ghost stories – New World Witchery – The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft

Special Episode – Folk Magician’s Notebook – December 2022

Holiday greenery and ghosts!

Summary:

Time to close out a year of Folk Magician’s Notebooks with a few nods to the holiday season. We’ve got scary ghost stories (well one anyway), a peek at the lunar calendar for the month, some generous and cozy cards, and more!

Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time. Even if you can’t give, spread the word and let others know, and maybe we can make New World Witchery even better than it is now.

Producers for this show:

Abby, Achija Branvin Sionach, AromaG’s Botanica, AthenaBeth, Andrea, Bagga Marsh, Benjamin, Breanna, Carol, Carole, Catherine, Cheryl, Christopher, Colby, ConjuredCardea, Daniel, Dave, Don, Donna, Elizabeth, Eveline, Erin, Fergus, Griffin, Heather, Jamie, Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop, Jess, Jenna, Jennifer, Jodi, John, Jonathan at the ModernSouthernPolytheist, Kat, Kee, Kristopher, Liz, Mark, Marisa, Matthew Venus of Spiritus Arcanum, Milo, Minimiel, Montine of Book of My Shadows, , Nikki, Payton, Sara, Scarlet Pirate, Sherry, Staci, Stephanie, Ralph from the Holle’s Haven Podcast, Vee, Victoria & Keifel of 1000 Volt Press, Violet, and WisdomQueen (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

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Play: Special Episode – Folk Magician’s Notebook – December 2022

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We highly recommend that you find an almanac or lunar-oriented datebook to help you with planning out your own magical year. Some we can recommend:

The Witches Almanac

Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook

Benebell Wen’s Metaphysician’s Planner

Montine’s Book of My Shadows

Or your local Farmer’s Almanac!

Our story this time is “The Golden Arm,” and you can find the version Cory reads on the Pitt.edu website.

We also have a whole post about “Holly and Ivy” if you’re interested!

If you are interested in playing card divination, you can check out our Cartomancy post or pick up Cory’s book, 54 Devils.

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Pixabay (CC 2.0)

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we are also on TikTok now. You can follow us on Instagram (main account, or you can follow Laine as well) or check out our new YouTube channel with back episodes of the podcast and new “Everyday Magic” videos, too (as well as most of our contest announcements)! Have something you want to say? Leave us a voice mail on our official NWW hotline: (442) 999-4824 (that’s 442-99-WITCH, if it helps).

Promos and Music:

Title and closing music are “Runaround (AM Radio),” by Aaron Solomon, and is licensed from Audio Socket. Incidental music is Shirley Cason, “Winter Mornings”; Pat Holmberg, “We Three Kings”; and Phil Symonds, “Coventry Carol” all licensed from Audio Socket. Additional music Kevin Macleod, from Free Music Arcive and used under a CC 2.0 license.

Sound effects from Freesound.org and in the Public Domain.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers! You can also check out Cory’s folklore show, Chasing Foxfire, where he explores the intersection of folklore and topics like history, medicine, science, nature, literature, pop culture, and more!

Please think about checking out our Audible Trial program. Visit Audibletrial.com/newworldwitchery to get your free trial of Audible, where you can download over 180,000 titles (including some narrated by Cory). Your purchases help support this show, and there’s no obligation to continue after the free trial

Special Episode – All Hallows Read 2022

Spooky stories of devils and magic gone amiss!

Summary:

We’re back just in time for the spooky season with our annual All Hallows’ Read episode! This time we’re sharing tales of magic gone wrong, with narratives about diabolical woodsmen, sorcerous battles, eerie homunculi, and more. We’ve got special guests joining us to narrate these, too, so see if you can “spot” the voices!

Producers for this show:

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We visit old Professor Henry Ostcouch busily working away in his tower, and hear stories of magic gone awry. Each story has a special guest teller as well!

