Quick Update – Picture Contest Winner!

Hi everyone!

Thanks to all who participated in our recent mini-contest, guessing where I was for Blog Post 157. The correct answer, of course, was Memphis, Tennessee!

Our big winner of the Compass & Key Lucky Bundle prize is…..

Coyote Rose!

Congratulations to you! Please send me an email at compassandkey@gmail.com with a shipping address, and we’ll get that prize package out the door to you.

Again, lots of thanks to all who played! Keep watching our feed for more on the Memphis trip, very soon!

-Cory

Blog Post 157 – Weekend in Pictures

Bonus! Answer the following (very easy) question and get your name in the hat for a prize! One lucky winner will get a Lucky Bundle from Compass & Key Curiosities with a few bottles of our best lucky oils and a lucky curio or two. Leave your answer in the comments section below by MIDNIGHT TONIGHT (4/25/12) to enter!

The Question: Where was I?

Told you it was easy! Good luck!

Quick Update! – Spring Lore Contest Reminder

Hi folks!

This is just a reminder that if you want to get into the drawing for our Spring Lore Contest, there’s never been a better time than now!  You’ve only got five days left—until March 21, 2012! We’re looking for Springtime Lore this time around: seed planting rituals & customs, fertility charms, spring cleaning spells, etc. Anything and everything related to Easter eggs, baby animals, April showers, and (shudder) bunnies. We’re trying to put together an episode featuring folklore, ritual, and practice from all over the country and the world relating to rebirth, green grass, renewal, etc. and we need your help to do it! So if you’ve been hanging on to a killer magical gardening tip, a clever and enchanted use for chocolate rabbits, or a story about dancing naked around a maypole, fire up your email and send it in!

So what’s in it for you if you send us lore? Prizes!

The Prizes

  • A copy of Etched Offerings: Voices from the Cauldron of Story from Misanthrope press (an anthology of pagan fiction featuring stories from several podcasters like Oraia Helene, Saturn Darkhope, & me!)
  • An email card reading from Cory, with a 1-2 page card report featuring a 2-card split and 7-card layout, plus interpretations and a fairy-tale recommendation to connect your reading to a story you can turn to for more inspiration.
  • A goody box from Compass & Key Apothecary featuring several of our oils, curios, and mojo bags. While actual contents of the box are subject to change, they will likely have at least 2 oils, 2 mojo bags, 1-2 curios (like rabbits’ feet, gator paws, or Mercury dimes), and 3-4 herbal samples.

How to Enter

Send your entries to compassandkey@gmail.com to enter, and be sure to put “Spring Lore” in your subject line.

We hope to hear from you soon! Remember, the deadline is midnight on March 21st, 2012, so get those entries in before then!

All the best, and thanks for everything you do!

-Cory

Quick Update – Spring Lore Contest!

Howdy everyone!

We’ve got a Spring Lore Contest going on until March 21, 2012! We’re looking for Springtime Lore this time around: seed planting rituals & customs, fertility charms, spring cleaning spells, etc. Anything and everything related to Easter eggs, baby animals, April showers, and (shudder) bunnies. We’re trying to put together an episode featuring folklore, ritual, and practice from all over the country and the world relating to rebirth, green grass, renewal, etc. and we need your help to do it! But because we like you an awful lot, we also want to give you the chance to win shiny and wonderful things from us when you send us your lore!

The Prizes

  • A copy of Etched Offerings: Voices from the Cauldron of Story from Misanthrope press (an anthology of pagan fiction featuring stories from several podcasters like Oraia Helene, Saturn Darkhope, & me!)
  • An email card reading from Cory, with a 1-2 page card report featuring a 2-card split and 7-card layout, plus interpretations and a fairy-tale recommendation to connect your reading to a story you can turn to for more inspiration.
  • A goody box from Compass & Key Apothecary featuring several of our oils, curios, and mojo bags. While actual contents of the box are subject to change, they will likely have at least 2 oils, 2 mojo bags, 1-2 curios (like rabbits’ feet, gator paws, or Mercury dimes), and 3-4 herbal samples.

