Winter Witchcraft

Up here in the Pacific Northwest it's finally started to really feel like winter. The trees have been bare of leaves for some weeks now, but there have still been a few sunny days here and there and the temperatures have hovered in the mid 40s. Now, though, we've started to get heavy rains every day and the temperature drops at night into the 30s. Cold, but not freezing (I am too near the coast and at too low of an elevation to get much snow.)

Personally, I always find my magical work becomes a bit more low-key in the winter. Perhaps because so much of what I do involves trees, plants, and the outdoors, it seems a bit harder during the dark winter months to really conjure up much energy. It's easy to sit indoors during the chilly months and pore through old books whilst sipping hot tea. However, the winter has its own magic and is the ideal time to work on the hidden, interior, or "decreasing" aspects of life. The Wild Hunt rides along with the shrieking winter winds, and the spirits of the Dead feel a bit closer during the shorter days and longer nights. I'm personally taking this time indoors and using it to enhance some skills that need work, and to power through a lot of the books I've been meaning to get through.

In other news, a kind new friend has loaned me her copy of "The Psalter Of Cain." I've heard amazing things about this book and have been longing to have a look at it, and now I've got a chance to do so. She and I both have books the other wants, so we're going to be doing our own little lending library system.

In closing, please enjoy this picture of a foggy Oregon mountain. I took this during my drive up here, coming back from my mini-vacation back down South. It was quite unnerving at the time to drive through twisty mountain roads with very poor visibility, but it did make for some interesting pictures.

Misty mountains