The last time we heard from author Sandra Kynes it was the holiday season of 2008 where she shared her thoughts about the “Season of Light” with us. I figured it was high time to check back in with her.

Somehow love has ended up being the theme for these last few posts. First, “A Valentine for You”, then “A Love Letter to Froggy”, and well, now is the time I’m talking about the latest Sade album “Soldier of Love”. I guess love is in the air.

Author and friend of The Buffet Deborah Blake gives us the run down on Pantheacon, one of the biggest indoor Pagan events to be found anywhere!

Or maybe Froggie. See how a simple article about frog symbolism turned into a love letter to a 3 year-old.

My husband and I don’t really make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day, or our wedding anniversary for that matter. We never really talked about it, but somehow we ended up on the same page. I know it’s going to sound corny, but I swear it is true, when you spend everyday being grateful that you’re with the one you love, you tend to not really care about holidays or events designed to make you feel the thing you are already feeling. However, there is one fun Valentine’s Day tradition that I would like to share with you.

I’m enchanted by “Morgan’s Tarot”. I had never heard of this deck before getting an email from U.S. Games Systems, but after seeing it first hand, I don’t know how I hadn’t heard about this before. “Morgan’s Tarot” was originally published in 1970; created by Morgan Robbins and illustrated by Darshan Chorpash. It was republished again in 1983, and it has just been brought back again. Anyone who has seen this deck in any of its printings knows what I mean, once you see it, you can’t possibly forget.

For those of you who are new to The Magical Buffet, you may not be aware that in October 2006, when we launched The Magical Buffet, it was actually a monthly e-zine. Once a month our subscribers would have all the content emailed to them. Since it was trying to follow a magazine-like format, I decided there should be a letter from the publisher, like most magazines have.

When we relaunched The Magical Buffet into it’s new blog format, all of the old e-zine articles migrated over. This means even if you’re new, with a little time you could read all the content you may have missed from the “old days”. However my opening letters to my readers did not make it over to the new blog. I didn’t worry about it because they’re “just letters”, they’re not “real writing”. But as time passed I started to wonder, was something missing by them not being here on the blog?

So recently I started to read them again. In truth, as a new reader you’re probably not missing out on too much. The letters were generally just filled with gratitude. Thank you letters of the most earnest kind, published in response to the surprising outpouring of support and faith that I received, and continue to receive today. I’ve always prided myself on loyalty, and it made me happy to see that many of the people who I thanked in those letters are people and organizations that I still interact with today. It felt good to think that maybe I’ve done all right after all.

That said, there were a few letters that stood out. These were letters that I found offered up a piece of who I am and what I believe to my readers. Things that I thought I would like anyone who reads The Magical Buffet at any point to know about me, the person behind the keyboard.

This is one of those letters……

What did I learn from watching the 2010 Grammy Awards show? There’s only one way to find out. Click on in already, there’s even video!

Last night was President Obama’s State of the Union address. There has been no shortage of people analyzing every word, every gesture, and every possible reaction. YAWN! I thought the State of the Union would be a perfect time for some real random fun. That’s right; it’s time for the triumphant comeback of “President Obama’s 500 Promises”!

Back in June 2009 I interviewed Alaric Albertsson, author of “Travels Through Middle Earth: The Path of a Saxon Pagon”. When given the opportunity to ask me any question, he asked, “Where can I find a publisher for a very nice deck of Anglo-Saxon rune cards? The man who did the art work for the deck has put in countless hours to ensure that each card illustrated the meaning of the relevant passage in the Anglo Saxon Rune Poem. I really want to see this deck eventually reach its intended audience. Maybe one of your subscribers has the answer?”

I answered, “One place you might want to contact is US Games, they publish loads of awesome decks (many of which get reviewed here on the website). Also, you could always save up some cash, maybe find a few investors, and publish the deck yourself. Thanks to the wonders of the world wide web, you can reach an international market fairly easily.”

Well now Alaric is back to let us know how it all turned out!