Monday Night Magical Movie: Dragonheart

"A knight is sworn to valor.
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His word speaks only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked."

Here's a classic fantasy that I always loved.  It's a story about honor, magic and dragons.  It's also lots of fun, and had cutting edge CGI for it's time back in 1996, and it won an Academy Award for special effects to prove it.

Bowen (Dennis Quaid) is a knight of the old code, and has taken on the training of Einon, prince and heir to the throne in 10th century England.  He teaches him not only to fight, but the virtues of honor and chivalry, in an attempt to nurture the values of a knight of the round table in the boy.  The king is a cruel man, and during a bloody raid on one of the villages the king is killed.  Einon rips the crown from his dying father showing his true secret nature.  His pride in taking the crown passes quickly however when he is stabbed in the heart by one of the girls of the village. 

Bowen and Einons mother Queen Aislinn bring the dying Einon to his mothers honored friend, a Dragon voiced by noneother than Sean Connery.  We learn that she also follows the old ways and is recognised by the dragon as a "Daughter of the Celts."  When they make Einon swear to the dragon to be a fair and just ruler and follow the knights code, he does, and the dragon saves his life by sharing half of his heart with the boy.

Now that Einon is king and his life has been saved, his true nature comes out for everyone to see, he decides to slave the people to build him a new castle and continues his fathers reign of terror over the people of his land.  Bowan, not wanting to believe that the boy had lied to him all along, blames the dragon for cursing his heart and sets out on a new path as a dragonslayer as he travels the land killing every dragon he can find as Einon grows into a callus and cruel king.

12 years later, Bowen having turned his back on the code meets up with Brother Gilbert (Pete Postlethwaite), a traveling monk, scribe and poet who decides to follow him and record ballads of his exploits.  Bowan ends up facing down what he soon learns to be the last dragon alive and after extensive battle and arguing throughout a dicey stalemate they decide it's best to team up, Bowen pretending to slay him and the dragon pretending to die, both benefiting by survival.  Bowen names the dragon Draco after the dragon constellation since his name is unpronounceable to humans.  They end up in several sticky predicaments, and eventually meet up with Kara (Diana Meyer) who once stabbed Einon as a girl and has tried to kill Einon herself again in revenge for her fathers death.  The realize the only way to make justice for the people is to train them for battle against King Einon.  What no one but Draco knows is that his life and Einons are tied together by the heart, as long as Dracos heart beats, so will Einons.

It's a clever story, with beautiful scenery and excellent costuming, music, it really pulls it all together, and was honored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy adn Horror Films for their excellent contributions.  Sean Connery brings wonderful personality to Draco, the wise and lovable dragon. 

David Thewlis channels his inner bad guy brilliantly as King Einon, he really makes a great villain.  Queen Aislinn is one of my favorite characters, she is kind and wise and attempts to live her life with grace and dignity no matter what.  She is played by the beautiful and talented Julie Christie who was Lara in the 1965 film  Doctor Zhivago.  I also like the scene when Draco takes Bowen to Avalon where he heard Arthurs voice (uncredited John Geilgud) who reminds him of the old code once again. 

This film received mixed reviews, but I was happy to take it for what it was, a fun fantasy film with food for the imagination.  Jami Bernard of the The New York Daily News described Dragonheart as "a movie for people young enough to keep dragons in the menageries of their imaginations." As an "over 40" woman with a whole slew of fantastical creatures dancing around in my imagination, I'll take that as a compliment!

Monday Movie Featured Item:

Garnet Dragon 15 oz coffee mug, available in our Etsy shop!

Who wouldn't love to have a dragon fighting right at their side?  Our Garnet Dragon coffee mug will kindle the dragon in your heart every morning and keep the magic alive all day long.

The design wraps all the way around the mug, repeating the art twice with a close up detail view in the center of the mug. A parchment paper design graces the border. This design is printed right in my studio and hand pressed permanently into the surface of the ceramic mug. This mug is both microwave and dishwasher safe.

We've had many proud owners of these mugs praise how beautiful they are and well they heat up drinks in the microwave without the handle getting hot. We hate when that happens, so we love these mugs!  Dan and I use one every morning.

Bright Blessings,

Birthdays, Cats and an Interview on Tarot Notes

Hi All!

