August 23

The fourth and last August Ornithomancy newsletter posted (here), all about the behavior of birds and other animal messengers. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed paying closer attention to these little creatures around me this month and hope you have too!

As a reminder, the free ornithomancy zine/guide can be downloaded here.

I prepared to mail the September mail club newsletters. All paid subscribers can opt in to the mail club for no extra charge. I send the upcoming month’s newsletters and some extra stickers and journaling goodies.

If you join mid-month, I can send you whatever you need to finish up the current month.

Aristotle (Ari) was caught working on his cat memoir in the late hours of the night.

August 24

I shared a simple Tarot journal spell that helped get me into a better mindset when I was feeling defeated. Hope it’s helpful for you too. ✨ Read here.

August 25

A journal quote for you:

Be faithful over your few.

I decided a long time ago that it doesn’t matter if it’s 1 person or 100,000:
I want what I make to be worth your while.

-by Nneka Julia

A reminder for East Coast Friends! 💃🏻 I’ll be doing Tarot readings and talking about journal magick at the 2026 Ghostscular event on October 3rd! It’s a quaint event with fun people! I read for all their events and will likely get dinner after if you’d like to join us! (Not my poster. 🙂)

I made a timeless Pick a Card Reading for you. Try it here.

I wanted to note for my mail club folks… that someone (I now know it was Ellie! 🤣) changed my date stamp to 2027. I noticed about halfway through finishing up envelopes, so half of you will have materials with future dates (Aug. 25, 2027). 😅 Sorry!

We lost a legend today. I love this quote and like to add that we can do both of these things in any order. Sometimes we figure out who we are when we dive into something new. Rest easy, Dolly. 💗

August 26

Ellie went to her first day of high school!

I’m about a third of the way through ACoTaR. I tend to enjoy any book that helps me escape reality… not that reality is particularly bad; I just like to shut off my brain and leave day-to-day thoughts behind. I usually escape into a true-crime story or a cozy mystery. Fantasy isn’t my first choice, but I’m enjoying this story so far. I’ve heard rumors that there will be faery spice, so I’m excited to see what all the hype is about. Haha! (I finished the book this week and thoroughly enjoyed it!)

August 27

A reminder that Spiritual Teachers are Everywhere. The man at the deli gave me some epic words of advice about life purpose. Read more here.

August 28

A few weeks ago, we found out that my aunt, Kathy, had Stage 4 colon cancer. It progressed quickly. I wasn’t super close with her, but I admired her so much, and her kids (my cousins) are like siblings to me. We planned to visit on Saturday afternoon, but she passed in the early hours of the morning. I think she would have wanted it that way. She was home, with her family and fur-babies, and she avoided having a parade of people in her house while she wasn’t feeling well.

Aunt Kathy swore like a sailor and took no shit from anyone. I’ll carry that forward.

In between visiting Aunt Kathy’s family, I stayed at my parents’ house in Upstate New York and enjoyed some time with their chickens. It was a bright moment in the weekend.

August 29

Being “home” at my parents’ house is always a time of healing for me. Even when Mom and Dad bicker, I relish the little things that have stayed the same my entire life: like having plants, herbs, and binoculars on the windowsill. Stories at the dinner table. Trips to the ice cream shop.

Issue 35 of the Script Witch Weekly Cut-and-Keep Newsletter is now live!

This will be the 1st issue of September, so the PDF printable is FREE! To get every week delivered to your inbox and physical copies sent to your mailbox, you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

• Grab the September Free Issue: Download Here

• AND the Free Lenormand Symbol Key

Looking for previous free printables? Download freebies from my Google Drive freebies folder, here.

This week’s message:

Using Lenormand as a Language

In a few days, it’ll be September. Here in New England, the days are getting shorter, and hints of yellow are speckling the tree leaves. At this time of year, I’m drawn to my Lenormand cards. I mentioned them briefly in July in some stand-alone newsletters but want to dig a little deeper throughout September. Here’s why:

Lenormand is a French style of fortune-telling dating back to the early 1800s. It’s a deck of 36 cards with a simple symbol on each card (ex., Ship, Bouquet, Anchor, etc.). These simple symbols can help you build a language to better connect with your higher self, your intuition, and, if you like, spirits.

As we approach October and the veil thins, building a language to connect with your own unique spirit and the spirits of others can potentially set you up to be more receptive to messages from beyond the veil. I hope these materials are useful to you.

I invite you to download and print the free Lenormand Symbol Guide linked above.

Then, read through the symbols and see how you connect with them. Like with any language, you might find that the traditional interpretation of a card/symbol is different from how you feel about it. Trust your intuition, and you’ll likely find that spirit/source will use that symbol accordingly.

Don’t have a Lenormand deck? I’ve numbered the cards how they’re numbered in a traditional deck. You can use a random number generator (between 1-36) to represent “pulling cards” from the deck.

Lenormand cards are commonly read in pairs, so I recommend starting by pulling two cards for most readings. Using the exercise in the newsletter PDF, you may want to try a two-card reading.

August 16

The third newsletter posted (here) in our Ornithomancy Month, all about Bird or Animal Messenger sightings and the possible meanings surrounding time and weather. Real full message here, and paid subscribers get the printable version + mail club access.

A free ornithomancy zine/guide can be downloaded here.

I completed a Journal Page about cardinal sightings:

August 17

I shared a free gift with you! It’s a PDF with some graphics to use to log your Tarot, Lenormand, or Oracle card readings. Download from Google Drive here.

The idea is to fill in the circles with card symbols or shorthand:

I also shared this timeless Pick a Card Reading. If you missed it, try it here!

Two chipping sparrows visited me, and I logged my experience for some ornithomancy practice. The sparrows are small, adaptable, and they find abundance in overlooked places. ♥️ They gathered the birdseed that had been scattered on the path and reminded me that:

Not everything scattered or spilled is wasted.

In addition to their species’ traits, I logged some other traits and interpretations that were meaningful to me:

Color: Brown; grounding, calm.
Number: 2; partnership, balance.
Behavior: Curious, foraging.
Direction: Toward me, southward; incoming news, answers, relationships.
Time: Morning; momentum, learning, curiosity.
Weather: Raining; cleansing, healing.

Conclusions: This could represent family time to reconnect, remind me of purpose. But I’ve felt for awhile lately that there’s an incoming friendship or partnership that is healing, grounding, and that makes me curious about life’s possibilities. ♥️

August 18

Ari watched me journaling on the porch:

I used a Dollar Tree notepad to make a Tarot Journal Log. See video here.
As a side note, I find it so funny that, in the Cat Tarot, the Death card is a vacuum cleaner.

My daughter, Ellie, started a Substack, and I love her content! She posts her journaling pages and zines. Such an inspiration!

August 19

I shared a sneak peek of upcoming September Newsletters! 🍂 We’ll use Lenormand symbols to develop a Language for Spirit Communication. ✨ This will set us up nicely for a mediumship theme for October. 🔮

August 20

A journal quote for you:

Keep showing up until the work reveals the answer.

I shared a timeless Pick a Card Reading using the Tarot de Marseille (1751) by Claude Burdel. Try it here!

My mom sent us a photo of a mama and baby deer outside her country house in Upstate New York:

August 21

POLL! I’m curious about how you use the Weekly Script Witch newsletters. There’s a poll here if you’d like to share your response.

