Competition Time - Win a Book

I am running a competition to win a signed early pre-release copy of Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life on my author Facebook page.

All you need to do are three simple things:

1. Like and follow this page: Frances Billinghurst - Author 

2. Tag two other friends. 

3. In around 25 words, share why you would like to win a copy of this book. 

You will have until 7pm Saturday, 12 December 2020 to enter. 

The winner will be drawn at the LunaNoire Creations stall on Sunday, 13 December 2020 at the Queen of Wands Psychic Fair at Klemzig! and announced later that day on my author Facebook page. 

If you are not able to collect the book in person, your prize will be posted to you - and this includes if the winner is international.

Conscious Women Retreat and the Dark Goddess

We are certainly living in rather interesting and somewhat challenging times.  After postponing the Conscious Connection with Self Women's Gathering, initially scheduled to be held in August, in early November I found myself heading to Queensland to, not only take part in this event, but also to host my Encountering the Dark Goddess workshop in Surfers Paradise.

The venue that I utilised was the Chameleon New Age Salon and if you have yet to visit this place, please do as it is absolutely wonderful - not only the staff and the array of offerings (from yes, hair styling through to incense, books and jewellery) including services and even yoga.  The space upstairs is perfect to lounge about in with a coffee or tea from their cafe.

Book Review: Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life

The following is the full no holds barred review of Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life by Ariadne Rainbird, a practicing Wiccan of over 35 years and who was my High Priestess in the early/mid 1990s.

Contemporary Witchcraft is an informative, comprehensive and well written guide to the practice of Pagan Witchcraft in the Southern Hemisphere, but also contains a lot of valuable information which readers in the Northern Hemisphere could equally benefit from.  The author uses the term “contemporary witchcraft” to describe the more traditional and initiatory practice of the Craft which can be traced back to Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders, generally known as Wicca.  Unfortunately the word Wicca has been usurped by modern neo-pagans, practising a Wicca-based non-initiatory neo-paganism, and has therefore become a generalised term often including an assortment of New Age practices, as opposed to focusing on the initiatory teachings of Gardner and Sanders, much to the annoyance of those of us who are of an initiatory lineage.   The author muses that what is often called Wicca today bears little resemblance to what she was originally trained in, and what she practices today, and so has chosen to describe what she does as contemporary witchcraft rather than Wicca. However, she makes it clear that what she is writing about is in fact Wicca in its original sense, the traditional and initiatory form which honours oathbound materials and hierarchical training.

Book Review: Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life

On reading the introduction, I was transported back 35 years to my own introduction to the craft, and it set the tone for the rest of the book. Contemporary Witchcraft Foundational Practices for a Magical Life is a great read as it is formed from, in my opinion, genuine teachings, and genuine research and workings. It is a refreshing change from so much information available that at best is questionable in origin.

David Garland (President, Pagan Awareness Network Inc, Australia)

Pre-Ordering Available through Waterstones

The British book retailers, Waterstones, operates some 283 shops throughout the United Kingdom as well as some neighbouring European countries.  As such, I am rather excited to find out that my two forthcoming titles, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms and Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life, can be pre-ordered through them.

Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms guides you through what this challenging facet of the Divine Feminine, the Dark Goddess, is truly about, and encourages you to step through the veils into her hidden realm to explore 13 aspects of herself.

Whether you seek healing from past trauma, release from fears or acceptance of the “unacceptable” aspects of your self, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms offers ways for you to transform and heal your life through the power of meditation, ritual and inner journeying with the Dark Goddess into her shadowy realms.