Llewellyn Publications's Blog, page 19

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Cyndi Dale, author of a number of books, including the new Energy Healing for Trauma, Stress & Chronic Illness.

Scientists have yet to fully figure out the workings of the virus causing COVID-19. While waiting for new treatments and protocols, we can do more than hope.

We can empower ourselves with energy healing.

In response to the need, I devised a quick process to help energetically clear this nasty coronavirus. I’ve included it in my book, Energy Healing for Trauma, Stress & Chronic Illness, along with a caveat. We can’t rely on energy medicine to cure, heal, or prevent viral challenges. However, by working with subtle rather than only physical energies, we reinforce our mind-body connection. That activity can instruct the body how to better cope or deal with the virus, or the threat of it.

Here is a quick practice you can use on yourself or someone with the virus. You don’t have to wait to get the virus, however, to make use of this technique. The virus roams freely. By conducting these steps on simply the “idea” of the virus, you boost your body’s inner healing talents. Simply follow these steps.

Focus on the virus. Picture a single virus in your mind’s eye. Maybe even grab an image off the Internet so you can visualize the roundish sphere with dark spikes.
Link with a spiritual guide or your Higher Power. Know that this otherworldly advisor will protect you from all harm while assisting you with the next steps.
Be taken to the “back door.” It’s hard to confront this virus—whether energetically or actually—head-on. So, don’t! Ask your guidance to transport you to the hidden, energetic doorway on its back side.
Gaze into the center. Peering through the doorway, you’ll notice a hallway that leads to the virus’s core. There, you perceive the RNA that is the heart of the virus. This single RNA strand is the tool for viral replication in the body. After the spikes pierce a healthy cell, the RNA is injected into that cell and takes it over.
Collapse the RNA. As you watch, your spiritual guidance blasts a laser-like light through the viral doorway and into the RNA strand. As you observe, the energetic RNA disintegrates.
Clearing. Your guide employs the same, intense white light to wash away the debris. This guarantees that it will cause no harm to you or anyone else.
Repeat. At this point, the guidance performs the same collapsing maneuver on any other SARS-CoV-2 viruses in the vicinity, whether they are found internally or externally.
Close. Take a few deep breaths, thank the guidance for the assistance, and return to your everyday life.

You can use this powerful procedure any time it seems needed.

Our thanks to Cyndi for her guest post! For more from Cyndi Dale, read her article, “How to Use Energy Healing for Chronic Conditions.”

Fearless Tarot: How to Give a Positive Reading in Any Situation

Elliot Adam

I think of the spring quarantine months of 2020 as The Great Unwinding. Life slowed down significantly and for long enough for some of us to pay attention in ways we haven’t been accustomed. In this excerpt, Adam shows us what we can learn about busyness through the Knight of Swords.

 

Knight of Swords

“Slow down.”

The Knight of Swords is an ambitious man. He is always striving to prove he is a successful adult. No matter how much he achieves, he can’t seem to be happy or rest. The only thing he knows how to do is push ahead. Once he has completed his objective, he doesn’t even know how to absorb it. With his red plume and cloak he is already rushing ahead to the next task, driving himself mercilessly to win, hoping that someone will acknowledge his value through deeds.

Are you rushing through life? Do you stop to savor successes you’ve already achieved, or do you race ahead toward the next task?  Do you feel guilty about resting when there’s so much to do? Do you cram your day with so much activity that you feel drained and depressed?

The Knight of Swords reminds us that this is no way to go through life. In fact, it is downright harmful to your health. In this card’s imagery, the horse represents our physical body. The horse is uneasy, anxious, tight, and trying to outrun his rider. The horse looks back at his master with an expression that says “Seriously, you want me to run faster?!” The Knight brandishing the sword represents the “cruel taskmaster” within. That nasty voice that tells us to shut up and keep going, even when we feel we are going to drop.

Western culture glorifies suffering through work. When someone in America says you are “a hard worker,” that’s almost as good as being one of the troops! “She worked until the day she died,” is another one of our highest honors. But is your tombstone really going to be inscribed with all the hours you heroically put into your job? Is that really an authentic encapsulation of what you amount to? Why don’t Americans allow themselves a siesta like other countries? Is it a sin to have more “vacation time” than one paltry week a year?

Today, you must take responsibility for your own health and wellness by scheduling relaxation. No one is going to say, “Boy he needs a break, let’s make him take one!” Working toward an achievement is marvelous, but as with everything it needs balance. The Oracle at Delphi had a saying that guaranteed a satisfying life. “Nothing too much.” That includes work, activity, play, food, drinking… everything!

