Return to the Mother summit starting in less than 24 hours

It is a bit difficult to remain focused when something that you have been steadily working towards for the last six plus months is finally going to be made freely available to the world.

Of course, I am talking about my RETURN TO THE MOTHER online summit.

I was reminder of the late Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who once said that people get sick because they are alienated from Mother Earth, that they have forgotten that they are on Mother Earth, and that they have a body given to them by Mother Earth.

Is that not what has been happening to us?

Mother Earth – our Mother – the one who birthed all of creation.  Where is she in your life?

Is there a connection between how we treat our planet and the rejection of the Divine Feminine from our Soul Consciousness?

For this reason I have gathered together speakers from all around the world will share their thoughts and insights into this question and other interconnecting threads:

 🌹  Return to the Mother 🌹
Discussions about the Divine Feminine, Mother Earth and Goddess Consciousness

A five-day online summit that will be commencing: Sunday, 24 November 2024 (America & Europe) or Monday, 25 November 2024 (Australia & New Zealand)

Click here to join now (free)! 

🌹 Explore the connection between Gaia (Earth) consciousness and the Divine Feminine.

🌹 Understand the importance of the feminine archetype.

🌹 Consider the similarities of how Mother Earth and women are treated in modern society.

🌹 Investigate whether the devaluation of anything feminine emerged out of the removal and subsequent absence of the Goddess or Divine Feminine from many of the world’s religions

🌹 Ask ourselves why, regardless of gender identification, it is essential for all of us move from patriarchal oppression to matrifocal wholeness.

🌹 Determine the importance of establishing a more sustainable state of Oneness with our planet for the sake of future generations ...

This online event is FREE to all registered attendees. Simply click here to register today, and join me from the evening of Sunday, 24 November to Thursday, 28 November 2024 (USA, Canada and Europe) or from the morning of Monday, 25 November to Friday, 29 November 2024 (Australia and New Zealand).

Some of the presentations that will be taking place during the Return to the Mother online summit are:

• The Divine Source Resides Within with Akosua Dardaine Edwards
• The Return of the Archetypes with Dr Amit Goswami
• Returning to Love: Sacred Womb Awakening with Ann Bromley
• Healing the Damage of Patriarchy through Moon Circles with Bridget Engels
• Modern Witchcraft and the Goddess with Christopher Penczak
• The Dark Goddess: Retribution, Rebirth, and the Dark Night of the Soul with C.G. Dahlin
• Exploring Womb Awakening and the Selkie tale as the Initiatory Pathway for the Modern Goddess with Deborah Stanley
• Entering the Temple of the Goddess with Frances Billinghurst
• Creating a Context in which She can Grow: A PaGaian Cosmology with Glenys Livingstone
• How a Radical Guide to Reality invites a return to the Divine Feminine, the healing of the 'illusion' of separation and an emergence of Gaian Consciousness with Dr Jude Currivan
• Matriarchy in the Animal Kingdom: The Glue of Creation with John Lockley
• How Rites of Passage Ceremony and Earth Consciousness can assist in healing Patriarchal Wounding with Kallie Brown
• Divine Feminine: The Antidote to Patriarchal Domination and Our Wounded Feminine Consciousness with Karen Tate
• The Maidens of the Well: Reclaiming the Waters of Life with Kat Houghton
• Growing into the Goddess: Claim your Divine Feminine power in dialogue with your Christian Roots with Kathleen Joan
• Returning to the Mother at Midlife: Initiation as the Wise Woman with Keren Brown
• Embodying the Divine Feminine through Movement with Leslie Zehr
• Contemporary Witchcraft and the Rebirth of the Goddess: Devotional Practices to the Great Mother with Levi Rowland
• The Five Earth Archetypes of the Wild Feminine with Mary Reynolds Thompson
• The Full Embrace, Beyond the Veil of Separation with Naomi Amaya Love
• She leads the Way with Dr Nicola Amadora
• Returning to the Primordial with Patricia Awyan Lehman
• Mother Earth and Her Magic of Rebirth with Phyllis Curott
• Pachamama's Embrace: A Catalyst of Remembrance with Q'orianka Cornejo
• Radical Earth Transformation: Newborn Consciousness Seeded with Hieros Gamos with RaMa Danielle-Marie
• Matriarchy and The Great Mother with Stephen Mehler
• The Eternal Feminine with Dr Valentina R. Onisor
• The In-powerment of the Mystery with Zahra Indigo Rønlov

and more.

