The Apothecary Witch

Cauldrons leave you maudlin?

Can’t handle coal or candle?

Is there perhaps, no craft in your drafts?

On tenterhooks from bulky books?

Got no notions of potions, perplexed by a hex?

In pains from tisanes, simples just too complex?

Whether extract, elixir, infusion or tipple,

tonic or essence or tincture or ripple.

She fixes your mixes, she’ll simmer and stew,

she’ll bubble your troubles away in her brews.

Do pesky beaus bother? Do grey hairs persist?

A cure for ague that you wish to resist?

Is it romance you seek, is it fortune you crave?

Her prowess is awesome, her customers rave.

Her prices are steep, but your problems she’ll heed

with skill and discretion – results guaranteed.

(Excerpt from The Apothecary Witch, by A.E.)

 

Spirits of the Season

I would very much like to thank Countdown to Halloween for once again hosting a delightful grouping of inspired Halloween blogs, a much needed respite from the flurry of 2020, it can’t have been easy for the new hosts of the Countdown and they’ve earned commendation and appreciation for their efforts 😉

I received more than I gave this year and many thanks and much gratitude to all of the wonderful blogs that rose to occasion and offered excitement, frivolity and magic.

I was standing outside that night, observing the full moon when it appeared from behind dark clouds determined to keep the lights on until 10pm. I listened to music playing in the distance and watched the lights flicker and gut inside the jacks displayed around the yard delighted we’d been able to find some fiendish folly to enjoy – hesitant to extinguish the light against the late hour and the passing of another Eve. I look forward to what beguilements will tempt us and til then….

“Stroll with me beneath the Moon,

for surely, They’ll be coming soon

to share with us the deepening gloom,

upon the Hallowe’en.

Fellow Revelers walk this Night,

as They awake from yearly plight

deprived til now of sweet delight,

upon the Hallowe’en.

Mischievousness the only goal,

for these few hours on parole.

And none but They could be so droll

upon the Hallowe’en.

Sorry am I that They must wait,

upon the Eve to cross the gate.

Alas that is Their yearly Fate,

upon the Hallowe’en.

All too soon the Night will fade,

and All shall pass into the Shade

to wait upon the next parade,

upon the Hallowe’en.

Perhaps you’ll stroll with me once more,

when Gate stands wide and Spirits tour.

No other sight stir’s my hearts core,

upon the Hallowe’en.

~ Moonlit Revel by A.E. (repost from 2016)

Pumpkinology

Pumpkin Pie Pop TartsOk, put down the pumpkin spice latte, back away from the pumpkin spice bagel with pumpkin spice shmear and stop reading about the rise of pumpkin spice futures from your mobile device of choice.  Stop everything, head to your local grocery and purchase these AMAZING Limited Edition Frosted Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts.  I can barely stop sampling to type this review, major YUM, major TASTINESS, right out of the box or warm from the toaster.  Those mini Halloween candies are for suckers.  Stop reading this, GO and Enjoy!!

A Hundred Eve’s

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Sometimes it can feel like Halloween is just around the corner, sometimes it can feel like a long walk just begun.  I feel that now as the warm weather beats down and the feeling of a cool breeze is just a memory from a long-ago winter.  Wait.  What is that I see in the distance?  It beckons and guides me.  It flits about in the wilderness.  A lightning bug? Some phosphorescent lichen?  The glowing form of some ancient wood dweller?  Hmm.  I don’t know what it is but I will keep heading towards it.  The light is a wonder, a bedevilment, an enchantment of the senses.  I yearn to be surrounded by such a light and I will gladly endure a hundred eves to get to where it awaits me.  I will wait for you there.

 

Image – Artist unknown.

Eve of the ‘Eve

wip__homecoming_by_madlittleclown-d6tgmct

 

Harried preparation

Porchlights all a-glare

Breath held in expectation

Of whom we hope to scare

 

Necksore from constant craning

We side eye here and there

Glad that it’s not raining

On the Haunt we want to share

 

Footfalls drawing nearer

Ears prickle at the sound

Rustles of hustled furor

Echoed through the ground

 

What gathering of stitches

represent the costume trends?