How to Enter

Send your entries to compassandkey@gmail.com to enter, and be sure to put “Spring Lore” in your subject line.

We hope to hear from you soon! Remember, the deadline is midnight on March 21st, 2012, so get those entries in before then!

All the best, and thanks for everything you do!

-Cory

Podcast 39 – Feedback, Newbies, and News

-SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 39

Summary
On this episode, we go through a lot of listener feedback, share a few thoughts on being new to a magical path, and give a few updates about what’s coming up for New World Witchery.

Play:

Download: New World Witchery – Episode 39

-Sources-

  1. From the feedback question about altars, some good books might be The Encyclopedia of Spirits and The Encycolpedia of Mystics, Saints, & Sages, both by Judika Illes
  2. From the question about divination, Aeclectic Tarot has wonderful comparisons and reviews of different tarot and oracle decks. You can also check out the Rabbit Tarot that Laine mentions, and our free Cartomancy Guide if you’re interested in playing cards.
  3. We had a question related to spinning wheel magic, which was based on our discussion from Podcast 25.
  4. Velma Nightshade asked a question about the Biblical Magic episode. Cory mentioned the Book of Pagan Prayer (though I intended to refer to the Pagan Ritual Prayer Book), both by Ceisiwr Smith.
  5. We mention Oraia Helene as a great resource for information on the martial arts and magic.
  6. We answered some questions in regard to our Secrecy & Silence posts.
  7. Check out the Book Reviews post mentioned as part of the “learning hoodoo” discussion.
  8. The “learning hoodoo” discussion also mentions a series of posts from us (starting at Blog Post 29), and several books that can help a person get started:
    1. Spiritual Cleansing and A Century of Spells, by Draja Mickaharic
    2. Mules & Men, by Zora Neale Hurston
    3. Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic, by catherine yronwode
    4. The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook, by Denise Alvarado
    5. Conjure in African American Society, by Jeffery Anderson
    6. Black Magic, by Yvonne P. Chireau
    7. Master Book of Candle Burning, by Henri Gamache
    8. Secrets of the Psalms, by Godfrey Selig
  9. We also used an email from VII at Magic & Mundane to jump into a discussion of being new to a particular path.
  10. You can now request Card Readings from Cory via email, if you are so inclined.

We’ve got a Spring Lore Contest going on until March 21, 2012! We’re looking for Springtime Lore this time around: seed planting rituals & customs, fertility charms, spring cleaning spells, etc. Anything and everything related to Easter eggs, baby animals, April showers, and (shudder) bunnies. Send your entries to compassandkey@gmail.com to enter, and be sure to put “Spring Lore” in your subject line.  Three participants will win one of three prizes: a copy of Etched Offerings: Voices from the Cauldron of Story from Misanthrope press (an anthology of pagan fiction featuring stories from several podcasters like Oraia Helene, Saturn Darkhope, & me!), an email card reading from Cory, and a goody box from Compass & Key Apothecary featuring several of our oils, curios, and mojo bags. More details coming soon!

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter!

Promos & Music
Title music:  “Homebound,” by Jag, from Cypress Grove Blues.  From Magnatune.

Promo 1 – Between the Earth & Stars
Promo 2 – The Pagan Homesteader
Promo 3 – The Texan Heretics

Reminder – Speak-a-Spell Contest Ending Tonight!

Hi everyone,

This is just a friendly reminder that the deadline to enter our Speak-a-Spell Contest is midnight tonight! If you’ve been thinking about submitting but haven’t done so yet, there’s no time like the present. We’ll be compiling all the recordings into a sort of ‘audio spellbook’ when we’re done, so keep that in mind when submitting.

A quick summary of the rules:

  • Share a favorite spell that you’ve used and which works for you
  • Files <5 minutes in length, in .mp3, .m4a, AAC, or .wav format
  • Tell us who you are and where you’re from, generally
  • Please tell us all spell components and describe actions carefully
  • Send us your file at compassandkey@gmail.com , subject line: “Audio Spell Contest”
  • Deadline November 18th, 2011 (THAT’S TONIGHT!)