I took stock of my Journal Progress:

📕📗📘 3 Journals, 3 Big Goals.

YELLOW (Nov 2025-April 2026): spiritual development, the newsletter realization, manifesting a weekly newsletter with paid subscribers. ✅

PURPLE (April 2026-August 2026): a focus on expression + self-discipline to continue the newsletter, to achieve health goals, and improve mental focus. ✅

GREEN (to come): What can I achieve next? I’m thinking: coming into full transformation and leaving corporate culture behind. ♥️

August 22

I wished you some blessings in a collective Tarot Reading:

1) Take stock of what you’ve created (9W), 🧺
2) Stand in your power, and don’t compare yourself to others (EMR), 👑 and
3) Celebrate simple joys. (Sun) ☀️

I also recommend taking note of your week’s successes. 📒 You survived some challenges and accomplished significant things.

I sent a reminder:

I wrote a little poem about my screen door:

The attitude of a screen door
Can best be described as
Cautiously optimistic.

To trust the embrace
From a cool breeze
Or the chirp of a sparrow

While eyeing suspiciously
The clinging mosquito.

Wishing you blessings of abundance and enchantment for the week ahead!

-Gretchen

Feel free to scroll down to “The Spell” section if you don’t want the life story behind this “recipe.” Haha! Love you! -GG

I was rummaging for decks in the bookshelf this morning and rushing, because I only had about 15 minutes to journal before my workday started.

I stacked a few decks in my arms, put one in my pocket. I sat down with …

Read more

Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox (plus some journal magick goodies!), you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous FREE issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here. «Includes the Free August Ornithomancy Zine.

This week’s message:

Bird Divination: Behavior

Watching the behavior of birds and other animals can be rewarding in and of itself.

I find it helpful just to enter a state of observation when I have a question or concern on my mind that I’ve been mulling over for a few days.

For example, I had an opportunity to take on a new creative project and was trying to decide if it would fit into my current schedule. Over the next few days, I sat in contemplation and had quite a few interactions with robins. They were rushing toward me, landing on posts nearby, and sitting on my porch observing me.

To be clear, I wouldn’t make a significant life decision based on a bird flying at me. But, like pulling a Tarot card that resonates with you, noticing how you feel when certain signs catch your attention can give you clues about how your subconscious is responding. And, often, our subconscious knows how we feel, or what might be for our highest good, before our conscious mind does.

And, of course, we might feel that this is a sign from a deity, ancestor, or guide communicating from beyond the veil.

The simple act of noticing the robins and their meaning to me (fresh starts, new beginnings, and creativity) felt like a sign that maybe I was ready for a new project and could make it work.

This month, I’ve provided a lot of features to watch for when noticing birds and other animals. However, it’s most useful just to trust how you feel in the moment. You can look up other features in our Ornithomancy Guide (time of day, weather, etc.) and see if they resonate with you or just trust how you feel in the moment and pocket that message to carry forward.

Read more

Trusting the embrace
Of a cool breeze
Or the chirp of a sparrow
While eyeing suspiciously
The clinging mosquito

Read more

Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox (plus some journal magick goodies!), you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous FREE issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here. «Includes the Free August Ornithomancy Zine.

This week’s message:

Bird Divination: Time and Weather

This ornithomancy month has helped me build a new level of awareness when I’m in observation-mode. I hope that it’s offering the same to you.

Recently, I went to see the psychic medium, John Edward, at an event in Burlington, and he mentioned “Easter Eggs” in his visions. As an example, he shared a story about a client who was having dreams about his grandmother. She was wearing a specific football team’s jersey in the dream, but he shrugged it off, because he knew that she didn’t like sports. Later that year, the team that won the Superbowl matched the jersey that his grandmother was wearing in the dream.

And, when I was a teenager, I read a book about mediumship that asked me to imagine an apple on a table, to really study it. Then, it asked me features of the apple. The idea was to create an initial vision or idea but then see how our intuition filled in the other details about it. Was the apple red, green, fresh, rotten, etc.? These characteristics could be clues to decipher an answer to a question or understand our current state of mind. Before beginning this type of exercise, you can set an intention to get information about a question you have, the events of the upcoming day, week, or month, etc. Our brain alone is a wonderful tool for divination, because it gives us instant access to symbolism and tools to analyze it.

If visualizations aren’t your thing, your tarot or oracle deck can provide some imagery. Focus on the images, colors, or feelings you’re most drawn to.

Our ancestors, unburdened by the buzz of the modern world, also paid close attention to the time of day or week, weather, and seasons when things occurred. In the ornithomancy guide, I focus on time and weather correspondences. I use the word “correspondence” to refer to something that is like something else.

For example, mornings are like new beginnings. Receiving this information could spark your intuition and bring in answers and guidance, and sending or using this information during spell work could put forth this energy.

In the PDF, I’ve included a quick guide to use for time and weather correspondences in observation and spellwork. I hope you find this brief time and weather correspondence guide useful in ornithomancy and beyond.

Read more

REMINDER for paid subscribers: If you’d like a past newsletter printed and mailed to you, send me a message, and I’ll include it in an upcoming mailing or send it earlier if needed.

REMINDER for free subscribers: Each week’s message and the first printable PDF of the month is always free. If you’d like a sample newsletter snail-mailed to you for free, send me a message letting me know which one you’d like.

Subscribe now

Ok, here’s what we’ve learned so far:

Overview

Being a Script Witch means that you can write your ideal life into existence. Writing can be used for manifesting (scripting), and many of us practice spell work right in our journals using pen-and-paper magick. Some of us also log our Tarot readings using the Willows East symbol key.

If you’re new here, you can read more about the process here. I also wrote a book called Script Witch: A Guide to Magickal Journaling and Pen-And-Paper Spellwork, available in print or for Kindle here.

Supplies

These are some of my favorite journaling supplies (with Amazon Affiliate links), but I also encourage you to use what you have on hand. There is nothing more magical than a journal that is crafted from found items that you’re drawn to:

• Dotted Journals are my favorite, because the grid helps to align handwriting and graphics. This is the one I have.

• Precise V7 Pen. This https://amzn.to/3SoMKczis my favorite everyday pen! If you prefer a thinner line, the V5 is great too.

• Another favorite pen brand: WRITECH Star Glow Rollerball Pens (female owned company, great writing quality).

• Mildliners, for lighter highlighting.

• Sharpie Highlighters, for juicier, brighter highlighting.

• A Simple Storage Case, though any old purse or bag will work.

Foundation Posts

These posts cover some of the basics of correspondences and tools for you to begin your journey:

• Willows East Tarot Keys (Letters or Symbols)

• 5 Tips to Make Your Grimoire (or Magick Journal) More Powerful

• Making a Spiritual Practice From Scratch

• How to Get a Spirit Guide

• The Magick of Ordinary Things

• Color Magick

• Everyday Ways to Strengthen Your Intuition

• Learning to Listen and Be Aware

All 2026 Weekly Updates, By Month

1. JANUARY New Beginnings
   FREE ISSUE: Free Cut-And-Keep Newsletter
   Theme: includes the Willows East Tarot Keys (letters or symbols), plus resolutions and flexibility as The Wheel turns.

