Starting the week with a blessing from John O’Donohue’s book, Anam Cara (Soul Friend). I discovered his work several years ago during the Covid crisis. Diving deep into Celtic wisdom and honoring nature seems appropriate as spring takes hold and St. Patrick’s Day festivities happen next weekend.
Author Archives: ellisnelson
Sharing the Reviews!
From multiple 5-star reviews:
“The several story lines were skillfully interwoven and while the story is targeted for younger folks there is enough depth and richness to satisfy adults.” (LibraryThing)
“WOW! This is the first time I have read a novel by Ellis Nelson and it won’t be my last.” (LibraryThing)
“Down the Treacle Well is well-written, flows nicely, and is easy to read. It is also brilliantly clever—fun, funny, warmhearted, and wonderfully descriptive.” (Goodreads)
“The several story lines were skillfully interwoven and while the story is targeted for younger folks there is enough depth and richness to satisfy adults.” (Goodreads)
“It is, however, the injection of main characters with a 21st-Century sensibility that make it a story to recommend highly for modern readers who love fantasy, speculative fiction, or whimsical adventures.” (Goodreads)
” …Nelson reveals a darker side of Wonderland, one you get a glimpse of in the book and barely see at all in the Disney version. Friendly characters take on a more sinister feel as Nelson imbues them with plausible, but darker, traits and actions, and the more chaotic and dangerous characters are rounded out with unexpected rationality and even-handedness.” (Amazon)
“Author Ellis Nelson weaves the venerated Wonderland traditions with 21st century characters and ideas into a fun “what-happens-next” page turner.” (Amazon)
“…readers will enjoy this faithful and clever modern-day retelling of a children’s classic.” (Amazon)
“It’s a historical novel wrapped in an adventure tied up with fantasy ribbons. This revisit to a children’s classic just might be a new classic itself.” (Amazon)
ORDER HERE: bit.ly/3roGX9f
SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE: Contact himalayaspencerellis@yahoo.com for more info!
Filed under Books
PISCES SEASON!
(Feb. 19- Mar. 20)
Happy birthday Pisces! It’s your turn to shine this month.
You are a mutable water sign, capable of diving to the deepest depths of emotion. Pisceans can adapt to changing circumstances and situations. Staying fluid and being able to almost shape-shift when required is not a weakness but a strength. Deeply compassionate and sensitive, Pisces often brings healing to events and people around them. Contemplation and a deep engagement in the search for inner truth comes naturally.
Since Pisces is the last sign in the zodiac, it has traversed all the signs and experienced many lessons. In all these situations you experienced hope and joy, fear and pain. All of these are deeply understood and felt by you, Pisces. This is what makes Pisceans so sensitive and vulnerable. Pisces needs to remember to stay grounded in the 3D world.
Symbol:
Your symbol is the two fishes seen in pairs in the gorgeous illustration above. The two fishes represent how Pisces’s attention is divided between fantasy and reality.
Ruler: (modern)
Your ruler is Neptune.
Neptune’s energy is feminine and associated with changeability and illusion. On the positive end, Neptune can be a source for dreams and creativity. But Neptune can also function as deception or delusion.
Have you ever wondered what astrology has to say about your past lives?
Filed under astrology
Down the Treacle Well in Bookstore
Although I’ve known the book was in bookstores, this is the first time I’ve seen it on shelves. This is the Tattered Cover, Denver.
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Spectral Analysis: Seeking Lost Souls
(Book 1 of 3)
by Joanne Cook
This novel follows the story of Janine Stinger, a tech specialist on the crew of a TV ghost-hunting show. Janine is deeply scarred by a previous relationship and especially vulnerable, although she does her best to hide it. When the team stumbles upon a story that dovetails with her own growing up, family history and local legend collide to confront Janine’s darkest fears. Is she part of a true haunting and curse? Her attempts to keep her past private start to crumble as her crush on the team’s lead paranormal investigator become mutual. How can she balance the past, the present, and the increasingly darker threats all while a river ghost lures people to their deaths?
Janine’s character is well-developed as are the other supporting characters. The personal dynamics of work, family, and romantic relationships all play a role in this historical ghost story. The author provides wonderful technical details on ghost hunting, the equipment, and the process. I loved the historical details and research that provided the backstory of the book. The reader learns about the culture in which ghost stories arise and grow. Although this book deals with one haunting, the reader is deeply invested in Janine’s experience and what is in store for her next.
Filed under Books
Valentine’s Day Craft (EASY)
Valentine’s Day combined with Wonderland! A simple craft project with supplies you probably already have at home. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Visit Wonderland in my new book:
Lewis Carroll’s Birthday!
(The birthday post)
Lewis Carroll was born on January 27th, 1832. Lewis Carroll, the pen name taken by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was born into a line of English military officers and clergymen. His father was gifted in mathematics as was he. While the father found a home in the high Anglican Church, the son spent most of his life teaching at Oxford. The world would also come to know the son as the writer of one of the most recognized English language works of all time. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865. Through the Looking Glass followed a few years later. Lewis Carroll became famous for his fantasy works and a category of writing known as literary nonsense (Jabberwocky, The Hunting of the Snark). His writings continue to inspire and influence our culture.
