Hello!
I am back from Denver and INATS and had a great time. I received a copy of my Witches Tarot deck and was able to do several readings with them while at the Trade show. Since I returned home I have been working away for the last few days putting the finishing touches on a new book proposal. It's all together now and I will spend the next few days proofreading and then I will ship it out next week.
I typically time book proposals down to a waxing moon- full moon phase if I can get it. So I am feeling pretty righteous and accomplished at the moment. That is when I don't decide to stop and add something else to those sample chapters....

Here at home its been blazing hot. Yesterday we hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit and today we topped out at 107. Today's heat broke records. It is a very dry heat and that is unusual for the Mid-west we typically get lots of humidity... Right now we have very little. I suppose this is what it is like to live in the desert.

I am trying to save my perennial gardens with careful watering as we are not expecting any rain for the next few weeks. It has been so dry here at home there has been talk of cancelling the 4th of July fireworks display. And tomorrow is supposed to hit 105! We really need some rain. I dislike doing weather magick- as it can have weird repercussions but I may do some spell work for gentle rain if this continues...We will have to wait and see.

Witch's Moon bag & a sneak peek of the Tarot cards

In a week and a half I go to Massachusetts for a mini-tour. I will be at Pyramid Books in Salem, Mass. on Wednesday July 11th. For a book signing meet and greet from 6:00 to 7:00pm. This will be followed by a class on my new book Seasons of Witchery, and the class topic is "Herbs of the Sabbats".  The class fee is $35.00 and as a special treat, Kellie the owner at Pyramid Books, will be giving away the new satin tarot bags based on the artwork of the Witches Tarot to every student. Here is a photo (just above) of the large 6 x 8 inch satin bag and a sampling of the cards from the deck. The satin tarot bags will be available for purchase in September from Llewellyn. For now, the only way to get one of those bags is to come to the class in Salem.

The next author event will be on Thursday, July 12 at The Robin's Nest store in Bellingham, MA. I will be signing books from 5:00- 6:00pm and then I will teach a class on Protection Magick afterwards.

In other news I am running a Summer Jewelry sale on the Garden Witch Charm Bracelets. Click here for a direct link- Jewelry Sale Link!   And I am in also the process of having pendants made that will feature some of the amazing art from my forthcoming Witches Tarot. Those new pendants I hope to have ready to go by September if not before. It all depends on my supplier and how many other orders are ahead of mine.

Garden Witch Charm Bracelet

I do have other ideas up my witchy sleeves as well.  Including two new designs for the Garden Witch Pentacles. In a few weeks there will be two more designs to choose from. In addition to the Red Rose, Morning Glory, Five Elements, and Autumn Leaves patterns, there will be a pentacle design for Samhain and a design for Yule. The Hubs and I have put out heads together and these new handmade pentacles are going to be bewitching! If you'd like to see the pentacles or to order one follow this link. Garden Witch Pentacles!l

Yes indeed I am a Witch at work. Maybe its the heat wave making me so industrious or maybe its just the hot flashes... combined with the heat outside.  Hot Flash/ Power Surge whatever you prefer to call it- they are bound to make anyone a little more intense. So I have decided to roll with it and see where this productive energy wave takes me.
Stay cool everyone and Blessed be,
Ellen

Good morning,
I am thrilled to announce that the Witches Tarot website is live! Mark Evans the talented artist of our deck has designed a beautiful website and best of all you can see all of the cards in the Major Arcana! Go to www.witchestarot.com  To read about the companion book, the art and of course upcoming special print offers!   
Just above you can see the postcard Mark designed for me to hand out at my author events. This card shows (from left to right) The Hermit, The Empress, The Moon and the Six of Wands cards. I will be handing these 8x5 inch postcards out at the International New Age Trade Show (INATS) in Denver tomorrow-Sunday, June 24th.

 

I am honored and excited to attend INATS with the folks from Llewellyn Worldwide to promote my brand new book Seasons of Witchery, and to build some excitement about the upcoming "Witches Tarot" deck! Its going to be a blast!

Companion Book by Ellen Dugan

To answer a few questions I keep getting asked- YES, the Witches Tarot is a boxed set. So for those of you wondering... YES the 312 page companion book and the tarot deck all come together as a boxed set. 
I've been asked this question so many times this week I figured I'd better put the answer in bold. LOL!

Here is the deck's book cover, just to the right. The book is 312 pages long, nice and chunky! Besides writing all of the meaning, symbolism and information about the seventy-eight cards, I have also created seven new card lay outs and eleven brand new tarot spells. The cover of the companion book is actually the High Priestess card, with a border and some shading.