2. Sustainable Effort
   Theme: A period of consistency isn’t always as exciting as that first burst of inspiration, but it is necessary and effective for long-term results.

3. Parenting the Inner Child
   Theme: A reminder that we can be both clarity and warmth for ourselves. We can offer structure without harshness, and encouragement without pressure.

4. Imbolc: Big Magick vs. Small Rituals
   Theme: Imbolc offers a gentle path back into alignment. It invites us to tend what we already have, with warmth and intention.

5. FEBRUARY Tips & Tricks
   FREE ISSUE: 5 Tips to Make Your Grimoire More Powerful
   Theme: How to log synchronicities and use dates and an index to make your journal more user-friendly.

6. How to Get a Spirit Guide
   Theme: Choosing a guide and starting a relationship with them.

7. Snow Day for the Soul
   Theme: Beneath the snow, seeds are resting in dark soil, holding potential. As humans, we’re not so different, especially on snow days.

8. Transformation + Shoe Rituals
   Theme: Using simple, everyday tasks to create ritual and magic, the foundation of transformation.

9. MARCH Small, Simple Joys
   FREE ISSUE: March, Mercury, and the Moon
   Theme: The skies are ripe for disruption, culmination, and cleansing. Includes a paper-based ritual to help you explore what meaning, clarity, or inspiration you can carry forward.

10. The Magick of Ordinary Things
    Theme: A stick as a wand, a bowl as a cauldron, a breath blown gently as air. Even fire doesn’t require a candle. A bright yellow dandelion, a warm mug, or a flame drawn in a notebook will work.

11. Planting Paper Seeds: Spring Equinox Ritual
    Theme: The equinox reminds us that we stand at the threshold of a new season, where growth is possible but hasn’t yet fully manifested. Includes a paper seed ritual.

12. Mud Season Magick
    Theme: Some seasons are just messy moments that are part of the becoming. This is a great time to try new things, get your hands a little dirty, explore, be present, create something uneven and imperfect.

13. APRIL Awareness
    FREE ISSUE: April Color Magick
    Theme: In traditional spellwork, colors are often assigned meanings: red for energy, blue for calm, pink for love, etc. These associations can be helpful, especially when you’re just beginning.

14. The Lovely Learning of Listening
    Theme: When we give ourselves even small moments of quiet, we start to hear things we’ve been missing, like our own intuition, a message from our guides, subtle patterns and signs, etc.

15. Everyday Ways to Strengthen Your Intuition
    Theme: Intuition tends to feel calm, even when it’s guiding you toward something unfamiliar, while fear is often louder, urgent, and tangled in “what ifs.”

16. Working Through Feelings of Defeat (Extra Free Issue)
    Theme: Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do in moments of defeat is rest and process feelings, to sleep and let things settle.

17. MAY Release
    FREE ISSUE: Breaking Old Thought Patterns
    Theme: I think it’s important that we recognize that our brains are wired for protection and survival. It’s not a weakness on our part. Still, how can we use psychology and magick to rewrite the script?

18. Is Life Really Meant to be This Hard?
    Theme: Notice what’s draining your energy, and be willing to let go of obligations that aren’t serving your goals.

19. Chasing Your Definition of Abundance
    Theme: Define what abundance means in your individual life and, during times of change or upheaval, hold tight to the simple joys that make your heart happy.

20. Who Are You Letting Narrate Your Story?
    Theme: We have to make sure it’s ourselves first. Then, if anyone else wants to chime in, they better know: the details of what we’re building, how far we’ve come to get here, and how far we’re willing to go to build our best lives.

21. The Craft That Lives Inside of Us
    Theme: From the outside, I looked like a curious neighbor enjoying the onset of a summer storm. Inside, I was setting intentions, squashing negative thoughts, and channeling all that storm energy into something magickal.

22. JUNE Foundations
    FREE ISSUE: Making a Spiritual Practice From Scratch
    Theme: As I continue to build and develop my own spiritual practice, this “buffet” analogy stands out to me as an opportunity for us to create (or recreate, if needed) a spiritual practice that truly supports our wellbeing.

23. Extra Journal Graphics
    Theme: This newsletter is a love letter to our journals. I’m taking a break on writing longer blocks of text this week and, instead, filling the rest of the page with graphics that you might find useful for your journal.

24. Dandelion Magick
    Theme: In folk magic, dandelions are most closely associated with wishes, hope, and the element of Air. Includes ways to use them in magic and divination.

25. Solstice Water Magick
    Theme: Water holds so many properties that are useful in spellwork. It’s denser than air and can be a conduit for energy, connecting us to memories, emotions, ancestors, transformation, etc. Tips for using it in spellwork.

26. JULY Scripting
    FREE ISSUE: 24-Hour Manifestations
    Theme: An invitation to experiment with a 24-hour manifestation exercise. Rather than asking the universe for an entirely new life, ask for something achievable and meaningful.

27. A Celebration of You
    Theme: Any time there’s a celebration in your life, you can use it as a moment of gratitude, mindfulness, or manifestation to focus on what you want to bring more of into your life.

28. The Power of Hitting Restart
    Theme: Give yourself some grace, watch more episodes, take one more day off, ask for help, use paper plates and cups. Then, only when you’re ready, hit the Restart Button.

29. The Magick of Small Adventures
    Theme: Encouraging you to draw in the energy of short adventures and local travels.

This brings us to August and the start of Ornithomancy Month, learning about bird divination and the signs that other messengers can bring!

Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox (plus some journal magick goodies!), you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous FREE issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here. «Includes the Free August Ornithomancy Zine.

This week’s message:

Bird Divination: Color and Direction

In the last issue, we chatted about journaling to document your bird visitors and how they behaved or interacted with you.

I want to stress that, you don’t have to capture every feature, movement, or direction you see. Most importantly, focus on the first things you notice or interactions that stand out to you.

This month, I created a symbol interpretation guide as part of an Ornithomancy Zine. It’s included as an additional page in that download (here). I also included just the guide pages separate from the zine in case you want to keep a copy pasted in your journal or tucked into your bird book.

This guide can help you connect with some traditional meanings of bird behavior. But, above all else, trust your intuition and how you felt at the time the sighting occurred.

You’ll notice that, in the bird guide, I don’t have room to list all of the species, so I encourage you to do your own search for the symbolism of different species.

Color: The colors you see could connect to the traditional color meanings in spellwork. See the guide link above for a complete list of colors.

You might also find that the direction a bird travels is significant. Examples:

• TOWARD YOU: present, incoming news, answers, opportunity

• AWAY FROM YOU: release, closure, moving on, completion

• FROM/TOWARD LEFT: past, reflection, intuition, something missed

• FROM/TOWARD RIGHT: future, progress, action, confidence, moving

See the guide for a complete list. I’ve included a sample observation entry in the paid PDF.

Read more

Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox (plus some journal magick goodies!), you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous FREE issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here. «Includes the Free August Ornithomancy Zine.

This week’s message:

An Introduction to Ornithomancy

Ornithomancy, the practice of seeking meaning through the behavior of birds, has captivated folks for thousands of years. In the ancient world, it was considered a branch of augury which is a broader form of divination in which trained observers interpreted signs from nature, including the flight, calls, and behavior of birds.

While formal augury isn’t practiced as much now, many cultures continue to view birds as messengers between the natural and spiritual worlds.