Slow down today. Turn off the phone and take a relaxing walk or sit in the yard for twenty minutes. Stop being a slave to clocks, demands, emails, texts, televisions, and social media updates. You aren’t living a full life if you are constantly cracking the whip across your own back to achieve. Balance work with rest today and your body will thank you.

The Knight of Swords can also represent another person who is rushing through life. He is often so fixated on his own goals and destinations that he does not care who he is running over to succeed. He is not a “bad” person, but he can be very self-absorbed. Knights can represent “youngish” adults of any gender. Knights are usually people who are phasing out of one way of life, and into another.

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Kate Freuler, author of the new Of Blood and Bones.

Doing shadow work in witchcraft is often thought of as examining your “dark side,” which makes it sound far more sinister than it actually is. In truth, shadow work is a natural and integral part of the craft, allowing us to find balance by looking inward at ourselves and honestly assessing what we find. Introspection and self reflection, which make up the bulk of shadow work, help us hone our practice and grow spiritually. In terms of spells and rituals, shadow work can range from dream work and meditation to banishing, binding, or even cursing in order to free ourselves of unwanted influences. All of these acts can be difficult, but all of them are liberating.

Sometimes people are hesitant to embark on this journey, because the truth is that shadow work can be hard; honestly facing yourself often forces you to make uncomfortable but necessary changes like severing ties, facing loss, and accepting endings.

Here are some tips for getting through your own shadow work.

Be honest. Shadow work involves looking truthfully at yourself and your own role in difficult situations. Sometimes, the shadow reveals aspects of ourselves we don’t really like. Understand that this realization is an opportunity to change and improve.
Stay strong. Shadow work often occurs in conjunction with some kind of cataclysmic change in your personal life, whether that’s a relationship ending, leaving a job, or some other upsetting, difficult transition. Be courageous in facing these changes because you will victor over these challenges, becoming stronger and wiser.
Listen to yourself. Contemplate your own feelings and deeply consider what you really want during this time of transition. Set aside a little time every day to be alone and meditate on what you’re feeling so that your decisions don’t become skewed by outside influences or buried under the detritus of mundane life.
Let go. As you grow there may be people who you’ll have to leave behind for your own good. Certain people will try to hold you back because watching you reach for your light makes them uncomfortable. If they don’t support your growth, let them go.
Face facts. While doing shadow work, difficult things can come to the surface. It’s imperative to face and accept these feelings with a clear mind. Try to avoid the temptation to numb yourself with alcohol, drugs, or other unhealthy distractions, as this will only postpone the work you’re trying to do.

Shadow work can be a rough experience, but remember that just like the cycle of the moon and the seasons, after darkness there is always light. You will overcome your current battles and emerge stronger and brighter than ever before.

Our thanks to Kate for her guest post! For more from Kate Freuler, read her article “Working with Bones and Skulls in Witchcraft

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Photo by Kat Stokes on Unsplash

Recently a blog post called out Llewellyn and other publishers (but mostly Llewellyn because we’re the largest and oldest metaphysical book publisher) for our collective contribution to white supremacy. I cannot speak for all the employees of Llewellyn; the following are my own personal remarks that will hopefully shed light on the processes and work flow that I and the other five acquisitions editors at Llewellyn follow.*

I am only a racist being to the extent that I was raised in and continue to live in a society that marks “White” as the default and others everyone else, a society that values White (and male and cishet) lives over others; this toxic belief system is ingrained in our thoughts and institutions, no matter how woke we may individually strive to be. But I do not condone or agree with any aspect of the white supremacist movement or its tenets. To the contrary, I strive to be anti-racist in my words and actions and to dismantle harmful systems. I know I will continue to make mistakes, because we all do, but more importantly I will continue to learn and grow.

There were many things I didn’t understand about the Pagan community when I first stepped into my role at Llewellyn in 2005. I moved here from an eight-year stint in Hungary at that time and was not connected with the American Pagan community at first. I had a lot to learn and the first few years were more focused on figuring out what would sell and what wouldn’t; what projects I would bring to our weekly Acquisitions Meeting that would be accepted versus what would be rejected; learning the ins and outs of the publishing industry and becoming better at my job. Almost every year I have attended at least 2 Pagan events, mostly indoor conventions such as PantheaCon, Between the Worlds, ConVocation, Esoteric Book Conference, and of course Paganicon here in the Twin Cities. At those events I have been taught by the community to understand the nuances, differences between groups, variations in practices and beliefs, and so on.

