Dear Diary: Dust bunnies, chaos, and updates

Sweeps off the dust ...

I cannot believe how fast this year is disappearing! It seems I haven't written on this blog since January, and it is now April - madness.

I am not even sure where to start, but I will give it a go.

In January this year, I added to my role of Publicist at Moon Books and became the Editor too. It was with slight trepidation, but I can honestly say, I am absolutely loving the job!

In February, I also began looking after our little granddaughter a couple of times a week so our daughter can go back to work. I had forgotten how tiring looking after little people can be, or perhaps a reminder that I am a lot older now! But it is an absolute blessing ♥ It has prompted me to accept and even begin to embrace my Crone energies. ,

Pagan Portal Podcast interviews continue, and I am getting to meet and chat with some amazing people.

My Friday morning chats also continue weekly, with the fabulous addition that once a month, the chat becomes a Waffling Witches, where I am joined by Heather and Ness. These stream live to my author Facebook page and both my YouTube channel and the Kitchen Witch YouTube.

In March, Ness, Heather and I had a Kitchen Witch jolly for a few days to Swanage, which was fabulous. We found some excellent cafes (of course, we did), particularly Burnt Toast in Swanage town. We also visited an amazing site, the Blue Pool (also with an excellent cafe) and got up to general shenanigans.

We were not going to attend any events this year because we have so much going on, but then a few invites came in, and we couldn't turn them down. The Wild Witchcraft Conference happened in March, and it was a blast as always. Then I had an invitation to attend the Wytches Market in Glastonbury for their new 'author corner' last week, such a well-organised market with an excellent selection of stalls. Going forward, the Kitchen Witch team will be at Pagan Tribal Gathering on Saturday, 27th June, then at the Dorset Magical Conference on 3rd October and Witchfest Market, Lewes, on 14th November. There is also another event in cahoots with Fenix Flames, more details soon! So basically, we have gone from nothing to lots! Details can be found on my website https://www.rachelpatterson.co.uk/events

We always say that we never stop learning, and we don't. We are taking a course on Seidr at the moment, which is fascinating and dovetails nicely into our pathways. This witchcraft journey still continues to amaze and inspire me. It has been a welcome intervention, because life has been so hectic, my spiritual side has been unattended, so it has kicked me back into the witchcraft saddle. Along with a light bulb moment whilst sitting on Southsea beach with Ness and Heather, having completed an impromptu sea ritual. Nehalannia came to me, and I have been working with her this year. Interestingly, whilst walking through the woods at the Blue Pool in Dorset, Fanus began to shout at me. I have never worked with him before, nor even looked into anything about him. He quietened down when I got home, but I have a suspicion he is lurking, ready to pounce at some point.

On the book writing front ... well, I have been busy with other things! However, my next book, Witchcraft: Daily Practice, will be released in November. There are other books in the works, but nothing is anywhere near the editing stage, let alone release. Bear with me. The book I am currently working on is a joint one with Ness and Heather, which I am really excited about - our shared brain is being put to work to create a book that contains all of our witchcraft knowledge and experience - the good, the bad and the ugly, in fact, definitely the ugly because we can all learn from our mistakes.

The Kitchen Witch School continues to go from strength to strength and celebrates its fourteenth year of running this year. I am super proud and incredibly grateful to Ness and Heather for taking on the reins of running the school on a day-to-day basis. Whilst I am still behind the scenes and interfering regularly, it is Ness and Heather who mentor our lovely students. We have lots of plans going forward for more student-focused workshops and chats. If you are a student, keep an eye on the groups for more details.

A bout of food poisoning knocked me out for over a week, and at the moment,, I am coming to the end of a cold/sore throat scenario too. But in the scale of things, they are minor, and I am thankful to be relatively upright and functioning (after a fashion) most of the time.

This year, we also produced not one but two oracle decks that we self-published - The Herbarium and The Ogam. When I say 'we', it was mostly Ness and Heather on the Herbarium, and Heather created the Ogam deck. But, we have had great fun putting them together and have plans for a couple of others ... watch this space.

I will try to be more regular on this blog, but if you want to keep up with what we are getting up to, please sign up for the Kitchen Witch newsletter. It is sent once a month directly to your inbox and not only includes details of our shenanigans but also lots of useful magical information, recipes and all sorts of other goodies. https://www.kitchenwitchhearth.net/newsletter

I am sure I have missed out loads of things. But I am here, we are here, never feel lost or adrift. If we can help support you and your Witchcraft journey, you only need to reach out.