Today, ornithomancy can be practiced less as a system of fixed predictions and more as a mindful way of noticing patterns, deepening intuition, and cultivating a personal relationship with the living world around us. In this issue, I’m including some tips and tools to help you try it.

As usual, I recommend journaling about the process. In the printable PDF (and below), I’ve included an example form to start thinking about the way birds (or other animals) appear to you and interact. This is just a guide. I want you to enjoy the process of interacting with nature, and I want you to be able to begin today.

Here is an example: Sit outside or go for a walk. You can have a question in mind or just be open to receiving a general message. Note which birds stand out to you. Is there one species you see more often than others? You don’t have to interpret their meaning or behaviors just yet. Just be present. Be open to them visiting. If you feel comfortable, you can chat with them. I often greet each bird like an old friend and see how they interact.

When you get time to journal about your bird visitor(s), try logging their traits and behaviors in your journal.

Read more

This morning I woke up to see that I have 199 subscribers on my Substack! I can’t wait to hit 200 this week! What a milestone!

I hope that my presence here on Substack is a gift to you and that I give back and offer free content as much as I can while growing my mail club business.

In August, we’re celebrating Ornithomancy or Bird Divination. There are 4 upcoming newsletters covering the topic, and I created this zine as a starter guide for interpreting the behavior of birds and other animals.

Free Printable Gift!

I want to share it with you as a free gift. You can Download the Free PDF From My Google Drive Here!

NOTE that the PDF includes 2 pages:
Page 1: Just the zine. I’ve included a folding how-to video at the top of this post.
Page 2: Only the interpretation guide (2 copies on one page). I did this in case you want copies of only the symbol guide minus the zine. Symbol guide shown here:

Just the Symbol Guide

If you don’t have a printer, you might enjoy copying these symbol interpretations into your journal by hand:

If you have any questions, just let me know! Happy bird- and other-visitor watching!

Issue 30 of the Script Witch Weekly Cut-and-Keep Newsletter is now live!

This will be the 1st issue of August, so the PDF printable is FREE! To get every week delivered to your inbox and physical copies sent to your mailbox, you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

August’s Free Issue: Download Here

Looking for previous free printables? Download freebies from my Google Drive freebies folder, here.

This week’s message:

Hearth and Home Cleansing

I’ve been enjoying using my Lenormand cards lately along with Tarot. So, I asked my cards what we might need to hear as we head into August. The message was a specific one: House, Anchor, Stork.

Briefly, these cards traditionally mean: House (sanctuary, security), Anchor (also security, stability), and Stork (improvements, recovery, new beginnings, positive changes).

In 3-card Lenormand readings, you would typically read card pairs (1+2, 2+3, then 1+3). It helps to think of each pairing as reading a sentence where the first card is the noun or subject and the second card is the adjective, action, or clarifier.

So, House + Anchor could mean a house that’s secure and stable, a place or relationship becoming more permanent, or making a commitment to prioritize your home.

Then, Anchor + Stork could mean that this commitment brings in new opportunities and change, but is stable.

Cards 1+3 are the House + Stork. This is a secure home ready to receive new improvements. It could literally mean a change in residence or just a fresh living space or a positive shift in family dynamics. For some of us, our children are preparing to return to school at the end of the summer season.

In the free printable PDF, I’ve included some Tarot prompts and a home cleansing and blessing to welcome new, fresh, positive changes into our living spaces.

Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox (plus some journal magick goodies!), you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous FREE issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here.

This week’s message:

The Magick of Small Adventures

Lenormand is a French style of fortune telling dating back to the early 1800s. The deck of 36 simple cards is named after Marie Anne Lenormand, a famous French fortune teller who reportedly read for figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Joséphine de Beauharnais, though the deck is credited to Marie in name only. One of my favorite cards is number three: The Ship.

To me, the Ship has an energy like the Six of Swords. Yes, it can be about travel, but it’s also about a shift in perspective that comes from experiencing new environments.

I was inspired by this energy while traveling locally a few weeks ago. It was a short, local trip to the historical society to research Victorian spiritualists that reminded me: even the shortest adventures expand our thinking and bring in opportunities.

If you follow my blog, you know that I found treasure in the form of hand-written letters from one of Vermont’s most famous spiritualists: Achsa (AK-suh) Sprague. But it wasn’t her spirit communication that left a lasting impression on me: it was how much she was like us. She had a chronic illness, low-energy days, she fell in love, had a family who didn’t understand her, had people throwing shade her way and others praising her work. Yet, she lived. And, in her own words: she still lives.

She traveled all over New England and beyond, spoke about her beliefs in a time when women were to be seen and not heard, and continues to inspire us in our spiritual pursuits today.

This week, I encourage you to draw in the energy of short adventures and local travels. I’ve included some journal exercises below to help.

In the printable PDF, I've included cut-and-keep journal exercises to help, plus an anchor, compass, and feather graphic for your journal.

Read more

Though I’ve had a very “mystical” upbringing, where ghost sightings, dreams, and divination were honored and accepted throughout my childhood, the Pearl dreams were the real trigger, the start of my spiritual awakening, at 19-years-old. I wrote this poem for her.

In honor of her birthday, I’m sharing the first chapter of the book I’m working on, about her life and how she’s influenced mine for the last 24 years. I’m sure this text will change, but it’s a start anyway:

What Killed Pearl

Introduction

The term hedge walker appears in ancient spiritual texts to describe someone who metaphorically walks “between worlds.” While its meaning varies across traditions, the core idea remains the same: a hedge walker navigates the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds. The hedge is a symbolic barrier, a place of transition and mystery, where the living and dead meet.

My first memory of connecting with the spiritual world was in 1984, when I was an infant in my crib. I never slept well. Sometimes I spent long hours at night alone, awake. The room was dark, with a towel draped over the window. We lived in a trailer in Upstate New York, surrounded by country fields. On nights when the moon was full, a soft glow crept into my room around the edges of the towel, casting faint light on the walls.

The man appeared first, but he never fully revealed himself. He was a dark shape in the corner, partially hidden in the shadows, swaying slightly, listening. Then came the woman. She appeared beside my crib, smiling at me with warmth and kindness. Her short, dark curls framed her sparkling blue eyes, and she wore a round hat, a small pearl pendant necklace, and a simple yellow dress. Her presence was exciting and fun, and that made it even harder to sleep. I wanted her to scoop me up, to take me on an adventure.

As time passed, visits from the woman with the pearl pendant became fewer and fewer. I outgrew my crib. We outgrew the trailer and moved to a bigger house in a new town. By the time my little sister was born in 1987 and I started kindergarten the following year, my physical world had grown so full of color and light that the spiritual world faded into the background, and the woman with the pearl necklace became a distant memory.

I didn’t see her again for 15 years, but I know now that she was always there, quietly walking the hedge beside me.

I’m Gretchen, a 43-year-old mom, auntie, sister, daughter, friend, artist, designer, editor, book-nerd, and wannabe-writer, who lives in Vermont.

Growing up, the adults in my life told me that I was a good writer. Maybe they said it to instill a sense of purpose in me, as adults often do. I was okay at it, but I’ll admit that tackling this story feels daunting even if absolutely necessary to write. I’ll do my best to honor it as a storyteller, and I hope you’ll forgive the occasional neurodivergent tangent along the way.