It's been a very busy week around the old wooden art table.  Last week was my birthday, so I spent lots of time hanging out with family.  We went out for dinners one night at B.C.'s Kitchen one of the St. Louis areas top restaurants that specialises in seasonal cuisine.  We had an amazing meal.  I joined my dad for breakfast on morning and relaxed with Dan and Tristan at home that evening, and last night my daughters, their husbands and my little grand kids came over for a celebration.  We had a great time.

Here I am with Brittany and little Olivia.

Brittany made delicious homemade Chicken Picata, she's a great cook!

Chelsea with Olivia, Livvy calls her Aunt Chel.

After dinner Brittany worked on her sweater, little Rhys was just hanging out with her but was happy to smile for the camera.

I always think of my sister on my birthday, you see her birthday is today!  We always shared our parties since our birthdays were so close, and we often had red hearts on our cakes and as decorations since we have February birthdays.  She's living in Denver now and I'm in Missouri, but we're still close, the distance is only incidental. 

I'm working away on my new Tarot deck,  Mystical Cats Tarot that I'm working on with author Lunaea Weatherstone (upcoming from Llewellyn, 2014)  In fact after a little writing this morning, I'm working on another card for that today.  Having loads of fun working on it, and exploring the mystical magical world of these very unique cats. 

I also had an interview with Zanna Starr over at Tarot Notes blog, she asked some great questions, if you would like to read it, here's the link! 

Well, back to work for me,

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Monday Night Magical Movie: Willow

My friend Willow recommended that I do this one quite some time ago, and I was feeling kind of "Willow" this weekend, so here it is!

This 1988 movie written by George Lucas and Bob Dolman and directed by Ron Howard is a classic magical movie with all the elements of an action-adventure fairy tale.  He has created a very real feeling world, wonderful characters, and one of my favorite things about this movie is that there's lots of magic, the good, the bad and yes, even of the ugly variety.  My kids used to love to settle down with a big bowl of popcorn and watch this expertly woven tale.  This film has become such a favorite that it's hard to believe it didn't do well at the box office, but has lived on as a cult classic film for lovers of fantasy and magic.

Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) comes from a small village of small people called the Nelwyns, they live a simple life farming and raising their families.  Willow is more than just a farmer though, he has also been studying magic, and longs to become the apprentice to the village magician High Aldwin played delightfully by Billy Barty.  Aldwin respects Willows potential but questions his lack of belief in himself.  When Willows children find a Daikini (large people) baby in a basket in the river they bring the infant home.  When the village is attacked by large dog like creatures who are apparently looking for the Daikini child, it's decided that Willow and a company of fellow Nelwyns must get the baby out of town, to the Daikini crossroads and give her to her own kind to care for.

Unknown to them, she is a very special baby, destined to overthrow the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) who rules the land with an iron fist.  The band of travelers ends up abandoning Willow on their journey leaving only Willow and his friend Meegosh to get the baby to the crossroads.  They find only passing warriors there who don't want the baby.  The only one who agrees to help is Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) who is locked up in a crow cage and seems like a questionable character at best. 

He manages to charm Willow into releasing him so he can care for the baby, only to learn shortly after the baby has been stolen by brownies.  The two  Nelwyns follow the stolen baby and are brought to a magical grove where they learn from the fairy queen of the forest Cherlindrea that the baby's name is Elora Danan (Ruth and Kate Greenfield) and they are told of her destiny to destroy Bavmorda and become the future Empress of Tir Asleen.

They are also told that Willow has been chosen by Elora as her protector, so their destinies are intertwined.  Meegosh returns home and willow teams up with Madmartigan to give Cherlindrea wand to the exiled sorceress Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes) so that she can use her powers to overcome Queen Bavmorda.  Turns out they are old enemies.

The two brownies become part of their alliance and they all make their way to the castle at Tir Asleen. 

Raziel continues Willows magic training, and Madmartigan develops a love-hate relationship with Bavmordas daughter the red headed and brutal Sorsha, played by Joanne Whalley, later Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, they met on this set.  They weren't the only ones to fall in love on the set of this film, young Warwick Davis met his future wife while making Willow too, she was one of the extras!

The hero's face trolls, trolls gone horribly wrong, transfiguration, captivity, love spells, winter sports on a shield, flaming arrows and gigantic armoured bad guys.  This story takes its inspiration from classical heroic literary concepts, the reluctant hero, the sage and apprentice, the magical gift, the messianic figure, the rogue hero and the battle between good and evil.