Coming September 2012!

To the left is what the outside of the set's box looks like, with a preview of a few more cards. Pictured is the High Priestess, the Knight of Cups, and the Two of Swords. The cover of the box is actually The Moon card with another cool border.

So, go and follow the link to the Witches Tarot website and look around. Enjoy the preview of the Major Arcana and keep checking back! A few more featured cards from the Minor Arcana cards will be making their debut in the coming months!

In the meantime here is the Page of Pentacles from the deck! Isn't she lovely with the magnolia tree and the white hind in the background?
Blessed be, Ellen

Page of Pentacles- Witches Tarot

Good Morning,

My very first book Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up, is part of a week long big KINDLE Summer sale from June 16th Through June 24, 2012. For one week it will have a special Kindle price of $2.99. So go snag a copy for you Kindle now and take advantage of the sale!

Garden Witchery will always hold a special place in my heart. It was my very first book and a whole series of Witchery Books was born from it. First we had Garden Witchery... then came Cottage Witchery, Natural Witchery, Book of Witchery and just this year Seasons of Witchery!  Also I should point out the Garden Witch's Herbal is a sequel of sorts to Garden Witchery...
I pulled out a clump of old purple cone flowers from the front gardens yesterday, as they had stopped producing petals and had weird shaped cones... not too sure what happened to them but I replaced them with a fun perennial Black-eyed Susans (Rudebeckia).
 
 This is drought tolerant perennial, makes a nice cut flower, and it can handle the heat and full sun of the front gardens. I actually found a picture of the variety I purchased and here they are. These Black-eyed Susans will grow to be 18-24 inches tall.

I thought these were bright and cheerful- just the thing for summer.     I hope you will enjoy your weekend in the garden, and when you are done working, grab your Kindle- take advantage of the special sale and read or re-read Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up.

There is plenty there to inspire you. With flower folklore, spells and charms, and of course garden plans and ideas for gardens of witchery for sun, shade, faeries or moonlight.

Blessed be, Ellen

Hello,
I am packing up and getting ready for our day in the park for the St. Louis Pagan Picnic, tomorrow. It is the 20 year anniversary of the picnic this year. The picnic is open to the public, is FREE and is held in Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The weather forecast for tomorrow is clear, dry and hot... of course. I will be lecturing Saturday, June 9th at noon on the "Mysteries of Midsummer". The lecture is free and everyone is welcome.

Since Seasons of Witchery was just released this week, I will have about 3 dozen copies of my newest title on hand for sale at my table on author's row. I will also have copies of my other 12 titles, and my custom designed Garden Witch Jewelry line of charm bracelets.

The newest charm bracelet design is based on my book, Seasons of Witchery. It is a standard 7 and 1/2 inches long in gunmetal grey. It has a lobster clasp and features nine pewter charms, one for each sabbat, and a central sun and moon. It is subtle enough to wear to work, or around muggle relatives (ahem) while still being witchy and fabulous. Here is a picture of the newest charm bracelet. It just became available for sale today!

New! Seasons of Witchery charm bracelet $36.99

For those of you who can't make the picnic but want one of these enchanting charm bracelets for yourself. Hop over to my website and order one.
There are a total of three designs to choose from; the new "Seasons of Witchery Charm Bracelet".
The "Garden Witch Charm Bracelet" that features beautiful green glass leaves and five magickal pewter charms.
The "Bracelet of Witchery" that features swarovski crystal stars and five bewitching pewter charms. (Pictured below.)

Garden Witch Charm Bracelet $30.99

Bracelet of Witchery $30.99

The following link takes you directly to the Garden Witch Jewelry page on my website. The charm bracelets are ready to order via PayPal ! www.ellendugan.com 

Oh, by the way, please remember that I cannot take personal checks, credit or debit cards at the picnic. We are going old school and doing cash, for your purchases, while we are in the park. If you want a bracelet and prefer to use your debit or credit card- simply order one through my website.

Now I need to go hunt up the lawn chairs, bug spray and sunscreen, to go along with the cases of books, my hand made witchy wooden signs, my jewelry, the display case, and the lunch cooler. I look forward to seeing many of you there in the park!
Blessed be, Ellen

Hello,
Sorry it has been a while since I posted anything. But it has been crazy busy here at home. Seasons of Witchery is just released, and I am doing the proof pages with my editor for the Companion book for the Witches Tarot this morning.

