The amazing Eartha Kitt and ... WITCHES!

This house in the French Quarter of New Orleans is one of America's most haunted and it's for sale!!!!

The Lalaurie Mansion on Realtor.com



Read about the history of the house and its ghosts here!

I want it!!!!

Another October has passed us by. The chill winds of autumn will soon give way to the bitter cold of winter. I wanted to take this time to highlight October '08...

Good: Great friends gathered together from near and far.

Bad: Leanne retired from the shop and events to spend more time at home.

Good: we're still really great friends and this is will allow her to really focus on what's important to her. :)

Good: Coven helped reconcile everything with Leanne.

Good: Seeing someone very special. Not sure yet how to define it, but not sure if it matters. I like the way he makes me feel.

Bad: The Dumb Supper was very hard on me emotionally in the wake of losing my mother.

Good: The Dumb Supper was by far the most incredible yet. It was cathartic as "Hel" and the 14 foot tall veil between the worlds and the river of blood were incredible additions to an already powerful event.

Good: we had some really great new psychics at the fair! Shout out to Heather, The Sea Witch, Deb H., Marion, Robyne, Reigh, and Lou Ann! What talent!

Good: We had all our great returning psychics!

Bad: we had a few snafus with folks not being able to handle the pressures of October.

Good: We had plenty of great folks willing to step in and help out when those folks left (Thank you to Jen!!!)

Good: Empress Akima and our fabulous MC Will were amazing additions to the Vampires' Masquerade Ball!

Good (REALLY GOOD): We got the Hawthorne for the Vamp Ball next year since we couldn't fit everyone at Finz.

Good: DJ addambomb is really the best dj anywhere. We're SO lucky to have him at every one of our parties!

Good: Finz is also amazing and we're definitely keeping the Zombie Ball there for at least one more year (till that outgrows it as well! LOL)

Bad: This bitch had someone steal an a-frame from the psychic fair that she gave me a few years back and a hundred dollars worth of posters on top of that.

Good: My reaction to the bitch was sumptuous and it should teach her and her friends how unwise it is to steal. Ask a Witch ... trademarked by Shawn Poirier ... carried on by WitchSchool.com and Festival of the Dead! Lesson One: don't steal. Lesson Two: Never underestimate your opponent.

Good (ok, great!!!!): The most incredible Witches' Ball ever. Hands down. Wendy rule was incredible. What a stage presence! Dragon Ritual Drummers were over the top amazing and their second set upstairs had people really feeling the energy and magic. The food was great, especially those little mexican apps that the fabulous Karen Cotton added to the menu were perfectly in keeping with the Dia De Los Muertos theme! Royal and Patti Sorell did the most incredible job with the balloons, matching the theme logo perfectly! Those dancing balloon skeletons were AMAZING! And yes, they seemed to move around the room later in the night! Those table settings and artwork by Tara and her husband were eye-popping! Wow! I hope they move to Salem! They're deliciously gothy! :)

Bad: The chick we call "Hogwarts" washed up on the shores of Salem again, more polluted than Salem Harbor, and managed to stir up trouble again in her brief time.

Good: The trouble was easily contained and Jacqui realized that you can't always go home again and, to quote Tolkien, her list of allies grows thin. To think she thought I might actually put her on a poster when Leanne retired. Even I'm not that good at Photoshop.

Good: Sandra was my rock through the whole month: a fantastic coordinator and manager and a sharp idea person to bounce anything and everything off of. She kept level-headed through everything and was a real attribute. That she pulled off the Vampires' and Witches' Balls and the Psychic Fair the way she did was so awesome!

Good: William and John were incredible this year and never lost sight of the magic that truly makes the heart of a Witch Shop! Both of them were so helpful and really gave our city's visitors a taste of real Witchcraft!

Good: Nicole was Sandra-level efficient and kept the shop in place when I couldn't be there. What an asset! And her hunky boyfriend was a great help too! *swoon*

Good: Donnie was the gem of the psychic fair this year, always there to help with every problem and never losing his cool in all the insanity. I can see why certain people had him as a personal assistant and their loss is definitely my gain. His wife was charming and a good barker too!

Good: Linda was great at the shop and great at keeping the store stocked up, herbs and incenses bagged, and everything else we needed. For all the schlemiels that wash up on my shore from the various "camps" in town, it's good to know that once in awhile, some treasure chests wash up ashore too! :)

Good: Lorelei has become a really good friend and ally and the Boston Globe article about us working together was really fun to do! HEX and Crow Haven Corner ... the Witchy bookends of Essex Street! :)

Good: Jane Can Do sold a ton of her gorgeous hats and pendulum boards and did a wonderful job with the decor at the front of the Mall!