I've always loved Cherlindreas wand, apparently just a twisty branch or root, but full of great power.  This is a fun movie, and also has beautiful and inspiring scenery, costumes and special effects.  It's also a movie that makes you feel great and reminds us yet again, that its not your size (literally or figuratively) that matters, but your belief in yourself and your ability to find bravery in your won hear that really counts.

There is apparently are books that continue this story although none were ever made into movies called Chronicals of the Shadow War by George Lucas and Chris Claremont.  I found this while looking at the forums on IMDB, one of the girls who played Elora, Kate Greenfield actually popped onto a forum and mentioned it.

Magical Movie Featured Item:

Ogham Shield wall sconce, fiery readhead warrior chick!  Available in the Voice of the Trees Etsy shop

Sorsha is one of the coolest characters in Willow, who doesn't love a fiery redheaded warrior woman?
This is the cover art from Voice of the Trees, did I find some inspiration from the fiery Sorsha when I did this piece?  As many times as I've watched Willow, who knows, perhaps I did!

Blessings!

Celebrating the Art of the Magical Paths

From the art of The Hidden Path deck, this candle sconce featuring the quizical black cat will bless your home with magic!
Click here for the link.

If you've been to our Etsy shop lately you've probably noticed some new items from some classic art that wasn't there before.  We have recently started a new line of gifts and prints from the art of The Well Worn Path and The Hidden Path.  These are of course the first two decks I created artwork for, and they are sister decks.  The Well Worn Path illustrated the 40 basic teachings of the craft, and The Hidden Path delves into the deeper spiritual teachings.  The concept and accompanying book for each deck was created by Raven and Stephanie Grimassi and these decks have been highly acclaimed and are used for divination, meditation and teaching tools by many Pagans across the country. I put a lot of hard work, imagination and magic into these pieces, each one created with a combination of herb infused paint and painstakingly detailed colored pencil to bring these images to life.  To learn more about how these pieces were concieved and created, click here.  Each piece is full of magic created with the intention that every copy of the art would contain the same energy as the original art, making the printed decks and other items very magical indeed! Needless to say I'm very proud of these decks, and now I'm very pleased and honored to be able to offer you these special items created from the art right in my studio.

From the art of The Hidden Path deck, this magical mortar and pestle in an inspiration for the Kitchen Witch in you! Hang your herbs on candles or keys on this pretty iron rack.  Click here for the link.

A set of 8 oval wall hanging tiles, one for each Pagan Sabbat created from my art from The Hidden Path divination deck. You can hang these all together, or hang one and change it as the Wheel of the Year turns. A truly magical way to celebrate the magical holidays of the year. Click here for the link.

For now, this very special art will find it's home in the Mickie Mueller Studio shop, but as we add new items, we will very likely give these special pieces their own home in their own shop.  You'll see new items added every week, but I want to make sure that everyone knows that every card from both decks are available on any of the products that we offer in our shop, even if you don't see it, we can make it for you custom, and we don't charge a dime extra to do it.  Our goal is to be able to offer you what you're looking for, and since we make all of these beautiful items ourselves, it's never a problem to make something special just for you, it's our honor.

This wall sconce is made of an iron frame with a 6x6 inch ceramic tile with my art from The Well Worn Path "The Crossroads" featuring the triform mask, key and symbols of the Goddess Hecate. Click here for the link.

Every card image can be made into beautiful items for your personal and ritual use such as:

• tote bags
• candle sconces
• crystal jewelry
• key/herb racks
• compact mirrors
• coffee mugs
• ornament/car charms
• oval wall tiles
• handbags
• tarot/oracle bags
• beer steins

We hope you share our excitment about these cool new items, and watch for more beautiful things coming soon, we love making beautiful, magical things for you!

Bright Blessings!

This Isn't Your Moms Designer Handbag!

I've been using this purse for six months and I love it!  Now available in our Etsy shop.

Who wouldn't love a fantasy art handbag that's classy, functional and magically changes whenever you want it to?!  I do!  That's why we're so excited about the brand new product we're adding to our studio line.  Click here to order!  About six months ago Dan and I ordered a couple of these cool purse bodies with changeable flaps that we can add my art to using dye sublimation set up we have in the studio.  Now, I'm often kind of hard on purses especially if they're not leather.  Everytime I would get a cheap-o one it seems like they would fall apart, When these purses arrived, they seemed like really good quality, so I decided that I wanted to test this purse to see how it would hold up.  Some people around town saw me carrying it and really loved it.  They wanted to know if they could get one, then I explained that I was testing it to make sure the quality was good and that I would be offering these purses as long as it held up well.  I'm happy to report that six months later, I totally love this purse! 

