All Hallow’s Eve Count Down

All Hallow’s Eve is almost here.

All Hallow’s Eve is the one day of the year when the portal between this world and the world of the dead opens and… the dead; both good and evil can walk once again among us, the living.

The Wheel of the Year turns slowly all year, going from spring to summer to autumn and to winter. And, in between, finally, when the sun sets on October 31^st, the portal is opened and the spirits pass through. They can run free, do as what they wish, go where they want, and visit those they left behind.

Have you ever wondered what the spirits do on The Other Side before the portal opens? They have, after all, waited all year for this one night.

Well, just like they were when living, the spirits on The Other Side are all different. Some line up and wait to be the first ones out the portal.  They are very much like the living who on the day after Thanksgiving, line up at 2 o’clock am for a 4 o’clock am opening of their store of choice.

Others, limber up so that they can take full advantage of “being alive again”. 

Still others, well, they catch some ZZZs so that they have plenty of energy to frolic, create havoc, haunt or visit loved ones. And, some even get themselves all fixed up so they look their best.

So, this All Hallow’s Eve, when the sun goes down, if you, the living, have done bad deeds to someone who has died and may return, I recommend that you watch your backs.  You never know what lies in wait for you. 

The dead don’t have much time from sundown to sunrise, so they will have their plans in order and will waste no time.  

In some cases, some of the dead, the truly evil ones, do not return to the portal and pass back through. They remain here. It is best to be vigilant each night as you go out or even as you stay inside your home. Until those evil spirits are forced back to The Other Side, they will be among us, the living.

Have a safe and fun Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve.

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VERY IMPORTANT ALERT!!!!!

The two weeks and the week after Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve are the most dangerous for black, black and white, and Tortie cats/kitties.

So, PLEASE, do NOT let your babies out during this time period. Keep your eyes on them! Many cats/kitties disappear, are tortured, killed, and other unspeakable things are done to them.

Responsible cat rescue groups do not adopt out black cats/kitties during the entire month of October!

Please, be loving, caring, and responsible and protect your black, black and white, and Tortie cats/kitties.

BOO! Marsha, Enchanticals

Enchanted Woods' Secret Flowers

Hi, All! Please bear with me while I am redoing my blog. EEK!

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In the meantime, I want to share a secret with you.

The Enchanted Woods are located in Enchanticals. Most, if not all, humans do not know that the Enchanted Woods even exists. Let alone, that it resides in Enchanticals. One thing is for sure, humans have no idea just how huge the Enchanted Woods are.

Humans are allowed in certain parts of the Enchanted Woods... another fact they are unaware of. While in them, they think they are in just a beautiful forest or woodland area. That is how it is supposed to be in order to protect the Enchanted Woods and its inhabitants.

The Enchanted Woods has so many things humans have never seen or heard of. Well… for example, the flowers. There are flowers in there that only the inhabitants of the Enchanted Woods know about. These flowers are so…

Wait! Instead of trying to describe them to you, let me share some photos with you.

Now, my Friends, remember; at Enchanticals you must suspend your reality and let your imagination, along with whimsy and enchantment, run free!

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, Halloween goodies are being listed at Enchanticals (www.Enchanticals.etsy.com); so come on by!



 

Miniature Altered and Hand Painted Enchanted Witch Cabinet with Altar Dedicated to the Goddess

“A Little Tale”…

Sadie was born into a large family. She had four older sisters and three older brothers. And, because she was the “baby”, each of them spoiled her, played with her, delighted in her, and loved her dearly.

Both of Sadie’s parents had been only children. When they were each growing up, they had no aunts, uncles or cousins. So, when they married, they both wanted a lot of children. They didn’t want their kids to miss out, as they did, on big family reunions, Holiday gatherings, and other extended family related events.

Both sets of Sadie’s grandparents were dead, so, it was just her immediate family, but that was enough for her. Holidays were bursting with fun and activity, vacations were larger than life, and the family enjoyed each other’s company enormously.