I’ve also taken those opportunities seriously to learn more about racism and bias in the Pagan community. I’ve attended panels made up of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] voices who question the community’s inclusivity and call out the microaggressions as well as the blatant racism they’ve encountered in our supposedly safe spaces. I remember one particular message that came across loud and clear at a 2014 PantheaCon panel called “Pagans & Privilege,” featuring T. Thorn Coyle, Crystal Blanton, Charlie Glickman PhD, Elena Rose Vera, and Xochiquetzal Duti Odinsdottir (the panel was recorded, I highly encourage you to take a listen – click here for a direct link to the audio). The message was this: look around at your events. Are there BIPOC there? Are there differently-abled people there? Are there transgender people, young people, veterans there? If not, why not? It’s not that they don’t exist in our community at all; it’s that they don’t feel safe or welcome. Institutions are built up over time that systemically keep people out. Investigate why they are not there. You have to do more than just create and advertise an event – you need to actively work to make it more diverse, you have to actively work to make it safe and accessible for them to attend, and you need clear policies that will make those changes occur.  I took that to heart when I served on the board of Paganicon (2010-2017) and to this day I am proud of the work they are doing to make the conference less homogeneous in every way.

Look around at your events. Are there BIPOC there? Are there differently-abled people there? Are there transgender people, young people, veterans there?  If not, why not? It’s not that they don’t exist in our community at all; it’s that they don’t feel safe or welcome.

I also took it to heart in terms of acquisitions, wrote about it in my trip report to the whole company, and began actively, purposefully seeking out more diverse voices than I had before, even though I was already several years into my career at Llewellyn at that point – better late than never, I always say. Have I been successful? Apparently not enough, according to all indicators. I can and will do better. Let me explain a bit about my job.

The normal process for acquisitions is the following: someone submits a manuscript or proposal to me. (This may be a blind submission, or from an agent, or a friend of one of my authors, or someone I’ve met with at a conference and actively courted.)

If I’ve assessed that this book might be of interest to Llewellyn, I put together a packet for our Acquisitions Committee, which is made up of the president, the publisher, the sales staff, and some marketing and publicity staff, at Llewellyn. We discuss the proposal in detail, and then a few days later the sales department gives me a sales estimate. The sales estimate determines whether I can contract the book or not. Sometimes books I really love don’t make the cut and there’s nothing I can do about it.

This part of the process only takes a few days, but I have so much other work that it often takes two to three months before I even get to open a proposal email. I honestly have ten in my inbox right now that are waiting for me. So what’s taking up all my time if it’s not acquisitions? I’m an acquisitions editor, right?

The main part of my job is actually developmental editing. That means that for each book of mine that is contracted, I read the entire manuscript carefully. I am looking for things like organization, the flow of ideas, citations, plagiarism, insulting or offensive language, cultural appropriation, accuracy of information, whether illustrations are needed, whether permissions are required for quotes, whether chapters are consistent in length, style, and formatting, whether we need additional materials like index, reading list, glossary, etc.

Some of the dog-eared manuscripts I’ve worked on in the last couple months.

This is not a quick read. I sometimes send authors as many as 20 pages of written notes, usually at least around 10. I am often on a schedule of reading one manuscript per week, which gives me a few days to read it, a day to have a meeting with the production editor, production manager, layout designer, and art director to discuss it and compile their feedback into my notes, and to send said notes to the author while answering any other questions of theirs that may arise. Our end goal is ultimately to produce a readable and factually accurate book that we can all be proud of.

It takes a full year to take a book from first draft to published, and I am usually working on three catalogs in different phases at the same time.

Meanwhile, in whatever time is left over, I’m also preparing for Launch meetings (where we decide on the cover direction, title and subtitle of each book, with the author’s input), conveying those decisions to my authors, proofreading every bit of copy associated with each of my books (catalog copy, back cover copy, author bio), re-reading revised manuscripts that authors have sent back in response to my notes, sending covers to authors for their approval and negotiating the fall-out if there are certain elements that need to be changed, planning Llewellyn’s involvement in conferences, presenting at sales conferences and Pagan conferences, and so on. It takes a full year to take a book from first draft to published, and I am usually working on three catalogs in different phases at the same time. As Judika Illes (my counterpart at Weiser) has said, our job is triage. Sometimes it feels like the last thing I have time for is Acquisitions.