There is also the opportunity to upgrade to receive Unlimited Lifetime Access where you receive downloaded audio and video recordings of ALL presentations as well as additional gifts.

Why we need to Return to the Mother

While our external world appears to be in much chaos and turmoil, of pain and heartache, there is a deep richness of love, compassion, hope and beauty can still be found.

Chinese philosopher, Lao Tsu, reminds us, when we remember that we too are part of nature (Mother Earth), and we embrace the Divine Feminine back into our spiritual practices we are able to reconnect to that valley spirit that resides within.

More so than ever, we need to return to the "Mother" - regardless of whether it is the divine feminine, Mother Earth (Gaia), Goddess consciousness, or even turning to nature to learn from our other co-inhabitants of this planet that we live on.

For these reasons and more), I have created the RETURN TO THE MOTHER online summit, that will be commencing Monday, 25 November (or Sunday evening, 24 November if you live in America & Europe).

Click on the image below to be taken to the video that I have created about this:

The RETURN TO THE MOTHER summit is is a free event, consisting of some 27 presenters and all you need to do is to register here: www.return-to-the-mother.com

There is an option to upgrade to unlimited lifetime access where 20% of all monies received will be donated to The Global Women's Project.

Start the New Year off right

A new calendar year is dawning and with it comes the opportunity to create a new start with the 21-day Journey into Freedom with Kali sadhana (spiritual journey) commencing on Sunday, 8 January 2023.  

Every day for the following 21 days, you will receive emails that will assist you in exploring this rather complex Dark Goddess of the Hindu pantheon.  You are invited to study at your own pace as you will receive devotional practices that will enable you to connect with this powerful goddess on a deep soul level in order to bring about ultimate change. 

“The earth quakes under Your leaps and bounds.
You are frightful with that sword in Your hand .”
(Kamalakanta)

Further information as to how you can register for Journey into Freedom with Kali can be found here. 

July Events and Other Happenings

It is hard to believe that we are over half way through this current year already.  

At the end of June, I spent a handful of days on the beautiful island of Bali, gaining ideas for a proposed spiritual retreat that I had been planning, but which was placed on hold over the last couple of years due to the pandemic.  While still very much in the planning stage, the proposed Transform the Soul spiritual retreat has been earmarked to take place in May 2023.  More details will be announced when they have been arranged.

Last weekend, the 2 and 3 July, saw the second Moon Con 22 organised by my publisher, Moon Books.  This free event was held online and consisted of various talks and discussions from various Moon Book authors.  My talk took place on the Sunday and was about the Dark Goddess.  While all the presentations were recorded and are now available for viewing on Moon Books' YouTube channel, my talk can be found here:

Queries Answered about the Online Course

In the following video I have attempted to answer some queries that I have received about the upcoming Gifts from the Dark Goddess online course that will be commencing on Thursday, 28 April 2022 with a zoom call that will be recorded for those who are not able to attend.

Over the month we will journey into the Underworld, a metaphor for the subconscious mind, utilising the concept of the Dark Goddess as a psychopomp, a "spiritual guide".  During this time, we will be tapping into the cosmic energies of both the partial solar eclipse on 30 April or 1 May (depending where you live) as well as the total lunar eclipse on 15 or 16 May 2022.

