Category Archives: Folklore

Devika and the Serpent’s Crown

Posted on by

Claim the serpent’s crown. The ebook is available now.

UK: £2.23

US: $2.99

Devika is the last daughter of a silenced lineage, her ancestral power buried beneath centuries of fear and forgotten truth. But when a vivid dream and an urgent call from the goddess Kali awaken a dormant fire within her, Devika must choose between a life of quiet safety and a destiny of immense, terrifying power.

Her path leads to the fabled Temple of Nine Veils, a spiritual gauntlet where the true journey is not through ancient corridors but through the veils of her own ego. As she confronts the inner demons of shame, fear, and attachment, each a serpentine coil around her soul, she will discover that the greatest trial is not fighting the darkness, but learning to embrace it.

Devika and the Serpent’s Crown is a mythic tale of self-discovery and spiritual rebirth, a story for anyone who has felt the pull of a greater purpose.

Keywords

Mythic fantasy, Spiritual fiction, Goddess Kali, Female protagonist fantasy, Rebirth and transformation, Serpent symbolism, Priestess lineage

Author’s Note

Devika and the Serpent’s Crown was born from a single, powerful dream—a vivid image that left a lasting and profound impression. The dream was not a story but a tableau: the goddess Kali, fierce and serene, her skin the colour of the cosmic void, a crown of serpents upon her head, and a skull in her hand. This story is an attempt to give that image a voice. It is a narrative built to explore the meaning behind those powerful symbols—the serpent crown representing fears overcome, the skull signifying the death of the old self, and the goddess herself as a calling to a deeper, more profound truth. This story is a journey into the mystery of that dream, an exploration of what it means to shed one’s old skin and be reborn into a new self.

Shape-Shifters & Their Stories

Featured

Posted on by

The Golem; Lilith; Werewolf; The Dybbuk; Silkie; and more
Michael Berman

Shape-Shifters & Their Stories
Michael Berman
Format: Softcover/192 pp, 24 fascinating Illustrations.
ISBN: 978-1-906958-66-4
£15.00 / US$24.00
Subjects: Folklore//Myths & Magic/Fairy Tales/Shamanism/Spirituality.

Click HERE for Shape-Shifters & Their Stories / USA

Click HERE for Shape-Shifters & Their Stories / UK

“Long ago the trees thought they were really people
Long ago the mountains thought they were really people
Long ago the animals thought they were really people
Someday, they will say
Long ago the humans thought they were really people”
Constance O’Day-Flannery, Shifting Love


Shape-shifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. In its broadest sense, shape-shifting occurs when a being (usually human) either (1) can change its shape into that of another person, creature, or other entity or (2) finds its shape involuntarily changed by someone else. If the shape change is voluntary, its cause may be an act of will, a magic word or magic words, a potion, or a magic object. If the change is involuntary, its cause may be a curse or spell, a wizard’s or magician’s or fairy’s help, a deity’s will, a temporal change such as a full Moon or nightfall, love, or death. The transformation may or may not be purposeful.

The desire to be different in some way to match some ideal promoted through advertising has become an obsession, especially for vulnerable younger members of society. Perhaps the pressure to conform to some unrealistic ideal has always been with us, but surely not to the extent that now is the case. And it is this desire that helps to account for the current interest in shape-shifting as it would seem to provide a means of achieving the goal to bring about change. However, as many of the tales in this collection show, it is only by coming to terms with who we are that peace of mind can truly be ours again.