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Re-structuring of my Patreon Page

Hello everyone! I’m so sorry that I’ve been away for a bit. I’ve had to take some time off because I developed carpal tunnel syndrome (again) and have been overdoing it workwise. The body just sometimes forces me to take a break, which is difficult when you’ve got deadlines approaching! But there you go; self-care is a necessity.

In this forced time-off, I’ve had the chance to mull over a few things, such as looking at where my focus needs to be right now. And all things point straight to my writing. I’ve stopped doing so much other media, such as making videos for my YouTube channel, because I just don’t have the time. As well, my photography has taken a back seat, because all the muses are screaming at me to write, write, WRITE!!! And when the muses call, I must listen.

I’ve thought long and hard as well about my Patreon site too. I tossed around a few ideas in my head last month already, about the different tiers and what people can expect from me on a monthly basis. And I’ve come to realise that it is still too much for me to take on at this moment. Therefore, there is going to be a re-structure of my Patreon page very shortly. Don’t worry, I’m not disappearing completely!

With the economic crisis worldwide, everyone is feeling the crunch. As such, I thought, well, why don’t I make my Patreon page accessible to EVERYONE? Having tiers means that not only are some people left out, but it also puts extra pressure on my time to deliver. And when the original idea for these tiers is now almost defunct, due to my need to write instead of providing other forms of media, I knew that I had to change the way I do things here on Patreon. Last month I had a go at doing a halfway-house of sorts, but it just didn’t feel right.

And so, now I’ve decided to just have three tiers: those who want to support me on Patreon, and another two for the divination tiers. For those who just want to support me on Patreon, and have access to posts about the writing that I am currently doing (and other writing-related things) then it is simply going to be $1 a month. This provides access to samples of the writing that I am working on, thoughts about writing, the joys and the struggles. The other two divination tiers will remain the same: one a basic divination and the other a full divination tier. In time, these divination tiers might also be removed, dependent upon my time constraints, but for now, we will see how we go!

And so there you have it: a Patreon page that is stream-lined and accessible for more people to partake in. If you are currently in a specific tier, you will have to switch to the $1 tier yourself, because I cannot do that for you as I don’t have access to your personal accounts. If you’d like to switch up to the divination tiers, the same applies. If you don’t switch, you will still pay the same amount that you are currently paying every month, and if that is fine with you, then great, thank you!

Things change, and I realized that I had to change alongside the demands of my schedule. Writing is, and always has been, my life’s passion, and I am so blessed to be able to do this, especially my fiction writing, which I love! It’s what I’ve always dreamed of doing, ever since I was a thirteen-year-old girl sitting in my room with an old manual typewriter that my mother had when she was in college. I was going to be a writer, I thought. And now I can tell that little girl who still resides in my heart that yes, you are!

Thank you so much for helping me to get to where I am now. My Patreon page helped to support me in the earlier stages of my writing career. When I fell in love with other forms of media, such as video and photography, it helped to fund the equipment that I needed, such as a better camera, gimble, and eventually a second-hand drone for beautiful aerial shots. Now, I just need your support to help me to continue to write books, and to keep them coming for many, many years.

You have all been on this journey with me, and for that, I am so grateful. Many, many blessings, and I hope that you will continue this journey with me for many more years to come!

P.S. For this month (April) I will still be providing the herbcraft and spellcraft sections, for those who have paid for this month. I shall also try to get another journal entry sorted for those in the $5 and $3 tiers. Thank you!

Click HERE to go to my Patreon Page.

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How to Follow The Old Ways

I recently wrote an article for Llewellyn’s online journal, and it also serves as a little intro to my book that just came out last week! Here’s the link:

https://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/3236

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The Aesthetics of Our Traditions

It had been a busy couple of weeks. I finally finished the manuscript for the third book in my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest. I also had another book published with Llewellyn Worldwide released on Saturday, which quickly hit the top of the charts in its category. I was absolutely thrilled, but I also needed some downtime.

I went to my special reading/relaxation room (our spare room is a devoted, sacred space) and rearranged my altar. I do so every few weeks, to match both my mood and my needs, and what I see reflected around me in nature. After I had settled down, I meditated for a while just to reset myself and find my centre. And then I opened my eyes.