This is why honestly, it’s hard for me to reach out beyond my comfort zone. I am expected to do 8-10 books per season, three seasons per year. My boss has asked me at every single annual review for years “how can we help you acquire more books?” and there is no good answer short of “hire me an assistant” (which will never happen. I work in a cubicle – well, now I work in my dining room, but my office space is a cubicle). It’s a business, and my widget is bringing in books, there is constant pressure to do so. It’s often easier for me to choose among submissions that come to me – the great majority are from current authors, whose subsequent submissions we are contractually obligated to consider – than to find a free week in my schedule in which I can scour the internet for new and interesting voices. This is something that both my boss and I want to work on in terms of changes to our normal operations, which we are still exploring.

Coming back to Pagan festivals and conferences, these are great places for me to meet folks face to face, show them who I am, and invite them to submit proposals to me. For many years I have been actively trying to attend workshops and lectures presented by BIPOC in order to address the relative lack of diversity in our publishing roster. And some books have come of those efforts. But simply my approaching someone and telling them they should write a book or contact me about the publishing process is not going to magically make a book get written, and I still find myself struggling for more representation in our list.

The reasons? The same reasons publishers in other genres find it difficult. Writing books does not pay the bills for anyone except a very lucky minority, particularly in our field. The vast majority of my authors have day jobs to support themselves. It can be hard for anyone to find uninterrupted time away from family and work obligations to focus on researching and writing a book, and there are even more barriers for BIPOC because of the inherent structural inequalities in our society at large. And in our Pagan community, one of those barriers to even accessing one of the doorways – meeting me or other publishers at a conference — is the ability to take time off work, travel and afford to pay for conference fees, room, and board. Another barrier is being invited to speak on panels at the conferences, or scheduled for presentations by the organizers. Since not all my authors or proposals come to me via in-person conferences, another barrier may simply be not knowing how a book is submitted and not knowing anyone personally who can give them advice or make an introduction. I’m sure you can think of many more barriers, but I’d be particularly interested in hearing from BIPOC themselves.

What are the barriers that we can take down on our end?

To that end, I’m going to disclose something that is in the works. At many conferences we offer education in the form of publishing panels (learning what it takes to submit a proposal, how the book publishing process works, etc.) and also take “quick pitches” of 5 minutes each – a mini meeting to see if we think your idea is good and you should propose it to us. Since Mystic South will not be happening in person this year due to covid-19, my fellow Llewellyn acquisitions editor Heather Greene had asked me whether I’d like to take quick pitches virtually with her one day as a stand-in. We’ve since further developed that idea and plan to present an online publishing workshop specifically for BIPOC to really enhance this conversation. We have been both trying to acquire more diverse voices – what can we do to help? What are the barriers that we can take down on our end? This workshop is still in the works because A) it takes time to put together something meaningful and worthwhile, B) it takes even longer within the structure of corporate culture, C) Heather and I are both very busy editors and we just finished our Spring/Summer 2021 catalogs and are in the midst of Launch meetings and cover reviews. Obviously we’ll be announcing more details when we have a date set and a platform chosen.

I’d also like to ask everyone who’s reading this – if you know someone who you think should be published, please introduce us! Yes, I’m asking you to help me do my job because the pandemic has made this even more challenging. We can all help make our community more inclusive. If someone has promise, I want to meet them, I truly do.

As the late Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone said, “We all do better, when we all do better.” Thanks for listening.

From the book Carl Llewellyn Weschcke: Pioneer & Publisher of Body, Mind & Spirit by Melanie Marquis, (c) 2018 Llewellyn Publications, p. 48.

* Please note that not all products on this website are published by Llewellyn; Llewellyn is the North American distributor for five other publishers around the world. I cannot and do not purport to speak to their acquisitions processes in this post.

 

 

Happy Pride Month! We wanted to take a moment to raise the profiles of our many awe-inspiring and amazing authors and creators that have contributed books and decks in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. We hope you enjoy them and find them helpful.

This past weekend also marked 51 years since the Stonewall Uprising, the symbolic beginning of a movement as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals declared their presence and their rights. Unfortunately, change comes slowly, and the fight is not yet over.

Llewellyn stands with all those working to make lasting and meaningful changes. Our late President and Chairman, Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, believed that everyone should always try to become the best person they can become. We are hopeful the books we publish help to provide a path to this goal. Just as books are not created overnight, change does not happen overnight. It’s a process that requires effort, commitment, and unity. Llewellyn remains committed to our employees, our authors, and our readers, who are united in an effort to make a more inclusive world and to becoming the best person they can be.

(Psst! Are you a and author or artist that is part of the LGBTQIA+ community that wants to submit a manuscript or deck?!? Find full information on how to do so here.)