“The Homunculus of Maimonides,” from Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural, edited by Howard Schwartz (read by Ryan of The Red Text Podcast)
“The Battle of the Enchanters,” from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, edited by Jack Zipes (read by Victoria Raschke of the WitchLit Podcast)
“The Black Woodsman,” from The Silver Bullet, and Other American Witch Stories, by Hubert J. Davis (read by Aaron Oberon of the FolkCraft Podcast)
“The Blacksmith and the Devil,” from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, edited by Jack Zipes (read by Austin of Banexbramble and the Southern Bramble Podcast)
“Cornelius Agrippa’s Bloody Book,” from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, edited by Jack Zipes (read by Don Martin of Head on Fire Podcast)

My immense thanks to these readers, who stepped in to help me out when my voice was not up to recording all these tales due to illness, and did a marvelous job telling them, too!

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Pixabay (CC 2.0)

Promos and Music:

Music for this episode is licensed from Audio Socket. Additional music Kevin Macleod, from Free Music Archive and used under a CC 2.0 license.

Sound effects from Freesound.org and in the Public Domain.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Special Episode – Folk Magician’s Notebook – October 2022

Folk tales of talking cats, diabolical cards, enchanted apples, and more!

Summary:

Time for another round of full moons, cards, and so much more! We look at the Blood Moon, talk about a pair of tempting-but-misunderstood cards, talk about the secret magic in the average apple, and hear a story of some very chatty cats.

Producers for this show:

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Play: Special Episode – Folk Magician’s Notebook – October 2022

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We highly recommend that you find an almanac or lunar-oriented datebook to help you with planning out your own magical year. Some we can recommend:

The Witches Almanac

Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook

Benebell Wen’s Metaphysician’s Planner

Montine’s Book of My Shadows

Or your local Farmer’s Almanac!

The story this month is a Texas folktale called “The Black Cat’s Message,” as retold by S.E. Schlosser.

You may be interested in our article on the folk magic of apples or the video we posted about it as well.

If you are interested in playing card divination, you can check out our Cartomancy post or pick up Cory’s book, 54 Devils.

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Pixabay (CC 2.0)

Promos and Music:

Title and closing music are “Runaround (AM Radio),” by Aaron Solomon, and is licensed from Audio Socket. Additional music Kevin Macleod, from Free Music Arcive and used under a CC 2.0 license.

Sound effects from Freesound.org and in the Public Domain.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Episode 216 – A Little Obeah with Emma Kathryn

In which chat Obeah, Witchcraft, food, and ghost stories with Emma Kathryn

Summary: We sit down with author and teacher Emma Kathryn to discuss Obeah, the growth and changes in witchcraft in recent decades, and even share a ghost story! And, of course, food. Yum…

Producer for this show: Our Patreon supporter for this episode is Breanna, and name them our Good Luck Blue Plate Special Number 1. Thank you for your support of this episode, which keeps our hearts and bellies full, and for your ongoing support of New World Witchery.

Play: Episode 216 – A Little Obeah with Emma Kathryn
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You can find out more about Emma Kathryn at her website, and you can check out her book, Witch Life as well. She writes at the Gods & Radicals blog, the House of Twigs, and Witch Way Magazine as well.

Cory reads a small passage from Zora Neale Hurston’s Tell My Horse, and we also mention the books Where to Park Your Broomstick by Lauren Manoy, and the children’s books of Enid Blyton as well.

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Please note that clicking on links may provide some monetary compensation to New World Witchery.

Image via Pixabay (Used under CC 2.0 License, modified by New World Witchery)

If you have feedback you’d like to share, email us at compassandkey@gmail.com or newworldwitcherypodcast@gmail.com or leave a comment at the website: www.newworldwitchery.com . We’d love to hear from you! Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we are also on TikTok now. You can follow us on Instagram (main account, or you can follow Laine as well) or check out our new YouTube channel with back episodes of the podcast and new “Everyday Magic” videos, too (as well as most of our contest announcements)! Have something you want to say? Leave us a voice mail on our official NWW hotline: (442) 999-4824 (that’s 442-99-WITCH, if it helps).

Promos and Music: Title music is “Woman Blues,” by Paul Avgerinos, licensed from Audio Socket. Additional Music is “Musical Impromptu 1” and “Tranquility,” by Kevin MacLeod used under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters. If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers! Please think about checking out our Audible Trial program. Visit Audibletrial.com/newworldwitchery to get your free trial of Audible, where you can download over 180,000 titles (including some narrated by Cory). Your purchases help support this show, and there’s no obligation to continue after the free trial

Episode 202 – Yuletide Cheer! 2021

Summary:

We take a slightly different approach to our annual Yuletide festivities, and share a few songs, a lot of lore about favorite holiday traditions we DON’T practice, and a listener email about a holiday divination gift!

