Stirring the Cauldron

The Big Book of Magical Incense is an invaluable hands-on guide to the vast world of magical incense. It provides tried-and-true recipes, advice on how to create your own formulas, and instructions on how to use incense in all sorts of magical practice.While the book requires no prerequisite knowledge, it is also appropriate for experienced magicians and learned pagans. The chapters are scaffolded, teaching about basic ingredients and skills, both practical and magical, in early chapters, and gently leading the reader to develop their own recipes, spells, and ritual practices as they move through the book. Presented in a paradigm-agnostic way, the book should appeal to people on numerous paths.

It's been a Stirring the Cauldron tradition to have Barry and Connie Strohm, hosts of Channeling History on the Para X Radio Network, on the show right after the holidays to channel some predictions for the new year from the other side.  This year is no exception. We covered a lot of topics in this very short hour,  partially thanks to an internet glitch that bounced us off the air for a wee bit, but still got lots of info about topics that are on everyone's minds these days like Covid, the economy,  and the wonky weather, just to name a few.   

Part grimoire and part herbal formulary, this guide to the Poison Path of occult herbalism shares history, lore, and information regarding the use of poisonous, consciousness-altering, and magical plants. Author Coby Michael explains how, despite their poisonous nature, baneful herbs can become powerful plant allies, offering potent medicine, magical wisdom, and access to the spirit realm. Detailing the spiritual, alchemical, astrological, and symbolic associations of each plant, the author explores their magical uses in spells and rituals. He focuses primarily on the nightshade family, or Solanaceae, such as mandrake, henbane, and thorn apple, but also explores plants from other families such as wolfsbane, hemlock, and hellebore. He also examines plants in the witch’s pharmacopoeia that are safer to work with and just as chemically active, such as wormwood, mugwort, and yarrow. The author shares rituals suited to the individual nature and powers of each plant and explains how to attract and work with plant spirit familiars. He offers plant alchemy methods for crafting spagyric tinctures and magical techniques to facilitate working with these plants as allies and teachers. He shares magical recipes featuring the plants, and also explores safely cultivating baneful herbs in a poison garden.

In a perfect world those who work in the paranormal field, whether it be psychics or mediums, card readers, spell-casting witches, or anyone else, need to be accountable for their actions, and do what they do for the right reasons.  That's not always the case.  There are thrill seekers out there that have no knowledge of what they are trying to do or realize that they can open a Pandora's Box that could be harmful to themselves or the others they are working for or working with.  Tim Shaw has pretty much seen in all in his years dealing with the good, the bad and the ugly of the paranormal world and has a lot to say about the subject of accountability and his candor made for a very interesting and informative show.

Take a necessary break from all the hustle and bustle leading up to Christmas and enjoy an hour of musical Yuletide cheer!   I chose some of my favorite Yule songs. Some of the instrumentals date back hundreds of years, others are current and done by some of my favorite Pagan singers and songwriters. Take a deep breath, hunker down and relax. Oh, and feel free to make yourself a beverage of choice.

It's that tie of the year again, and I went digging into the archives and I and dug out this show that dates back so far that it has snowy white whiskers, just like Santa Claus.  Ho, Ho, Ho!

Demons are real; they roam our world looking for opportunities to heap destruction upon us. They are ruled by blind hatred toward humanity, and they don't discriminate. Man, woman, or child—all are fair game. Journey into the realm of these horrific creatures with a real demon hunter to see the intense carnage unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Find out how prevalent demons are in our society outside religious persuasion, consider relevant and new research, and read true stories of possession. Discover what these parasites are and what they do, understand their makeup and behaviors, and learn how to get rid of them should you become afflicted. Through trial and error, with significant physical and mental risk to the author, a new exorcism technique of binding demons is unveiled here. Against all odds, the author survives to tell his story. Consider this book a warning . 

Magickal ink is a special medium used to convey magical words of power. Together with your quill pen and parchment paper, you have the ingredients for 'traditional' spell creation. Since the last century, magical inks, quill feather or dip pens and parchment have become part of the traditions of modern witchcraft and spell making. JD Walker, the author of A Witch's Guide to Wildcraft-Using Common Plants To Create Uncommon Magick talks about magical ink in the book, and it made me want to find out more. In this episode, JD gives us a crash course about magickal ink,  what it is, what it's used for,  some basics on how to make it and a whole lot more.  JD makes her inks in an iron cauldron, and after hearing about how to make your own ink, I wouldn't be surprised if you started to heat up your cauldrons as well. 

The experience of meaningful coincidences is universal. They are reported by people of every culture, every belief system, and every time period. Synchronicity examines the evidence for the human influence on the meaningfulness of events, and the way the modern computational model of the mind predicts how we create meaning.It demonstrates that these events, based on the activity of the mind, are caused by the person who perceives them. In this fascinating work, you will learn to use your amazing ability to create synchronistic events discover how your mind creates the reality you experience, unlock your brain’s vast resources of connectivity and creativity and change from living as a separate being to living as a part of the unified wholeSynchronicity will show you how you already create events around you, and make you a conscious co-creator of your reality. Dr. Surprise describes the miracles of your brain’s processes, merging the worlds of modern physics and ancient mysticism to reveal abilities you have always possessed, but which were not fully understood—until now.Learn to make reality dance to the rhythms of your thoughts.

Wanderer’s Tarot was born out of the desire for a tarot deck centered in feminine wisdom and elemental magic. The tarot holds limitless wisdom for spiritual beings of our age, as we face unprecedented changes and opportunities for transformation.The cards are based on traditional tarot symbolism, which has been transmuted by the need for feminine insight and awakening. For the magical practitioner, these cards speak to our magical tools and talismans. The suites of Moons (Cups), Stones (Pentacles), Knives (Swords) and Feathers (Wands) will lead you to a deeper understanding of your personal power— emotionally, materially, mentally, and passionately. Wanderer’s Tarot sees tarot not only as a divination tool, but also as a gateway to spiritual practice, a self-care ritual, and a way to connect with your personal magic.