Master the art of sex magic and forge radical new relationships with yourself, your beloveds, our planet, and life itself. This groundbreaking book invites you to develop intimacies that are as creative as they are consensual, as playful as they are profound, and as transformative as they are ecstatic. It offers fresh and accessible inspiration on topics such as self-love, conscious communication, and sacred sex, as well as practices and rituals for erotic shapeshifting, ecosexuality, ecstatic breath work, and so much more.

Rev. Rowan Bombadil (they/them pronouns) is a UK-based queer sex witch, psychosexual coach, and interfaith minister, dedicated to bridging the binaries between sex and spirit. Their work inspires individuals and groups of all genders, orientations, and bodies towards a more radical, creative, and intersectional vision of conscious intimacy. In their coaching, ceremonies, workshops, and events, Rowan seeks to facilitate personal and planetary transformation through pleasure.



The intention of Outside the Charmed Circle is to help readers live as the truest expression of their gendered, sexual, spiritual self. It is designed to support you as you awaken to who you are, deepen your magical practice, and walk through the Pagan world. Author Misha Magdalene provides hands-on meditations, prompts, and magical workings to help you explore your identity as it intersects with your spiritual practice. With thoughtful insights on embodiment, consent, and Eros, as well as explorations of self-esteem, ability, disability, and your feelings about your body, this book helps those in the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies engage with a wide range of identities in a magical setting.



Queer Magic provides nourishment for LGBTQ+ souls and their allies who are interested in learning about the significant presence and influence of queer folks throughout history. Explore fascinating insights into queer relationships and spiritual practices from different regions of the world. Learn about deities, heroes, and historical figures who embody the power of the queer spirit. Discover inspiring contributions from contemporary LGBT+ Pagans, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and others as they share personal stories of their experiences as well as spells, prayers, and meditations from their own practices. With practical suggestions and enlightening perspectives, this book is a unique resource for LGBT+ spiritual seekers who want to experience the sustaining energy and strength of the worldwide queer community.



The universal symbols of relationships—a man and a woman united as a couple and the eternal yin and yang—are substituted here by archetypes that define male homosexual union. A brilliant blend of modern figures and classic imagery, the Gay Tarot provides an excellent means of understanding and introspection.



With ideas for altars, meditations, community organizing, self-care, and more, Magic for the Resistance offers a toolkit for magical people or first-time spellcasters who want to manifest social justice, equality, and peace. Includes spells for racial justice, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, anti-fascism, environmentalism, immigration, refugee support, non-violence, and more.



As the patron saint of lost causes, the LGBTQ+ community, addicts, and anyone who has been marginalized by society, La Santa Muerte has a following of millions—and she’s only becoming more popular. Join author Tomás Prower as he gives step-by-step instructions for spells, magic, and prayers for practical results and long-term goals, including money, love, sex, healing, legal issues, protection, and more.



This innovative tarot features artwork from dozens of different artists, creating a vibrant deck that is built up from 82 unique contributions. Like a choir singing in harmony, this deck proves that the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. With 82 cards (a standard 78-card deck plus additional cards for the four elements), Vox Arcana Tarot blends together the energy of the contributing artists to create a tarot that speaks to the full range of the human experience.

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Donald Tyson, author of several books, including the new Kinesic Magic.

Why has there never been a yoga of the West? India has its hatha yoga, an ancient system of static physical poses said to maintain health, extend life, and enhance vitality. Another Hindu system called kundalini yoga awakens spiritual centers along the spine and revitalizes both spirit and flesh. In Buddhism, hand gestures are used to control esoteric energies during meditation. China has its tai chi, a discipline of moving poses that flow into one another like a slow-motion dance and channel esoteric energy through the body. In Korea and Japan the martial arts use katas, similar dance-like series of moving body poses that simulate combat, but which also have the esoteric function of driving occult energies through the body to liberate its power.

Strangely, no such system of postures or movements evolved in Europe. This may be due to a difference in the general philosophical outlook of East and West. Outward-looking Europeans sought to control of their external environment through the use of machines and the sciences. In Eastern lands the perfection of life involved living in harmony with the environment, not conquering and subduing it. Eastern minds tended to turn inward rather than outward for the purpose of achieving control over the body and the mind.

Recognizing this curious void in traditional Western culture, and seeing no reason why it should continue, I decided to fill it. The result is Kinesic Magic, a book that sets forth a system of hand gestures and body postures for manipulating occult energies and controlling spirits.