Producer for this show:

Our Patreon supporter for this episode is Montine from Book of My Shadows, a magically and astrologically oriented guided journal and planner you can use to help get your magical year in order. We’ve loved sharing Montine’s work over the years with our Patrons, and we hope you’ll check out the Book of My Shadows site for your own sorceries planning purposes! Our gratitude goes out to Montine, and to all of our listeners and supporters!

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Play: Episode 202 – Yuletide Cheer! 2021

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Some of the sources for lore and information in this episode include:

The Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas, by Al Ridenour

The Old Magic of Christmas, by Linda Raedisch

Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations of the World Dictionary

The Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, & Sages, by Judika Illes

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Please note that clicking on links may provide some monetary compensation to New World Witchery.

Image via Pixabay (Used under CC 2.0 License, modified by New World Witchery)

Promos and Music:

All music is licensed from Audio Socket. With the exception of “Da Day Dawn,” by Samantha Gillogly used with permission of artist. Songs include:

“I Saw Three Ships/Kerry Jig Medley,” by The Morisson Players
“Greensleeves,” by Trillium
“God Rest Ye,” by Phil Symonds
“Good King Wenceslas,” by Matthew Reid
“Noche de Paz/Silent Night,” by Emma Wallace
“Un Flambeau Jeanette Isabella,” by Emma Wallace
“Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake,” by Trillium
“We Three Kings,” by Jarad Austin
“Carol of Pianos,” by Emmett Cook
“Angels We Have Heard on High,” by Joe Matzzie

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers!

Special Episode – Scairy Tales – The Boy Who Drew Cats

Summary:

More spooky stories from the sinister Scairy Godparent this week! We tell the next All Hallows’ Read goodie, one from Japan about a boy who just can’t seem to stop drawing cats…and it may just save his life!

Producers for this show:

Abby, Achija Branvin Sionach, AromaG’s Botanica, AthenaBeth, Bagga Marsh, Benjamin, Breanna, Carol, Carole, Catherine, Christopher, ConjuredCardea, Daniel, Dave, Don, Donna, Erin, Griffin, Heather, Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop, Jess, Jodi, John, Jonathan at the ModernSouthernPolytheist, Kristopher, Matthew Venus, Minimiel, Montine of Book of My Shadows, , Nikki, Payton, Sara, Scarlet Pirate, Staci, Stephanie, Ralph from the Holle’s Haven Podcast, Violet, and WisdomQueen (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

Special Episode Scairy Tales (All Hallows Read 2021)

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Play: Special Episode – Scairy Tales – The Boy Who Drew Cats

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Our theme this year is “Scairy Tales,” or the fairy tales that are a bit too dark to tell in the nursery (unless you’re trying to scare your supper like our rather wicked storyteller might). Some of the sources for these tales include:

The Complete Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales, edited by Sibelan Forrester
The Boy Who Drew Cats & Other Japanese Fairy Tales, by Lafcadio Hearn
Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via Canva (Used under License)

Promos and Music:

All music is licensed from Audio Socket. Artists include Delicate Noise, Mark Petrie, PHLYR/Jim Coleman, Shadowy Lines, Colin Scudder, Steve Barden, Human Factor, The Widow’s Bane, and Richard Ames.

Song “Shamisen,” by HexQ, used with permission of artist.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

Episode 193 – Summer Camp Cryptids with Bones

Cory interviews Bones from the Cursed and Hex Files podcasts about working with witchcraft and the paranormal and how those pieces fit together with cryptids and other fearsome critters as well.

Summary:

Sing the songs of summer (or scream the screams of summer camp spooky stories) as you gather around the campfire for this one. Cory interviews Bones from the Cursed and Hex Files podcasts about working with witchcraft and the paranormal and how those pieces fit together with cryptids and other fearsome critters as well.