Life was good for Sadie. She was a perfectly happy and contented little girl. She thought of herself as luckiest girl in the world.

But, life is never static; nothing stays the same for long. It seems as though life likes to send change our way either to challenge us to make us either grow or wither. Why? Who can say?

Change, depending on the type of change life sends us, can be perceived as either good or bad. One could suppose, it is all in the way you look at it and deal it. It could be an opportunity for some or it could break the hearts of others. Maybe that is why so many people fear change, especially if your life, at the moment, is wonderful.

Sadie’s life did, in fact, change drastically. One day, when she was at her weekly ballet class, a tragedy occurred. Both her parents and all her brothers and sisters were at home. They were doing what families do… some watching TV, some reading, some talking…

While involved in their respective activities, the water line on the water heater broke and water exploded everywhere, extinguishing the pilot light in the unit. This released gas that quickly filled the entire house. The family did not readily notice the obnoxious odor of the gas until the entire house was filled with it.

When they did, the father jumped up, shouted for his family to get out, and ran upstairs to the water heater. Unfortunately, as he was running up the stairs, his shoes caused a spark on the carpet and the entire house, now filled with family and gas, exploded into the ether. No one or anything was left of the house, its inhabitants or contents.

When told of the news, Sadie went into shock and remained in a coma like state for weeks. She didn’t want to wake up. She was alone, all alone, and homeless.

Throughout her childhood, teen years, and young adult years, Sadie always felt incomplete and completely alone. She carried a huge hole inside of her, a hole that could not be filled by anyone or anything. Having experienced what she did as a child, losing all those she loved, Sadie changed as a person.

She was no longer the outgoing, loving, and happy person she once was. Instead, she had a nastiness in her… a mean and hateful bend. She never hurt anyone, but, felt overwhelming jealousy towards those with families; hate for those with love and attention; and resentment for the way her life turned out.

So, she leaned toward the dark and wanted, at times, to take the happiness away from others. She hoped this would fill that gigantic emptiness inside of her. She felt if the “score” were somehow evened, then her emptiness and aloneness, in addition to her lack of emotions, would go away.

Then, one day, when she was in her twenties, she was walking by the local bookstore on the corner and stopped to gaze in the window at the newly released books. One book in particular caught her eye, and for the first time, in so long, she felt something stir inside of her. She felt curiosity. She went inside and bought the book. When she got home, she sat down and, immediately, read it from cover to cover.

When she finished, she felt she was no longer alone. She felt one with Nature, with the Universe, and with the Goddess. She told herself that the Goddess had seen her in such pain and aloneness, so She called out to her to help her and bring her into Her arms.

That day was the beginning of Sadie’s new life. She read and learned all there was to learn and know about the Goddess and Her faith. Sadie no longer felt alone… she had a “mother” beside her and a “mother” who was watching out for her.

But, studying and learning her new faith alone and with the painful baggage she carried inside of herself, Sadie twisted many of the dogmas and concepts of her new faith and newly found “Mother”. Sadie still carried her feelings of resentment of others’ happiness and family and her desire to rob others of what she had lost. But, now with the Goddess by her side, she felt empowered and thought that maybe one day, with her new wisdom and knowledge, she might just even the scales of life.

When that day would be, right now she didn’t know, but she was confident she would know when the time was right to take from those what was taken from her.
-Marsha J. West, Author

(This story and my creation, this cabinet, may not be copied, reproduced, republished, edited, downloaded, displayed, modified, transmitted, licensed, transferred, sold, stolen, distributed or uploaded in any way without my written permission. My work does not belong to the public domain. Marsha J. West. All Rights Reserved.)

For Sale at my shop, Enchanticals, at Etsy.

www. Enchanticals.etsy.com

So Much Enchantment is Afoot!!

Hello! It has been awhile since my last post.

It seems I have not been here as much as I should, and…that’s half true. But, my mind has been on Enchanticals constantly.

My Muses are really filled with such stimulation so... my creative juices are flowing like magical and enchanted water from a dam. So many new things will be listed shortly.

I am still creating and creating.