I was instantly struck by the beauty and wonder of my spiritual path, of my religion. There on my altar, the candles flickering, the statues of my deities gathered round, the plants, stones, and tools of my Craft were laid out before me. The aesthetics of its hit me like a ton of bricks. And it was then that I realized the huge importance of aesthetics in both Witchcraft and Druidry, and how it shouldn’t be dismissed so easily.

Because too often we can dismiss these things as superficiality. “It’s all just surface, and the real stuff, the real work is what matters most.” But right then and there, I got it.

I got it.

It was what drew me to Witchcraft and Druidry in the first place. The tools, the beauty of the natural world, the images of deity, the rocks, stones, and crystals collected on my journeys, the sight of a plant sprouting new leaves, the flicker of a candle flame, the scent of the oil burner, the music gently playing in the background: I understood the importance of these things on a visceral level.

Because we need beauty in our lives. We need joy, and wonder, and creativity. We need that which makes our hearts sing, in order to continue this journey through life.

Many of us in the Western world are still under the influence of Protestant Christianity. Buddhists have their temples and incense, Roman Catholics have their mass and cathedrals, First Nations peoples have their art and their ceremonies. But the austerity found in many sects of Protestantism has been passed down through generation upon generation here in Britian and also throughout North America. The churches are stripped down to bare essentials, the incense is gone, the choirs are absent. The beauty of the rituals is harder to see with the naked eye, and stripping away all of that, I believe, has led us towards a reunification and a deep longing to reconnect with beauty and aesthetics. Much as I adore the beauty and simplicity of the functional Shaker style, my heart still years for more. More ceremony, more ritual, more pageantry.

We can get just as much out of these things as we can in one to one communication with our deities, the spirits, the land, or whatever it is that we work with and have deep relationship. While my own tradition still favours simplicity in all things, I can still appreciate the robed rituals, the poetic words chanted under the full moon, the drift of the incense smoke on the wind. These are the things that first caught my eye when I was seeking a religious and spiritual path that resonated with my soul. These are the things that still draw me back, time and again.

We are visual creatures; we cannot deny that. We see in colour. We need to indulge in that sense sometimes, to make our hearts sing once again. We need to feel the rich textures, to taste the indulgent flavours, to hear the sweet music, to smell the scents that fill us with passion.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a ritual simply because it was visually stunning. What our eyes see, also goes to our hearts. Those memories will carry us through hard times. They will bring us back when we’ve lost our way. They will connect us to like-minded people. The aesthetics of our Craft and our tradition are not just surface value: they are essential.

Does that mean that every ritual has to be filled with these things? Of course not. We do what we can, when we can, and however we can. But in our hearts, we carry the feeling of those beautiful rituals into every other ritual that we do, that sense of wonderment and enchantment when we were truly moved in a previous experience. Although not every ritual will have that same result, we still have that within us, and can still seek it out, in both ritual and in our lives.

It’s not shallow to love the aesthetics of our tradition. It’s a part of our heritage, and instead, we should celebrate it, in all its various forms.

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New look!

It’s been a busy week so far, and we are only Wednesday! But I’ve been working late into the evenings, getting my new fiction book series, Witches of the New Forest, up to date and ready for the third book, The Witch’s Compass, which is coming out in the late spring.

So, what have I been doing? Well, after much consideration, I decided to change the cover of Hedge Witch. This is so that the other books in the series can follow a theme: forest scenes. As the series is set in England’s New Forest region, it only makes sense to have all the covers correlate not only to that theme, but also to each other.

And so, here is the new book cover!

The colours work well with the second book, almost being a reverse of the greys, blues and orange/peachy tones. I’m pleased with it, but then, I designed it, so there you go!

Hedge Witch has been doing well in the book rankings, last week coming in the top 100 of three different categories: Women’s Fantasy Fiction, Magic Romance ebooks, and Paranormal Witches and Wizards Romance. But this book, and all the others in the series, are so much more than romance novels (though I do love a good love story). They tell the tale of coming into one’s own power, the different boundaries that exist both within ourselves and our society, and also contain a large portion of modern Witchcraft and Druidry thrown in for good measure!