Using the system of kinesic magic, almost any ritual purpose that a magician might seek to achieve with conventional ritual tools, esoteric substances, robes, a magic circle, an altar, and so on, can be achieved with only the body and the mind. A person possessing knowledge of kinesic magic who was stripped naked and locked in an empty room in complete darkness would have the same ability to work magic as a magician in full ritual regalia in a furnished occult lodge.

This was not an easy book to write. It took more than two full years, and it evolved slowly and painfully. I did not set out in the beginning with an awareness of what I was going to create, but rather opened my mind to spiritual teachers, and allowed them to guide my writing and my experiments. Every part of kinesic magic—every gesture, every posture, and combinations of both—had to be tested and verified, to insure not only that it was esoterically correct, but also that it functioned together with all other parts to form a complete and integrated system.

The result is a new language of magic with which you can say whatever you can imagine. The 24 hand gestures are its alphabet and the 24 body postures are its grammar. What you choose to create with it is completely up to you. All you need to do is learn the language, and then you can use it to express anything you desire. No one can ever take it from you, because it will become a part of you, as intimately yours as a part of your own body. It is the final liberation of Western magic from the tyranny of the material world.

Our thanks to Donald for his guest post! For more from Donald Tyson, read his article “What Is Essential for Working Magic.”

At this time, we wanted to raise the profile of our many awe-inspiring and amazing authors and creators that are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Want to support them? Buy their book or deck! Want to even further support them? Buy their book and deck directly through them or their store or website. Want to support the book community at large? Buy their book and deck from an independent store owned by BIPOC individuals!

(Psst! Are you a Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color author or artist that wants to submit a manuscript or deck?!? Find full information on how to do so here!)

(Psst! Psst! Are you an independent store owner/operator that is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color? Let us know in the comments so that we can add your store to this list, and send traffic your way!)

We hope that you love these authors, creators, and titles as much as we do!

Najah Lightfoot’s award-winning Good Juju helps you learn to better express your spirituality and build up your magical practice with this book’s powerful spells, rituals, and tools. Designed to help you navigate whatever ups and downs life throws your way, Good Juju is your perfect choice for learning to embrace nature, the old ways, and the magick all around you. Bonus: Did you miss Najah’s amazing LlewellynCon presentation? Watch the recording here!



The first book in our new Elements of Witchcraft series, Water Magick reveals the amazing possibilities of using water in your modern practice. Lilith Dorsey presents many ways to incorporate water into your magic, from washes and baths to spells and rituals. Discover how to use the symbols of water in your magical workings. Learn the histories and wisdom of rivers, lakes, and oceans, as well as water’s relationship to the wheel of the year. Explore water and its manifestations in mythology and lore and meet the gods and goddesses who rule over the element. Bonus: Did you miss Lilith’s wonderful LlewellynCon presentation? You can watch the recording here!



365 Days of Hoodoo starts by providing the basics of Hoodoo, and then gradually builds your knowledge day after day. You’ll discover the essential components for your practice, how to master the parts of your life that seem out of control, and the various ways Hoodoo can improve love, prosperity, protection, and much more. This impressive book also features lore, prayers, potions, altars, baths, and meditations. View all of Stephanie’s award-winning books here.



Hidden within the mysterious Afro-Cuban religion of Santería, also known as Lucumí, there is a deep body of secrets and rituals called Ifá. This book pulls away the veil of secrecy to reveal exactly what Ifá is and how it works, exploring its history, cosmology, Orichas, initiations, mythology, offerings, and sacrifices. Join Frank Baba Eyiogbe in this fascinating introduction that discusses the functions of the babalawo, the role of women, the future of Ifá, and much more. Author Frank Baba Eyiogbe has been practicing Santeria for over twenty-seven years: twenty-three years as a santero (Orisha priest) and eighteen years as a babalawo (initiated in Cuba). Frank has achieved the highest level of babalawo, “Olofista.”



Easy to use and comprehensive, this essential book provides instant, at-a-glance info on more than 400 goddesses from diverse cultures, belief systems, and traditions around the world. Author Priestess Brandi Auset is a High Priestess of the Goddess, interfaith minister, and Reiki Master teacher. She has taught private workshops on helping women develop a spiritual practice and currently works as a spiritual counselor and tarot reader.



Courage, truth, and inspiration meet at the intersection of spiritual practice and social justice. Yoga Rising is a collection of personal essays meant to support your journey toward self-acceptance and self-love. This follow-up to the groundbreaking book Yoga and Body Image features 30 contributors, including Pia Guerrero, Jessamyn Stanley, Lakshmi Nair, Dr. Sabrina Springs, Chanelle John (whose chapter, “So We Can Breathe,” explores the protests for justice for Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice), Dana A. Smith, Pranidhi Varshney, Zubin Shroff, and Dr. Gail Parker, who share stories of major turning points. Explore how body image and yoga intersect with race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, dis/ability, socioeconomic status, age, and size as part and parcel of culture and society.