Nikko Blue hydrangea in Ellen's garden

Meanwhile in the gardens my hydrangeas are massive this year and so heavily laden with blooms. It is such a treat. Hydrangeas may be used in spells and charm to break a hex and to protect from negative energy. I recommend gathering the bloom heads in autumn when they are dried for this purpose. 

Color variations on one huge hydrangea

If you would like to add hydrangea blossoms to your indoor flower arrangements you need to treat them first- otherwise they wilt immediately. Also be advised if you go crazy and cut a bunch of blossoms- you are cutting off bloom wood for next year. (Especially on the old classic varieties of hydrangea, the Nikko Blue variety to be specific.) The color variations in the pictures are due to the soil acidity. If the soil is acidic Nikko blue hydrangeas turn a crazy shade of blue. If not... they stay pink. Or you can add Mir-acid in water and water it in around the plant and you will get variations of colors. Pink-purple and blue.

To treat the hydrangeas for cut flowers, start a small pot of water boiling on the stove. Only fill that pot half way. Then go out and gather your hydrangeas for cut flowers. strip the foliage from the lower part of the stem. Then CAREFULLY move the pot of boiling water to the sink.

Use a pair of tongs to keep your hands clear- and to hold the hydrangea stems and dunk the very ends into the boiling water. Be prepared that the water will react and bubble up strongly when you dunk the stems in. Hold the stems in for 10 seconds. I had a hell of a mess all over the top of my stove the first time I tried it. So now I keep the water level down, use tongs to hold the stems and put the pot in the sink. So if the hot water bubbles over the sides of the pot. It stays contained in the sink. Afterward you have treated the ends of the stems, arrange your hydrangeas in a vase.

The Witchery Series by Ellen Dugan

That's all from here. Enjoy the summer because it's here early this year!
Blessed be, Ellen

Good Morning,

Well I have only waiting about 2 and a half years to do this.... So here are a few cards from my new Witches Tarot deck that will be released in September 2012.  Mark Evans (the artist) and I have been busy.

We have created a Facebook page for the deck, and there we will be sharing six previously unseen card images over the next week. Here is the link to the Facebook page- www.facebook.com/WitchesTarot

Once you hit the Facebook page for Witches Tarot be sure to "Like" it!  Keep checking back over the next few days as a total of six cards will be loaded up only on that Facebook page!

Also Mark has set up a website for our deck. It will be coming together in the next month or so. The website will feature the cards-- and will be a place to order the special art prints, posters, and other wonderful goodies Mark is putting together from the deck.
I have seen one of the art posters as a mock up. Its going to be gorgeous, magickal and Witches are going to want one of these posters- bad!

Here is the link to our deck's website- www.witchestarot.com
Be sure to Bookmark both of these links!

On Thursday, May 10th Mark and I shared this card on the Witches Tarot Facebook page. It is the Major Arcana card, The World. 

The World card- Witches Tarot 2012

While the deck is based on traditional Rider/Waite imagery I designed and scripted lots of witchy flair into these cards! To my mind there is no better representation for unity, completion and the natural world than the Green Man.


Today Friday, May 11th we have shared a Court card from the Witches Tarot, and she is stunning. This is the Page of Pentacles.

Page of Pentacles- Witches Tarot 2012

Notice the white hind in the background and the blooming magnolia tree. The magnolia is associated with the element of earth- and it makes a enchanting addition to this card. A young friend of mine named Ariel posed for this one. I love all the details and I promise all of the meanings of each card- and the magickal symbolism from every card is fully explained in the Companion book that comes with the deck.

You can pre-order the Witches Tarot at Amazon.com if you like. (They have a special price going at the moment) Here is the direct link to amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Witches-Tarot-Ellen-Dugan/dp/0738728004/ref=la_B001ILHHTW_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336741404&sr=1-1

 Enjoy this special preview and be sure and hop over to the Facebook page to see more cards as they make their debut! Blessed be, Ellen

Witches Tarot Ellen Dugan & Mark Evans

Container with accessories

Flowers before planting

Setting the flowers out

Finished Window box

And I promised myself I would plant with abandon, and mix things up. I chose my flowers and ended up with cool colors- which I think "Pops" against the white siding and blue trim of the house. I set them (still in their pots) inside the window box to get a feel for them-- and then I planted away.  
 Here is a picture of one of the boxes all finished and hung on the house. So it was a nice morning's work. Because I was feeling industrious I swept up the patios and tidied up a bit. The  I walked around the yard and took more pictures of the gardens. 

Ellen's perennial garden 4-2012

I hope you will take some time this weekend and get outside and plant something! Even a container on your porch can add magick to your world. 
Blessed be, Ellen