It is also interesting to note that just after our descension is the timing of two opposing Celtic festivals that mark the "gateways" to special turning points throughout the year - Samhain (for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere) or Bealtaine (for those in the Northern Hemisphere).  These festival occur on 30 April and according to their associated lore, are times when the veil between the land of the living and the realm of the dead is at its thinnest. 

Registrations for Gifts from the Dark Goddess are open until Wednesday, 27 April 2022.  After that time, the accompanying Facebook group will be changed to "secret" and we will commence our descent.

More information about Gifts from the Dark Goddess can be found here.

An Insight into the Norse Goddess Hel

Hel, the ruler of Niflheim the Norse Underworld, a realm that 13th century author Snorri described as the primordial realm of snow, mists and ice. Yet to some, this reference may have actually related a more recent Ice Age, thus denoting Hel as a pre-Viking age deity.

The daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, Hel is depicted with one half of her face beautiful and alive, and the other blue, the colour of cold, dead flesh, or that of a corpse.

She was also tasked by Óðin to give lodging to all who die of sickness and old age – a “straw death” - the people who did not die of honour and therefore were not able to enter Valhalla. This meant that oath breakers and murderers also entered Hel's realm, however they ended up in Nástrǫnd ("Corpse Shore") where lived the dragon Níðhöggr who devoured the corpses of the honourless dead, effectively destroying them entirely.

Honouring Aphrodite of the Seas

The Goddess House invites you to come and sit in the Circle of Sisterhood.

Each month we will gather online to explore an aspect of the divine feminine, through the telling of her sacred myths and discovery of her symbols before undertaking a powerful meditation in order to connect with her sacred energy.

Standing in her presence, we will learn how to utilise her sacred symbols as keys to unlock and (re)awaken gifts with ourselves.

Through learning her sacred myths, we gain a deeper insight into how we can embody her energy in our own lives.

February Goddess Circle - Aphrodite of the Seas.

We will look at relationships, especially with our own selves, focus on healing our heart centre (anahata), and undertake the internal sacred marriage, the Hieros Gamos.

Time: 7.30pm to 9.30pm ACST (Adelaide time)

Held online. Zoom link will be provided upon registration.  If you are not able to make the live zoom call, you will be provided with a recording.

Book your place here.

Honouring the Orisha of the Oceans

Since 2007 around the first full moon of each year, I have been inviting people to join with me at Grange Beach to honour the Africo-Carribean Mami Wata ("Mother of the Waters"), commonly known as Yemaya.

Yemaya, or Ymoja as she was known to the Yoruban people of West Africa, was the Mother of the Ogun River. This is because she was said to have given birth to the world's waters ... and that new springs would appear whenever she turned over in her sleep, and springs would gush forth whenever she walked.

In Brazil, Yemaya is known as Iemanja, in Haiti La Sirene, and in the Dominican Republic Yemalla or La Diosa del mar ("Sea Goddess"). Yemaya is also known as Our Lady of Regla and Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea").

The "Queen of the Ocean" Yemaya is the patron deity of fisherman as well as survivors of shipwrecks. She is also the feminine principle of creation and the spirit of the moonlight. Therefore it is appropriate that we honour her during the first Full Moon of the year so that her blessings can be carried with us.

On Monday, 17 January 2022, you are invited to join us for this open rite at Grange Beach. We will meet on the grassed area near the public conveniences just prior to 8.00pm before moving down to the sands. The ritual will take place around dusk, with the sun setting in the west over the Gulf.

While this is a free event, participants are asked to keep in mind that although we are honouring Yemaya, we will also be asking favours of her; therefore, it is considered polite that we bring her a gift in the form of an offering. These offerings can include seashells, flowers, or even a stone with perhaps a message or symbol representing your desire drawn upon it. She is known to like champagne, blue chalcedony is considered to be a crystal connected with her, and the star is one of her symbols.

Her favourite colours are those reflected by her beloved waters so you may wish to wear clothing that contain blues, silvers and white. A white head scarf (if you have one) should also be worn during this devotional rite.

