![](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/ventura-mermaid.png\")
1.\t\u201cAmong the Mermaids: Facts, Myths, and Enchantments from the Sirens of the Sea\u201d by Varla Ventura.<\/strong> As someone who has always loved myths and stories about sirens and mermaids, \u201cAmong the Mermaids\u201d was a definite stand out for the year. Not only did Ventura fill the book with lore and legends of merrows, mermaids, and sirens, but the resources section in the back lists books, movies, and shopping. Shopping! Want your mermaid tail?<\/p>\n2.\t\u201cThe Encyclopedia of Crystals\u201d by Judy Hall.<\/strong> I love gemstones, rocks, and minerals. The end. Okay, not the end. This book makes learning more about crystals super easy. The stones are divided up by color, but also listed in alphabetical order in the crystal index in the front of the book, and of course there is a thorough index at the back of the book. Each entry has a fantastic image or two to help with identification and then they list: crystal system, chemistry, hardness, source, chakra, number, zodiac sign, planet, and what it\u2019s beneficial for. After that there is a paragraph with historical and folkloric detail.<\/p>\n 4.\t\u201cThe Witch\u2019s Broom: The Craft, Lore & Magick of Broomsticks\u201d by Deborah Blake.<\/strong> As one would suspect, there are oodles of nifty, witchy, bits of broom magic to be found in \u201cThe Witch\u2019s Broom\u201d. However, it\u2019s the tons of stuff that you can appreciate whether you\u2019re a witch or not that makes this book a favorite. You can learn how to make your own broom, how to decorate store bought brooms, there are get great gift ideas, and there is fun broom folklore and history.<\/p>\n 6.\t\u201c365 Tarot Spreads\u201d by Sasha Graham.<\/strong> A different tarot spread for each day of the year. They\u2019re unique and thought out. If you want a tarot workout in the New Year, get this book now!<\/p>\n 8.\t\u201cSacred Objects, Sacred Space: Everyday Tools for the Modern-Day Witch\u201d by Dayna Winters, Patricia Gardner, and Angela Kaufman.<\/strong> These are the ladies that wrote \u201cWicca: What\u2019s the Real Deal?\u201d, and just like with their first book they did a fantastic job a packing an incredible amount of information into an easily digestible amount of book. This trio discuss just about any object you can imagine being used in magic, along with the appropriate care and ways to craft your own or personalize it. They also cover every space in which magic can be worked. This is a must own.<\/p>\n It was a near thing, but a year can’t end without me listing off my favorite things!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,8,10,24,27,36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/daemon-tarot-set-198x300.jpg\")
3.\t\u201cThe Daemon Tarot\u201d by Ariana Osborne.<\/strong> Based on Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy\u2019s \u201cDictionnaire Infernal\u201d, this 69 card deck isn\u2019t just a divinatory tool, but a piece of occult reference. Obviously it cannot be used exactly as a tarot deck, but thanks to a researched and well thought out companion book, you\u2019ll be doing a single card draw or a six card spread in no time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/encyclopedia-of-goddesses-and-heroines-243x300.jpg\")
5.\t\u201cEncyclopedia of Goddesses & Heroines\u201d by Patricia Monaghan.<\/strong> Monaghan published the first encyclopedia of divine females in 1979, and that book has stayed in print in one form or another right up to today. The latest is newly expanded and features more than 1,000 heroines and goddesses from folklore, literature, and religion from around the world. It. Kicks. Ass.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/yoga-of-cleaning-cover.png\")
7.\t\u201cThe Yoga of Cleaning\u201d by Jennifer Carter Avgerinos.<\/strong> Weird, right? Nope. Avgerinos background as both a certified yoga instructor and having worked in the consumer packaged cleaning tools industry for the past several years indeed gives her a unique perspective on these two seemingly divergent topics. She brings them together in a way that, I swear, makes you want to clean.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/the-wisdom-of-ndes-cover-187x300.jpg\")
9.\t\u201cThe Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully\u201d by Dr. Penny Satori.<\/strong> There have dozens of books written about near-death experiences, however in my opinion this is the one we\u2019ve been waiting for. Dr. Satori\u2019s book is based off of the UK\u2019s first long term prospective study of near-death experiences and she was awarded a PhD for her research in 2005. That\u2019s right, it\u2019s science. Although the research is grounded in science, Satori also includes many of her experiences from her 17 years as an intensive care nurse. This makes \u201cThe Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences\u201d a compelling read.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Heritage-Mead-199x300.jpg\")
10.\tHelderberg Mead.<\/strong> 2014 gets to be the year that I fell in love with Helderberg Mead. As Peter Voelker said when I interviewed him about Helderberg Meadworks, \u201cMost mead that you can buy in the wine stores around here either tastes like a low alcohol honey syrup or a nice soft white wine. While there\u2019s nothing wrong with that (I love a nice Vidal Blanc), HMW takes a different approach. We use techniques that would have been used many moons ago and produce a mead that has big, bold and feral qualities to it. We\u2019ve adapted old world methods to modern day sanitation and palettes without catering to any particular group of consumers. This is mead as we think it should be. With that said, there are 2 major differences between HMWs mead and others. The first is our alcohol content, which has a range on the label of 15% to 16%. Our current \u201cBurgundy Wax\u201d batch is at the high side of that range. Most others are from 8% to 11%. The second difference is our use of oak aging. Back in the days before metals were commonly available, oak would have been the preferred storage vessel for nearly all drinks. We have taken this concept and applied it to our mead. The result is a powerful mead (shouldn\u2019t all traditional mead be POWERFUL?) with a whiskey-like nose and great honey flavor without being overly sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"