With just five minutes of meditation a day, you can achieve a more focused, balanced, and peaceful life. Join wellness consultant Anusha Wijeyakumar as she shares the transformative meditation program that she developed for California’s world-famous Hoag Hospital. You will discover the vital intentions and five-minute meditations designed for heart opening, chakra balancing, trusting your inner truth, embodying courage and strength, and more. These meditations and pranayama-breathwork exercises will help you create more joy and peace in your life while learning to control negative internal chatter. Raised in the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) on her way to becoming a clinician and teacher, Anusha expertly helps you integrate ancient Eastern wisdom into your modern Western lifestyle for a deeper sense of purpose, self-acceptance, and self-love.



Gede Parma (Fio Aengus) is a Balinese-Australian witch, international teacher, magical mentor, author, and initiate. Gede (they/them pronouns) cherishes the initiatory mysteries of four powerful witchcraft traditions, and is a co-founder of the Coven of the Wildwood and midwife and initiate of the Wildwood Tradition. They are also an active initiate of Reclaiming and Anderson Feri. Gede has authored or coauthored five books.



Santeria: The Religion is an informative and insightful examination of an African religion’s survival in the New World. No one could write this book better than Migene Gonzalez-Wippler. Combining her informed study as an anthropologist and personal experience as a Santerian initiate results in a thrilling book that reveals some of Santeria’s most spellbinding elements. You can view all of Migene’s books here.



This beautifully illustrated exploration of Afro-Brazilian spirituality introduces you to the gods of the African diaspora known as the Orishas. Presented in a fun and easy-to-understand format, Knowing the Orishas provides brief descriptions of twenty important deities, highlighting their talents, characteristics, and customs as well as where they live, how they dress, the foods they like to eat, and more. Author Waldete Tristão has a doctorate degree in education. She is a consultant in projects related to ethnic-racial relations and childhood, and she participates in Ilu Oba de Min, an education and black art culture group. Illustrator Caco Bressane runs his own graphic design and illustration studio. His illustrations appear in major publications around the world.



This fascinating true story chronicles one man’s journey into the mysteries of spiritual consciousness and the indigenous healing practices of four shamanistic traditions: Toltec, Cherokee, Maya, and Buddhist. Omar W. Rosales is a world traveler who writes extensively on the topic of archaeology, culture, and spiritual matters. He holds degrees in anthropology, economics, and law.



Enjoy healthier and more beautiful skin with this book’s innovative approach to using cannabidiol, or CBD oil, for improved wellness. An accomplished doctor who has years of experience with CBD oil, Dr. Manisha Singal presents a comprehensive explanation of what it is and isn’t, where it comes from, and how it works. The CBD Skincare Solution provides the tools you need to fight any skin condition and give your skin a radiant glow.



This sacred and galvanizing book is a thunderous call to action for you, and for women all over the world, to awaken the goddess within. Through deep wisdom, engaging exercises, and empowering insights and affirmations, Fierce Woman shows you how to make profound shifts in your life. You are powerful and worthy. You are destined to rip off the false mask of societal expectations and fully occupy the space and body you’re in. Rhoda Shapiro guides you through a unique exploration of wild feminine power and the ways in which it can heal, uplift, and energize the planet. Now is the time to rise up and live your truth, to reclaim ownership of your voice and body.



Rassouli is an Iranian-born American artist inspired and encouraged by his Sufi mystic uncle. At the age of fifteen, he won the title of “best student artist in Iran” and was awarded a government grant to study painting in Europe. He frequently partners with Kelly Sullivan Walden and Alana Fairchild to provide art for their decks and books. You can view all of his books and decks here.



Bring the magic of ancient Greece into the modern world with this powerful book full of Strix, Hellenic Polytheist, and Iatromantis practices. Featuring wisdom that used to be only available to scholars, Strix Craft presents Greek magic in a concise format with contemporary ideas and hands-on practices.



Master the skills of leaving the body using logic and reason. Improve self-understanding and achieve personal growth with over a dozen exit techniques. With well-ordered, rational explanations, Demystifying the Out-of-Body Experience describes how and why OBEs work. This is a groundbreaking guide for using OBEs to understand your place in the worlds that exist beyond our daily lives.