Children are welcome however they are the sole responsibility of their parents/guardians who should be mindful that as this rite is one of devotion. Instigators of disruptive or unruly behaviour will be asked to leave.

More information can be found here together.

Online Goddess Circles Commencing February 2022

The Goddess House invites you to come and sit in the Circle of Sisterhood.

Each month we will gather online to explore an aspect of the divine feminine, through the telling of her sacred myths and discovery of her symbols before undertaking a powerful meditation in order to connect with her sacred energy.

Standing in her presence, we will learn how to utilise her sacred symbols as keys to unlock and (re)awaken gifts with ourselves.

Through learning her sacred myths, we gain a deeper insight into how we can embody her energy in our own lives.

February Goddess Circle - Aphrodite of the Seas

We will look at relationships, especially with our own selves, focus on healing our heart centre (anahata), and undertake the internal sacred marriage, the Hieros Gamos.

Time: 7.30pm to 9.30pm ACST**

Held online. Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

Book your place by registering here.

**If you are not able to attend the live zoom call, it will be recorded to sent to everyone who has registered.

New Year Encountering the Dark Goddess Sadhana

 

Many of us have found ourselves going through a number of changes over the last few years, and for much of 2021, the astrological energies seem to be encouraging us to release of things that no longer serve us or are in alignment with our soul's path.  However, finding the courage, or even the necessary tools, to undertake such change can be rather daunting.

Commencing just after the January full moon, and working in alignment with the moon, I am delighted to announce that I will be offering a month long online sadhana (spiritual exploration), into your deep shadow self through the connection with various "darker" aspects of the divine feminine in order to commence positive change at the deepest level.

Encountering the Dark Goddess will commence on Wednesday, 19 January 2022 with a group zoom call before we commence our descent as the moon starts to wane into the Great Below together.  Just prior to the dark moon at the end of January we will undertake a soul freeing release ritual.  Then we will begin our ascent as the moon waxes and increases its energy before ending our journey together just prior to the February full moon, on Tuesday, 15 February 2022.

Review of Encountering the Dark Goddess by Musing Mystical

The following is part of a review by Sarrah October Young from Musing Mystical.  Please visit their web site to read to review in its entirety.

" .... One of the most fascinating elements of human psychology is the penchant we have for self-reflection. In some form or another, we often delve deep within ourselves to try and find answers that we know lie deep within us. In her book Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey Into Shadow Realms, Frances Billinghurst has carved a path for us to tread in our personal search for the answers we need in order to evolve and become better versions of ourselves.

An experienced writer on this topic, Billinghurst is an initiated witch, ritualist and healer, and runs workshops on metaphysics, mythology, and the occult. Billinghurst thoughtfully divides the book into three parts which make perfect sense if you are new to the idea of Shadow Work and the Dark Goddess Herself. Bundling information together in this way is extremely helpful if you are familiar with the work and want to jump past the background information.

Personally, no matter the topic, I almost always read the intro sections provided because I feel they form the basis or foundation of what the writer is actually trying to get across. Knowing where Billinghurst sits in terms of who she feels the Dark Goddess is and how she perceives Her is valuable information to me and helps me to expand my own knowledge. No matter your knowledge level, I highly recommend reading the introduction section to ensure you gain the same insight. ...

...

A Devotional for Athena and Minerva

It has been a long time coming but finally the devotional anthology to Athena and Minerva was released by Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Shield of Wisdom: A Devotional for Athena and Minerva is a huge book of over 400 pages and consisting of invocations, prayers, offerings, mythology interpretations, photographs and artwork all dedicated to and depicting these goddesses. I also have an essay - The Wrath of a Goddess included in this anthology.

Known to the Greeks as Athena, and to the Romans as Minerva, the Goddess leapt fully grown from the skull of the Lord of Thunder. Frighteningly intelligent, quick-witted and fiercely loyal, she is a Goddess who watches over heroes, warriors, and artisans alike. A Goddess of the mind, she admires and rewards cleverness and creativity. 