I am an enchanted woman possessed.

It feels wonderful. I should send my Muses to Paris more often!

Gosh and Golly, I love imagination and creativity. I plan to start listing some of my new creations this week.

So... get ready cuz here they come…
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~Announcement~

Enchanticals is known predominantly for my creations in 1:12th scale, as well as my miniature and elemental bottles. However, I love Fashion Dolls and love to create vanities, home décor, furniture, accessories, jewelry and much more for them in their scales 1:6th and 1:4th.

This year I had decided to only sell my 1: 12th creations at Enchanticals. But, I miss my 1:6th and 1:4th Fashion Doll items. So, Enchanticals will once again sell one of kind handmade creations for Fashion Dolls in scales 1:6th and 1:4th.

However, not to worry!! Miniature Dollhouse Scale of 1:12th will still be Enchanticals’ main focus.

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Enchanticals’ new product line...

Miniature Magic Wands with Matching Crystal Ball Bases…

“Owning a crystal ball, in addition to the ability to “see” events yet to happen, is a true gift. However, also owning a magic wand with magical powers and abilities that can alter those future events “yet to come” that you see in your crystal ball is even more of a gift!” (Marsha J. West ©, Author)

Note: These are fantasy items and possess no magical powers or abilities.

I am thrilled to share with you that they have been a bit hit! At a recent art show, I brought 15 of these magic wand and matching crystal ball base sets and they all sold out in an hour! Plus, I received many requests from those who were not able to buy them! (I do not do special requests on Etsy.)

When I listed one set in Enchanticals it sold the next day.

Also, on Flickr, the first and only one I listed on Enchanticals, (http://www.flickr.com/photos/enchanticals/6934717552/in/photostream)
it has received to date close to 300 views, numerous top Flickr awards, wonderful praise and comments, favs+++, as well as being included in galleries. Galleries on Flickr are akin to Treasuries on Etsy.

Thank you everyone for such a wonderful response. I love making them and will continue to do so in both traditional and unusual color combinations.

Come visit Enchanticals (www.Enchanticals.etsy.com) and see the new product line!

Enchanticals Update

Well, all good things seem to come to an end far too quickly.  The time period to receive a 15% discount at Enchanticals, my Etsy shop, for joining my blog is over. I want to thank all of you who took advantage of this discount and for your sales.

The GOOD NEWS is that you can still join and follow my blog, even without a discount…

AND

After your first purchase, as a returning buyer, every time you buy something at Enchanticals, you will receive a 10% discount on items or a combination of items totaling over $5.00 or more (shipping, tax, and the like not included). Please note in your comments section that you are a returning customer.

I have listed so many new items and will be posting about them this week.

Happy May Day, my Friends!

Be Enchanted Always, Marsha

The Young Girl Spirit Trapped in the Magic Mirror

Imprisoned inside this ancient mirror, once beautiful silver, but, now tarnished, is the spirit of a young human female who possesses great magical powers. She can predict the future, see your past, and, if you wish, change your past and/or present, and grant wishes.

The spirit comes only to the one who owns the mirror. To summon her, the owner must recite an ancient rhyme, which, sadly, puts the curse again on the trapped spirit in the mirror and causes her to remain there without escape.

The one who recites the rhyme, in most cases, calls her for something they want or need, but, probably has no idea, after all these eons, that he or she is keeping the once young girl doomed to continue residing in the mirror and be at the owner’s beck and call.

The young female spirit, entrapped in the mirror, was once a young human girl who lived eons ago with her beloved family. She was of royal blood and had a happy life filled with her parents’ love and great affluence. She wanted for nothing.

One of her favorite things to do was to wander; not in the woods on her family estate, which were immense, but rather in the deep forbidden woods behind her family’s estate. He family estate was very large and had a high thick stone wall encircling, not only their castle and grounds, but also their acres of woods, which belonged to them. She had more than enough woodlands, which were safe and protected, in which to wander, but, she, for some reason, she  preferred the strange woods with gnarled trees, thick overgrowth, mysterious paths, and huge rocks that were outside of her protected environment….the woods her parents forbid her to enter!

