Wednesday, October 14, 2015

A New Deck Project for Mickie and Dan!

I have a big announcement:  I have a new contract to illustrate and co-author a brand new tarot deck for Llewellyn! Who is my co-author? Some of you might be familiar with him, Dan Mueller, the new member of the Llewellyn family of authors! 

Contracts for a new Tarot deck, one for me and one for Dan! 

Many of you know him as my husband, or as the craftsman who produces, manages, and ships my art products, but many people don’t know, Dan is a hell of a writer.  He was writing short stories back when I met him, and we even worked together briefly on several test pages for a graphic novel style adaptation of one of his stories.  With tons of AP English and creative writing classes under his belt, his wordsmithery had remained previously unreleased, but not for long.  When the concept for this new deck came about, we spent hours brainstorming ideas, pouring over the concepts for cards, and the next thing I knew, I had a writing partner! Happily, after they reviewed our sample art and text the good folks at Llewellyn agreed, and we’re now joining forces on this new project. Wonder-Spouse powers unite!! 

Lighting up the night like a mirror in the sky!
A deck of 78 cards takes about 24 months to complete, so hang in there.  The subject and title is top secret at this point, but I think you guys will be really pleased with this new project we’re teaming up on just for you! I know you're wondering what the theme of this tarot deck is going to be. well, it's kind of innovative, so I can't reveal it's secrets at this time, but we will let you know as soon as we can. For those of you who know Dan personally, no, it's NOT a J.R.R. Tolkien Tarot deck, nor is it a Dune deck! 
A spectral snake conjured out of thin air.

Dan and I have a great mental shorthand, he describes things and I totally get it. He can interpret my roughest sketches to know if I'm getting what he's describing, so it's working out to be a great partnership. 
Smudge to purify your space.
He and I dug through tarot symbolism and meanings together like mad and came up with a great deal of the concepts for what each card will look like already.  Most of the first chapter is done, so that leaves me currently working through the art for the major arcana while Dan and I write through the text for each one as they're completed.  He's doing the lions share of the writing at this point which leaves me time to work on the art. I've included a couple detail shots of the cards for you to get the tiniest glimpse, we will keep working diligently so that hopefully we can have this project completed for you as soon as possible.
This one should brighten up your day!


I hope you enjoyed this really sneaky sneak peek!

Blessed Be!
Mickie




Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Announcing "The Witch's Mirror" by Mickie Mueller

Last year around this time I had an opportunity to submit a proposal for a book in Llewellyn's Witch's Tools series, a book about magical mirrors! I was intrigued. I have used mirrors in my practice from time to time, both black scrying mirrors and silver mirrors to reflect negativity away, multiply abundance, or boost candle magic; so I dug into the topic wholeheartedly.

As I worked on writing the proposal and eventually the manuscript, lots of connections with mirrors came to mind. I remembered all those nights playing Bloody Mary with my friends, the time I used a mirror meditation to help me recover from a difficult divorce, I even thought about my grandfather who was a highly respected craftsman of telescope mirrors in his day. Mirrors he crafted were in telescopes in every state in the United States. I thought he would approve of my project.

The Witch's Mirror is available for pre-order and will be out June 8 2016 Click here for the Amazon listing. 
Click here for the Barnes & Noble listing Isn't this cover a hoot?! I'm so pleased with how it came out! My fantastic editor Elysia Gallo and I came up with the basic concept and gave our ideas to cover illustrator John Kachik and let his creativity reign supreme. I'm delighted with the results!  As an illustrator myself, it was important to me to hand him the concept and then step way back and respect his process, seeing the magic he worked, it was well worth it.

I had a lot of fun working on this book, I can't wait to share it with you.  I've included folklore and pop culture regarding mirrors, spells for just about every purpose using mirrors, mirror washes and condensers, meditations, where to find magic mirrors, even instructions on how to make many of your own mirrors for specific purposes.  Even if you've never used mirrors for magic, you will find some kind of wonderful use within these pages to inspire you to look at mirrors in a whole new way.

This is an actual mirror that I made as part of this book, and yes, I have included instructions for making your own, it's easier than you might think to create this oeil de sorciere, a special kind of convex witch's mirror!


The Witch's Mirror is the fourth book in Llewellyn's The Magical Tools Series proceeded by The Witch's Broom by Deborah Blake, The Witch's Wand by Alferian Gwydion MacLir, and The Witch's Athame by Jason Mankey.  I have enjoyed the honor of illustrating the interiors of all of these books, and I'll be illustration my own, and the rest in the series as well.  The beautiful cover art for all of these books was created by the talented and inspiring John Kachik, and the book cover design is by the amazing Lisa Novak.
A scrying mirror I made ages ago, it ended up in a good home of one of our Etsy friends.

Like the rest of the books in this series, there are brief contributions by other authors who talk about their personal uses of each tool and The Witch's Mirror is no exception.  I was so happy to have Raven Digitalis, Melanie Marquis, Blake Octavian Blair, Natalie Zaman, Lisa Allen Calantriniel, Charlynn Walls, Autumn Damiana, David Salisbury, Michael Furie, and Judika Illes all share their personal uses of magic mirrors in the "Reflections of Real Witches" segments sprinkled throughout this book.
This is one of my Witch's Mirrors, it lives above my old wooden art table. It belonged to my grandpa and before that it was on his family farm where he grew up. So what is its magic you ask? It has three purposes, one is that it multiplies the magic that happens on top of my art table altar, the second is for feng shui since my back is to the front door it reflects behind me keeping power at my desk. The third thing this mirror does is remind me of where I come from and brings the energy of my ancestors forward with me in my path in life


I still have to create the illustrations for this book, I have lots of mirror crafts to show you; jewelry, enchanted mirrors, candle holders, mirrored items and more.
Occasionally I make these one of a kind hexenspiegel charms and sell them in my Etsy shop.  A hexenspiegel is a special mirror carried on the person or displayed in the home to shield the user from the evil eye and all forms of negative energy, and yes, instructions for creating your own hexenspiegels and enchanting them are also included in The Witch's Mirror.

The art of looking glass magic puts you in touch with your own spirit and gives you new ways to manifest abundance, protection, glamour, healing, and divination among many other magical uses. Would you like to know how to find, create, and use magical mirrors for scrying, spells, amulets, and more? With the secrets of the witch's mirror at your fingertips, gaze into your own magical mirror, what will you discover?

A portable mirror can also be enchanted for all kinds of magic it's really a versatile powerhouse for any kind of spell work.

Watch for The Witch's Mirror in bookstores everywhere June 8, 2016,

or...be among the first to explore the secrets of The Witch's Mirror when it comes out and pre-order here: http://www.amazon.com/Witchs-Mirror-Craft-Magick-Looking/dp/0738747912



Blessed Be!

Mickie