Good: Mama Lori Bruno. It took me many years to get her to Salem because she had seen so much of the bad here ... exploitations that defiled the Craft of the Wise and ran the risk of making us all look like, to quote Lori, the Craft of the Daft. Well mama's here and things are changing. She's not only lit up my shop with her light and magic; she's lit up the whole city! There's a fire in the heart of the magic of Salem that has not been seen in many a year and I credit Lori 100% for it. As the flier says, Payback's a Witch! :-D

Good: the many guests to both my events and shop ... those who keep coming year after year and those new souls who are taking part in the magic for the first time. You are what make Salem so powerful ... by adding to the energy and making Salem a wonderful place to be. Blessings and hugs to you especially. :)

Deliciously Ugly: The winners of this year's costume contests! They were just over the top incredible and pictures will be coming soon!

That's all for now! I'm sure I forgot people and I'll get emails about it so I may edit this later! *wicked grin*

Best Witches!

Christian Day
HEX / Festival of the Dead

I just love this ... it's just so true ...

I haven't had much time to show appreciate to all of those people who stood by me during this trying time over the past few weeks of hospital visits and arrangements following my mom's death. In a strange twist of timing, Leanne and I received boxes upon boxes of product for the shop from a number of different suppliers and we've been taggin', baggin', and draggin' all week ... burning the midnight oil, pizza, and lots of laughs. Now that I'm taking a little time to write this, I wanted to express how much it meant to me that so many people showed up at my mom's memorial. We had to bring out more tables! From long lost relatives to good friends to coworkers and even the mayor of Beverly, people showed up for my mom, me, my aunt Maureen, and my mom's husband Glen in full force and I'll never forget it. For those that sent such wonderful condolence letters, flowers, and even yummy gourmet brownies (thanks Holly and Jim!), I thank you. It rocked.

And to those who have been helping through this crazy time to help me keep up with my work through all of this, a special thanks because it's saving my sanity ... Leanne, Sandra, William, John, Coven, Heather, Pastor Phil, Corey, Nicole, Linda. I have no idea where Leanne and I would be without your help.

To those folks who rushed to the hospital day after day to spend time with me in the ICU waiting room, you kept me from completely breaking down ... Leanne, Sandra, Heather, Jerrie, Phil, Jeff, each of you gave me such inspiration, and Heather gave me fried chicken on top of that! :)

I think folks often look to these MySpace blogs for the latest word on who's in, who's out, and what's wrong. I wanted to take some time to point out what's right.

*hugs all around*

Christian

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for the many supportive emails, blog posts, and comments. They are helping me to get through this pain more than you can imagine. I wanted to share the information about my mom's obituary and services for those who wished to attend or send well-wishes or flowers.

Blessings,

Christian

Obituary for Mary E. Taeger
Mary Elaine (Day) Taeger, 58, of Beverly, devoted wife of Glen Taeger, died September 4, 2008 at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, surrounded by her loving family.

Born at the Chelsea Naval Hospital in Chelsea on June 30, 1950, to the late Roscoe and Mary (Saravo) Day, she was a longtime resident of Beverly.

Mary was a graduate of North Shore Community College and was employed at Appleseeds in Beverly. She also operated a jewelry website at SoulHeirs.com where she loved interacting with customers from around the world. She was also an avid gardner and enjoyed the company of her cat, Lily.

Mary was an adventurous traveler who loved to visit her favorite island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and also made trips to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. She loved to snorkel, hike, and enjoy the beauty of nature. Closer to home, she enjoyed spending time with her husband, Glen, on their boat.

Mary is survived by her husband of 14 years, Glen, son, Christian Day, sister, Maureen Troubetaris, niece, Tammy Troubetaris, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. She is predeceased by her brother, John Day, niece, Patricia Tadiello, and cat, Mister Mindy.

Services
A memorial tribute will be held at The Italian Community Center, 302 Rantoul Street in Beverly, on Saturday, September 13th, from Noon till 1pm, followed by a celebratory testimonial with family and friends. Flowers should be delivered to the hall at 302 Rantoul Street between the hours of 8am and 11am on September 13th. Arrangements were made by Grondin Funeral Home of Beverly. Per Mary's wishes, there are no visiting hours.

Such a strange thing happened yesterday. Being the die-hard skeptic that I am (yeah, I know, given my career, huh?), I asked my mother to show me a sign yesterday that she was ok and making a peaceful journey to whatever next place she chose to go.