Is it a group of witches,

or super hero friends?

 

Alas it’s just a lone dog

Not werewolves on parade

Just leaves scraping sidewalks

And not a zombie raid

 

Cones tumbling at random

Aren’t spiders on attack

Not thrills but chills in tandem

Cause those shivers down my back

 

Pleased anticipation

Is the order of the night.

Waiting on congregation

As capriciousness takes flight

 

Patience sorely tested

Spirits wait for their reprieve

Sure to end up fete and fested

On this eve of Hallows Eve

– by A.E.

…and it’s back…Falloween begins…

falloween

 

…at last!  It’s time to drag out, dust off, plan and prep and post.  The weather may belie the Season, but for those of you tuning in you’ve been at the bit awhile now (as myself) just waiting for the calendar to flip over and for August to close on another heady Summer.  Fall is here, even if the barometer says otherwise.  In an effort to create some sort of weekly connectivity for this blog I’ve decided to go with weekly readings of some writing I’ve been working on.  If all goes as planned, they will take us all the way through October, hope you can tag along.  I’ll be signing up again with Countdown to Halloween, look for the badge and link coming soon, its a great way to visit other blogs through the season, as well as the usual miscellany to be found here, now I gotta go de-bubble wrap something…

Minutes til Midnight

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I am watching my clock countdown the minutes until this 31st dwindles down to moments and memories.  There were a few memorable quirks to the day and the evening, I hope you can all say the same.  As the tomb shuts on this Hallow’s Eve, I draw a final breath of cinnamon stick candle wafting up from the scorched insides of gutted gourds, I gather the crinkled remains of candy skins in their bright coverings shriveled and torn, destined for the recycle bin, and take a long last look up and down the street as porch lights dim, jackos darken and light shows blink and die.  I sigh, shrug my shoulders, turn and close the door behind me.  The house goes dark and here I am at the keyboard…already thinking about Halloween 2018 – I wonder what that escapade will reveal?  So much to plan and plot and ply, as the season passes by…so quickly, much too quickly this year.  Thanks to all of you who stopped to look around this blog, more thanks to Countdown to Halloween for highlighting another great batch of blogs this year, always so much fun to see what others are up to.  I will poke through the leftover candy and ponder…mmmmm….Junior Mints! Rest In Peace Halloween 2017.  I will remember you fondly.

 

 

 

Bewitchment this 13th!

Spellz

Posting a bit of spellcraft to get you through this Friday the 13th – beware, bewitch and bedevil!

Lizard lung

Scent of skull

Serpents tongue

Shipwrecked hull

Toe of frog

Wool of bat

Zombie bog

Screeching cat

Adders fork

Siren scream

Vikings torc

Fiendish gleam

Witches tear

Mandrake wail

Crippling fear

Dragon scale

Belladonna

Monsters moan

Withered sigh 

Kidney stone

Ghastly cries

Wisdom tooth

Beedy eyes

Awful truth

Spectral trail

Flaxen hair

Ghostly wail

Piercing stare

Wormwood sliver

Genii gem

Canopic liver

Apple stem

 

Thirty Days Has September

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“…tell me you didn’t use pumpkin spice…”

Wow – that went fast.  Falloween has passed and we are on to the next.  I do hope October doesn’t speed by, I like to take time and savor this time of year.  Deeply Autumn, scent and sense and scintillation.  Spice and season, crackle and rustle, thrill and shiver.  Days spent in anticipation, the gradual reveal of funereal farce and festive folly.  Countdown to Halloween begins tonite, midnight, don’t forget to stop by and look over all the great Halloween themed blogs to surface this time of year, as a hand reaching through the ground that grabs for your attention.  Always so much to experience from the creators and curators of these specialized blogspots…a wonderful way to spend a little time during the coming weeks.  Check the link at right to get yourself started.  My own blog will be witch flavored this year, I will be stirring, spicing, swirling up a cauldron of tidbits about my favorite icon of the season.