And, while she inspires intense devotion in ancient and modern polytheists, she also inspires passionate debate. 

:: Is she a friend to women, or does she always favor the father?

:: When she transformed Medusa into a gorgon and Arachne into a spider, was she motivated by compassion or something else? 

:: And what of her relationships with her fellow deities, such as Hephaistos, Ares, and Aphrodite? Are they adversarial, antithetical, or complementary?

Within these pages, you will find poems of praise and rites in her honor. You will also find essays and personal reflections that question the Goddess, that challenge her, that analyze the myths around her and what they mean to us, and what they reveal about the Goddess herself. All of these are offered to her with an open heart, and a sincere questioning mind — which we hope she will find as pleasing as any reverent hymn.

You can order your copy of Shield of Wisdom: A Devotional for Athena and Minerva here. 

Spring Equinox: The Time of Balance

The word equinox comes from the Latin meaning “equal night”, and are the two times of the year when the hours of light and dark are said to be equal as the run rises due east and sets due west. As it is also one of the few days when the earth’s axis is straight as a door post and suggests to us a time of balance has arrived (or almost).

At the spring equinox, the sun crosses the celestial equator from the northern to the southern sky. This will take place on 23 September at 5:21am here in Adelaide and is considered to be the first day of the “astronomical spring” as from this point onwards, the hours of daylight will increase as the hours of darkness decrease as the sun rises and sets further north each day. The warmth of the sun will also increase as we head towards the summer, occurs.

Nature echoes the increasing warmth as blossoms burst forth and new growth makes its presence felt. As the sun’s strength increases, so do the visible signs of activity upon the earth’s surface. It is as if, were you to close your eyes for a moment, you would miss the experience of another aspect of creation being reborn all over again.

As the sun moves into the sign of Libra, and in the skies above us, a lot is happening. Firstly, Virgo,the Maiden is very low in the western sky. This is the second largest constellation and one of the two in which the ecliptic and celestial equator cross. Scorpius is high in the western sky, and in Greek mythology, the scorpion plays a role in many stories, however it is best known for its pursuit of Orion through the night sky. 

Beyond the Light: Embracing the Wisdom of the Dark Goddess

It is hard to believe that we are over half way through September already, that spring has well and truly arrived and that the end of calendar year is drawing increasingly closer.  Am I alone in feeling as if I appear to have missed a couple of months?

As I am catching up on news, I am absolutely delighted to announce that my interview with the wonderful Lucy Cavendish was released on The Witchcast With Lucy Cavendish on 26 August 2021 and is now available for your listening pleasure.  Having been recorded back in April, my chat with Lucy occurred just after my Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms had been released.

I was very humbled to chat with Lucy as she was the initial driving force behind the Australian Witchcraft magazine back in the early 1990s and since that time has gone on to write a number of books as well as producing a endless collection of oracle cards.  I have had a great pleasure of circling with her at an Australian Goddess conference as well as attending one of her workshops when she journeyed to Adelaide.  I also contributed to her 2012 anthology Witchy Magic that she co-edited with the wonderful Serene Conneeley.

In my chat with Lucy we discuss the darker aspects of not only the Goddess but also ourselves, delving into the shadow realms, sharing our passion for mythology and the sacred, as well as stories of the Goddesses that are often misunderstood, feared and even avoided.  Yet, when we truly become aware of these Goddesses, when we take the time to get to know them, we discover that within their sacred stories are great tools and teachings, and most of all, true wisdom - the kind of wisdom that can bring to light to these current times of much chaos and yoyoing uncertainty.

You can listen to Lucy's witch cast here.

Embracing the Dark Goddess during Difficult Times

It is hard to believe that a year has passed since I received pre-release copies of my first book that was to be published by Moon Books, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms.  These pre-release copies arrived some nine months prior to the book's actual release in March 2021.