I now know that the woman who walks alongside me is named Pearl.

Piecing together what happened to Pearl has become part of my life’s work. Its purpose has been to untangle the threads of our family history and find the patterns that connect us. Her story is so deeply woven into mine that I feel compelled to tell it, if only to better understand how our lives are intertwined. Even now, as I write, I don’t know where this story will end. There is still so much to discover.

But, after years of dreams, research, and digging, I can tell you this much: I know what, and who, killed Pearl.

As a trigger warning, please note that this story includes descriptions of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Pearl Elizabeth (Gauthier) Kelly was my great-grandmother. Pearl’s daughter almost didn’t survive her birth in 1932. If it wasn’t for Pearl’s husband, my great-grandfather, Michael, performing life-saving measures on that tiny, premature baby during a few crucial moments of her arrival, I wouldn’t be sitting here in my home office telling you about it. It gives me chills to think about how fragile life is, how one short moment can shift the trajectory of generations.

Of course, the baby survived on that night in 1932. She is my grandmother: Elizabeth Pearl Kelly. We call her “Grandma Betty.” Doctors told Betty that she couldn’t have children, but she went on to have six of them, though they were all difficult deliveries. The second-youngest was my mother, Cheryl (Sherrie), born in 1960. Then, Sherrie had me, Gretchen, in 1983, and I gave birth to a little girl in 2012, when I was 29-years-old. Her name is Elizabeth Jean, though we call her “Ellie” after the character in the Carl Sagan book, Contact.

Ellie means “light,” and she truly has been a bright one in mine. In the book, Contact, Ellie’s character must come to terms with having an other-worldly experience while being a skeptical, atheist scientist. I was always captivated by her sudden awareness and wonder at a universe that we, as humans, don’t have the capacity to fully understand.

Chapter 1
Lighting the Lantern

When I was 19, I didn’t know Pearl’s story or even that she died when she was 19, on the day she gave birth to Betty. I was in school, studying Graphic Design at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. I lived on the third floor of East House, an old Victorian mansion. It’s now called Schillhammer Hall as of 2026.

I’ve always stumbled into new experiences shyly but with kindness and a sense of humor. I kept my grades up and gradually made new friends. I made an effort to show up and be involved, even when my anxiety resurfaced.

I had anxiety in middle school and high school but was never medicated for it. I hid it well and thought it was well-managed when I started college in 2001, but it started again. It would manifest as a choking feeling, like I couldn’t breathe. A fear would creep up from my belly and into my chest, and I would have to move to an open space, usually outside, to take deep breaths.

Being at college and away from home for the first time in my life, I began to process some of my childhood experiences that were at the root of my anxiety. Maybe the distance made me feel safe.

The rest of this post contains personal details. Some paragraphs are only visible to paid subscribers.

This was the year that I came out to my parents about the abuse, and it created a ripple effect of family drama that would last decades. Simultaneously, I believe that it kickstarted my healing journey and, spiritually, lit the lantern I was carrying while walking the hedge alongside Pearl.

Chapter 2
Where the Hedge Thins

The dreams started suddenly. I was asleep in my college dorm when I “woke up” to my first episode of sleep paralysis. It was 1:19 in the morning. I was on the top bunk, on the top floor of East House. Remembering it now, it’s as if the old, Victorian mansion opens up like a dollhouse, and I see three floors of female students lying in their bunk beds, sleeping peacefully in the dark, except for a few late-night study sessions happening around dim desk lights.

And, in the attic bedroom, at nearly the top of that little dollhouse is me, lying flat in the top bunk, blankets thrown off, sweating, gasping for breath, the room completely dark except for the red glow of the alarm clock numbers: 1:19.

I felt like I was awake, but I couldn’t move. I could see the red numbers out of the corner of my eye. I felt hands around my throat then felt my body shake as shadow fists hit me. There was no pain, but I could feel my body jump with each hit. There was blue striped wallpaper with splashes of white flowers and a stained white ceiling above me. I didn’t scream. I accepted my fate. A light appeared above me, and it grew larger until it blocked out my entire vision, and then I woke up.

When I was fully awake, I noticed that not much time had passed. It was 1:20. I cried quietly so as not to wake my roommate sleeping in the bunk below me. The dream would happen sporadically for years. It didn’t always manifest as sleep paralysis. Often it was a regular dream. I would be wandering the house with the blue wallpaper, sitting by the fire with a tall man. Sometimes I would be outside the house, and I couldn’t get in.

In one of the dreams, I was the man, and I answered a knock at the door. There was a young family there, two adults and two children, dressed in 1930s clothing, and the woman was carrying a casserole dish. She was annoyed with me. She asked blatantly, “Where’s Pearl?!” and pushed her way into the house.

The dreams became a point of discussion as I started therapy for my anxiety that year. My mom and I started talking on the phone more frequently, too. She was my rock as I processed the childhood abuse and navigated college life with panic attacks. She had so many regrets about not being able to prevent the abuse, but I assured her that it wasn’t her fault.

I told her that the violent dreams seemed more significant than just dreams. I knew the layout of the house with the blue wallpaper. I felt the fear as if I was being followed, watched, beaten.

During one conversation with my mom, I asked her if she knew of anything violent that had happened in our family history.

She said, “No,” but gave it some more thought and then said, “There was Pearl… your great-grandmother. She died during childbirth, but it was a traumatic death. She had bruises on her arms and neck, and broken bones too.”

I was quiet for a moment. The house with the blue wallpaper... the fists, the fear—it all suddenly felt less like a dream and more like a memory that wasn’t mine.

We didn’t say it out loud, but we both felt it—that I was remembering Pearl’s death, and that the memory wasn’t random. It held clues.

Mom said, “I have some information about Pearl in the basement filing cabinet. I started doing research about her, years ago, but Grandma Betty asked me to stop.”

My mom went on to explain that, when Pearl and Michael married, it sparked a family feud between Pearl’s family (the French Gauthiers) and Michael’s family (the Irish Kellys). Pearl’s father, John, and her brothers disowned her.

The story goes that her father tried to attend her funeral, but Michael hired two guards to stand outside the church to turn John away. Michael told John, “You didn’t want to see her when she was alive, so you don’t get to see her when she’s dead.”

As Betty grew into a child and began asking questions about her mother, Michael forbade her to talk about Pearl or to seek out her family.

I learned about the feud in 2001. Years later, most of the newspapers from Pearl’s town in the early 1930s were digitized and available online. When I began my investigation into Pearl’s death, I found her obituary that notes the wrong church for her funeral and the wrong cemetery for her burial. Also, there’s no mention of her baby, Betty.

Pearl’s family never knew that Betty existed, and Betty wasn’t allowed to search for them.

Pearl’s Obituary, 1932

My mom has always been open-minded about spiritual things and paranormal happenings. She even revealed that she had dreams similar to mine, starting at about the same age. It was part of what sparked her own interest in our family history.

But my mom is more practical and grounded than I am. She’ll acknowledge something spooky one moment and be right back to making dinner or doing dishes the next. I envy her ability to compartmentalize. Spirits don’t just knock on my door occasionally—they move in, make tea, and stay like welcome guests for days.

Call it a “thinning of the hedge” between the dead and the living or maybe just a morbid curiosity about all things “weird,” but I find comfort and insight connecting to spirit using divination stones, slinging Tarot cards, and intently watching the swing of my pendulum, desperately trying to understand the forces around us.

