2014 ... a potted history...with a sneek peak into 2015

Well it is that time of the year...the winter solstice - where we say goodbye to the dark part of the year and welcome back the sun.  The Holly King battles with the Oak King leaving the Oak King victorious...well at least until the summer solstice...

It is the time of year when I reflect on the calendar year that is drawing to a close.

This time last year I was saying what an amazing year 2013 had been...this year...not quite so much, it has been very much a year of 'troughs and peaks' but then that is what life is all about really isn't it? Overall it has been a good year though, the troughs have been there for a reason and on occasion to teach me a lesson that needed to be learnt.

I think my biggest lesson from this year has been to accept and understand that it is OK to say "no" occasionally.  Rather than say yes to every request for help/time/effort etc purely because I feel obliged to or don't want to let anyone down I have come to the realisation that actually sometimes it is OK to say "thanks but no thanks".

The Kitchen Witch School has some amazing students and it has been our absolute pleasure and honour to walk the journey with so many lovely people, this year has also seen requests to initiate into the coven both online within the school and offline at our open rituals - which has made us incredibly proud and given us much eye water.  We have also had several students finish the Forest of Oak level and become Priest/esses of the Oak and now also have a student that has completed the next level, Forest of Ash *proud*.

The open rituals at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park have been great fun and we have met and spent time in circle with some very lovely people.

I think pretty much all of our workshops this year were fully booked, for which we thank you from the heart of our bottoms ♥

We have eight open rituals booked for next year (details on the website) with individual themes - love, prosperity, protection, healing, Earth, Air, Fire and Water and are very excited to have one of our Priestesses and one of our Priests co-writing/leading the ritual with us.

We have attended several fairs this year, I think my most nerve wracking being the Magical Arts Fair and having to give a talk to hall full of people in Glastonbury...although I think Tracey would say her most nerve wracking fair was the Summer Solstice Fair in Midhurst where we had to give a blessing standing on the stage in front of a hall full of people and talk on microphones...

I have also been lucky enough to be invited along to several different moots to do talks on all sorts of things ranging from Kitchen Witchcraft to Magical Herbs and it has been fun as always.

Book wise Pagan Portals Moon Magic was published in January and has done extremely well, thank you all so much for your support. That was followed by the publication of A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Herbs on 31st October which is selling like the proverbial hot cake.

As Tracey and I seem to have gained a bit of a reputation for cake we self published our first collaboration cook book in October too - Cakes from the Cauldron which has sold extremely well and even has several five star reviews on Amazon (thank you!).  Huge thanks to our husbands for their support and input on getting the book from idea stage to printing.

It has also been my pleasure to continue writing articles this year for Pagan Dawn, The Mystik Way and The Magical Times.

I have also had the honour of contributing to several Moon Book collaboration books this year - Paganism 101, Witchcraft Today 60 Years On and Naming the Goddess.

Next year will see the publication of my next book A Kitchen Witch's Guide to Magical Food...I just need to finish writing it (note to my publisher...honestly it is nearly done...) and I have also just signed a contract for my next Pagan Portals book which will be about Meditation.

Kitchen Witch will not be running any workshops in 2015 (however as the saying goes "never say never"...) but after the success of our first independent online course in September - Celtic Goddess Pathways (an 8 week online course which is now available for download for those that missed it) we will be running several online courses next year - Herbal Pathways (March), Celtic Gods (July) and Dark Goddesses (October).  We also have a very, very special year long course in the planning stages (another of Tracey's amazing ideas) it is under wraps at the moment...but watch this space.

A big thank you to my husband for all his total support, putting up with me, all the incredible graphics he creates not just for my books but also for Kitchen Witch, for listening to all the pagan world rants, arguments and silly situations I manage to get myself into and knowing exactly what to say to rescue me and for understanding me and how I tick...it is not an easy job and definitely not for the faint hearted...he is possibly the most pagan atheist I know...♥

Another big thank you has to go to Tracey, my partner in crime with Kitchen Witch for her un-ending patience, all the most amazing ideas, all the work she puts into KW whilst also holding down a full time 'real' job and again for putting up with me - how I managed to find two people in this world that are capable of that task uncomplaining I really don't know.  She also has the ability to tell me when I am being a complete KnobWomble (Tracey's word) which sometimes I need.

2014 you have been interesting...I am ready for the challenges that 2015 will bring...let's make it rock...







Image:
Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky
Danilo Pivato