Category Archives: rites

Auguries

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Mark Hayes

A storm was coming, dark things on the horizon, a great gnashing of teeth, dogs and cats doing unnatural things together. That sort of thing, nothing specific, just general ominous stuff. But whatever was brewing it wasn’t the Earl Gray… Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, dreamlands, fantasy, fiction, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, Lovecraft, novels, reads, rites, steampunk, supernatural, writing | Tagged amwriting, amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

The Guest Runes…

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Somehow I have ended up hosting a discussion panel on Runes, there relevance to dark age culture, what the Victorians did with them and the difference between New Age pseudo-mythology and actual historical facts and ancient cultures… This is fascinating stuff. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie, indie writers, opinion, pagan, reads, rites, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, magic, reads, ritual, runes, spirituality, steampunk, supernatural, writer, writerslife | 1 Comment

Wyrd particles and Spooky Runes

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Mark Hayes

A Book review of Wyrd by Kieth Healing. A book on the the concept of the Wyrd and the ancient Anglo Saxon Runic alphabet, its use in divination, as well as the runes connections to the Wyrd. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, big questions, book reviews, books, druidry, goodreads, indie, indie writers, mental-health, pagan, publication, reads, rites | Tagged books, druidry, druids, magic, new-age, pagan, reads, runes, writing | 6 Comments

Darker Ages

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Mark Hayes

There is an industry around romanticised paganism, its nothing new, it has been going on for decades, indeed more than decades, the Victorians were romanticising Britian’s past two centuries back. But there has been a particular raft of ‘cuddly’ paganism … Continue reading →

Posted in druidry, fantasy, fiction, horror, indie novels, indie writers, pagan, rites, supernatural, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, darkages, druidry, fantasy, folklore, newreads, pagan, reads, supernatural | 2 Comments

Whitby, Witchcraft, and Goth-boots

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Whitby, the north Yorkshire coastal town that’s half fishing village, half haven for everything alternative, strange and draped in black crushed velvet. The once quite little harbour below a cliff top abbey first gained a reputation as something more than … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, pagan, reads, rites, sci-fi, writes | Tagged amreading, reads, sciencefiction, supernatural, urban fantasy, urbanfantasy, writers, writerslife, writing | 6 Comments

Return of the Hopeless Kickstarter

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Its no great secret to any regular reader that I have a certain love for the Island of Hopeless Maine. The fictional collaboration begun by of Nimue and Tom Brown. A collaboration that generously extends to others whom get to … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, Canadian steampunk, cthulhu, druidry, fantasy, fiction, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, pointless things of wonderfulness, rites, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged amreading, amreadingscifi, books, hopeless, kickstarter, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writing | 1 Comment

The music of type…

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Mark Hayes

“Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!” ~ Bram Stoker Music has always been a big part of my creative life, despite my utter inability to play any of the many guitars I own, or … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, Goth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, rites | Tagged amwriting, Goth, music, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 2 Comments

A message from The Sanctimonious Order of the Willing Sacrifice

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Mark Hayes

We, The Sanctimonious Order of the Willing Sacrifice, must regrettably start this annual meeting by apologising, but once again, for the tenth year running, we have failed to secure a year king. While there are of course be those who … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, cthulhu, dreamlands, druidry, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, horror, humour, indie, indie writers, indiewriter, mythos, opinion, pagan, pointless things of wonderfulness, rant, reads, rites, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, druids, fantasy, fiction, newreads, pagan, reads, writer, writers | 4 Comments

A touch of yellow…

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Those who have followed my blog previously will know that aside from the odd post about writing in general, book reviews, talking about my own work, and the occasional pondering on the inner workings of the universe, mental health and … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, book reviews, books, cthulhu, goodreads, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, reads, rites, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, horror, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, steampunk, supernatural, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 3 Comments

From small acorns…

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Mark Hayes

The English language in its never ending colonial expansionism co-opted many years ago. A word that was originally Turkish, though it had deeper roots in Persian and Arabic. Like so many words of other languages who’s vowels my mother tongue … Continue reading →