I nearly had a heart attack when I opened up my email and saw a question about the Psychic Fair from an Elaine Day. My mother's maiden name was Mary Elaine Day. My heart nearly bounced into my throat and at first glance, I'm thinking "only she would find a way to email from beyond the grave!" LOL

Maybe coincidence, but definitely freaky. Now if she'll only send me some lottery numbers.

hugs to all and thanks for keeping my spirits up.

Christian

My mom passed away at around 11am this morning at the Lahey Clinic after a long battle with the liver damage brought on by Hepatitis C. She was brave in her fight against the disease as she was brave in everything (whose mom goes underground cave snorkeling in her mid 50's?). As I had held the hand of her dear brother, my uncle John in 2000, I stroked my mom's head as she passed this morning, following the shutdown of the machines. I cried many tears as I am sure I will cry many more. Mom didn't want a funeral. No, she wanted something for people to celebrate her life and we're having one Saturday the 13th, hopefully, if we can get the location. This will be posted. I'm here at the shop, mostly because I don't want to be alone and I need the comfort of normality for a bit.

I wanted to share something I found on my mom's computer when I transferred the data from her old computer to the new iMac I got her last Christmas. It made me cry buckets then and now. She had written it in March 27th, 2007, only a week or so after Shawn died. I think she knew her time was coming.


A Farewell to My Son

To my beloved Christian – son, friend and confidante,

I just want you to know that you will always be in soul wherever I land in this great universe. Remember, all you need to do is look in your heart and feel me – I am there for you. It has been a great journey for me. I have not always made the right choices (more often than not – bad ones). I have to believe that everything is for a reason. It's the lessons we learn as we walk this great divide between ego, superego and the id. Perhaps this great dance we all do is finally revealed and the curtain call finally begins.

It is for these reasons that I ask you not to ask "why" things happen as they do – for there is revelation in all, not just for me but for all of mankind. It has been many years that I realized that I can't "play the game". I just don't fit. How great you are, I hope you realize. I have but one regret, I wish I had been a mature person and gave you a stable beginning. For this as always, I am sorry. I hope you may find it in your soul to truly forgive me. And I can't say I did the best I could – that would be so unfair to you as you deserved so much better. I had many weaknesses. I don't know why; I just did. I don't want to make excuses; this is my final peace with you and myself. We often (humans that is) lie loudest to ourselves. I choose not to – at least now.

It's odd how life is. One finally starts to get the steps right only to have this wave come along and throw us off balance. It is the path we take in life that determines our future. Young folks sometimes feel infallible to this disposition – I myself was one of "them". If only we had a crystal ball but I suppose that would take the fun out of life. It's about being here now because those "nows" will always be present – alas we are living.

There is great joy in life as I have discovered through watching the great unfolding of our planet. Be it the animals, plants and people kingdoms it has never ceased to amaze me. The beautiful sunrises and sunsets, clear nights where the sky just invites you in to reach up and make that one big wish. The way my cat looks at me often with soul-searching eyes of great mystery seeking that animal/human connection where we are as one – communicating through vibration and not letting our animal/human barriers get in the way. That is so very awesome. Truly one of the high points in my life – I guess just being silly about things. It's like seeing soap bubbles for the first time in such glorious amazement.

The trips to St. John and Mexico were so much fun and I hope you continue to carry on the tradition. I must say that if one had told me 20 years ago I would have been in such a beautiful paradise, I think I would have laughed out loud and said something like "yea sure". Just think of the things we have done. So many people never get out of the town or city they live/work in. We on the other hand have enjoyed our world. See dreams really do come true :)

Love always,

Mom

It's all a blur. Heading back to the ICU in Burlington Lahey now with my mom's sister and husband. They say my mom took a turn for the worse and we should be there.

I found out today that my mom likely has a 15% chance of recovery. Taking a little break from her bedside today. She has one eye slightly open though they said it could be from the swelling from the fluid retention brought on by kidney failure. I do think she knows we're there though. When we talk to her, she seems to know. At least I keep hope that that's true. I've probably cried buckets by now mostly because I wanted to get more successful so I could give her a better life, maybe take her on a few more vacations to St. John that she loved so much. There were so many times it was just her and I against the world and it is to her that I owe my sense of survival. I only hope her strong will to survive carries her through that tight window of hope and, if not, that she finds peace after so much hardship. I only hope she knows how far I would go to save her. I've never felt so helpless against any obstacle or adversary. I only hope that my love and magic can give her the strength to choose her path free of pain.