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Writing

The literary output of one Ashleigh M, slightly redacted and yet, updated.

Ashleigh NicSidhe

I sat down one evening and tried to recreate a listing of all of my published works over the years. I know that this isn’t a complete listing, as there were many things I submitted for publication that were accepted by various and sundry publications that I’ve forgotten over the years, some gaming, Sci-fi, and fandom -zines, some vanity press things, and whatnot, but this is off the top of my head that I can actually remember.

A few of these, I no longer have copies of, to my regret. That’s a casualty of moving 3 dozen times in 40 years, a few floods, and a rodent infestation or two in your storeroom, not to mention the inevitatble computer failures and hard drive crashes.

However, here is my list as it currently stands. I may be able to expand on it a bit as more things surface. The one I really, really regret no longer having a copy of is the first one on the list. my only copy of it got destroyed in a flood of my parents’ storeroom in 1978 while I was overseas in the Navy, along with several years of personal correspondence with a lot of people who are now dead, and several magazines and journals that are long out of print and unavailable. See, however, the note with that entry.

The literary output of one Ashleigh M, slightly redacted:

How the Devil Got His Horns, and other tails ©1975 AR Mitchell – Publication date 1975
A collection of poems and stories from my childhood, including the tale of the night the Devil appeared in my closet and told me the true story of his “Fall from Heaven”. When my grandmother learned of this, she gave me Very Good Advice on how to Question Spirits as to their Identity, should something like this ever happen again. (Note: as of 1 March 2020, I am attempting to recreate as much of this as I can. Some of the poetry is lost forever, but others are still in diaries and journals.)

Wicca Covens: How to Start and Organize Your Own by Judy Harrow
Publisher: Citadel (December 1, 2000) – (link to Goodreads entry)
additional consultant for book

Which Witch Is Which?: A Concise Guide To Wiccan And Neo-pagan Paths And Traditions by Patricia Telesco
Publisher: New Page Books
Publication Date: November 1, 2004 – link to Goodreads entry)
Contributing Participant, Credited as “Moondancer”

Keepers of the Flame by Morganna Davies and Aradia Lynch
Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing; 1st edition (November 1, 2006)
additional consultant for book (link to The Witches Almanac Website, current Publisher of this book)

The Witches’ Almanac Spring 2006 – Spring 2007
Publisher: Witches Almanac Ltd.; 2006-2007 ed. edition
First Printing January 2006 (Link to The Witches’ Almanac Website)
article “Tiresias, the Theban Seer” article
Credited as “Moondancer”

The Witches’ Almanac Spring 2007 – Spring 2008, Issue 26
Witches Almanac Ltd.; 2007-2008 ed. edition (October 31, 2006)
ongoing column “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”
Credited as “Herb McSidhe” (Link to The Witches’ Almanac Website)

The Witches’ Almanac Spring 2007 – Spring 2008, Issue 26
Witches Almanac Ltd.; 2007-2008 ed. edition (October 31, 2006)
article “The Buzz on Honeybees”
Credited as “Moondancer

The Witches’ Almanac Spring 2007 – Spring 2008, Issue 26
Witches Almanac Ltd.; 2007-2008 ed. edition (October 31, 2006)
article “The Eleusinian Mysteries”
Credited as “Ash McShee”

Witches’ Almanac 2008 (Witches’ Almanac: Complete Guide to Lunar Harmony) (Issue 27)
Publisher: Witches Almanac Ltd. (October 31, 2007)
ongoing column “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”
Credited as “Herb McSidhe”

The Witches Almanac: Spring 2009-Spring 2010 (Issue 28)
Publisher: The Witches’ Almanac; 2009-2010 ed. edition (October 31, 2008)
ongoing column “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”
Credited as “Herb McSidhe”

The Small-Town Pagan’s Survival Guide: How to Thrive in Any Community
by Bronwen Forbes
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (Link to Goodreads)
Publication Date: September 8, 2011
Contributing Participant, Credited as “Moondancer”

“Now and Always, Mine: A reflection on being a Child of Diana” © 2015 published in
Reflections in Diana’s Mirror: A Devotional for the Queen of Heaven
Anthology edited by Jonathan Sousa (Link to Amazon)
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 25, 2015)
Contributing Participant, Credited as Ashleigh Mitchell

Note: Links in the above works are either to the Goodreads page for that title, or to The Witches’ Almanac website. No gratuity or remuneration is received by me for these links, they are provided as a courtesy.

Miscellaneous Articles:

Pan’s Pipings: “On Morris”, a four-part series, July – October 1979, in The Georgian Newsletter;
reprinted in Pentalpha Journal, date unknown

WITCH BOTTLES: A Nesting Concept, Ashleigh McSidhe, ©2016

“Rite of Purification”, ritual by Moondancer; The Crystal Well / Vol. 14, #2

“The Use of Color in Magic” ©2001 By Arwynn MacFeylnnd and Moondancer (Ashleigh McSidhe); revised and expanded ©2016 Ashleigh McSidhe; originally published as “The Basics of Magick: Color Magick” in the November 2001 issue of Echoed Voices e-magazine (now defunct).