Producers for this show:

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Play: Episode 193 – Summer Camp Cryptids with Bones

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Our guest Bones is the host of both the Hex Files and Cursed podcasts. Check them out for more spooky, supernatural fun mixed with a little witchery for good measure!

If you’re looking for some good campfire stories, Cory recommends the “Spooky” series collected by S.E. Schlosser (as well as the classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz). He’d also recommend checking out Chasing American Monsters, by Jason Offutt, if you’re interested in cryptids, too.

You can now buy Cory’s book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

Image via author (CC 2.0)

Promos and Music:

Title and closing music are “Woman Blues,” by Paul Avgerinos, and is licensed from Audio Socket. Incidental music is “Brushed Bells Leaving Home,” by Daniel Birch (Free Music Archive).

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers!

Episode 176 – Spooktacular Listener Tales

Summary:

We feature listener feedback of the macabre, morbid, and magical in this episode. We’ll hear tales of nighttime peepers, Wild Hunt taunters, creepy floating lights, and more!

Please check out our Patreon page! You can help support the show for as little as a dollar a month, and get some awesome rewards at the same time. Even if you can’t give, spread the word and let others know, and maybe we can make New World Witchery even better than it is now.

Producers for this show: Heather, WisdomQueen, Jennifer, Jen Rue of Rue & Hyssop, Little Wren, Khristopher, Tanner, Fergus from Queer as Folk Magic, Achija of Spellbound Bookbinding, Johnathan at the ModernSouthernPolytheist, Catherine, Payton, Carole, Stephanie, Kat, Breanna, Staci, Montine, Vic from the Distelfink Sippschaft of Urglaawe, Moma Sarah at ConjuredCardea, Jody, AthenaBeth, Bo, Scarlet Pirate, Tim, Bill, Leslie, Sherry, Jenna, Jess, Laura, Abbi, Nicole, & Clever Kim’s Curios (if we missed you this episode, we’ll make sure you’re in the next one!). Big thanks to everyone supporting us!

Play:

Download: Episode 176 – Spooktacular Listener Tales

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All of our tales this time come from our listeners! Big thanks to Claire, Brittany, Ari, Emilie, Rosie, and Breanna for sharing your stories with us!

You can now also pre-order Cory’s forthcoming book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon)

We’re also working with the Wylde Faun candle company to offer a special discount to our supporters! You can buy anything from their catalog and get 20% off by using the code “NewWorldWitch” at checkout!

If you have feedback you’d like to share, email us or leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you!

Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we also now have a page on Pinterest you might like, called “The Olde Broom.” You can follow us on Instagram or check out our new YouTube channel with back episodes of the podcast and new “Everyday Magic” videos, too (as well as most of our contest announcements)! Have something you want to say? Leave us a voice mail on our official NWW hotline: (442) 999-4824 (that’s 442-99-WITCH, if it helps).

Promos & Music

Title and closing music are “Woman Blues,” by Paul Avgerinos, and is licensed from Audio Socket.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers!

Special Episode – Camp Splitfoot – The Avenging Voice

Summary: We continue our tales around the bewitched bonfire with our second installment this #AllHallowsRead. This time, we hear “The Avenging Voice,” a tale adapted from Midwestern folklore.

Cover image of Special Episode - Camp Splitfoot - Campfire Tales

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Download: Special Episode – Camp Splitfoot – The Avenging Voice

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This tale is read by Laine, and adapted from a story found in Richard Dorson’s Buying the Wind, a collection of North American regional folklore.

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in our recent surveys, including the one where many of our tales this year will come from! We’ll have announcements of contest winners soon! You can now also pre-order Cory’s forthcoming book, New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic! (also available from Amazon).

Image by Cory Thomas Hutcheson.

If you have feedback you’d like to share, email us or leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you! Don’t forget to follow us at Twitter! And check out our Facebook page! For those who are interested, we also now have a page on Pinterest you might like, called “The Olde Broom.” You can follow us on Instagram or check out our new YouTube channel with back episodes of the podcast and new “Everyday Magic” videos, too (as well as most of our contest announcements)! Have something you want to say? Leave us a voice mail on our official NWW hotline: (442) 999-4824 (that’s 442-99-WITCH, if it helps).

