magic

A Home For Mr. Easter

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Tesana is a teenage girl lacking love. Her mother belittles her behavior, and the kids at school make fun of her. She is huge—both very tall and very overweight. She feels like a walking target, so it’s understandable that she has learned to escape into her imagination. When the bus ride home sucks, she dreams up a unicorn to carry her across the city. But daydreams can’t make everything better. When the popular jocks and cheerleaders try to make a victim of a bunny rabbit, Tesana unleashes all her pent-up anger on them.

This is no ordinary bunny. He lays Easter eggs! He talks! Everyone thinks Tesana is crazy, but she knows the truth. She resolves to help Mr. Easter get back home. In order to do this, they have to retrace the route that brought him to the high school: a pet shop, a science lab, and a magician’s show. At every stop there’s someone who wants that bunny back, and soon there’s a small army chasing Tesana and Mr. Easter.

A Home for Mr. Easter is defined by its chaos. Tesana feels attacked on all sides, and then she actually is. The plot follows the logic of a dreamer, so magical things are suddenly allowed. The laws of the real world are stretched and twisted.

Though this graphic novel style isn’t really my favorite—it delights in the misshapen—I appreciate what Allen has succeeded in doing. What I don’t enjoy may make the book all the richer for some readers. Tesana’s world is ugly; she deals with ugly people.

Along the way, Tesana slowly excises some of her demons. By the time they find Mr. Easter’s true home, she is less angry and has had some of her deepest beliefs validated. Through the bedlam, she and her mother become allies, instead of enemies. The fairy tale ends happily.

And yet, A Home for Mr. Easter contains a great deal of insight, slipped into the subtext. Brooke Allen gives just enough clues for us to get a rich impression of what Tesana’s inner and physical lives are like. The characters are expressive, leaving no doubt about how something is being said or the emotion it’s being said with.

I did enjoy the story, and its fantastic nature. The range of emotion is powerful, taking one through disbelief, righteous anger, fear, and pathos. Allen is clearly talented and confident in her craft.

Written by: Richenda Gould, August 30th 2010

Pagan Astrology: Spell-Casting, Love Magic, and Shamanic Stargazing

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:01:00 +0000

By Raven Kaldera

Destiny Books

Astrology and magic have been topics that I have been interested in over the years. I had my chart done years ago, and found the correlations between my sign and my personality amazingly accurate (I am truly an Aquarius). What interested me about Raven Kaldera's book, Pagan Astrology: Spell-Casting, Love Magic, and Shamanic Stargazing, was that different magic is used depending on the astrological alignment.

If you have never read anything on pagan astrology, this book can look overwhelming. Since the magic Kaldera discusses refers to charts, knowing a little about them beforehand can help greatly. Kaldera starts with a chapter on charts, explaining deciphering to beginners and goes into detail about the different glyphs on the chart. For people already quite knowledgeable, he also includes a more advanced chapter.

For each of the planets, Kaldera has in depth explanations about the planetary magic, when during the astrological cycle each planetary spell is performed, and what is the significance of each spell; for example, Jupiter magic brings out the different gifts, such as courage or ingenuity. There are spells for the eight moon phases (New, Crescent, Waxing, Quarter, Gibbous, Full, Disseminating, Waning, Quarter, and Balsamic), Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (Kaldera includes an author's note in the beginning of the book regarding Pluto). Further into the book, Kaldera describes planetary altars, which change on which sign the planet is in. Kaldera also includes magical prescriptions for Western readers, which are used for positive and negative transits of the planet.

When I started reading Pagan Astrology, I felt a tad overwhelmed, due to a lack of previous knowledge. However, Kaldera does a good job explaining every detail, making it easier for astrology amateurs, like myself, to catch up. Having your natal chart while reading this book, which can be done online, definitely helps with understanding the material. For anyone interested in pagan astrology, Pagan Astrology is an excellent resource for spells, altars, and magical prescriptions.

Written by: Elizabeth Stannard, February 16th 2010

The Witch’s Coin: Prosperity and Money Magick

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:00:00 +0000

By Christopher Penzcak

Llewellyn Worldwide

What if you were given the opportunity to not only overcome your financial burdens, but still have enough money to spare? After ending a year filled with recession woes, 2010 is a time of hope for many of us. According to award-winning author Christopher Penczak, anyone can now earn a little green with the help of Mother Nature. In his latest book, The Witch's Coin, readers can transform poverty into prosperity through spells and lessons in Finance 101. While this book will appeal to pagans who are familiar with using herbs, candles, and oils to help better their lives, those who need guidance will greatly benefit from the many lessons Penczak provides. The Witch's Coin is a must-have for a new year of possibilities.