Those forbidden woods, deep, dense, and dark, seemed to call to her…both in her sleep and during the day. Her dreams were always of her in those woods; never anywhere else. Perhaps, her parents forbid her to go into them and reprimanded her each time she did because they knew something about them which they did not share with her. Maybe if they had, well, things would have turned out differently for her.

But, no matter how hard you try to protect and warn people, they, eventually and usually, will not heed your warnings and do as they please. And, so did she.

It was one of those cold, dreary, and overcast days, when it might rain in spite of the sun using all its strength to force its way through the thick black clouds, when the young girl’s fate was to be sealed. The air was damp and felt as if it was creeping behind the collar of your coat and down on to your back and chilling you to the bone. There was also electricity in the air. Plus, there was some oddity that made the hair on your arms stand on end and gave you a sense of both anxiety and expectation; a day when you kept looking over your shoulder for who knows who or what.

The young girl loved it. It was, she thought to herself,  the perfect day to go wandering about, observe, hear what she would hear, and smell what she had never smelled before. So, she made her way to the far end of the SW corner of the estate to the small secret metal door built into the huge stone wall that protected her home. This secret door served a purpose. It was there, hidden, so, in the event, the family had to evacuate their estate, they would not be trapped and could use the door to escape.

She opened the rusty metal door and it creaked and whined as she pushed hard to move it open. Once opened, she stopped and looked in awe at the woods that stood before her…the beautiful forbidden woods. She sighed with longing and her knees almost buckled as she gazed upon it. Instead of seeing the gnarled and dead trees, overgrowth, and darkness, she saw beauty and adventure.

The overcast skies made the woods look even darker and more mysterious than on a sunny day. She ran to the path she had made from the numerous times she had entered the woods and followed it as she always did…deep inside.

But, just as she was entering the woods, sadness came over her and a strange sensation... as if she would never see her beloved family or home again. She stopped running and turned and looked back at her home. All she saw was the tall thick stone wall, but she imagined in her mind’s eye, the castle, the inside of her home, and her loving parents’ faces. She noticed that she had left the rusty old metal door ajar and she felt as if it was beckoning her to return to it and her family.

She felt a tug and almost did, indeed, run back to the gate and shut it behind herself, but her feet seemed riveted to the forest floor and she felt compelled to go on…deeper into the woods. So, she did. Deeper and deeper she went, twisting this way and that on her path and turning to the right, and then the left. She climbed over large boulders and walked up some hills, which were foreign to her at this point in the woods. And, then to her surprise, after another 20 minutes, she found herself, to her surprise; on a bank next to a stream… a stream she had never seen before nor had any idea was even inside of the woods.

A breeze had picked up as she was walking through the woods and became rather strong. Leaves were rustling and the dead things that lay on the forest floor were blown here and there.  On the bank next to the stream, she was surprised, when she looked into the water that, despite the breeze, the water was calm like glass. And, it was dark, very dark… almost black. She could not see below the water’s surface.  It was as if she were looking at a black mirror.

Curious, the young girl went to the edge of the bank and knelt beside the still black water.  As she did, the air around her made her skin tingle and the wind blew her long raven tresses in her face. She had to keep repeatedly brushing her long hair back off her face so she could see.  She felt as if she were not alone. She looked to her left and then to her right... no one. Then, she quickly turned to see if someone was behind her. No one was. She was alone. Suddenly she felt very cold.

She wanted to get to her feet and run away, but, yet, she wanted to stay. How curious. She chose to stay as the leaves continued to rustle and the young trees swayed in the wind.

Taking a deep breath and calming herself, composed, she bent down closer to the water and looked at the black surface, trying to see if she could see beyond the surface water. She could not, so, she put her delicate hand into the ice cold water and swished it back and forth, trying to clear some of the blackness away. There was not change; it remained black.