It’s been getting really great reviews as well, for which I am super pleased. It’s so wonderful that this book and the second, The Veil Between the Worlds, is really resonating with folks. I’m two thirds of the way through writing the third book, which will round off Hunter’s trilogy, and then we can begin exploring Ryder, her sister’s story, in the fourth book.

Come and join me in the New Forest!

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The topic of ‘Romantasy’

I was a call-in guest today on the Jeremy Vine BBC Radio 2 Show today, and we were discussing ‘romantasy’ as the new genre that’s getting everyone talking. Here’s a link to the episode, and for those who are unable to listen, please see the short transcript below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0027mf4

Tina Daheley – Joanna is in Woodbridge, Suffolk – Joanna, ‘Romantasy’, what is your view?

Joanna van der Hoeven – “I think it’s wonderful that it is so prevalent now, because it is saying to women, ‘Don’t be ashamed to like, what you like’. You will see women on the trains, on the buses, reading these books, and it is allowing you to just say, ‘Yes! This is what I am going to consume, this is what I like,” and to not be ashamed of it, because far too often we are made to feel small, or ashamed for anything to do with sexuality, as women. And so, the whole ‘Fairy Porn’ thing, when I first heard that it made me laugh out loud, but then I thought, ‘Well, isn’t it the same thing as the patriarchy trying to tell women not to be sexual creatures?

TD – “So it’s reductive, you think, calling it “Fairy Porn.”

Joanna van der Hoeven – “Exactly, yeah. As an author myself, as a romantasy author, I find that it is empowering for women to say, ‘This is what we like, so let’s continue with it.’

TD – “Alright, Joanna, thank you very much!”

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Website re-vamped!

So, I spent all weekend updating and refreshing my website. When you run the whole show in your author life (on the self-publishing side), you start to learn and develop a whole new set of skills, such as creating your own website, designing your book covers, your marketing visuals, and more. And so this weekend was a big change (at least for me) on moving forward with my writing career.

I wanted to add something fun to the website as well, and thought, what if I created a music playlist for the different books in my Witches of the New Forest series? So I did!

Each track is a mood, emotion, or scene from the book, run in sequential order through the chapters. It was a new way of looking at the work, and Ioved creating it!

I will also be adding some bonus scenes in the next few weeks for both Hedge Witch and The Veil Between the Worlds. I hope you like them!

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Writing through the Depth of Winter Into Spring

As I returned from my holiday back in Quebec, Canada, spending time with my family, I dove straight into writing the third book for my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest. The first two books in this series flowed out of me like water, and I wrote like a woman possessed (which may entirely be the case when you’re knee-deep in awen). This third book has somewhat followed suit, and I am halfway through writing it as we speak. But it is providing me with new challenges as well.

Being the final book in Hunter’s trilogy, and the culmination of the books before, (Hedge Witch and The Veil Between the Worlds) there is a lot of pressure on this final book before we move on to her sister, Ryder’s story. The build-up and the expectation is there from the readers (and from myself), and this can sometimes restrict the flow of awen, the flow of inspiration, because I am letting myself and my worries get in the way of writing. It’s hard to admit to, but there it is.

So, I’ve just got to get over fretting what other people are going to think of this book, and just let it happen. It’s how the other two were written. I had a general idea, a few of scenes came to mind while either out wandering the forest and heath (or in the bathtub, terribly inconvenient for writing key points down), and then I just sat down and let the characters do their thing. Now, I feel like I’m worrying over them like a mother hen, and they just can’t do what they want, or need to do, to finish the work.

The characters need the freedom to express themselves and work out their own dynamics without me getting involved. Yes, this is a bit of an oxymoron, as there are parts of me in each character, but it’s only when I allow them the freedom to interact with each other that the magic (or magick) really happens. Worry doesn’t really help the artistic process one bit!

So, following on from my previous post which I wrote back in December, I need to get my Zen on. I need to stop striving and just let it be.

Easier said than done.

I think that there is also a lesson to be learned (at least for myself) in this latest book, which is all about how Hunter is allowing her past to dictate her future. Through the Witch’s Compass, she is able to navigate herself to her true nature, and find her authentic self in all its glory and all its disaster. When we accept this and stop striving, we can move forwards with more awareness. I need to stop trying to be perfect, to stop allowing negative incidents from my past colour my current perceptions, and be open to receiving guidance and the divine inspiration that is all around me.

Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.

As we move into spring, I think both Hunter and I will make it through this, though there are still going to be challenges and set-backs along the way. But we both have a great network of people that are with us, and though the person that supports me on a daily basis may not be a Druid/Park Ranger like Jack, he is still my foundation and my rock. His science-mind is a great complement to my magickal mind, and who knows? That may even be the inspiration for much of Ryder’s story, yet to come…

End of Year Blog for 2024
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End of Year Blog for 2024

It’s coming to the end of the year, and I am about to take such much-needed time off. Throughout the year, I take two holidays: one summer, and one winter holiday. I use this time to go back home and see my family in Canada, which as the years progress gets even more important. They say you don’t know what you’ve got until its gone, but I disagree. I am so very thankful and happy for my friends and family, and I will spend every single chance I can get with them, no matter what.

This time of year is always reflective for me. The autumn season begins the turning inwards of my thoughts, and as the nights draw in, the leaves fall and the winds of change come in bringing the storms. My energy moves from projecting out into the world, to pulling inwards. It’s a cycle of extrovert and introvert, though I must admit that I am a functioning introvert all of the time. When the leaves have all fallen, and the winter rains and dark days lie ahead, I think of home, of family and friends, of warmth and companionship even as I dream of long walks, snowshoe hikes, and cross-country skiing out in the silent wilderness of the boreal forest.

It’s a time when I take stock of my achievements for the year. This year has been exceptional, in that I have completed three books! The first is the follow-up to The Path of the Hedge Witch, my non-fiction work for Llewellyn. The Old Ways: A Hedge Witch’s Guide to Living a Magickal Life will be available next year in the UK, on the 8 March 2025 for Kindle and 8 April for the paperback. (Don’t ask me why the paperback takes a month longer, I have no idea. I’m guessing shipments from the US to UK Amazon stores are involved?)

The second and third books finished this year begin my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest. The first two books, Hedge Witch and The Veil Between the Worlds, form two thirds of the trilogy set around the main character, Hunter Williams, as she begins on her path of Hedge Witchcraft. With Druids, otherworldly characters, a magickal community and more, it’s a really fun environment to spend my days in, and I love it. Returning to fiction feels like coming home. (Other books in the series are planned, from different characters’ perspectives.)

I’ve always been a writer. From the age of twelve or thirteen, I’ve been writing stories. Ever since I finished reading Lord of the Rings, I knew that I wanted to write books set in a beautiful fantasy world where myth and magick meet.

Having been so productive this year has, however, caused a little burnout. I’m tired. I need some time away from my computer and my desk, away from social media, away from anything digital. I long to spend hours in the woods where I grew up, smelling the snow and the cedars, watching the chickadees and the wild turkeys coming into garden. I want to reconnect not only with the natural world, but also with my own sense of self. What I am craving most, is peace.

Which is funny, considering how crazy the first few weeks are going to be back home, shopping for presents, organising and attending the family parties, New Year’s celebrations and more. But it’s home, and it’s where I decompress, busy though it might appear. My heart just instantly relaxes, my body gives a sigh of relief and my lungs are filled with the crisp, cold air. There’s even an extra hour of daylight, not to mention days where the sun actually shines!

But peace is something that I’ve always sought after in my life. Little spaces of sanctuary. I have always created these spaces no matter where I was in the world, because I needed that in order to function on any sort of level. My homes have never been just houses, flats or apartments. They’ve been havens from the world outside, where I can let down my own walls and just be.

It’s a strange thing to think about, this need for peace. I look outside the window as I type, and I see collared doves in the beech tree. Are they at peace in this moment? They certainly don’t have to worry about promoting their work, keeping an eye on their sales, updating their social media or paying the bills. But they do have to survive in a difficult climate. Do they worry? About different things? Or are they at peace with what life had dealt them, and they’re just getting on with it?

I’ve studied a lot of Zen Buddhism in my time. That’s all about ways to find peace, by giving up searching for peace. There are so many paths to peace in this world. Maybe you could leave a comment on this post, sharing your path to peace? I’d love to hear about it.