The other parts of my childhood were what I’d consider “normal,” but there were scattered paranormal experiences—small gaps in the veil—that shaped how I see this world and the one just beyond it.

Mr. Scribner

Even at 29, I found parenthood challenging. Like me, Ellie struggled to sleep at night. As she got old enough to talk, she spoke about a “shadow man” who came to visit her when I left the room at night. I remembered my own shadow-man experiences and, though they weren’t negative, I felt fiercely protective of Ellie and angered by the audacity of some unknown entity to disturb my child’s sleep.

I was hours from my family. I was alone and felt helpless. I called my mom, Sherrie, almost daily to update her about Ellie and to commiserate about sleepless nights with a toddler.

We were living in a newly-renovated apartment in Waterbury, Vermont. The building had once been a large barn beside a still-standing red brick farmhouse and a sugarhouse for making maple syrup. The sugarhouse had been converted into a garage attached to the house.

One morning, after my husband went to work and I dropped off Ellie at daycare, I returned to my home office to start my workday. I’ve worked in educational and medical publishing for almost 20 years and, at the time, was able to work from home a few days each week.

Before settling in at my desk, I sat on the couch in the living room with a cup of coffee and said out loud, to no one, hoping the shadow man could hear me, “I know that you’re here and that you might want to communicate with Ellie who can see you. I’m Ellie’s mother, and I’m not comfortable with you being in their room at night.”

I stood up, walked to the doorway of Ellie’s room and drew a line across the threshold with my finger. I then said out loud, “You are not to cross this line. However, you’re not unwelcome in our home, if you come with good intentions. If you need to communicate something, tell me. I’m busy and not always attentive, but you can come to me in my dreams or show me signs of your existence and what you need, and I will try to help.”

It was an experiment, really. I’m open to the idea of the existence of “visitors,” may they be spirits of the deceased or interdimensional travelers. I wouldn’t call myself a full “believer” per se, but I am open to endless possibilities of what the world can reveal to me. I guess I’m skeptical but curious.

The next several months were interesting. I didn’t discuss the shadow man with Ellie for fear of influencing her thoughts about him, but E reported no more incidents to me. Her sleep improved.

Strange things occurred around the apartment during this time but nothing in Ellie’s room that I’m aware of. For instance, Ellie had a soundboard toy that I kept in a toybox in the living room. It was controlled by magnetic puzzle pieces that triggered animal sounds, but the pieces were all missing, strewn about the apartment somewhere.

Occasionally, the board would make a “moo” sound or a “baa” with no interaction from us. Of course, it was magnetic, so it’s entirely possible that some other toy or device in the apartment was triggering the sounds, but I found the timing interesting. It occurred typically at about 1pm in the afternoon while I was working in my office and no one was in the living room.

We also had a small, magnetic keychain flashlight on the refrigerator that hadn’t been used in years. It was up high where Ellie couldn’t reach it, because I worried that it might be a choking hazard. One night, after a nightmare, I went to the kitchen for a glass of water, and the flashlight was on. I later asked my husband, Mark, if he had turned it on, and he said no. I chalked it up to being “odd,” turned off the flashlight (it had a simple up-down on-off switch), and I went back to bed. But, about once a week, the flashlight would be on when I got up in the morning, and I would switch it off each time.

Another time, I remember lying in bed reading at night, and I had a small ceramic dish on my bedside table with some jewelry in it, earrings and a ring or two. I was lying on my side, turned away from the table and dish, when I started to hear what sounded like someone dragging their finger around the dish, the jewelry clinking together. I turned to see what was causing the sound, and it stopped.

Now, if all of these things had happened in a week or a day, I may have been calling an exorcist, but as such, they were somewhat random, with days or weeks in between occurrences, and I could explain them away to some degree: “Maybe something magnetic was interfering with the soundboard toy in the living room. Maybe Ellie got on a chair and turned on the flashlight on the fridge, even though she said she didn’t. Maybe a ring rattled in my jewelry dish, and it sounded more significant than it was.”

So, these interactions were ignored until two more significant events occurred:

The first was when I was lying in bed reading again, and I saw what I thought was my husband walking past the door to our bedroom, heading down the hallway to the bathroom. I caught a glimpse of his arm and the sleeve of a white t-shirt. I mentioned something to him in passing, and he responded with, “What?” from the kitchen which is on the other side of the apartment. I could barely hear him, so I called him into our room and tried to understand why he just walked past our room to the bathroom but was simultaneously in the kitchen, an impossible feat. He was also wearing a blue shirt, not a white one. We shrugged it off at the time.

The second significant event was the first (and only) time in my adult life, as of yet, that I saw what some call a full-body apparition. Again, I was working from home. I was a supervisor, and my team was mostly remote employees. On days when I had a lot of check-in calls with my team, I preferred to work from home where I could be on the phone using a headset while catching up on dishes, laundry, etc., a common practice of many of us working parents. We would even motivate each other, saying, “Let’s get our dishes done while we have our meeting.” It was nice.

As I was talking on the phone, I was drying my hands on a towel and happened to look into the living room and saw a man standing there. I’ll never forget how he looked. He had dark hair, greased back, a tight white t-shirt on, and his eyes were dark, sunken in. As soon as our eyes met, he was gone. I felt chills all over my body and, even though he was gone, I still had this sense of panic from seeing a “real” person in my home while the doors were locked and I should have been alone.

It took me a few seconds to compose myself and realize that my coworker was asking me something: “Are you there? Hello?”

I managed to say, “Yes,” and then told her everything I had just seen. We worked in a scientific industry, but she and I often talked about “spooky” things—curious, unexplained things—so she sounded a bit skeptical but was kind enough not to question my mental health.

I told Mark about it as soon as he got home, and we wondered about what or who this man might be. I did numerous searches for the historical records of the house, but it’s on the village line between two towns. Maps of each individual town didn’t include the house. It was like neither village wanted to bother claiming the residence.

After a few days, I was at my work office and was talking to another coworker about the strange experiences in my apartment. To this day, she’s an avid believer in the paranormal. I mentioned that I was struggling to find information about the building, and she reminded me that she worked for the town’s historical society.

“Give me a few days,” she said, “I’ll see what I can find.”

A few days later, she emailed me images of some of the records she found. There was only one record of a death on the property—a man who hanged himself in the sugarhouse in 1940. His name was Robert Scribner.

Since I had a name, I searched for anything I could find about him. I only found photos online of his relatives, but one of them, an uncle, looked exactly like the man I had seen in my apartment.

I began calling our shadow man Mr. Scribner. Again, I planned a chat with him one morning when I was home alone. I explained to him that I thought I saw him in our apartment and that I thought he was possibly the Mr. Scribner who died on the property in 1940.

I said, “If you are Mr. Scribner, I understand that you took your own life here. I want you to know that there’s no shame in that in our household. As long as you’re being kind to us, you’re welcome here. In fact, I would like to have more family close by, and Ellie could certainly use a protective grandfather figure. If there’s anything else you need, do try to let me know.”

We never saw or heard from him again. From that moment on, the soundboard toy was silent, and the refrigerator flashlight was dark.