If there’s absolutely no way for you to record your spell in your own voice, you can submit it as a written spell, and Laine and/or I will read it for the show in your stead.

The prizes up for grabs are three books by New World Witchery guests:

Prizes and winners will be picked at random, but any of these books would be a great addition to a magical library.

If you’ve already submitted and want to do another entry, feel free! Every submission gets you an entry into the contest.

Thanks to all those who’ve sent in spells and to those who have been spreading the word! This should be a pretty neat project when it’s all done.
Best wishes!

-Cory

Quick Update – Contest Deadline Extended!

Hi everyone!

So we’ve only had a small handful of submissions to our contest, and we really want to get more people to participate to make this audio spellbook concept to be the best it can be. So we are extending the deadline to enter this contest to November 18th, 2011.

You can read the full description of the contest in our original blog post on it, but here’s a quick summation of the rules:

  • Share a favorite spell that you’ve used and which works for you
  • Files <5 minutes in length, in .mp3, .m4a, AAC, or .wav format
  • Tell us who you are and where you’re from, generally
  • Please tell us all spell components and describe actions carefully
  • Send us your file at compassandkey@gmail.com , subject line: “Audio Spell Contest”
  • Deadline November 18th, 2011

For those of you who’ve already entered, we still have your names in our proverbial hat, but if you’d like to increase your chances of winning, you can get an extra entry by doing the following:

  • Posting about the contest w/ a link back to this page in Facebook, Twitter, etc.
  • Sending us an email or leaving us a comment here telling us that you’ve linked the contest

We’ve got a better lock on the prizes, too! We’re going to do books by authors who have appeared on our show, including:

Prizes and winners will be picked at random, but any of these books would be a great addition to a magical library.

If you’ve already submitted and want to do another entry, feel free! Every submission gets you an entry into the contest.

Here’s hoping we hear from you soon! (Pretty please? With magical cherries on top?)

-Cory

Quick Update – Compass & Key Open!

      

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to let our readers and listeners know that our Etsy shop, The Compass & Key Apothecary, has re-opened with a selection of oils and mojos for you. We’ve always gotten tremendously positive feedback from those who buy from us, and we always try to add little extras  to the packages to make it really worth your while to purchase. We seem to be producing more or less seasonally at this point, so as long as we have stock, we’ll be happy to sell it, and the money we raise is put towards programming costs (like webspace, music, etc.), resources (books, online journal access, etc.), and other New World Witchery-related expenses.

For those who are interested, here’s a run-down of what we have currently (I’ll update as we expand our inventory, too):

Oils

  • Attraction Oil – Trying to get a little extra attention? Looking to bring a little prosperity your way? Attraction Oil is a marvelous and refreshing blend which provides a bit of magical “oomph” to workings intended to draw love or money. This is often used to anoint lucky charms, love letters, or money in one’s wallet in order to bring good things into one’s life.
  • Wall of Flame Oil – If you need to keep bad influences out of your life, this oil is right up your alley. It’s like laying down a ring of fire around you and the people and things you love. Sharp, clean, and hot smelling, it sends back any hurtful energies directed at you to their sources.
  • Uncrossing Oil – When you’ve got troubles that just don’t seem to quit, and it feels like your luck has just plain run out, this is the oil to use. A little of this worn on the body (particularly the hands and feet—though do be careful if you have sensitive skin) or burned while praying can do wonders to knock any curses off of you.
  • Black Cat Conjure Oil – A recipe which draws on feline power to reverse a curse in some spells, but more frequently used to create a little back alley romance. This formula bubbles with sensuality and strength, but has a dark edge which allegedly puts a potential lover (or sometimes an enemy) under your power. A strutter’s blend, for someone who doesn’t mind magic with a few teeth and claws thrown in.
  • Saints & Spirits Oil – This oil is attuned to the spirit realm, and can be used to anoint offering candles or to work spells relying on the aid of spiritual forces. It’s got a “churchy” smell offset by lavender for a peaceful, pleasant effect.
  • Crown of Success Oil – This is our famous recipe, stuffed with good herbs, prayers, and magic! It is used in several different workings, including candle burnings, anointing one’s head, and feeding mojo bags. This formula is reputed to inspire opportunities in one’s life, and to give one the courage to take those opportunities.