Giving up the need for peace, as most Zen Buddhists would say, brings about peace. It’s the need that is the driving force in our own dissatisfaction. When we realise that we can have peace anywhere, at any time, simply by letting go of our need for peace, it can be like a ton of bricks has fallen from our shoulders. It’s so simple. And yet, so difficult to maintain. It can makes sense for five to ten seconds, before something else demands our attention. And our need for peace returns with a vengeance.

With so many external factors creating our personal circumstances, it can be very hard to see how we can let go of that need for peace in our lives, because people bring problems. Life is hard. We have no control over anything. For many Buddhists, simple acceptance of the circumstances is what brings peace. I’m not quite there yet all the time, but I can understand the mechanics behind the concept and try to remember it as much as I can throughout my day.

During the winter holidays, peace is such a central theme. Scenes of snowy landscapes evoke a feeling of peace and stillness on holiday cards. Snow is wonderful. It muffles sound, and covers all the sharp edges of the world, leaving behind sparkly magic in both sunlight and moonlight. Like a weighted blanket for the world, it holds us, frozen in a moment of time, to offer us peace.

Other simple things can bring us peace. The lighting of a candle, the recitation of a heartfelt prayer of thanks, the cooking of a meal, snuggling into a warm bed. Many things we often overlook can bring us peace. It is true: mindfulness does bring peace.

In a world full of lies, deception, insane politics, war and other atrocities, it can seem impossible to find peace. If you live in a country where people with guns are roaming the streets, if you live in dread of air raids or drones dropping bombs on your home, if you don’t have enough food for your cat, let alone yourself, finding peace is not only difficult, but damn-near impossible. When we are just fighting to survive, we are not at peace.

But I am guessing that the majority of you who are reading this blog do not live in these sorts of circumstances. We live in a mainly moral society, where the rule-breakers often get punished for breaking the social contracts and the laws that we have created through a democratic process of electing those to speak for us. In these worlds, we face other issues. We have the time to reflect on morals, on ethics, on philosophical ideas of all kinds. We can even create strange, perverse worlds where we find ourselves in moral competition with each other. “You’re not angry enough about this,” or “by not speaking up about it, you have failed society,” and other concepts often pop up on the socials, where everyone is judging everyone else, and everyone is found lacking.

It’s no wonder we can’t find peace.

Morality isn’t a competition.

But I digress.

For me, it’s in the small moments and in the small things where I find my peace. Having a moment to watch the sun set in the winter skies, with the golds and peaches highlighting the blues, pinks and purples. Stroking a purring cat curled up on a sunbeam on the bed. Eating a meal with my family. Sitting at my altar, honouring the deities, the spirits of place, and more. The big accomplishments are nice, and they are rewarding in different ways. But the culmination of all the small things is what really brings me peace. It’s not in what I do, but almost in what I don’t do. When I stop ‘doing’ and simply ‘be’, that’s where peace is found. It’s that liminal space, where there is no ‘I’ or ‘You’, but only ‘Us, Together’.

And so, I end this ‘end of year blog’ with an Irish blessing that’s often in my thoughts at this time of year.

Deep Peace to You

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

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Today is the Day!

It’s Finally Here!

The Veil Between the Worlds, Book 2 of my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest, is now available! Kindle and paperback editions are now up on Amazon all around the world. 

Pre-orders have been sent to Kindles, paperbacks are now availabe to buy, and the story continues deep in the heart of the New Forest! 

If you enjoy:
*Mystery
*Romance
*Contemporary Witches and Witchcraft
*Druids and Druidry
*Paranormal adventures
then this is the series for you!


Link to buy in the UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DP27JDWB/

Link to buy in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Veil-Between-Worlds…/dp/B0D39L2TJT/

Link to buy in Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Veil-Between-Worlds…/dp/B0DP27JDWB/

Available around the world, just go to your country’s Amazon site and search The Veil Between the Worlds, or Witches of the New Forest.

I hope you enjoy it! These books are written from the heart, and it is so good to be writing fiction again. Come and join me in the magickal world of the New Forest 🙂 
 

I will be at Crystal Encounters in Rendlesham, Suffolk, England on 7 December, 2024 for book signing! 

Happy Holidays!
(Don’t forget, books make great gifts)

With love from the Suffolk Coast,
Joanna van der Hoeven