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Tuesday, December 31, 2019

It's All About the Journey, Not the Destination





Everyone wants to cast spells. That’s the first thing people think about and the most popular aspect of witchcraft. I think it might have something to do with the awesome feeling of regaining your personal power, of being in control of your life, of being responsible for your destiny and it’s outcome. But it also has to do with mystery and drama, the visuals, and our childhood idea of “magic”.

That’s what everyone seems to concentrate on at the beginning, learning to cast spells and do magick. For most of us the idea is new and daring and exciting, made more so by society and the mainstream view of religion and witchcraft. It’s “taboo” in so many social circles, conservative communities, and even some countries around the world. Witch hunts still exist in Africa, and your life is literally in danger if you’re labeled “Witch”. Likewise for certain areas of the Mid-East. You can be put to death. This idea seems outrageous, doesn’t it, in our modern world. But we’re not always as modern as we’d like to think we are, and people still tend to be frightened and irrational when it comes to things they don’t understand, or things they were taught to view as evil.

I remember the early years, pouring over books of correspondences, aligning moon phases with intentions, jotting down ingredients, planning the moment of the casting down to the astrological hour– spending days planning and aligning and gathering. It’s all part of the process you know, it all plays into raising energy. And then came that magickal moment, when the circle was cast, and I was “between-the-worlds”, sitting there with the spell candle and ingredients, the athame and crystals and stones and figurines of the god and goddess, and yes, even the black cast iron cauldron (so clique, but so necessary).

Did the spells work? Actually, 95% of the time, they did. Don’t count the foolish one’s of youth, or the spells whipped up in the white heat of anger. They don’t work, the energy being too fractured and scattered.  Maybe Spirit is looking out for us this way, maybe this is like the safety on a gun, so that we don’t unintentionally do harm in a rash moment. Casting spells is a lot of work, raising energy to move energy in the universe takes a lot out of you. The power is there, no mistaking that, but it takes considerable effort on the part of the witch to work with it.

You reach a point, after the first few years, after you’ve immersed yourself in that first frenzied layer of activity, when you start to look at witchcraft and see more detail emerge. You see below the layers of magick spells and spell casting and all the hoopla surrounding it. You start to look at the fabric of witchcraft, and you start to weave the spirituality of this path into your daily life, creating your own mosaic, slipping quietly into your niche in the universe.

Okay, you’ve got spell casting down pat, you’ve experienced The Power, you know the magick is real, you are “Witch” through and through. Now what?

For me, the second stage of my journey actually began with a spell. The spell was done to touch the universe, my Spirit Guide, and other higher energies floating through the astral, and ask them: “What am I suppose to be doing? Why have I been drawn to this path? What is my Gift? How am I suppose to use it?”

The answer emerged in the flames of a purple candle.



The second aspect of my journey was a new learning process, which included learning about, handling, experimenting with, and using various forms of divination:  the pendulum, runes stones, I-Ching coins, crystal balls, Ouija boards, divining rods.  Finally, I ultimately came upon the tool that would speak to me: the tarot.

Round three for me involved immersing myself in the study of tarot cards.

It started, actually, with a trip to our local bookstore, walking past a shelf full of decks of bright colored and beautiful cards (tarot cards). One deck popped out at me, and that little voice in my head whispered “Buy them”.

It sounds easy and simple, but it wasn’t. Learning anything new requires a lot of work and realistic expectations. No one is going to pick up anything overnight, especially something that works through your own personal energy and special Gift,  At the beginning, you have no idea what this gift is or how the hell it works. You have to start by learning to listen to your own inner voice (your sub-conscious, your intuition) and allowing the cards to trigger images, memories, clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient experiences. It’s all very confusing. You’re hesitant to trust yourself, or the cards, in the beginning.  A lot of people, when they reach this stage, give up. Fortunately, I wasn’t one of those people.

The biggest obstacle I had to overcome: being afraid of being wrong.

As that magickal guiding voice in your head is whispering from one direction all the insights and information you are suppose to be relating to the world at large, and one particular individual specifically, that conscious big-loud-bossy voice in your head is screaming at you: “What if you’re wrong? What if you’re wrong? What if you’re wrong?”

And what if you’re wrong? Divination is not an exact science; and no reader is going to be 100% accurate 100% of the time. But I can honestly tell you that I have more regrets, lots and lots of big in-your-face regrets, about what I DID NOT say, rather than anything I did say.

