Tales of the Esbat

Witches, magic, and the full moon… words inspiring thoughts of dark and spooky woods, evil spell casting and mysterious covens. Yet, witchcraft is not comprised from only the dark side of human nature. While some attempt to associate spell casting and magic with purely an evil bent, witchcraft entails both the good and bad, the light and the dark. Witchcraft is neither good nor evil. It is the intention and spell work involved that determines the good or bad. This is the reflection of human nature. This book of short stories strives to tell the tale of both sides. In ancient times, many cultures considered the number thirteen good fortune, and for witches it still does. There are thirteen moon cycles in a calendar year. Thirteen is the optimum membership in a coven and there are thirteen weeks between the equinoxes and the solstices, which are crucial to a witch. Thirteen is manifest in many unseen ways in our lives. Thus, thirteen short stories were chosen for this book. As a practicing Second-Degree witch, the author takes the concept of magical workings in a full lunar cycle and weaves it into the writing of these short stories. All the stories within this volume end with a twist, at times inspiring a sense of uplifting hope, or inducing a sense of forlorn dread. As to how the reader perceives these endings most likely, depends on how one sees the world around them.

Born and raised in the Los Angeles area in 1960, Jon Hager's career in the computer field moved him to several locations in the Western U.S. Today, Jon lives in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area in Utah. Raised in a very conservative and strict religious home environment, he has sought his own path in his spiritual and personal life. After his divorce and raising his two sons, Jon strives to experience the many esoteric and adventurous aspects of what life offers. Jon, always a seeker of truth and attaining knowledge, has been intrigued with his inner spiritual growth since he was a small child. Seeking an understanding of something greater than our physical human lives has been a factor in Jon's endeavor into several religious and spiritual paths. His current path in witchcraft and Heathen practices in general, was formed from his interest in the local Pagan community in the Salt Lake Valley. Known as the Mormon Vatican, Salt Lake City is also home to a wide and surprisingly varied spiritual community. Having learned from two spiritual teachers, and through his own accomplishments along his spiritual journey, Jon attained his First Degree cord as a witch, in 2003. Jon helped to found a local coven in the Salt Lake Valley, and Jon was also a member of a spiritual group known as a Henge. Through several years of his membership in the coven and the Henge, Jon evolved through many aspects of Pagan beliefs and gained a well-rounded grasp of Druidism, Celtic, Norse and Germanic Traditions. Nowadays, Jon prefers to practice in a more private manner. No longer an active participant in the local Pagan community, Jon is now a solitaire practitioner of witchcraft and Pagan spiritual beliefs. A lifelong hiker, backpacker and minimalist camper, Jon has explored many remote and out of the way places in the Western United States. A lover of nature, he has experienced many extended solo backpack trips into some of the roughest and wildest areas of the U.S. Although not holding a degree in either literature or journalism, Jon always had a knack for creative writing. Jon's years of Pagan spiritual practice and wilderness experience, along with his excellent grasp of the written English language has moved him to write this book of witchcraft short stories.