in a place your love interest would pass often, for instance, near their front door. Within a month, supposedly, they would be yours.

The first entire first chapter consisted of light-hearted, easy-seeming spells. The middle chapter's spells were more complex, and to a girl my age, far more interesting. The Hand of Glory had you digging a grave at midnight and stealing the hand of a thief.

The final chapter had spells that scared me and haunted me--it was my favorite. It was very tempting to use the :To Harm Another" spell after my 5th grade class found my diary in my desk, read it, left their own not always positive comments, and put it back. I did try astral projection and fell asleep. I also tried the spell "See Into One's Soul". This consisted of sitting before a mirror and a candle in a dark room and watching for any changes or signs. It was very frightening to be in a quiet room alone at that age, and my face DID seem to morph and change--and I did NOT like what I saw. I still hope that was not my soul.

The book ended with the spell "To Call the Devil". It said I needed a black hen, black cat, and a black sheep. I was then instructed to kill them and skin them and pour some of their blood into a large receptacle of water. I knew I would not be calling the devil--but wondered what would happen to the people who did do the spell as they waited for his reflection to peer back at them over their left shoulders.

As I think back on this book I wish I had not thrown it into the running water near my home when strange events started occurring in my life. I can see why my father had no problem letting me buy this seemingly innocuous and almost child-like book at such a young age. I had no idea it would get as dark as it did either. I have searched the names of the spells in the book but alas, I can't find it anywhere.

About ten years later I purchased more books from Wiser's Bookstore in NYC. This book was a Golden Dawn manual of sorts, and contained not only spells, but information about rituals, ceremonies, and talismans. I also purchased a book by Aleister Crowley that was very confusing, and some tarot cards. I breezed through both books and got caught up in work and life, and never pursued it much further.

But my interest is still there.

I recently read, "A psychic can read your future--a witch can change it."

This made me wonder if spells can only be done by witches--or by anyone. I've tried several of the spells in several of the books I've had when I was young, to no avail. I do not call myself a witch and ponder what type of things a witch actually CAN change.

I would LOVE some input on this subject! I can look this up and read stories from people on the web but I do not know these people and would be interested in first-hand experiences.

Please tell me. :) And if you know the book I was trying to describe earlier--I'd love to know that too.

Nostradamus--Are His Predictions Coming True? Did His Daughter Leave a Terrible Legacy?

Michel de Nostredame, better known by his Latin name Nostradamus, was an apothecary and seer of the 16th century. Although studying to be a doctor, he was expelled for his practice as an apothecary, but was still called "Doctor" my many contemporaries.

His later works turned to the occult after he wrote a popular Almanac and then his well-known predictions written in 4- lined quatrains based on astrological equations. It is interesting he became such a famous "seer" considering his predictions were notoriously inaccurate, and he many times blurred the possible "correct" divination with an incorrect mathematical problem because of a missing birth date or day.

Many say that his past predictions have come true, and that 2012 will bring World War III and a World Religion. Some of his supposedly accurate past predictions are:

* The great fire of London in 1666
* World War II and the rise of Hitler
* September 11th
* The rise of Napoleon
* The death of the Kennedy brothers
* The creation and use of the atom bomb

Click here for a more detailed explanation:  http://www.smashinglists.com/top-10-nostradamus-predictions-that-have-come-true/

Nostradamus lost two children and his wife to the plague (even though he created a rose pill that was supposed to cure it), then married a widow and had six more children. Some say he fathered several illegitimate daughters, one that left a terrible legacy of evil and destruction in her wake.

Read here about Anna, from the soon to be released anthology, The Daughter of Nostradamus.

  The sun turned black but for the burning red smile of a demon.  Its ruby rays incinerated the unfortunate few who remained outdoors. 

The wind blew cold from the east and hot from the west, and its howls caused deafness in the young and insanity in the old.  The children slept too long in their beds, for to open their eyes now would mean the plague.