You learn.




When it all seems comfortable and settled down; when you’ve learned to accept who you are, what you are; when you’ve learned to use your Gift, or at least reconcile yourself to the fact that it exists; when you’ve learned to incorporate all of this into your daily life somehow and get it all to work in a meaningful way …then you’ll know that you’ve arrived.

And just when you get ready to level off at this plateau, thinking you’ve learned all you were meant to learn, and you’re doing everything you were meant to do, something unexpected happens. Curiosity comes to call in the guise of crystals and stones, an unusual friend, a new book, a new blog, a study group, or whispered questions sent to you by the universe. Just when you think you’ve arrived at your Spiritual Destination, it dawns on you in a profound flash …that the Journey has not ended.







Monday, December 30, 2019

Seven Ways to Introduce Your Boyfriend After 50




Source:



Introducing my 58 year-old lover as my ‘boyfriend’ seems ridiculous.  There must be a better word.  I’m over 60, and madly in love.  So I’m sure you can understand why I don’t want to call my man, “my boyfriend.” At 58, he’s hardly a boy, and we are much more than friends.

“Hi Peter, this is my friend, Steve.” I muster when we ran into a friend at the local espresso bar last Sunday.

“It’s so strange to call you my friend.” I said to Steve afterward.  What do I say:  “This is my man, Steve?” “Hey Peter, meet my soulmate?” “Meet my life partner?” They all feel so awkward and wrong!

Why isn’t there a better label for our partners when we’re in love, but not married?

Some friends I know who have been together for 10, 20, or even 30 years and are not married introduce the other as “husband” or “wife.”  It’s one of those conundrums that people over 50 face when they are partnered, but not married. “How do I introduce you?”


“Lover” sort of leaves the wrong impression that this is just a salacious affair.

“I don’t want to marry you”, Steve says to me out of the blue one day.

“Of course not!” I reply (although my heart twinged just a little bit in that moment). 

He should WANT to marry me, I'm thinking. But for a variety of reasons, it just doesn’t make sense given our circumstances. So “husband” is definitely out of the running.

In my heart, he’s “the love of my life”.  But that’s a rather long intro:   “Meet the love of my life, Steve".  This seems like it should be met with some pomp and circumstance. After all, I’ve been married twice before and have had several long-term relationships, and I now know I’ve finally found The One.

Other people say “significant other” or your “plus 1” when inviting you to a party.

But here he is, standing right beside me, and I’m looking an acquaintance straight in the eye and saying, “Meet Steve, my …. ???”

Alas, I reached out to my Facebook friends and asked them, “How do you refer to your life partner when you are over 50 and the terms “boyfriend and girlfriend” are just out of the question?

Here are their replies ~ 

Say it like the Europeans do. “I did this for 10 years and hated every option. Especially didn’t like that he always introduced me as my partner", said a close friend. “I like mi amor.”

Another friend added, “In German it’s easier.  We refer to that person as "Lebensabschittsgefärhrte", which loosely translates to "companion for a phase in one’s life".  Here’s to the Germans for making things crystal clear! It’s the equivalent of “I like you pretty good, let’s see how it goes”.

“Partner” is the most generically accepted term, and seems fine for most, but feels pretty detached and nonspecific.  With the marriage equality act firmly in place, using the term "partner" doesn’t automatically signal that you are gay, and when you are not sure, it is the politically correct way to ask, “Do you have a partner?”

Others are content with “significant other” and those people tend to fall into the over 60 closer to 70 crowd.  Some say “male friend” or “man friend”.   “Really?”, my man said. “Why does that feel so 19th century?”

“I call him my "fiancé", even though we have no plans to get married” one friend added. Although that's awkward for some women who then have the inevitable follow up question: "When’s the wedding?”

An equal number refer to each other as "husband and wife", even if they aren’t officially married... “Even though we are not technically married, it’s the spirit that counts. Everything is as if we are married except the paperwork.”

Say it like it is ~

What seemed to ring most true to me are those who just lay it on the line...  “the love of my life” or “my reason for living” or “my true love.”  The more avante-guard stepped forth and said, “There’s no label needed.” It’s up to the receiver to draw his or her own conclusions. 

My own man said, “As I introduce you, I touch the small of your back.  It shows intimacy without overdoing it.” (swoon… In case you are wondering, yes, I do know how lucky I am!)

