Asheville witches sign new books at Malaprop’s, Nov. 8

Press release from Dixie Deerman and Steve Rasmussen:

Can a magic ritual change the course of history? Two famous local Witches say it did in Asheville, in one of two new illustrated books they will debut at Malaprops Bookstore on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017 at 6 pm. Dixie Deerman and Steve Rasmussen — also known as Lady Passion, High Priestess, and *Diuvei, High Priest of Coven Oldenwilde — will discuss and sign copies of “Rituals and Sabbats: Sacred Rites and Seasonal Celebrations” and “Candle Magic: Working with Wax, Wick, & Flame”, the first two of a new series of books that teaches Witchcraft to be published by their longtime NYC-based publisher, Sterling.

The Wiccan couple are well known not only for their introduction to spellcasting, “The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells for Modern Problems” — a national and international best seller for over a decade — but also for their spiritual, political, and environmental activism. The Annual Public Samhain Witch Rituals they led every Halloween from 1995 to 2014 brought thousands of participants from all over the Eastern Seaboard to the city and helped establish Asheville’s reputation today as an oasis of tolerance and freedom — or, as many in the Southeast call it, “Witch Central”.

In just one of the Witch pair’s many magical-activism adventures that they detail in “Rituals and Sabbats”, in 2007 and 2008, after Buncombe County commissioners secretly sold public parkland in front of Asheville’s iconic City Hall to a powerful developer who planned to chop down the magnolia trees and raze the 1800s-era Hayes-Hobson Building on the property to build luxury condos, Lady Passion and *Diuvei put their training in traditional Witchcraft into practice to stop the project.

Naming famous local names who aided or tried to impede their efforts, the book reveals how the public and private spell rites they performed beneath the trees — including during their two and a half months of living beneath the magnolias’ boughs — resulted in the trees’ preservation and the restoration of the building into the popular “people’s pub” Pack’s Tavern, and even helped spark the decisive political shift on Asheville’s City Council from conservative to progressive.

“Rituals & Sabbats: Sacred Rites and Seasonal Celebrations” isn’t just rich in true stories of rituals that deeply affected the authors. The book also teaches how to do effective rites, and includes tradition-based scripts for Solitaries and Covens to use in sacred space, holy dates, meanings of age-old frolics, and feast food menu options for every seasonal Sabbat and monthly full or new moon Esbat, as well as deities and magical customs from cultures worldwide.

From reverent rites to raucous revelries, “Rituals & Sabbats” presents Witch secrets of how to make traditional altars and tools; spells to infuse your life with power from the cradle to the grave; and ways to make magical memories all year long. Lady Passion and *Diuvei reveal never-before published truths about the history of the Wheel of the Year as reflected through Wiccan, Celtic, Norse, Roman, Chinese, and other Pagan traditions.

“Candle Magic: Working with Wax, Wick, & Flame” is replete with ash, fire, heat, light, smoke, and solar Pagan customs, deities, entities, rites, spells, and traditions from cultures worldwide. From fiery beasts and spirits to fortunetelling with wax and harnessing sunlight to expose crime or corruption, “Candle Magic” divulges Witch ways to master the volatile Fire Element and work wicked powerful wonders to energize, heal, and inspire yourself and others.

“Rituals & Sabbats: Sacred Rites and Seasonal Celebrations” is written by Lady Passion (Dixie Deerman) and *Diuvei (Steve Rasmussen), and published by Sterling Ethos, ISBN 978-1454926771. “Candle Magic: Working with Wax, Wick, & Flame” is written by Lady Passion and published by Sterling Ethos, ISBN 978-1454927082.

Proceeds benefit Coven Oldenwilde, a Wiccan 501(c)(3) religious nonprofit that serves the poor, inmates nationwide, and folk in crisis around the globe. Lady Passion and *Diuvei educate people about Paganism via their popular websites: oldenwilde.org, wiccans.org, and oldenworks.org.