You can choose whichever piece of art you want, or we'll be happy to custom make one with your favorite art on it if you don't see it here!  Available in our Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/MickieMuellerStudio

Dan and I worked on making some new purse flaps for our shop last night so we can offer them on in our shop. They are very pretty, black faux leather, so they're cruelty free.  It measures 11.75"H x 7.8"L x 3.5"D, I can fit a large wallet, Nook, cell phone, lipstick, compact, and lots of other various items of junk I feel the need to tote around in this bag.  I've not had the best luck with purses that aren't leather, but this one has held up great under my use and abuse.  It has an adjustable strap, so you can use it as a hand bag or make it long so that you can wear it across your body or anywhere in between.  It's not too big, not too small, it has a full zipper pocket,  interior zipper pocket, cell phone holder and even a key clip, so your keys don't sink to the bottom like they do. 

The adjustable strap attaches with shiney nickel clasps.  The front flap has one of my art pieces on it with a cool decorative black and gray border design that compliments the purse details and you can get extra flaps with different art and change the front flap depending on your mood, season, or outfit! 

This allows you to dress this purse up or down, from gypsy boho chic to office casual and anywhere in between.  We hand press and detail these flaps in our studio just for you.  I love that you can change the look of your purse without having to move all your stuff from one to another, super easy.  If you have to clean the purse body, just wipe it with a damp cloth, the fabric purse flap can be cleaned with a baby wipe, although after carrying mine for six months, I stil haven't had to worry about it, it still looks a vibrant and pretty as the day it was pressed.

We only have a couple at this date, but more are being shipped to us even as I write this, so if we sell out, don't dispair, we'll have more by next week.

Blessings,

Monday Night Magical Movie: Big Fish

Tall tales are the order of the day in this charming story that is ultimately all about love.  Big Fish is a 2003 Tim Burton film that embraces legend, myth and fantasy in a very real way. 

The story revolves around Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor/Albert Finney) who has chosen to view his life in the way that he wants to, he has woven his entire life as a story of legend, fantastical stories which he revels in telling and re-telling much to the chagrin of his son.  Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) grew up hearing the stories, and now that he's a grown man, he has become disenchanted with his fathers tall tales, especially now that his father is very sick and dying. Will feels like he doesn't know his father at all, only his fairytale versions of him.  Will returns home to attempt to reconcile his feelings and get to know the real man while he has the chance.  "In telling the story of my father's life, it's impossible to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth. The best I can do is to tell it the way he told me. It doesn't always make sense and most of it never happened... but that's what kind of story this is."

Ed Bloom catches the Big Fish, a lady fish on the day his son is born.  The bait he used?  His wedding ring, so of course he had to get it back!

This movie flashes back to times in Edward Blooms life, showing the stories that he tells about the events that shaped his life, and every one of them is a fantastic story full of magic, amazing people and amazing feats!  The same theme always arises one way or another, his love for his beautiful wife Sandra.(/Alison Lohman/Jessica Lange)  As Jenny who wanted him to stay with her was sad to realize, there were only two women to Edward, Sandra the love of his life, and everyone else.
This concept is illustrated by the fact that that Helena Bonham Carter plays both the oddly demure Jenny and the mysterious Witch with the magical glass eye from the town where he grows up. 

Will:" Logically, you couldn’t be the Witch, because she was old back when he was young."
Jenny: "No, it’s logical if you think like your father. See, to him, there’s only two women: your mother and everyone else."

The stories Edward tells about his life are simply amazing, and the most fun part of this movie!  He is the hero of his town when he convinces a giant that's scaring everyone to move on.

Edward and Carl decide the town of Ashton just isn't big enough for either of them and plan to hit the road.

He discovers the elusive and idyllic town of Spectre which he leaves but later returns to save.

Edward arrives in Spectre too early and meets Jenny.

Edward works in a circus for awhile with the sole purpose of learning information about his future wife Sandra, who he manages to win over with a series of romantic gestures  including a field of daffodils, her favorite flower. 

The first time Edward sees Sandra, time stops, but then it goes faster to catch up and he looses her in the crowd, but is totally smitten forever!

"I called everywhere in five states and explained this was the only way I could get my wife to marry me."