Let’s face it, we are over 50, and there is no need to hide our feelings or stand behind labels.  Next time you introduce your life partner, your one true love, the one that sets your soul on fire, what will you say?


Friday, December 27, 2019

Magickal Connections ~ Milestone



My blog, Magickal Connections,
has hit over 700,000 views. 

To celebrate, here's an encore post that was very popular: 
Protection Magick the Gray Witch Way 





A Magickal Library
Pages @ Magickal Connections







Sunday, December 22, 2019

New Book UpDate & Updates on Other Services


Writing on book number 7 started at the beginning of December, with the first chapter being due this month.  Chapter one was completed and delivered and has made it's way back to me for editing.  In the mean-time, chapter number 2 is in-progress, with the due date for this chapter falling in January.  This book is tentatively scheduled to be released in June 2020.

I write 5 days a week, beginning in the wee (really, wee!) hours of the morning, after Bob has left for work, and I continue until mid-afternoon, when my brain goes AWOL.


In the meantime, I have temporarily taken down merchandise at The Witch's Corner, because I'm just not going to have the time right now to create it, or process it for shipment.  I have, however, kept the candle altar lighting service up and running (Setting the Lights), as I feel this is still manageable with my schedule.

I also wanted to give a shout-out to my tarot clients, both my regulars and anyone new who might be looking for a reading.  I am still giving readings, I have not stopped this service.

You can purchase an Audio Reading at my tarot website, The Tarot Parlour.

This is the Home Page
at my tarot website.
Audio Readings ~ I will record your reading and email the file to you. I will also include a photo of the cards drawn for you. This is a fast and easy way to get a uniquely personal tarot reading.

Remember to include an up-to-date
working email address!




I've suspended the Daily Card Readings that I was posting at The Tarot Parlour's Faceook Page (in written form), and I didn't realize how much I enjoyed doing these readings until I had to stop. I'm looking forward to doing these readings again, as soon as this book is finished, so hit the Like or Follow button to receive notification when these postings start.


The following video is the last audio version of these daily readings, posted on November 27th.  There is a page of several of these audio versions of the Daily Card Readings available at my tarot website.

The theme for this group 
of cards is "Let It Go"




This is the audio version of Daily Tarot Cards for cards drawn on 11-27-2019.  Regardless of the date these cards were pulled, these cards and this reading will be pertinent to you whenever you discover it and hear it.


Books by Amythyst Raine @ Amazon






Friday, December 20, 2019

Xmas Presents ~ 12 Christmas Romance Novels



Romantic Reads
For this Holiday Season



Diamonds for the Holidays1. DIAMONDS FOR THE HOLIDAYS BY NICKI NIGHT

Jade Chandler is determined to keep Nixon Gaines from stealing her family’s company. But when she sets eyes on the tall, dark, and handsome millionaire, she’s not so sure she can. Add his sugar cookie sweet kisses to the mix and Jade’s will power is tested. Opening her heart to someone who wants to check her off his list might not be the smartest thing, but taking the risk might be worth the reward in Nixon’s case.

HOW THE DUKES STOLE CHRISTMAS: A HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY2. HOW THE DUKES STOLE CHRISTMAS: A HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY BY TESSA DARE, SARAH MACLEAN, SOPHIE JORDAN, AND JOANNA SHUPE

In this holiday anthology, there are four interconnected novellas told 30 years apart, beginning in 1800 and ending in 1890. From enemies-to-lovers, second chances, and choosing between career and love, this anthology has a little bit of something for everyone. Not to mention a lady left to fend for herself in the Scottish highlands during a snowstorm, and the duke next door becomes more than neighborly.

The Butterfly Bride book cover3. THE BUTTERFLY BRIDE BY VANESSA RILEY

Frederica Burghley wants to be married by Christmas or else her father will choose one of his friends for her to marry. So Frederica enlists the help of her friend, a widower, Jasper Fitzwilliam, Lord Hartwell, to help her find the perfect match. As Christmas draws closer, she wonders if asking him for help was the best idea; maybe she should have asked for his hand instead. This sweet and romantic friends-to-lovers story is the perfect holiday read.

Home for Christmas book cover4. HOME FOR CHRISTMAS BY LILY EVERETT

Libby Leeds has made a living writing heartwarming, small town stories about her childhood home, Sanctuary Island. Only she hasn’t lived there since she was a child and doesn’t plan on going back. But when her editor insists she go back to cover the story of a war hero returning to her hometown, she has to face a painful past of being orphaned and abandoned. Army Ranger Owen Shepard leaps at the chance to have locally famous homemaker Libby help him make an ideal Christmas for his daughter after his time away. Neither of them were looking for love, but both are thinking about it now.