A curious fact: Goodreads lists over 140 Alice retellings! Just one clue about the influence Lewis Carroll has had. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/27554.Best_Retellings_of_Alice_in_Wonderland
My own retelling story is called Down the Treacle Well. You can find out more here: https://ellisnelson.com/books/
Filed under Books
The London Séance Society
by Sarah Penner
Following on the heels of the successful, The Lost Apothecary, Sarah Penner’s latest novel has had a lot of hype. I found her new book when the library had a long waiting list for her first book and anything with séance in the title will get me to take a look.
The London Séance Society follows the story of Lenna Wickes who has recently lost her sister and who wants desperately to solve her murder. Since her sister was studying under a renowned medium, Lenna travels to Paris to engage Vaudeline D’Allaire for help. The two of them wind up back in London trying to solve a murder at a men’s club that functions as its own spiritualist-type institution. Of course, the two murders are connected and Vaudeline has her own history with the men’s club.
Not a bad setup, overall. The novel has a good pace with plenty of twists and turns. This is one where there may be a few too many. Throw in lesbian attractions. Men and misogyny. I started out thinking reading this book that it would be historical fiction but found the world the author created never existed. The contrived use of the séance in this way was irritating in a time when men’s societies did scientifically investigate phenomena. The use of language during this Victorian period many times felt far too modern. It was as if the author was unfamiliar with the way people spoke and the customs of the time (even though there are notes at the end of the book about mourning and funeral customs). The actual séance scenes and Vaudeline’s procedures were creative and well executed. Although the book held a lot of promise, it missed the mark for me. So much so, I’m going to pass on Penner’s first book.
Filed under Books
Is 2024 Your Year?
EVOLUTIONARY ASTROLOGY
Evolutionary Astrology is where the past becomes a steppingstone, not a millstone.
So, what is it exactly?
Many seekers over millennia have sought out and used the tools of astrology. In modern times, a birth chart reading provides insight into the personality or psychology of the individual. But behind that chart lies another chart, hidden from all but the most ardent of explorers. This is what evolutionary astrology endeavors to parse, the blending of the psychological with the metaphysical to produce a kind of elevated psychology. Perhaps this could be viewed as a sacred level of psychology–the psychology of our evolving consciousness.
Whether as a literal reality or metaphor, evolutionary astrology uses the idea that we have all lived before. Through those lives, we faced lessons and challenges. We learned and grew, and we continue to confront challenges in this incarnation. This is an astrology that honors the individual and individual difference. As a sacred esoteric tool, it empowers each one of us with the free will of choice. Throughout life, an individual makes choices amongst a vast field of archetypal astrological possibilities and always an individual retains free will. We evolve through incarnations based on our choices.
What evolves lifetime to lifetime is consciousness. Exploring the evolutionary chart will reveal past-life situations and dynamics but the focus of evolutionary astrology is to evolve consciousness through understanding, healing, and releasing. The seeker enters the realm of the sacred—the deep, the mystical, the past. Together, astrologer and client go in search of pattern and archetype. We uncover triumph and failure revealing both treasure and wound.
It is important to remember that this analysis employs a symbolic system and is not literal. It is not possible to tell if someone lived in the 14th Cent. Florence or fought in the Boer War. The chart will not reveal personal past-life connections to people in our current lives. These areas may be best explored with psychics or mediums. An analysis using evolutionary astrology will uncover situations and experiences an individual has likely faced many times in the past and these are the issues that are active in this incarnation. The proof of evolutionary astrology is borne out by the presence of these issues in one’s life today.
Are you ready to find out about your past and get a taste of what your soul yearns for in this life?
For $100, payable through PayPal, you will receive your own personalized report along with your birth chart. This is NOT a computer-generated report but a detailed, specific analysis uniquely for you, written by me. Want to see a sample? Contact me through himalayaspencerellis@yahoo.com for more details and scheduling information.
Let’s make 2024 your year!
Filed under astrology
In Alice’s Studio: Hatter’s Riddle
Back in Alice’s Studio, I discuss the famous riddle from Alice in Wonderland, called Hatter’s Riddle. What’s the story behind the riddle and why does it linger? For more videos on Wonderland, scroll through my YouTube page.
DOWN THE TREACLE WELL is on sale at the holiday price of $15.99 (through Jan. 1) on Amazon
CHECK OUT THE REVIEWS ON AMAZON!!
Book Description:
While visiting a museum in England, Ben and Kyle experience the extraordinary. Gazing at the Alfred Jewel, an ancient Anglo-Saxon artifact, they watch as it spins, contorts, and evaporates from its case, taking them with it.
Whisked back to Victorian England, the brothers are shocked to find themselves sprawled on the floor before Mr. Charles Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland.
They soon learn that the famous author’s muse, Alice, is missing. Alice has used the Alfred Jewel to enter Wonderland and, by so doing, has upset the time continuum. The only way for the boys to return home is to locate Alice and return her safely.
But Wonderland is a strange and dangerous place…
ORDER HERE: (from your favorite store)
bit.ly/3roGX9f
HOLIDAY SALE PRICE (now through Jan. 1) $15.99
Filed under Books
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