A dark haired woman screamed and threw back her head for she knew the child inside was killing her.  It clawed and scratched and she feared for the lives of her kin.  She was cursed with this, her thirteenth child.  Her blood was weak and her husband left many years ago when the crops would no longer grow. She did not know how this child was growing inside her.

She knew the birth would be her end.  The gods were angry and the earth was covered with loosed devils tonight.  The baby ruptured forth in a spray of blood, and its mother bled to death as the eclipse ended. 

The newborn spent its first night on earth in a pool of his dead mother’s still-warm blood, and slept peacefully there until morning, when he was found by Anna as she delivered her homemade bread. She picked up the bloody infant and ran home to her sister, screaming the signs from her dreams were all around, and the demons had left a son.  That night she cut her palm with a spirit knife, and poured her blood onto the fire and prayed for the black ghosts to take back their child.   

She bled for the first time that night, and in her dreams the wolves waited at the fringe of the forest, but they were not allowed in the clear.

Anna and her sister lived alone, for their mother was exiled from their village. Anna, with her piercing black eyes and raven hair was considered to be the daughter of the black-eyed magician who passed through town years before. Upsetting and intriguing the townspeople, he came before the drought and made disturbing predictions of the future while seeking herbs for his rogue medical practice. Her blonde haired, blue eyed mother and sister never argued the point.

The baby’s cries jarred her in the darkest part of the night, and she knew she would care not for this dark boy. Her wakefulness was burden enough, for her visions and nightmares often kept her sleepless for days. She knew he brought with him a stain, a faint grey mist that would settle and then spread.

When her sister Mina awoke in the morning and found the child gone, she would tell her his siblings came to find him in the night.

She listened to his cries for another moment then went to him.   

She lifted him from his bed and picked up her knife before walking into the forest. Although her sister believed Anna’s thoughts about the child were muddled for an infant can be nothing but innocent, she knew she needed to snuff the black spirits in the evil boy.

The woods were quiet as a tomb, and she knew the ghosts were watching and waiting for the dark task to be complete.  The animals burrowed deeper underground and the birds flew away as she entered.

It was kinder, she thought, to plunge the knife into his heart than to leave him alone and alive to be devoured slowly by the creatures that walk the dark.  She placed him under the sad arch of a willow tree, and looked at him one last time.  His eyes looked calmly back at her, and she pressed the knife into his heart, and once again in the other direction to form a cross so evil would have to avoid him and he would be taken by the angels.

He did not cry or whimper.  He closed his eyes and the wind began to blow. Anna looked up at the moon and knew her soul was lost.

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Visit the Daughter of Nostradamus page on Facebook--enjoy the fun and evil pix.  Click here:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheDaughterOfNostradamus

Recipe for Love

I don't believe there is a tried-and-true path to true love, I do not believe all loves last, but I do believe we can have more than one true love in our lives.  Although I am not a magician or witch, I wish there were some type of magic we could do to make that special someone love us forever.  And there have been times when I wished a love would just end. 
Here is a Recipe for Love taken from 100 Unfortunate Days, and don't forget...be careful what you wish for...

Recipe for Love.

3 ounce of rum (can be spiced, coconut—anything—) that has been left in the moonlight for 3 nights.  If you leave it in the waxing moon, the person will notice you, if you leave it in the waning moon, the person will leave, if you leave it in a full moon the connection will last forever—whether you like it or not.

3 leaves of fresh mint

3 grains of salt

3 grains of sugar

3 ounces of club soda or seltzer

3 ice cubes

3 tiny pieces of a fresh basil leaf

Put all ingredients in a metal or glass shaker (no plastic because it will steal the energy) and shake very quickly to a slow count of 3 with your eyes closed.  Serve immediately.  Do not serve this drink to more than one person—you would pay for that mistake for the rest of your life.

I think we all believe in some form of magic...

A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way. Caroline Gordon