He tames a werewolf, survives a flood, robs a bank with a poet, crashes his plane during the Korean war and is rescued by singing conjoined twins, and yes, even catches a very big fish! 

"I need twice the man
Cause baby, I've got twice the love to give"

The circus ringmaster is played perfectly curmudgeonly by Danny DeVito, who is a riot, and his sidekick clown/attorney Mr. Soggybottom played by the awesome Deep Roy.  I loved Steve Buscemi as Spectres poet laureate Norther Winslow. 

"Roses are red, Violets are blue...I love Spectre,"  Norther Winslow and his poet groupies.

Wills charming and pregnant wife Josephine is played by the lovely Marion Cotillard, I love her character, she's patient and kind listening to Edwards stories and seems so truly caring.  I also loved the kindly giant Carl, played wonderfully by Matthew McGory, just misunderstood, and so hungry.  Awww.

So what does Edwards son Will discover about his dad in the end?  Is he for real, or just a big fish story?  Well if you haven't seen it, I'm not delivering a spoiler, but I do recommend that you watch this fanciful story about magic, imagination and love with someone you're sweet on!

"Sometimes, the only way to catch an uncatchable woman is to offer her a wedding ring."

"A man tells so many stories, that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal."

Monday Movie Featured Item:

The Hazel Card print from Voice of the Trees official Etsy shop.

The Celtic legend of how the great  Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn maCOOL) caught a magical fish and gained wisdom and inspiration is another great fish story.  This is the hazel card from my Voice of the Trees deck.  The hazel card represents wisdom, and inspiration and speaks of looking at the world in a new way or bringing your own creativity to life.  This is the way Edward Bloom in the film Big Fish lived his whole life.  He turned himself into a larger than life legend and found magic and mystery in every thing that he did.  He also lived like the traditional Irish storyteller, weaving tales that captured the imaginations of those who heard them. 

Blessings!

Celtic Tree Calendar Online Class

Celtic Tree Calendar Series is being offered as an online class! I'm currently teaching this class live at Pathways in St. Louis, now you have the opportunity to join us by taking the online version of this class.

Printouts of the Birch class, just as an example of how beautiful this class is, with lots of extras like candle labels, meditation cards, etc.  Click here to order.

Working with the Celtic tree calendar is a very peaceful and magical way to align with natural energies of the earth and specifically trees. My approach to the Celtic Tree Calendar as a working model for a year of magic is based upon the tree calendar as it was first suggested by Robert Graves as a modern inspiration based upon the ancient trees.

While the idea of the Celtic Tree Calendar cannot be claimed as historical, the Celtic Trees are, and this system has much spiritual relevance for many people working within modern magical practices. Tree magic can help you find balance in your life and you will also find that working magically with trees is like working with herbs but on a different level. These great sentinels of the earth are great magical allies to have and as you progress through this class, you’ll find that trees have magical messages that come from both general tree teachings that are the lessons that all trees have to share, but also the specific lessons of each species of tree as well. You’ll learn about the 13 trees of the Celtic Tree Calendar, the lessons they have to teach you about each tree and through this class you’ll also learn a bit about yourself. You’ll find the Celtic Tree Calendar a great basis for full moon rituals, since it’s a lunar calendar. Through this class I will teach you ways to connect to the Celtic Trees and to your own personal World Tree to gain insight, wisdom, healing, balance, and a positive outlook on your life and the world around you.

Because this is a cyclical calendar that turns along with the Wheel of the Year, there is no beginning and no end. I've broken this class down so that no matter what month you begin with, you will build tree wisdom and magical tree techniques while you cycle through the Celtic Tree Months.

The class arrives by email,  several PDF's each tree month, 13 in the year. With each class you'll get four beautiful full color pages, and loads of illustrated black and white pages full of tree wisdom and ways to work magically with the Celtic tree of the month including several tree spells and a full tree ritual that can be performed at any time of that tree month or during the full moon, the class shown below is 23 pages long, most classes will be about the same length. You'll also get a color page of extras such as candle labels, meditation pieces, talisman componants and more. Once you complete the full cycle of the tree year, you'll have over 200 pages of tree wisdom, and over 60 spells and rituals, you'll also recieve a beautiful certificate to put in your book of shadows or frame and hang on your wall. You have to order each class separately, so if at any time you don't want to continue, you don't have to cancel, you can just choose not to order the next class. But we know you'll love what you recieve every month and look forward to the next!

Click here for more info and to order.


I hope you'll join us!

Blessings,