Andrew Theitic - The Witches Almanac, Issue 33: Spring 2014 - Spring 2015: Mystic Earth

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10-ISBN: 0-9824323-9-9

13-ISBN: 978-0-9824323-9-6

ISSN: 1522-3183

First Printing June 2013

Printed in USA

Printed on recycled paper

Established 1971 by Elizabeth Pepper

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The Witches' Almanac, now in its 33rd edition, has survived Y2K, the birth of Homeland Security, and the end of the Mayan calendar. Our first edition, published in 1971, had a light green cover, contained 90 pages, and was printed in Pine Bush, NY. It sold for $1.00. Since then, our format has changed. We now boast a larger size, heavier stock, staple-less spine, a full color cover, and this year we have expanded to 208 pages.

But to this day, one thing has not changed.

The late Elizabeth Pepper began The Witches' Almanac and, with it, she gave birth to its own personal talisman: The Witches' Almanac's colophon.

Some readers see this symbol as an oval enclosing a bat control over nature and darkness. Some see a bird flying straight up to the heavens transcendence from the earthly plane. Others even see mountain peaks through an airplane window reaching for one's goals. What exactly is this mysterious symbol? Many asked Elizabeth that question and varied answers were returned with a smile. The same answer was almost never given twice. She wanted each reader to see what they needed to see in her design.

I believe that Elizabeth created the colophon from a place of inspiration deep within her own heart. She used this talisman to give birth to The Witches' Almanac and all of its future publications. This is a gift she left us and none of us will ever know exactly what was in her mind when she drew it. I know what she told me, but I'm keeping it a secret!

HOLIDAYS

Spring 2014 to Spring 2015

ANDREW THEITIC

Executive Editor

GREG ESPOSITO

Managing Editor

JEAN MARIE WALSH

Associate Editor

JUDIKA ILLES

Copy Editor

CONTENTS

I am out on the wind

In the wild, black night;

On the wings of the owl

I take my flight,

On the ghostly wings of the great white owl;

And whether the night be fair or foul,

Or the moon be up or the thunder growl,

Happy I be,

Happy I be

When the changeling blood runs green in me!

When meek folk sleep

In their dull, soft beds,

I creep over roots

That the weasel treads,

Where the squat green lamps of the toadstools glow

And only the fox knows the ways I go,

And nobody knows the things I know...

Wise I be,

Wise I be

When the changeling blood runs green in me!

O Mother, slumber

And do not wake!...

Thin voices called

From the rain-wet brake,

And the child you cradled against your breast

Is out in the night on the black wind's crest,

For only the wild can give me rest...

Sad I be,

Sad I be

When the changeling blood runs green in me.

LEAH BODINE DRAKE

by Timi Chasen

ELECTRIC LADY UPDATE. Edith, first introduced to our Almanac readers in issue #31, continues to endure an adversarial relationship with the electronics in her everyday life. Known for blowing out hundreds of light bulbs and interfering with a range of electronic devices merely by her presence, Edith's peculiar condition presents ever more challenges, as technology progresses and proliferates.

Extended-life light bulbs fail to deliver on their promises. Instead of years, in Edith's presence, most last only a few months and some only a few days. Edith refuses to touch a computer for fear of what could happen. If even small appliances spark as she enters a room, who's to say what would happen to a computer?

Simply being in contact with her daughter has caused her daughter's computer to malfunction. Although her daughter is an experienced computer user, when she tried uploading Edith's picture into Ancestry.com it wouldn't work. It took her daughter many attempts, as well as a software shutdown and full computer reboot, to finally upload a simple photo.