Witchly Dreams and Stranger Things

Last night I had a strange and rather beguiling dream. I was visiting a small and rustic shop in an unknown locale; it might have been on festival grounds or in a woodland, I couldn't say for certain. There was a table set up with a selection of glassed purpose candles, and my eyes were drawn to the ones at the far right of the table; these were in yellowish glass containers, with yellowish wax, and each one contained a few leaves from a small paperback-sized book. Studying the containers I learnt that the candles were designed to work with the energies of a fictional being from an obscure horror novel (one that has never existed on this plane to my knowledge); the candles contained pages from said novel and were meant to evoke the character to a particular end. One of the candles' glasses had broken into several pieces, and I remember picking that one up and sitting it carefully at the back of the table.

I know that other things happened, but they have mostly all retreated to the far edges of my memory and refuse at the moment to be drawn out. However, the one thing I do remember is my friend Glaux joining me at the table and proceeding to anoint my forehead with an ointment she called the Toadman's Salve. I was instructed to be careful what I looked through thereafter. Sometime after that I picked up my camera and found that my vision through the viewfinder was--altered, is the only way I can really describe it. I also remember wondering vaguely how this Sight was going to impact my ability to drive safely home!

I've never given much consideration to toads and their meaning to me personally, although now that I do think of it I realize that they've always made their presence known in my life, from a young age. As a child I could catch them easily, and I know that I was responsible for the death of a few as a very young and stupid kid; I could catch them, all right, but had no idea what to feed them. At our previous home, I often saw them around the property, and again I would catch them and move them out of harm's way (say when the lawn mower was approaching). Tree frogs were common visitors, as well, but it was only the toads that I could easily catch. What this means I have no idea, but something tells me it is a subject for further investigation.