UNCROSSING AND UNHEXING: Some notes and comments by Ashleigh McSidhe (compiled, coincidently, on the Feast Day of San Cipriano di Antiochia, 26 September 2016.)

“Words, and Other Useless Things, like Deeds, or Reclaiming the Present”, Georgian Newsletter, Dec 1985. ©1985 Scarecrow and Moondancer
(This was part of an ongoing series that ran sporadically in the pages of the Georgian Newsletter from 1976-1990; as pieces are recovered, I may make them available in a collected edition.

“Holy Water” article ©2015 Ashleigh McSidhe

“An Exploration of the Symbolism of Colors and Numbers in Medieval Tarot” article © Ashleigh McSidhe

“Unveiling the Mystical: Divination and Folklore Customs of October” article ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe

“Introduction to Historic Tarot Decks” article ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe

“I Am the Law”: Echoes of Absolutism from Versailles to Washington article on Substack © 2025, Ashleigh Mitchell

Welcome to My Corner Substack post © 2025, Ashleigh Mitchell

Flashfic-drabbles-fanfiction-other short fiction

“I’ll Tumble for You“ a Harry Potter drabble/flash-fic ©2003 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Spirits of the Past“ a Harry Potter fanfic, ©2003, Ashleigh McSidhe
“Au Clair de la Lune”, novella/songfic, a Harry Potter fanfic, ©2003 by Ash McSidhe
“Tabula Rasa” a drabble/flash-fic ©2006 Ashleigh McSidhe
“A Meeting of Minds, or The Rules, explained“ drabble/flash-fic © 2007 Ashleigh McSidhe
“A Song of Alegria” (songifc) ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Siúil a Rún“ A Folk-Tale of Love, War, and the Waiting Heart (songfic) © 2025 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Behind the Wall” (not exactly a songfic, but certainly inspied in part by a song) Undated, but written during the COVID-19 lockdown protocols. © Ashleigh Mitchell
“Hubris: a dictionary drabble/flash fiction

Poetry

“The One of Whom I Dream” poem ©2005 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Hiraeth” poem ©2003, Ashleigh McSidhe
“A balbale to Suen” ((Sîn, Nanna) ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“A Psalm of Righteous Indignation” © 2023 by Ashleigh McSidhe
“Hekate, Mistress of Keys” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“The Dagdha and The Morrighan“ ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Hail, Brigidh” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Leto Avenged” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“A Eulogy for Eurydice” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Goddess Diana” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Arawn, Sovereign” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“In Heaven’s heights” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“The One of Whom I Dream” ©2005 Ashleigh McSidhe
“Imprecato Against the Shadows of Oppression” ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe
“For Katrina” on our 42nd anniversary ©2023 Ashleigh McSidhe

Forthcoming:

The Eld Island Mysteries (book series) writing as Ashleigh Renée
Book One: Good Bones

The Dream that Carried Us (Trilogy, semi-tie-in with Eld Island series) Ashleigh Renée
Prequel: Prelude to a Dream
Part One: Unseen
Part TwoL Unbroken
Part Three: Unbound

Roots and Echoes (tie-in with Eld Island series) Ashleigh Renée
Of Love and Legacy
What the Storm Washed Up

On the Witches’ Mark, article (WIP) Ashleigh McSidhe

Traditionalist Witchcraft: A North American Primer (WIP) Ashleigh McSidhe

So You Want to Read Tarot (WIP) Ashleigh McSidhe

Tarot by the Numbers (WIP) Ashleigh McSidhe

TransPagan: Change your Stars (WIP Ashleigh McSidhe

Somehow it doesn’t seem like a lot, considering that I’ve been scribbling on pads of paper since I was at least 10.

Ashleigh signature

Inward clockwise spiral beneath the Anglo-Saxon 'ash' rune (ᚫ), representing descent into the Otherworld and spiritual thresholds (spiral), combined with the ash tree's symbolism of rootedness, ancestral connection, and liminal authority (rune). The spiral represents the Sidhe raths or fairy mounds. Combined it is a representation of "Ash McSidhe,

Ash NicSidhe

Ash NicSidhe has been a voice in the Pagan and Traditional Witchcraft community for over fifty years, writing under this name and its evolving magical lineage. Her work explores Witchcraft, folklore, Tarot, and the esoteric arts, weaving scholarly insight with lived ritual experience and initiatory tradition. As Elder High Priestess of Nemed Cuculatii, she continues to serve as a guardian of the old ways and a trickster of the spiral path. Her writing has appeared in The Witches’ Almanac, The Crystal Well, and other Pagan publications back into the 1970s. She has also contributed to books including The Small-Town Pagan's Survival Guide, Reflections in Diana’s Mirror: A Devotional for the Queen of Heaven, Which Witch is Which, and more.

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