Winning Her Holiday Love book cover5. WINNING HER HOLIDAY LOVE BY HARMONY EVANS

Single mom Mariella Vency wasn’t expecting her son’s new temporary soccer coach to be so famous or good looking or into her. Her son’s favorite soccer star, Sam Kelly, starts coaching his team over the holidays on his way out of town. He’s everything a woman could want. Will his success and charm be enough to convince Mariella to take a chance on falling in love with him, even though he’s leaving?

Exmas book cover6. EXMAS BY WINTER RENSHAW

Joa hated her colleague Reed and everything he did, except in the bedroom. When he went behind her back and stole her promotion, she transferred to the Chicago office because the thought of being under him, professionally or otherwise, turned her stomach. A year later he announces that he’s coming to the Chicago office for the week between Christmas and New Year’s and wants Joa to be his right hand woman. He might be used to getting his every Christmas wish, but this year in Chicago, things are going to be different.

Christmas at the Palace book cover7. CHRISTMAS AT THE PALACE BY JEEVANI CHARIKA

This Christmas novella is an extended version of A Royal Wedding, but it’s still just as sweet on it’s own. Kumari never thought she’d become a princess, but when she falls in love with Prince Benedict, it’s a little more than she bargained for. Will dealing with the paparazzi and pressure be too much for Kumari and Ben? Or will their love be enough to get them through, not only the holiday season, but the rest of their lives?

Better Not Pout book cover8. BETTER NOT POUT BY ANNABETH ALBERT

Teddy MacNally loves Christmas so much he dresses up as an elf for his charity’s events. He doesn’t expect to see a handsome Santa at the events with the Christmas spirit of a Scrooge. Teddy’s determined to spread holiday cheer to Sergeant Major Nicholas Nowicki, who only agreed to be Santa as a favor to his CO. Nicholas is leaving in a month and isn’t the kind for a one night stand, especially with someone as sweet, kind, and fun as Teddy. But after a sexy, snowbound make out session, he’s not sure he can leave Teddy behind.

HOT WINTER NIGHTS BY JILL SHALVIS9. HOT WINTER NIGHTS BY JILL SHALVIS

Molly Malone is trying to distract herself from her night with long time crush Lucas Knight, who has no memory of this incident. Whiskey and pain meds for a bullet wound don’t make for easy to remember nights. And now he has to babysit Molly on her first case at Hunt Investigations. This won’t be awkward. Lucas thinks Molly is the smartest, strongest, hottest woman he knows and is trying to navigate how to move forward with her and on this case without her finding out she’s being babysat. Little does he know, nothing happened between them that night, but Molly wants it to.

SNOWY NIGHTS AT THE LONELY HEARTS HOTEL BY KAREN KING10. SNOWY NIGHTS AT THE LONELY HEARTS HOTEL BY KAREN KING

When Saffron Baxter gets a call from her sister saying she’s stuck abroad and won’t make it home in time for their parent’s charity Christmas dinner, she knows her holiday plans to party are cancelled. Instead, she drives down to Cornwall to help her parents host a Christmas dinner for all the single parents in town. There she meets Logan, the tall, single dad next door, who points out that maybe family and tradition is more important than her party lifestyle. Maybe he’s right. She’s only in town for a few days. But maybe he and his adorable daughter are just what Saffron needs.

Her Mistletoe Bachelor11. HER MISTLETOE BACHELOR BY CAROLYN HECTOR

Donovan Ravens just wants a quiet Christmas in a small town after a very public break up. Being CFO of a major corporation does have its down side. But he doesn’t plan to meet British Carres, a gorgeous science teacher, who takes over the hotel for a competition for her students. Is their chemistry good enough to overcome the past and give them a Christmas hope for the future?

A Season to Celebrate book cover12. A SEASON TO CELEBRATE BY FERN MICHAELS, KATE PEARCE, DONNA KAUFFMAN, AND PRISCILLA OLIVERAS

In this collection of diverse stories, you’ll find everything you want this holiday season. Homecoming romance, second chance love, love after a broken heart, and a love business arrangement that’s sure to be a success. Make a mug of hot chocolate and get cozy with this collection—it will be sure to warm you as much as the fire in the hearth.