Mr. Scribner’s disappearance was sudden, and it struck me as odd. The subtle signs of his presence didn’t slowly diminish. They just stopped. I wondered if I scared him off or if he felt a sense of resolution in having been seen, acknowledged, and accepted. I wanted to believe that it was the latter. And, of course, the experience left me wondering: what did the woman with the pearl necklace want? Why had she made herself known to me, throughout my life, in such profound ways?

Female Spirits

Aside from my experience with Mr. Scribner, most of the spiritual encounters I had were with female entities. When I was about 6-years-old, my mother picked up an extra job at a children’s clothing shop downtown, in an old, brick, Victorian house.

When you walked in the front door, there was a large staircase to the right with an oval window partway up the stairs, pictured from the outside on the next page. I’ll never forget the feeling of walking into that shop. The air felt “heavy,” like walking into a room that’s overheated. It weighed you down, drained you. Years later, my mother told me stories about strange sounds when the store was empty, a child laughing or singing. The front door could only be locked from the outside with a key, but a few times when my mother tried to leave the shop after her shift, she would be locked in and had to call the owner to come open the door.

Once, when she was cutting tissue paper, she placed her scissors on the desk. When she reached for them again, they were gone. Later that day, she noticed them resting on the top of the molding above one of the windows, out of her reach. She had to get a ladder to retrieve them.

On days when there was no school, she would take me to work with her at the shop. There was a small area at the base of the stairs with a play kitchen and other toys. I would sit on the first few steps and play while my mom worked.

Here’s a photo of the building from Google Maps. The circular window was beside the staircase:

One day, my mom was doing inventory upstairs. For some reason, I was terrified of the inventory room and refused to step over the threshold of the door. She let me play downstairs while she worked, since the store was empty.

Instead of going all the way to the bottom of the stairs, I sat in the middle and looked out the circle window. Then I moved to the other side of the step I was sitting on and looked over the railing.

Suddenly, I felt like I was falling. I screamed hysterically and wrapped my arms and legs around the railing. My mom rushed out of the inventory room and pried me off of the railing. She had me sit just outside the door and finished up her work quickly.

At the time, she seemed as scared as I was. I learned years later that it was because she knew that a little girl about my age had died by falling through the staircase when the house was being built.

More to come!

Good news! Gnocchi is BACK! Here is a snippet of the latest post about Gnocchi from the Kitty Korner Cafe:

While we cant go into details, please know that both Crisis Intervention and the Police were part of the rescue and are doing their part as we speak. We have reached out to the important parties and the cat is on its way to get checked over by our vet team.

We can’t express how grateful we are to everyone who helped make this happen. We’ll all be able to rest much easier tonight.

The complete update is on their FB page here.

August 14, 2026

Well, this was not an update I ever expected to share. Our sweet Gnocchi was stolen from the Kitty Korner Cafe a few days ago. Here is the official update from the organization, and you can read more updates from their Facebook page (here):

Kitty Corner Cafe Post
August 12, 2026

Today, we are reaching out to our community seeking help with a difficult situation.

While we have tried to resolve this without putting personal information out to the internet, we cannot allow this to go on any longer.

Recently, an individual stole a cat from our facility.

This was done shortly before closing and using multiple distractions to our staff and, while we pursued them, our team was unable to catch up and safely secure the cat in question.

We have the incident on camera with full evidence to support that this was a premeditated theft as well as a confession from the culprit.

This person was denied an adoption for multiple reasons including homelessness, lack of financial stability, and ongoing struggles with mental health as advised by multiple references. We made contact with the individual who fully admitted to the crime and even sent photos of the cat but after multiple attempts to calmly negotiate the animal’s return, they have been unable to see reason and have instead threatened their own life and the safety of staff members.

This is now not just about the cat, but also the welfare of the individual as neither our staff, their family, or the police have been able to make contact since.

We have serious concerns for the cat’s health as they were on a very important medication at the time of the abduction that they have not received since that day. We also do not take a suicide threat lightly.

For the sake of both our precious feline friend and the person responsible for taking them, we are asking for anyone with information to their whereabouts to reach out to us ASAP.

This person has ties to the Barre, Montpelier, and Burlington areas and had previously been staying in Barre until the theft.

They do not have a car but often use Lyft for travel and were couch surfing with no permanent residence that we can find.

In public, they wear a facemask and were almost always seen in a pink hoodie with pajama pants - mid-length to short dirty blonde hair, a moon tattoo on their hand, and around 27 years old.

They go by Theo Kaye - Full name Pamela Bristow Johnson.

If you have any information as to their whereabouts, please call us here at the cafe, email us, or reach out to the Barre City PD.

We are offering a $500 reward to any information that leads to their whereabouts.

July 21, 2026

I was driving by the cat cafe again today, and I just had to stop. I got to chat with some of the staff and learned that Gnocchi is a GIRL. So, I will use her correct pronouns going forward.

She looked very sleepy and was excited to see me and once again use my lap and shoulder for a nap. The applications are still being sent in for her, and I’m confident she’ll have a new home when the stars align.

For more updates on the cafe kittens, you can check out the Kitty Korner Cafe’s Instagram page: @kittykornercafevt

July 16, 2026

I’ve been so incredibly touched by the response to my post about the cat cafe visit and the kitten, Gnocchi, who ‘chose’ my shoulder for his afternoon nap. As of writing this update, the post has 14,986 impressions! Original post:

Gnocchi is a very special kitten. I stopped by the cat cafe again this week to make a donation and found out that he ‘chooses’ just about everyone who walks through the door. Lol! He loves and trusts people which is a good thing and happily gravitates to anyone who is willing to hold him and play with him. He’s destined to find a good home.

This afternoon, he was napping after entertaining a group of kids who visited the cafe. I gave him a few pets and blessings and sat down next to him to snap this pic:

I was also thrilled to find out that he has multiple applications submitted requesting to adopt him. Isn’t that great news? I promised I would make sure he was on his way to a good home, and I trust that he is.

While I was watching over him, another cat joined me. 😅 I’m not sure of his name yet, but we moved right into the slow-blink phase of our friendship.

P.S. Thank you to everyone who shared Gnocchi’s story. It’s been so much fun reading your comments and seeing how many people were cheering for one tiny kitten. Your blessings matter. -Gretch

For more updates on the cafe kittens, you can check out the Kitty Korner Cafe’s Instagram page: @kittykornercafevt

Issue 28 of the Script Witch Weekly Cut-and-Keep Newsletter is now live! Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox, you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous free issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here.

This week’s message:

The Power of Hitting Restart

Anyone else facing summer days in survival mode? Sometimes, there’s only enough energy to get out of bed, go to work, microwave meals, and start all over again the next day.

This past week, I let the sink fill up with dirty dishes and the laundry basket fill up with dirty clothes. I was working from home, so I wore the same two t-shirts all week. Instead of brushing my hair in the morning, I ran my fingers through it and tossed it up in yet another messy bun each day.

I sat at the computer for hours and dreamed of a life where I could just make art and send inspirational, witchy messages out into the world.

I looked around me and felt behind on everything. It wasn’t just the housework; it was my goals. Precious time was slipping away from me and all I could do was hit “Yes” when Netflix asked me if I was “still watching” Next Level Chef. I can and will offer some tips to you about how to hit the virtual Restart Button when daily tasks feel like too much, but above all else, please remember:

• It is always OK to rest, to cancel plans, to call in sick.