BOLO for this new title in March 2021! Wisdom of the Natural World, by Granddaughter Crow (a member of the Najavo Nation) offers practical exercises, meditations, and new perspectives on improving your relationships, career, and health. Explore how the seasons and weather cycles affect your four bodies—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Discover how to create your own medicine wheel and work with your shadow side. This phenomenal book is your key to communicating with nature and feeling like you belong.



Written with a mix of reverence, approachability, and deadpan wit by a funeral industry insider, Morbid Magic is the first multi-cultural guide to death spirituality and traditions from all over the world and from different historical eras. Tomás Prower presents an impressive array of topics, including each culture’s views on the hereafter, mourning periods, the deceased’s legacy, handling of remains, and more. Tomás Prower is also the author of La Santa Muerte (available in both English and Spanish) and Queer Magic. View all of his books here.

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Shannon Yrizarry, author of the new Psychic Yoga.

When I began attending kundalini classes in Los Angeles, my intuition increased dramatically. In this type of yogic practice, breathing is one of the main focal points. At first, I found it difficult, but then found it quickly became easier and I felt a remarkable sense of connection with energy like never before.

I would frequently speak with other students that had similar experiences of heightened psychic abilities since beginning their practice. As I grew to understand the nuts and bolts that made breathwork such a handy tool for intuition development, it became one of my favorite daily tools to use as a professional clairvoyant, tarot reader, and Reiki practitioner.

Why Our Prana Is Lower Than Ever Before

Let’s talk about ions. We house both positive and negative ions in our energy field. Nature helps us balance the onslaught of positive ions that come from technology. When we have too many positive ions, we feel depressed, lethargic, and anxious—none of which increase intuition or make it easy to maintain a high vibrational state that activates the upper chakras where intuition is accessed.

Thus the technology age is taxing our nervous system with positive ions and draining our prana. To regain our prana (also called life force energy or chi/qi) we can simply do daily breathwork to amp up our wattage. You wouldn’t try to run a blender without plugging it into an electrical socket; similarly, we are trying to run without enough energy.

Quick Technique to Aid Psychic Development

Breath of fire is barely used in Western yoga, and it’s one of the fastest ways to develop intuition. Here is why: it clears your subconscious, which is stored in your energy field, so that you become “clear” (also known as clairvoyance).

Breath of fire is done through the nose. You will sit with a straight spine in a cross-legged position. You simply snap your belly in as you quickly push air out of your nose and then let your inhale happen naturally as the stomach relaxes.

Create a rhythm and breathe for just one minute to start. After, notice how “tuned-in” you feel. Each week increase the time you do the technique each day and it will become easier and more effective. Work up to 10 or 30 minutes.

Concluding Thoughts

Prana enters the body through the breath, fills the nervous system and aura, and clears negative vibrations. As you breathe, you’re raising your vibration so you can access the third eye chakra, where you can see beyond time and space, and the crown chakra, where spirit communicates.

As you do daily breathwork, you will create an alchemical (involving a seemingly magical process of transformation) reaction in your body, which detoxifies your blood, organs, and mind. This can be enough to trigger your body to avoid certain foods or in the change process, you may find you have strong energetic sensations, sensitivities, and epiphanies.

As you develop your intuition, you can find much advice on what is happening and how to manage the process in my book Psychic Yoga. The book also contains 100 plus other breathing exercises, poses, meditations, and explanations of the nuts and bolts of intuition development.

Our thanks to Shannon for her guest post! For more from Shannon Yrizarry, read her article “8 Yoga Secrets for Psychic Power.”

As we wrap up our final day of LlewellynCon2020, want to thank each and every author that presented, as well as each and every person who attended!! The positive energy and the sense of community generated by all involved was absolutely astounding! We look forward to next year’s LlewellynCon with excitement.

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Kelden, Denise Hesselroth, Kristy Robinett, and Alana Fairchild!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Kelden: Traditional Witchcraft: What Is It?

 

Watch Denise Hesselroth: What Is Intentional Tarot?

 

Watch Kristy Robinett: 2020 Astrology

Watch Alana Fairchild: Working with Your Angels

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Jake-Ryan Kent, Devin Hunter, Jason Mankey, and Shelley A. Kaehr!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Jake-Ryan Kent: Inside Llewellyn’s 2020 Tarot Catalog

 

Watch Devin Hunter: Building Strong & Effective Magical Workings

 

Watch Jason Mankey: The Wheel of the Year

Watch Shelley A. Kaehr: Meeting Your Animal Spirit Guide

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!