Promos & Music

Music for this episode includes works by Colin Scudder, Randall Crissman, Jamison Hollister, and Paul Avgernos, and is licensed from Audio Socket.

Please consider supporting us by purchasing our promotional items in the New World Witchery Threadless shop or by joining our Patreon supporters.

If you like us AND you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love our new show: Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast, now available through all the podcatchers!

Contest Time! Fall 2020 Edition

It’s contest time!

One of the kind of cool perks to creating New World Witchery is that we often get access to lots of books coming out on magical topics, and sometimes publishers even send us an extra copy or two of some books so we can give them away. I have been very lax in doing these sorts of giveaways, but I’m chalking it (loosely) up to Fate. Well, okay, and a touch of being a little overwhelmed with all the projects I do. But why Fate?

Because I have a few projects that I need your help with, and I thought why not combine those projects with an opportunity to give away a whole bunch of books? Maybe I’ve just been stockpiling these so that I would have a good cache of verbal treasures to send out as potential “thank yous” to a few lucky folks who help me out with my work!

So how can you help (and also get a chance to win one or more of these books)?

I’m currently doing a few research projects and I need people to share their experiences with me, so I’ve decided that if you participate in my project, you can also enter to win a book! Here’s how to participate and enter:

Fill out our “Campfire Tales” survey with your favorite spooky/funny/weird/eerie tale from around the old campfire! Importantly, please make sure it’s one that you’ve actually heard told to you, and not just read (or one that you’ve told and not just read) as I’m trying to get stories from the oral tradition. It’s totally fine if they’ve also been written down somewhere, too (and if you grew up reading the Alvin Schwartz Scary Stories series, you’ll know exactly what Campfire Tales are!), but definitely tell me the story in your own words! Make sure to leave a good email address with the survey so we can contact you if you win (we do NOT share your email address with advertisers or third parties).
Fill out our “Research Survey: Slumber Party and Supernatural Games” form. It will ask you questions about any spooky, weird, or slightly supernatural games you might have played/still play, including everything from “Bloody Mary” to using Ouija boards to newer versions of games like Midnight Man or Three Kings. Again, if you fill out this Google Form survey, make sure to provide an email address if you want to be considered for one of the books as a prize; we don’t share those with third parties or advertisers).

You can participate in one or both of these surveys to get an entry into our contest! If you’re one of our Patreon supporters, you’ll also get an automatic entry as well (just one of the perks of being a patron!).

So what are some of the books up for grabs?

Making Magic, by Briana Saussy (at least three copies) – A lovely guide to working everyday magic into your life through ritual, art, craft, and intention
Outside the Charmed Circle, by Misha Magdalene – All about magical and ritual explorations of gender and sexuality
Urban Magick, by Diana Rajchel – A great look at working funky, potent, animistic magic in a cityscape
What is Remembered Lives, by Phoenix LaFae – A book about working with ancestors, the Fae, and spiritual powers
The Magick of Food, by Gwion Raven – A marvelous overview of magical cookery, including historical recipes, ritual menus, and more
The Crooked Path, by Kelden Mercury – An introduction and orientation to Traditional Witchcraft
Besom, Stang, and Sword, by Chris Orapello and Tara-Love Maguire (not pictured, but a great book!) – A wonderful introduction to animistic, locally-rooted witchcraft by two amazing witches
Fifty-four Devils, by Cory Thomas Hutcheson (at least two signed copies) – My guide to the folklore of playing cards and a basic system of cartomancy

I may also add more books into the mix, depending on what I get/find/mysteriously find under a rock between now and when these contests end. Speaking of, get your entries in by no later than midnight, October 2nd, 2020 by EST to be considered for one of the book prizes!

You can win a prize in both contests, but only one book per survey (and multiple survey responses don’t increase your chances of winning). I’ll be picking the books and winners at random when the contest is over, then contacting winners to confirm a shipping address for any and all books you win.

There is no cost to you to participate in this contest, and you can also choose to do the surveys and not be entered into the drawing for the books if you like (but seriously, free books, why wouldn’t you?!?!)

Huge thanks to Llewellyn, Weiser, and Sounds True publications for all their generosity in offering these texts!

Best of luck, and my immense thanks to everyone who participates!

-Cory