EVERYDAY SPELLS AND RITUALS

Ancient spells and rituals of paganism are alive and vital for the modern world, according to a recently published book by a Cape Girardeau County author.

Dorothy Morrison of Fruitland describes her latest book, "Everyday Magic: Spells and Rituals for Modern Living," as a collection which mixes the ancient art of magic with technology.

Morrison will sign copies of her book in Cape Girardeau from 1-3 p.m. Saturday at Treasures of the Earth, 629 Broadway, and from 4-6 p.m. at Hastings in the Town Plaza.

The book, which was published earlier this year by Llewellyn Publishing, has already shown remarkable success. After only eight weeks in print, it is already into its second printing. The book is being sold not only throughout the United States but also in Europe and Australia.

The success of the book has also made Morrison much in demand for radio interviews. This week alone she has done interviews for radio stations in Cookeville, Tenn., El Paso, Texas, and Nova Scotia, Canada.

She compares the spells in her book to prayer and meditation. In all three, energy is focused and channeled in certain specific directions to effect change in life.

The spells range from ones that help people overcome depression and anxiety to ones that enable people to face problems like abuse and divorce.

Then there are spells and rituals which help people deal with the inconveniences of contemporary life, such as excessive traffic or computer crashes. For example, putting a Tiger Eye stone on an external modem of a computer will increase the modem speed, Morrison's book claims.

There is even a spell to help people find parking in a crowded lot: "Goddess Mother, lift your face and find for me a parking place."

Morrison said she has tried all the spells in the book over the past 20 years and that she has proven them to work. She learned many of the spells in her training as a third-degree high priestess in the Georgian tradition of Wicca.

Morrison describes Wicca as an earth-based religion and a form of paganism in which adherents live in harmony with nature. The religion emphasizes what Morrison calls the "duality of the godhead," where God is both male and female, god and goddess.

Everything in life has spirit, Wicca teaches. The key is being able to tap into the spirit. The spells, rituals and acts of magic are ways of tapping into that spirit.

The book is the second book of Morrison's published by Llewellyn this year. An earlier book, "Magical Needlework," which describes using needlework as a viable magical tool, came out in April.

Next March, Llewellyn is scheduled to release a third book by Morrison. "In Praise of the Crone: A Celebration of Feminine Maturity" is a book about menopause.

"The Whimsical Tarot," a fourth book by Morrison, is a children's book which tells the story about tarot cards and actually includes a deck of the cards for children. It is scheduled to be published by U.S. Games by the end of 1999.