• Shaming yourself for resting will not help you navigate it, and

• Yes, motivation is something we create, but we also need to be ready and in the right mindset to cultivate it.

So, give yourself some grace, watch more episodes, take one more day off, ask for help, use paper plates and cups.

I even have compostable hot coffee cups for days when I know that dishes will drag me down. Then, only when you’re ready, hit the Restart Button.

In the printable PDF, I've included cut-and-keep journal graphics with a “restart” bell, homey graphics, a restart ritual, and prompts for a 3-card Tarot reading.

Read more

Issue 27 of the Script Witch Weekly Cut-and-Keep Newsletter is now live! Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox, you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous free issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here.

This week’s message:

A Celebration of You

I have to be honest with you. As I get older, it gets more and more difficult to celebrate the country I live in, especially during this current administration. Lately, it’s helped me to focus on what I can control closer to home: raising empathetic kids, supporting my community & inclusivity, growing financially so that I can give back to my community, and celebrating the wins in my own life that keep that wheel of love and support turning.

I also choose to celebrate the many sacrifices of our ancestors and under-represented folks who have fought for freedom and better lives, giving us the opportunities we have today.

At this time of year, in New England, there are parades and fireworks. And, while I respect the true intention of these celebrations, this witch also uses fireworks for her own manifestations.

Any time there’s a celebration in your life, you can use it as a moment of gratitude, mindfulness, or manifestation to focus on what you want to bring more of into your life. Here are a few examples:

Fireworks: Imagine the fireworks are just for you, celebrating your recent successes. Focus on 1 or 2 of those wins.

Parade: Imagine yourself marching in the parade, surrounded by people cheering you on. As you walk, think about the qualities you’d like more of in your life like confidence, creativity, joy, abundance, courage. Imagine the crowd celebrating those parts of you.

Birthday Cake Candles: Before blowing out the candles, imagine that your wish has already come true. Notice how it feels in your body. Gratitude for a future blessing can be a powerful way to welcome it into your life.

In the printable PDF, I've included cut-and-keep journal graphics with fireworks, sparklers, and a hot air balloon scene, prompts for a 3-card Tarot reading, and a journaling prompt to help celebrate the big and small wins in your life.

Read more

Wandering the RISD Museum last weekend, I walked into “Cafe Pearl.” And today, when drawn to an issue of Banner of Light (a Victorian spiritualist newspaper) from this very day, 169 years ago(!), I stumbled upon this poetry under the heading, “Pearls.”

I’ve tried to hunt down their original works. Here are some of my favorite lines that also feel like little messages of encouragement from my great-grandmother. My favorite is The Splendor Falls. When everything else fades, the way we treat each other is what truly matters and echoes through generations.

I’ll copy these into my journal for some extra magick this week.

She rose in sparkling clouds of dazzling dew,
And kept the Morning's ruddy golden gates;
Stood high in sunrise on the mountain top;
Sate in her bower of the silvery air,
Shedding her beauty richly on the sea,
Which of her likeness took some trembly tints!
Voyaged like Venus in her car of cloud
About the sapphire heaven's lake of love,
Or danced on sunset streams to harp of gold:
Then twilight mists would robe more faint and fair,
Her dim, delicious dreamy loveliness.

Thomson, James. The Seasons (Spring). London: J. Millan, 1730–1746.

Advice is like snow, the softer it falls the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into, the mind.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Friend. London:
Gale and Curtis, 1809–1810.

The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying;
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill, or field, or river:
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying;
And answer, echoes, answer dying, dying, dying.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The Splendor Falls. The Princess:
A Medley. London: Edward Moxon, 1847.

Issue 26 of the Script Witch Weekly Cut-and-Keep Newsletter is now live!

This will be the 1st issue of July, so the PDF printable is FREE! To get every week delivered to your inbox and physical copies sent to your mailbox, you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

July’s Free Issue: Download Here

Looking for previous free printables? Download freebies from my Google Drive freebies folder, here.

This week’s message:

24-Hour Manifestations

A few days ago, I was feeling overwhelmed and too focused on big-picture goals. I thought, “How am I expected to manifest a house in the country with a mini-library and a woodstove when I can’t even keep money in my savings account?”

I had to remind myself that: long-term manifestations, like long-term goals, are fantastic to keep in mind, to use as a compass on the journey, but they don’t necessarily have to dictate every part of each day that we’re usually just trying to survive.

I went back to basics and set up a plan for manifesting a “productive day that contributed to my long-term goal(s) in a small way.” I put $10 in my savings account. I looked at my work as a tool to achieve my dreams instead of just a chore. I made time to enjoy and appreciate what I already have.

I started thinking about what other small things I could manifest in only 24 hours. It was like a game, to see what I could accomplish in that time.

This week, I invite you to experiment with a 24-hour manifestation exercise. Rather than asking the universe for an entirely new life, ask for something achievable and meaningful. Here are some examples:

• Productivity: I will complete a task or organize a small space.

• Learning: I will research a topic, read a chapter, learn a new skill.

• Creative Practice: I will journal, write 1 page, or sketch an idea.

• Magic and Mindset: I will notice a sign, draw a Tarot card, practice gratitude, experience a meaningful coincidence.

Consider how these small moments relate to your long-term goals.

In the free printable PDF, I’ve included some other examples of 24-hour manifestation, tarot prompts, and journal graphics to help!

Issue 25 of the Script Witch Weekly Cut-and-Keep Newsletter is now live! Link to the paid PDF printable is at the very bottom of this post. To get every PDF delivered to your virtual inbox and printed copies sent to your home mailbox, you can subscribe to my Substack at the $6/month tier.

Subscribe now

Looking for previous free issues? Download all 2026 Freebies from my Google Drive folder, here.

This week’s message:

Water Magick

My cousin, Danielle, is my spiritual counterpart. Where I’m more soft and nurturing, a happy Aquarius dreaming and playing with paper and pens, she is all Scorpio—deeply passionate, moody, straightforward. We were emotionally inseparable as children but often divided by oceans as her parents worked for the military. So, we wrote letters to each other.

All grown up, she now lives in Rhode Island, and I’m in Vermont. The only thing that truly separates us is a four-hour drive. So when I visit, we head straight for the ocean and spend hours there reconnecting. Once, she had me throw a coin into the waves to symbolize being done with an abusive relationship. And the waves seemed to wash away other things, too: the responsibilities of adulthood, years of distance, old family drama, and so on.

So much of our childhood was about being on the water—lake camping and swimming pools. I developed a deep love of letting the water surround me, asking it to bring me back to simpler days, and delighting in the treasures found on the shore.

Water holds so many properties that are useful in spellwork. It’s denser than air and can be a conduit for energy, connecting us to memories, emotions, ancestors, transformation, etc. It’s cleansing and healing.

This Summer, I encourage you to connect with an element that grounds, supports, and enlightens you. If water isn’t your thing, bask in a cool breeze, cozy up next to a campfire, or dig in the earth. In that moment, I wish you: security, hope, laughter, simple joys, abundance, and everyday enchantment. So let it be.

In the printable PDF, I've included cut-and-keep journal graphics, prompts for a 3-card Tarot reading, and a journaling ritual that you can do using water (and other elements) to channel energy.

Read more