One of the people who generously agreed to review my book was Nimue Brown.  What I found of interest was her comments that my book assisted her during the initial COVID pandemic in 2020.  This was something that I had not even thought of - considering when I had submitted the manuscript to Moon Books, what became COVID was a mere whisper.

What follows is part of Nimue's review.  Her full review can be found here,

"Dark journeys happen. Dark nights of the soul happen. Sometimes we have no choice but to crawl on bloody hands and knees through some kind of personal Hellscape for a while. Working with Dark Goddesses, or The Dark Goddess as an aspect of the Goddess, is about having the tools for those journeys. Find yourself in the thick of one and you may reach for a book like this for guidance and wisdom. Being prepared won’t save you, but it will help you make sense of things."

Dancing with Kali Ma

I am delighted to be taking part in what is my second USA festival for the year. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology I will be taking part in WITCHFEST USA - A PAGAN FAIRE that will be running from 9 July to 11 July 2021 both in the physical sense in New York city as well as online.

My second workshop will be taking place on the Sunday at 10am (New York time - or 11.30pm ACST) and is entitled Dancing with Kali.

Kali is one of the more mysterious and enigmatic goddesses found within the Hindu pantheon. Her dark and wild appearance conjures up feelings of awesomeness in anyone brave enough to gaze upon her face. Kali symbolizes death and her dancing can cause ultimate destruction; however she also brings about renewal of life. 

As this will be more of a practical workshop, grab yourself a set of mala beads as we will be surrendering our egos to the "Terrible Mother".

You can register to attend the weekend where there will be only 90 events, occult workshops, online performances, presentations, as well as online shopping. Tickets cost $95 (US) however your online tickets enable you to watch all presentations.

Details about how to obtain your ticket can be found here.

If you are not able to get to Witchfest USA this year, then you might like to get yourself a signed copy of Encountering the Dark Goddess: A  Journey into the Shadow Realms from LunaNoire Creations, my online etsy store.

Interview of Jo from Avalon by Nature

It is May already and it is hard to believe that it has been almost a month since I sat down with Jo from Avalon by Nature for Jo Avalon's Cuppa Chat where we discussed my recently released book, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Underworld, together with the next book that I have coming up by Moon Books, that being Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life. 

This book is aimed at providing a solid foundation into the art magical especially for those people who are interested in witchcraft, but also magick, with the slant being on the Southern Hemisphere (readers north of the equator are also very well catered for).  As I mentioned to Jo in this interview, a lot of the techniques and insights that I discuss in the book actually stem from the teachings I initially received back in the 1990s, many of which I still utilise within my own practices today.  

Jo sells copies of both these books as well as some of my earlier titles through her Avalon by Nature online store as well as from her market stalls.

Over 500 Sales Already and Other News

It is April already and I am scratching my head wondering where the time has gone, especially as my last posting here was about the huge WitchCon event - and with over 90 presenters online for three (or four depending on time zones) whole days around the world, yes it was huge.  I still haven't managed to watch more than a handful of presentations myself (one of the joys of the whole weekend being recorded) but I hope so.

From what I have been told, about 40 people tuned in to listen to my presentation live - which I thought wasn't bad considering in my timeslot I was up against the Witch of Salem herself, Laurie Cabot, as well as Taren S talking about crossroads magick, Amy Blackthorn sharing some hexy cocktails, Witchdoctor Utu giving a drumming tutorial and Michel Furie talking about a witch's potion.  So that was a wonderful experience to be a part of.

More importantly, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms was officially released on 26 March 2021.  This means that everyone who has pre-ordered through Amazon as well as their local bookstores, should be receiving their copies very soon, if you haven't not already received them.  This also means that if your local bookstore does not have any copies, that they can hassle their distributors to get some in.

Reviews on Goodreads and Amazon as well as other sites are always much appreciated because in this review driven world, it is things like reviews that set Amazon's logarithms for their "suggested books".