Suddenly, everything in the woods became silent. No trees swayed, no leaves rustled, no wind blew dead things on the forest’s floor anywhere. All was still and silent.  When the ripples her had had made relaxed and the surface was smooth once again, she looked back into the water. This time, to her horror, shock, and surprise, a face appeared. She gasped and nearly lost her balance and fell in. She tried to look away from the face looking up at her from under the water, but its eyes held fast to hers. She could not look away no matter how hard she tried and she could not even close her eye lids.

With her eyes open as wide as possible, she stared in terror at the face looking up at her. It was the face of a young girl, about her age, but it was ravaged, pitted, stark white, and there were deep circles under its eyes…eyes that screamed hopelessness and despair.

Without words being spoken, the face under the water in the stream, telepathically told her that thanks to her she was now free. Her curse was finally removed. The young girl did not understand. She was confused by the thoughts being projected into her mind. What? Free?

But, before she had even a minute to try to comprehend what was being said to her mind, the bank on which she was kneeling started to get slippery and seemed to erode, causing her to tumble into the stream. Once in the cold icy water, down, down, down she went. She felt her spirit leave her body, which floated to the water’s surface.

Once on the surface, her body now had a new occupant. It contained the spirit of the one who was trapped in the black water. That freed spirit, now in her body, swam to the edge of the bank and crawled out...leaving the young girl’s spirit in the stream. Kneeling beside the bank, as the young girl had done, the freed spirit bent over the water and chanted a rhyme in a tongue the newly trapped young girl's spirit had never heard.

As she chanted the young girl’s spirit rose upwards just under the water’s surface and her face looked up and out at the freed spirit inhabiting her body. She looked out of her prison in terror and horror. She was now the one trapped beneath the black water of the stream.

Then, the freed spirit spoke. “You have freed me from the curse that kept me imprisoned for so many years in the water and I have, now, passed it on to you. I have waited for so long for someone to come and take my place…and, finally, you came. You have taken my place and I have taken yours. I am free, but, you will remain, as I did, trapped until another young girl comes to take your place. “

“But, you now posses the ability to see the future and past, as well as the ability to change the events of both.  But, that power is worthless to you under the water where no one will see your face or hear your words. So, I will do you a favor since you freed me.”

"Your spirit will remain in this stream under the water waiting for someone to come and take your place. But, I shall take your face and place it in a large mirror. The possessor of that mirror will be the only one who will be able to summon your countenance and the only one for whom you can foretell the future or change events. You will not be able to tell the tale of your current situation. You will only be able to respond to the questions of the owner of the mirror about his or her future or past or events that they wish altered.”

"Without their even realizing that they have not always known it, the one who owns the mirror will summon you with an ancient rhyme, long forgotten. The mere possessing of the mirror will give the owner the knowledge of that rhyme. “

“Once they summon you and ask you to alter past or future events, how you alter these events is up to you.” You must listen to their intent and determine if it is clearly stated. If it is, then do as they ask. If not, you will have to determine what it is they are asking for. You may or may not give them what they want if they are unclear.”

“So, be mind full, they own you because they own the mirror. If you misjudge their intent and cause them harm or loss, they may destroy the mirror and along with it, your spirit here in the stream will die. You will die alone in that cold icy stream without ever being freed from the curse. So, chose your words carefully when you fulfill what they ask of you. Your life depends on it.”

“Tomorrow, I shall return with the mirror and then bring it back to your family home and hide it. I will give it to the first person who catches my fancy. Now, I must go. Night is falling and your family will be anxious wondering where their little girl is. They will be expecting you or rather me for dinner.”

And off she went, leaving the terrified young girl’s spirit all alone in the icy cold black water beneath the surface of the stream to wait for someone to come along and free her.”

~ Marsha J. West (C), Author

(This story © is my personal creative possession. It may not be copied, reproduced, republished, edited, downloaded, displayed, modified, transmitted, licensed, transferred, sold, distributed or uploaded in any way without my prior written permission. My work does not belong to the public domain.)

For Sale at my shop, Enchanticals, at Etsy.

www.Enchanticals.etsy.com