Mojos

  • Crown of Success Mojo – A potent little mojo bag, full of useful herbs, a written prayer, and a good dose of magic! Carried on one’s person, it is alleged to create confidence and reveal one’s natural talents. It has been said to open doors that might otherwise remain closed, and to give one the fortitude to walk through those doors. Can be fed with either our Crown of Success Oil or a little whiskey or rum.

 We also sell combinations, like the Crown of Success Bundle, which gets you both a bottle of the oil and the mojo bag for $2 less than buying them separately. We’ll be adding a few new oils and mojos over the coming weeks, too, so keep an eye out for those.

October is a big month for us, usually, and we will hopefully have lots of fun things for you over the next few weeks, including drawings and giveaways, special episodes, and generally just good old-fashioned fun.  If you’re interested in participating in any of these things, you should definitely follow us on Twitter, as that’s largely where our giveaways will happen (or at least where they’ll be announced). For those who don’t want to get on Twitter, though, don’t forget about our Share-a-Spell Contest, which desperately needs submissions!

We do hope you enjoy our October fun here at New World Witchery! Let us know how you’re liking (or disliking, if it stews your prunes in a bad way) what we’re doing here.

Until next time!

-Cory

Podcast 35 – Salem Wrap Up and Why Witchcraft?

-SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 35

Summary
We spend time talking (and gushing) about the recent Pagan Podkin Super-Moot in Salem, Mass. We also look at one of the questions that became a focal point of discussion while we were there: Why Witchcraft?

Play:

Download: New World Witchery – Episode 35

-Sources-
Really, these are more links than sources this time.
1)      Big thanks to Velma Nightshade of Witches’ Brewhaha for putting the event together!
2)      Thanks to the wonderful vendors who hosted us and contributed to our ‘swag bags’: Hex of Salem, Omen, Iron Powaqa, Mrs. Oddly, Lakefront Pagan Voice, Fire Lyte, Pendraig Publishing, Angelica of the Angels, and the Salem Witch Museum.
3)      Look at some of the pictures of Salem’s Old Burying Point Cemetery here. They’re quite beautiful!
4)      You can hear part of the workshop taught by Peter Paddon of the Crooked Path/Pendraig Publishing through his podcast: Episode 24. It was on “Invocation and the Art of Ritual Possession,” and it was marvelous!

We’ve got a contest going on! Check out the details of our Share-A-Spell contest on our blog, and contribute today!

Also, be on the lookout for a poll on the site fairly soon about a possible new episode type.

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter!

Promos & Music
Title music:  “Homebound,” by Jag, from Cypress Grove Blues.  From Magnatune.
Promo 1 – Witches’ Brewhaha
Promo 2 – Lakefront Pagan Voice
Promo 3 – Pennies in the Well

Quick Update – KY Rootwork Festival

Just a reminder that today is the last day to register for the Western Kentucky Hoodoo Festival! Online registration for the Hoodoo Festival ends on Thursday 9/22 at midnight!

Register here:
http://fb.me/1532uMuvJ

I’ll be teaching a course in Biblical Spellwork, and two former guests of ours (Stephanie Palm and Jack Montgomery) will also be teaching courses.

Had a great time in Salem and met some truly WONDERFUL fans! We’ll talk about that more in upcoming posts and/or podcasts, but just wanted to say thanks to all who came out!

The blog and podcast should be getting some more posts soon, and we have some other treats and announcements we’ll be working on as well in the coming weeks.

Don’t forget to enter our Share-a-Spell contest! We need your voice to make some awesomeness happen! http://wp.me/pHOKU-j9
Thanks everyone!
-Cory