Honoring Your Ancestors - Jennifer
Southern Cunning - Heidi
The Sleepy Hollow folklore books - Thistle
Congratulations!
October has found us again. I am here, in my charming valley in the north west, snuggled in with fuzzy slippers and extra blankets pulled out of the wardrobe. September ended in near-constant rain and October arrived this morning with snow on the hilltops and ice on my car's window. I feel somewhat ill prepared for meeting the cold so soon, and I have been looking warily at the yard and gardens and noting the impossible number of tasks that might have been taken care of before the chill arrived. But there are better things to attend to than winter preparation. We have an entire month of harvest and haunts to celebrate!
Each year as I wander through social media, read websites and blogs, and listen to podcasts, I come across awesome authors, books that capture my attention, and card decks that tempt me to take them home. When I find something that catches my heart (or other bits) I try to grab a second copy to pass along to someone else. It's my small way of saying thank you to those who pop by my little spot on the interwebs here, or the kind folks who like, comment, or interact with me on social media. (Plus, I've always had a mad love of mail, paper, and packages, so this gives me an excuse to revel in those delights.)
For those who come back every year to celebrate this magical month with me, hello again old friends! And to those of you who are just finding this strange and celebratory place for the first time - welcome! Let's open the first chapter of this month and see where our story begins...
We start this delicious month off with a handful of books brimming with history, folklore, and ancestral veneration. Having just returned from several days in the history-and-legend-rich land of the Hudson River Valley I'm eager to share books that speak to connections with our past. What came before may seem to only have a tenuous connection with the here and now, but the past is still very relevant, and spending some time studying it can be a helpful and potent addition to our own journeys and practices.
Our first selection is Honoring Your Ancestors: A Guide to Ancestral Veneration, a truly beautiful book from Mallorie Vaudoise about connecting and working with your ancestors. It includes important topics like healing ancestral trauma and choosing to interact with ancestors not of your bloodline, as well as touching on various spirits and saints. I have not encountered such a rich and thorough examination of this topic before, and I know you'll really enjoy diving into this important work too.
From the publisher:
"Ancestor veneration is one of the most widespread spiritual practices in the world. This book shares the important distinctions between working with blood ancestors, lineage ancestors, and affinity ancestors while helping you recognize the signs that your ancestors are responding to your petitions and offerings. You will also explore important topics like mediumship and ancestral trauma so you can be sure to develop a veneration practice that's uplifting and affirming for you."
From the publisher:
"Southern Cunning is a journey through the folklore of the American South and a look at the power these stories hold for modern witches. Through the lens of folklore, animism, and bioregionalism the book shows how to bring rituals in folklore into the modern day and presents a uniquely American approach to witchcraft born out of the land and practical application."
My last selection is a haunting pair of books directly from Sleepy Hollow. I picked up two tomes during my visit, on the local folklore and legends of New Amsterdam and the Hudson River area:
Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley - Johnathan Kruk
The Historically Annotated Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving and Henry John Steiner
Both of these books are fantastically chock full of history and lore, and the annotated Sleepy Hollow has the added bonus of being Washington Irving's original ghostly rider story with the addition of a flurry of footnotes relating the historical accuracy that Irving's colourful tale sometimes chooses to ignore.
I have one copy of each book to give away (the Sleepy Hollow books come as a pair), and the three winning names will be drawn on Saturday, October 5th at 9pm Pacific. You can state in your comment which book you'd prefer and I'll do my best to arrange the winners with their chosen books but I cannot promise that will always work out
The important-but-tedious bits:
We are running simple game again this year - your comment counts as your entry. However, if you feel moved to share this around (either a particular giveaway or if you just send folks my way) you can leave another comment letting me know you shared some October love, and I'll toss your name in the hat a second time.
On the evening of the draw, the winners will be notified via email and their names placed at the top of this post and the next handful of goodies will go up for grabs. Please, please, leave an email for me in your comment if your name does not directly link to you/your website. I can't tell you how many names I've drawn only to find that I couldn't contact the winners. I simply draw again, but it is rather heartbreaking to see the first name get tossed.
There are occasionally some goblins that stop by in October, just for kicks. I am taking down the comment moderation security and we will hope that we skate under the spam radar again this year. Also, Blogger doesn't always play nice with every app, so there are times when you may have to come to the giveaway page directly (not via the FB app, for example) and leave a comment that way.
As always, if your privacy is of concern or if you simply cannot get your comment in on the current giveaway post for some reason, you can send an entry in using the "Make Contact" button on the top of the blog.
All mail will go out within three business days of receiving the winner's address and will be sent via the most reasonable shipping rate. Please note that your parcel could take anywhere from 5 business days to reach you (in most of North America) to five weeks (if you are in the EU).
Legal Bits:
* This giveaway (or "sweepstakes") is open to all residents of Canada, (exluding Quebec residents) the USA, Great Britain, Europe, South America, who are 18 years of age or older. This giveaway is void where prohitibited by law. Please be aware of the contest/sweepstakes laws in your area.
* Canadian residents will be subject to a skill testing question before being able to claim their prize (this is standard law in Canada). The skill testing question will be in a form similar to: 1 + 2 - 1 =
* This giveaway is not for profit and no purchase is necessary to enter.
* This giveaway is sponsored/administrated solely by this blog/blog author and is not affilitated with or sponsored by Blogger, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other entity, nor can they be held liable.
* By leaving a comment intending to enter into the draw for the giveaway (or "sweepstakes") you are knowingly agreeing to these rules/conditions.
I have chosen all the books/cards featured this month myself. I have not been paid to feature a book, nor have I been asked to advertise for anyone. This giveaway is not endorsed or sponsored by anyone other than Rue and Hyssop.
* This giveaway (or "sweepstakes") is open to all residents of Canada, (exluding Quebec residents) the USA, Great Britain, Europe, South America, who are 18 years of age or older. This giveaway is void where prohitibited by law. Please be aware of the contest/sweepstakes laws in your area.
* Canadian residents will be subject to a skill testing question before being able to claim their prize (this is standard law in Canada). The skill testing question will be in a form similar to: 1 + 2 - 1 =
* This giveaway is not for profit and no purchase is necessary to enter.
* This giveaway is sponsored/administrated solely by this blog/blog author and is not affilitated with or sponsored by Blogger, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other entity, nor can they be held liable.
* By leaving a comment intending to enter into the draw for the giveaway (or "sweepstakes") you are knowingly agreeing to these rules/conditions.