On my publisher's website, there are a list of alternative booksellers for both the paperback edition as well as ebooks.  If physical books are your thing and you are in Adelaide, then try contacting Carpe Diem with Remi at Port Adelaide or The Magical Crystal Forest in Christies Beach and Morphett Vale as they also stock my other books.

And when I got home tonight and logged on to check my emails, there was an email from John Hunt Publishing congratulating me that over 550 copies had been sold already!!  That means that aside from the copies that I had purchased myself, that over 350 copies had been pre-ordered.  Now, to me, that is a lot!!

Much gratitude to everyone who has supported this project, especially Soror Basilisk who did the artwork, Nan Berrett from Word Solutions for the proofreading and of course Trevor and the Moon Books team.

And talking about Moon Books, on the weekend of Saturday, 5 and Sunday, 6 June 2021, Moon Books will be hosting a free Moon Con 21 live event on Facebook that will include talks, panels and live Q&A sessions involving numerous Moon Book authors.  I will be involved on a panel on the Saturday (Sunday in the UK) alongside fellow Australian authors, Julie Brett and Jane Meredith.   I hope to see you there.

Other things that I have been up to is over Easter I sat down with Jo from Avalon by Nature for a chat about the next book that I have coming up by Moon Books, that being Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life.  This book is aimed at providing a solid foundation to the art magical especially for those people who are interested in witchcraft, but also magick as a lot of what I discuss in the book stem from the teachings I initially received back in the 1990s, many of which I still utilise today.  Jo has copies of both these books as well as some of my earlier titles.

If you are in Melbourne, then copies of both Encountering the Dark Goddess and Contemporary Witchcraft can be found at Muses of Mystery in The Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street in the heart of the city.

Now that Encountering the Dark Goddess has been released, I have started working on an online course that I hope to be able to offer in the near future. I also have a couple more talks lined up and there is the manuscript for my next book that I am getting close to finalising before sending it off to the proofreader.  I always seem to have something on the go :)

Blessings, Frances

Are You Going to Witchcon This Weekend?

This weekend will see the largest online magical conference taking place. From 5 March until 7March (or 8 March here in Australia) over a witches and conjurers from all around the globe will be coming together to share their magical insights, wisdom and spiritual practices that are personally designed to assist beginners, novices and the more experienced alike.

All classes, rituals and performances will not only be livestreamed on Crowdcast, a web-based platform with no need to download an app.  Afterwards they will also be placed in an on-demand library where they will remain for an indefinite period of time (at the moment) so that you can watch or re-watch all that is on offer.

I will be presenting on Exploring the Shadowy Realms of the Dark Goddess in The Saturn Library on Monday, 8 March at 11.15am (Adelaide time).  I will also be in the Virtual Vendorium showcasing selective LunaNoire Creations items earlier on the Monday at 9.15am. 

Other presenters include Laurie Cabot (Salem's most famous witch), druid Ellen Evert Hopman, Australia's Fiona Horne, Georgi Mishev (who will be presenting on Bulgarian folk magick), Oberon Zell (founder of the Church of All Worlds), Sorita d'Este (owner of Avalonia publishing company), Rev. Paul Beyerl (renown herbalist), and even Silver Ravenwolf.  

A full list of presenters can be found here.  Tickets are capped at 1,000 attendees which includes access to all class presentations, rituals, the Virtual Vendorium.  You can get your tickets here.

Dark Goddess official release draws near

According to the website of John Hunt Publishing, of which my publisher, Moon Books, is an imprint, there are only some 23 days before Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms is officially released.

Although I have been able to obtain pre-release author copies since May last year, I am rather delighted that soon my book will be available all around the world.

Since it's pre-release, Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms has been reviewed by a number of people, many I have sought to capture on this blog. One review that my book received last year while COVID-19 forced a number of people to undertake their own journey into the shadow realms is this one from fellow author, Nimue Brown, that starts: