The Woodsman's Realm

After all the excitement of the past few weeks, it’s wonderful to settle into these amazing golden days of September and celebrate the upcoming Autumn Equinox. I always love this time of year as the leaves turn russet and gold and create crunchy carpets underfoot 🍂.

As always, we honour the festival of Autumn Equinox with a brand new altar window. We welcome in the change of season with a focus on balance and harmony. Once again, the stunning artwork of Art of Naomi Cornock takes centre stage with Wolf spirit as our window banner, print and altar card. We echo the balance with pairs of many things; goblets, offering dishes, candlesticks, necklaces, tarot decks, books and even feather quills 🪶😊

On another note, Craig and I are taking some much needed days off for a short break next week. Our Magickal realm will be closed from Sunday 22nd to Wednesday 25th, with the lovely Stacey opening for us on Thursday 26th as normal. Blessed Be everyone and our warmest Equinox blessings to ye all 🧡

Well it seems that this really is the season for exciting news. 😁 Last week, we were contacted by a lovely reporter from the Irish Examiner to see if we would be interested in an interview focussing on Paganism and the growing interest in Witchcraft in West Cork. A few days ago they sent us a wonderful photographer and we had a lot of fun with her taking photos around the shop 😊

And today, the article’s out! You can find us on page 7 in print and also online here:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41470075.html

Deeply grateful thanks to Sarah Horgan for such a great article and to Chani Anderson for such gorgeous photos 🧡🧡

So something very cool and unexpected has been in progress behind the scenes. Three years ago Ben and his lovely family visited our shop on their holiday from Germany. They had a great time enjoying our magickal realm and we had great craic altogether Little did we know that Ben is in fact the lead singer of an amazing gothic/pagan/rock/metal band called Thanateros.

And so earlier this year, Ben got in touch to see if we’d like to collaborate. The result is that their brand new album ‘Tranceforming’ which will be released on October 11 will be for sale in our shop and online through our website. The album features songs that were written about his experiences in some of our beautiful sacred sites, notably Kealkil stone circle. We’re very proud to have our shop mentioned in the album cover too. 😊😊

Well I’m chuffed to bits today, as we’ve just finished hanging six stunning pieces of art by the wonderful Julia Jeffrey aka Stonemaiden Art. Each one comes from her two amazing tarot decks; The Tarot of the Hidden Realm and Witch Sister Tarot; both of which are permanent treasures in our shop 💛

These six framed, signed prints are a one off, so we won’t be listing them on our website. Please DM us if you would like to buy one 🧡

Oh dear, as I type this I realise it’s been a good couple of weeks since our last post. My bad. August tends to be pretty hectic in the shop and whatever hours of sunlight are left at the end of the day, I’d rather be in my garden than at my keyboard ☺️

So, lots of good stuff to share starting with the visit of an old friend last week, our lovely Gemma from Tarn & Moon. All her delicious teas are back in stock too 🫖😁

We have a big stock up of our sacred athames, new wood Runes hand crafted by our Stacey, beautiful altar cards by Art of Naomi Cornock and a very special limited edition new Irish published book: A History of Irish Magic.

Coming soon: one of the last deliveries from Wyn Abbot’s gorgeous Wiccan ceramics , a huge box of magickal annointing oils by In Lumine Lunae • Herbaria Occulta and a selection of wonderful framed prints by the wonderful Julia Jefferey from Stonemaiden Art. Can’t wait to see them 🧡😊✨

Wow, thank you so much to everyone for your interest and enthusiasm in our workshops. We've been a bit overwhelmed by your response and so, to better keep track of all your enquiries, bookings and discussions, we've just set up our very own FB Group: The Woodsman's Glade 🌳🌳

This is an open group which has been created purely for the workshops. Stacey will be running it, so please do go ahead and join if you are interested in attending one of her wonderful events.

The next workshop is happening this Saturday 10th August; the first of four workshops offering an Introduction to Tarot. In this one Stacey is focussing on the Minors or numbered suit cards Ace to Ten. Each workshop takes you on a journey through the Minor and Major Arcana to give you a solid understanding of the structure and meaning behind each card. We still have three spaces left for this one 😊

https://www.facebook.com/groups/404302562154737

Well folks, the first of our magickal little workshops will be kicking off in just over an hour. We’re fully booked for this one, but the next four weeks covering an introduction to Tarot have spots available. Each workshop is in small groups designed to help you make the most of it with gentle, grounded guidance by our Stacey 🥰

Welcome to The Woodsman’s Glade 🌼🌳🌾🥮

Seems like we are on a fast track through summer as it’s almost Lughnasadh and it still feels like the Summer Solstice was last week 🥹. Ah well, I’m happy enough as that means it’s time to celebrate with a new altar window, always my most favourite task in the Realm. 😊.

The Lughnasadh window honours the first harvest in spirit with vibrant colours of burnt orange and gold. This year our window features the beautiful Harvest Goddess banner by Painting Dreams; a plethora of corn charms and talismans by Cailleachs Cottage Fox Spirit art by Art of Naomi Cornock fired clay statues of Elen of the Ways by Wyn Abbot Ceramics, little Yew mushrooms by Of The Wood and a magickal Stone Circle by our Craig ❤

Our amazing Harvest Basket contains a wonderful assortment of baked harvest breads by the lovely Stacey, our resident Queen of baking, watched over by our very own Harvest Goddess.

As always, we wish you health, happiness and abundance in all good things. May your sacred fires burn brightly 🔥🧡

You asked. We listened. And so here we go ~ starting in August we're delighted to present a series of Spiritual Workshops in the beautiful space of our Woodsman's Realm back garden, The Woodsman's Glade. 🌳🌱🌿🍀

Thoughtfully curated by the lovely Stacey, each workshop has been created to gently introduce you to the wisdom, ritual and craft of the Old Ways. They will cover a range of subjects including Creating Sacred Altar Space; Cleansing & Smudging; Introduction to Tarot; Runic Wisdom; Foraging for Medicine; Candle Magick and Celebrating the Sabbats.

We'll be kicking off with our first workshop on Saturday 3rd August; 'Celebrating Lughnasadh', which will explore the energy and history of the first of the great Harvest Festivals in the Pagan Wheel of the Year.

Spaces are limited, so first in, best dressed. Please contact Stacey Murphy at [email protected] for all bookings. 💚

Well today's post is full of exciting new announcements. 😁 Two brand new stockists have joined us … and we will shortly be offering a range of magickal workshops in the back garden area of our shop run by the lovely Stacey. More on that later...come and meet our new stockists!

First up is the wonderful art of Emily Robyn Archer, aka Native Circles. Emily's gorgeous illustrations are printed on to Birchwood wheels representing the 13 Trees of the Celtic Ogham Calendar, the Celtic Wheel of the Year and Sacred Sites around Ireland. Created in Co Wicklow, these would make beautiful keepsakes.

A little closer to home, we'd like to introduce you to The Herbal Alchemist whose healing herbal potions are made right in West Cork. Shannon's delicious pouches of goodness feature four teas; Enchanted Heart, Goddess Glow, Happy Tummy and Nerve Nectar. Coming soon to our website.

We also have a gorgeous new Oracle Deck in by one of my favourite authors, Sharon Blackie; The Rooted Woman with illustrations by Hannah Willow. A bounty of other treasures have been stocked up including our little Elemental Clay Goddesses, Mini Besoms, Tarot Decks, Folk Art Jewellery and a beautiful new Stone Circle Altar from Craig 🧡

A bit of exciting news today! We have the very lovely Stacey joining us for the summer months of July and August. Stacey will be in the shop on Mondays so we will be open an extra day during this busy time. Stacey is a gentle follower of the old ways and a very kind and grounded soul and we feel so lucky to have her onboard and holding space in our magickal realm. 💚

Lads, if anyone is planning on visiting our realm today, we're actually going to be closed. With sincere apologies for the short notice ~ Craig has a deadline to finish an order and I've been poleaxed with a nasty bug. We'll be back open as normal from tomorrow Thursday 27th June. 🌳🌳

So today we'd like to present our special altar window for the Summer Solstice, which actually falls today. This year our window is built around a powerful piece of art by Art of Naomi Cornock entitled 'Answer Her Call'; depicting the Morrigan as a tribal warrior queen. I love this image so much, it raises the hairs on the back of my neck as I feel her demand to swear an oath of devotion; to a cause, a heart's calling, a spiritual path. What would you swear your oath to?

The colours of our window reflect the deep blues of the ocean that shapes and surrounds our beautiful coastline here on the western isle, the far outpost of Europe. The old ways still hold strong here and are growing again. We honour the moon cycles, the circle of the year, the spirits of the land and our Mother Earth who feeds and nurtures us. On these three days of the summer Solstice, let's take time to light a sacred fire, be it in your back garden or a candle on your altar and give thanks for all the blessings in our lives, great or small.

We send out our warmest wishes to you all in this celebration of light and life. Blessed Be 💙

Lovely followers we apologise (again) for the distinct lack of social media posts of late. It’s not because we don’t love you 😁 Life has been a little crazy, both in the shop and out, but hopefully today’s nice big fat post will bring some joy, especially as we have beautiful new magickal things to show you.

Our stockists have been busy creating; weaving, painting, potion making, cutting and polishing. Crafting with leather, steel, wood, clay, paper and straw. Our little Realm is buzzing and humming with pleasure as our tables, shelves, walls and counters fill with treasures, just for you 🥰🧡

It's been a good bit since I've done a post on my favourites section of the shop ~ our wonderful books. And I'm pretty damn excited to share that we have recently signed up with Womancraft Publishing who are based right here in Co Cork. This groundbreaking, revolutionary small independent publishing house stocks amazing, empowering, wisdom seeking, visionary books by inspirational female authors. And today, I've just unpacked our first delivery. Woohoo!