Penczak is no stranger to readers following the pagan religious tradition. As an eclectic Wiccan, he’s published several books that teach the basics of witchcraft, including The Inner Temple of Witchcraft and City Magick. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Penczak would finally release a book on managing one’s finances through spell work, a misunderstood subject that can be as complex as improving one’s love life. Sadly, when someone is suffering from a credit crunch, carefully wording a “prayer” to the universe can be the last thing on our minds. Fortunately, Penczak breaks down the rules of how one can learn to open up opportunities for themselves.

“Just because society sets a standard and you desire it, there is nothing evil or wrong with that desire, as long as you are clear and unattached with that desire,” he states. “New cars, big homes, vacations, and big investments are not good or bad by themselves.” Most importantly, we must learn to have balance in our lives for any spell to work. After all, what would be the purpose of having money if we can’t better ourselves with it? Finally paying off those credit card debts is a major step, but also putting some cash aside to pursue a lifelong passion that can open new doors is also another way to use magic for positive results. Best of all, Penzcak reveals numerous ways on how we can create our paths to financial victory.

One of the many wonderful things Penzcak provides in The Witch's Coin are easy-to-follow spells that not only help attract positive energy, but also assist readers in better understanding their goals. He recommends simply writing out our desires, which is a way for us to visually see what we need to make happen. “Ask for what you want, not necessarily the exact circumstance of how to get it,” he explains. “In the preceding spell, I asked for a job that is acceptable to me, fulfilling my personal criteria, and advancing my career. I didn’t ask for a specific position in a specific company. I could have, but that would close the doors to many opportunities that my magick could have manifested.”

In addition, Penzcak includes recipes for “money attraction incense” and even a “milk and honey bath,” all encompassing herbs have been used for hundreds of years. Who wouldn’t want to relax with fresh ginger and orange peel to calm our bodies and clear our minds? According to Penzcak, the scent of rich cinnamon and clove alone can “expand your consciousness, rather than contract fear and tension” when balancing the checkbook. Even if you’re creating a charm to obtain a new job, he notes, “Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want.” Whether you’re a pagan practitioner or not, anyone can benefit from advice on realizing what we want for ourselves and how dreams can become a reality.

Real magic comes from within and goals can only come alive with work and determination. This seems obvious, but too few believe in it. Whether you’re looking to pay off pesky bills or going job hunting, The Witch's Coin is a timely hit on covering the one topic everyone should master.

Written by: Stephanie Nolasco, February 5th 2010

Rough Magic

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:03:00 +0000

By Caryl Cude Mullin

Second Story Press

Most of Caryl Cude Mullin’s Rough Magic takes place on a magical island, the home of sirens and air spirits. When an exiled Queen bent on revenge and accumulating more power takes control of the island’s magic the fate of its inhabitants is left for the islands own control.

Chiara, a young Princess with an interest and talent for magic, is ordered by her father to marry a Spanish Prince for his own ambition. Caliban serves as Chiara’s teacher, servant, and the closest thing she’s emotionally had to a father. Calypso, another young woman who later in the story finds the island is the daughter of a witch and has been wandering the seas searching for a purpose to her life.

Much can’t be said about these characters as they are written flat and one-sided. Main character Caliban isn’t much of the hero we may expect him to be, and Chiara a girl whom, for most of her personality, is submissive and meek from her introduction to the story suddenly becomes cold and harsh at its end.

While I enjoyed this book to an extent, I was also slightly disappointed with it. Rough Magic_’s plot is tedious and slow. It lacks the necessary action that defines the fantasy genre. Furthermore, the characters on occasion are repetitive in their thoughts. If you read the back cover you are informed that this story was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the novel does indeed closely resemble the play, but still anything affiliated with that of the bard’s works is always put up to high expectations such as a similar almost mimicking style in dialoged and prose while keeping to modern changes. For this reviewer, Rough Magic falls short of such expectations.

Written by: Nina Lopez-Ortiz, November 17th 2009