Book of Shadows Viewing Party and Reading Group Reminder for tonight

What are these witches cooking up?! + plus invitation to tonight's reading group

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Inside: a glimpse into your favorite witches’ Books of Shadows (BOS), the prize winner for the January edition of BOS of the month, and an invitation to tonight’s reading group at 6pm.

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Dear Ones,

It is with great pleasure that I share the images below. They were created by… us! Our beautiful community here at Mystery Cult.

At the turn of the year, I offered the three part Hermit Year workshop series to Yearly and Founder’s level subscribers. One session was a Book of Shadows workshop.

To help keep us inspired to work on our Books of Shadows throughout the year, I have set up a little monthly prize.

If you post a pic of a spread you created in Book of Shadows that you felt inspired by, and that you want to share with others to help kindle their excitement too, you’ll be entered to win a different prize every month!

Scroll down to the see the nominees, the prize winner, and the prize!

[Side note about the Hermit Year Workshop series for Founders and Yearly Members: Just in case, because I know some folks were confused. Yearly subscriptions cost 20% less per year than the monthly subscriptions. I do it that way so that people who are willing to commit to working with me for a year get the best deal, and in return, they help me have income stability. My hope is that it’s a win-win for everyone. And for those monthly subscribers who are still deciding if they wish to commit to a yearly membership, the workshops will be there for via replay whenever the time feels right. No pressure!]

Violet Hammersly

I love this colorful animal inspo by Violet Hammersly! All the layers of text and image really sing!

Tricia S.

The BOS here by Tricia S. feels full of life and play, it makes me want to pull mine out and explore.

This is another image from Tricia. When I saw the names of friends written in the book it made me tear up. It’s so beautiful to cherish our friends in our magical practices!

Sarah Bien

I love the crows made of night sky in this image by Sarah Bien, and how the way the pentacle scrawled across the image makes it look like a punk rock anarchy symbol!

Another inspirational Sarah Bien piece, I love the drawing of the hands holding flames, it really makes me want to do the blessing!

Ramona S.

The beautiful handwriting and the description of the Hermit with antlers is so gorgeous paired with this tender, atmospheric painting by Ramona S. The framing of the image with the white space makes it appear illuminated.

Nicola Corl

The patterned tape with the transferred tarot images, bring a sense of unity to this gorgeous piece by Nicola Corl.

In this second plate by Nicola Corl, the way the images are brought together does an excellent piece of visual storytelling. Different types of solitude depicted. Tres Hermite!

Mica Touchwood

I love how if we “listen” to this Hermit image by Mica Touchwood we hear forests, moss, the singing of the winged ones.

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Fiona Haser Bizoni

I’m obsessed with these self portraits as tarot cards by Fiona HB.

Fiona in a chariot drawn by cats! Just like the goddess Freyja!

Emm Ruiz

I love how there are lanterns within lanterns in this drawing by Emm Ruiz!

And the Rune spells by Emm here make me feel the love buzzing in the air!

Dionne Stevens

A powerful drawing of Hermes Trismegistus blessing the BOS by Dionne S, with a very clever color coded TOC.

Bird Fly Away

We can really feel the wonder shining through in this piece by Bird Fly Away. I love the quality of the notebook paper too, with the stamped page numbers.

Anna Meyada

Such beautiful pieces here by Anna Meyada, I love the contrasting backgrounds, they really make the images pop!

And the Winner Is…

So, I had said that I was going to narrow the entries down to five and then choose from those, but in the end… I couldn’t choose just five! They were all so good. So I just put all the names in a hat and drew at random. And this month’s winner is… drumroll please:

Ramona S.!

Ramona S., come on down! It’s your lucky day. We will be reaching out to you to send you a beautiful box set of …

Prize: The Flowerwise Oracle Deck

The 44 cards of The Flowerwise Oracle give messages of comfort and positive counsel in a hectic and fractured world. Each card, a portrait of a flower in the human form, gently inspires and informs.

A detailed and botanically illustrated deck and accompanying guidebook provides fascinating facts, folklore, and histories of each of the 44 flower oracles. The deck and book are timely and remind us of the importance of preserving the beauty and healing power that can be found in our natural world.

Hope you enjoy it, Ramona!

If you didn’t post your pix in January, or somehow I accidentally missed your pic, don’t worry, there will be a chance to post next month. Everyone’s a winner here at Mystery Cult!

See you at the Reading Group tonight!

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READING GROUP TONIGHT: Mon 02/03/25, 6pm PST.

Cover of the book Mutual Aid by Dean Spade.

Our reading for tonight is from Dean Spade’s book Mutual Aid.

Here are the questions for closer reading, two of which I got from this super cool website Radical In Progress (maker of radical study guides!):

• What is mutual aid and what makes it different from other forms of assistance? How does mutual aid relate to the concept of solidarity?

• What are the ‘two big jobs’ of social movements, and what do they look like in action? For this question, think about how both of these jobs manifest in each of the case studies.

• What kind of radical person is the practice of mutual aid aiming to create? Do you see yourself being able to become someone like that?

Want to join our Reading Group? Become a subscriber today!

*Scholarship subscriptions are available for those in financial need. Email us at guardian@oracleoflosangeles.com for more info.

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