Check out these beautiful books covering a wide range of topics ranging from dreamy Celtic ocean tales to the search for ancient Wise Woman Wisdom; Celtic Shamanic practices to reconnection with the Sacred Feminine; finding authentic Soulful Creativity to collections of delicious home cooked Kitchen Witchery, Folklore and Fairytales. 📚🧙‍♀️✨💛

https://www.woodsmansrealm.com/books-journals

Our first post for the month, how have the days just slipped past so quickly? Between the solar flares, northern lights , gorgeous sunshine (finally!) and busy days in the shop; social media ended up at the bottom of the pile 😁

So today as the sun lights up the shop, check out some of our magickal treasures and favourite nooks and crannies 🧡

On this Béaltaine Eve, we're delighted to present to you our Beltane Altar Window for 2024. This glorious Fire festival on the Wheel of the Year honours the God and Goddess as they come together to celebrate their sacred union. Spring is in full flush, flowers bloom everywhere in hedgerows, woods and gardens and the air is ripe with fertility. 💖

As has become tradition with us, we've brought out our wonderful Wicker Man, Robin Goodfellow created by Cailleachs Cottage to grace the window representing the sacred Béaltaine Fire; as does Votive Illustration's stunning intricate Sacred Fire print. I've created a little spring maypole to symbolise fertility which is echoed with our pantheon of bronzed gods and goddesses including Pan, Herne the Hunter, Elen of the Ways and the Green Lady. Hanging from our Willow Display, our beautiful banner The Dance features the magickal Art of Naomi Cornock. Vases of fresh spring flowers bring light and life. 🌺

We also have another exciting piece of news! Today sees the launch of our brand new Rewards Package especially for our lovely website members. Each time you make a purchase, you start accruing 'leaves'; 1 leaf for every 1 euro spent. When you reach 100 leaves, you'll receive 10 euro to spend on anything on our website that takes your fancy. How good is that!? If you're already a member, this will kick in for you from your next purchase. If you're not a member yet, we encourage you to join as you'll receive 50 leaves for joining to start you off. 😊

So much to look forward to with the long bright days of summer ahead. We wish you a most blessed Béaltaine ~ may your fires burn bright and strong and true 🥰♥️🔥

Well haven't we been blessed finally with some gorgeous sunny days. Craig and I managed to get out on the bike for a spin down the Mizen on our day off.😁🏍️

So no blather today, just pretty pics to show off some of our beautiful new treasures ~ including the long awaited return of our Cosmic Whisper Rune Cards 🌟😍

Hope is a Blue Sky. Well, it sure seems that way today as I'm looking at a forecast for the week ahead, and for what I think is the first time this year, there are no rain clouds on the horizon. The gods only know we could all use a little sunshine eh?🌞

So I promise today's post is not about the weather. In fact, we have some cool new Witchy bits and bobs to show you; the return of our gorgeous little Clay Goddesses, Sacred Athamés, Witches Bells and a lush selection of Journals, Quills and Ink for the Spell Casters amongst you. Also after several requests, we've now sourced a brilliant Uncrossing Candle to work with Hex Removal as well as some extra large spell candles in Black, White, Purple and Blue for Candle Magick work. Also new in is a Black Scrying Mirror and the inspirational Art Magick Cards and Book by Molly Roberts. Last but definitely not least, the Summer Solstice edition of Pagan Ireland Magazine is in, albeit a little early; featuring an interview with the wonderful Dr Karen Ward 🥰 Enjoy 💚💚

Well folks, we'd like to bring a bit of sunshine to your day today. We are offering some gifting love by way of a special promotion thanks to the lovely folks at Cocorrina. If you would like to treat yourself to €50 on any of their magickal goods, we'll happily chuck in one of their gorgeous Tote Bags as a freebie. ☺ These beauties are strong, earth friendly and seriously lush in CoCorrina's signature black embellished with gold embroidered Crescent Moon and Stars. How nice is that.🥰

But wait... there's more!

We still have a few of their stunning 2024 Astrea Journals floating around. It would be a shame to have these babies sitting here without a home. So, if you feel like splashing out €100 on anything that takes your fancy either in the shop or online... guess what? We'll gift you one of those too 💛💛 There's not many left so first in, best dressed 🖤

Well so much for the start of Spring! What on earth is going on with the weather? Let’s hope the weather gods will give us a glorious April and we’ll forgive them for March. 🥹 On to a much happier subject, check out our latest treasures freshly arrived in the Realm. 😍

Stunning new prints by Art of Naomi Cornock, big box of magickal Mojo Bags by Moon Goddess Garden, delicious healing Teas and Tisanes by Tarn & Moon, new bespoke Leather Bags by Blue Raven Designs, the return of our fab Steel Wall Art by Moz’art and some wonderful new books including our very first book of poetry by West Cork poetess Catherine Ronan. 🧡🧡