Spring Cleaning Fever

My annual bout of spring cleaning fever has struck.
I have been inventorying my herb  and spice cabinet, removing out of date items and making list of things to pick up.   I don't know about you but it makes me feel good to step back and look at all the bottles of herbs that I grew, the oils that I made.

Sage

In the last three years my knowledge of herbs, spices and oils has grown by leaps and bounds.
I've come to understand which herbs have a connection to me and the Garden Craft I do.
        Creating herbal mixes for various uses was difficult in the beginning. I didn't know exactly what the herbs were or how to acquire the ones needed to perform certain rites. It took a lot of reading and note taking to learn all about their various properties. Plus I ordered some of the herbs over the net.
In my ordering I selected the smallest amount that was available and was surprised to find that when they were in hand the amount was way more than I needed. I also took by faith that the herbs and resins I was buying were the real things.
   Having learned how to wild harvest and grow my own herbs makes me feel more grounded , more sure and more in touch with the garden witchery I perform.  I've discovered the magic is stronger, I'm more confident and more aware of the Goddesses presence too.

    My tree knowledge has also grown. I have to chuckle to myself when I think how the Goddess directed us to the home and neighborhood we live in now.
Now you maybe asking yourself why does my growing tree knowledge have to with where I live.
  Because while learning about magical trees and their uses I've come to know that many magical trees abound here.
Oak, Hawthorne, Willow, Ash, Elder, Mulberry, Walnut, Maple, Pine, Juniper to name a few, not to mention  the Elder and wild Rose bushes growing here as well.
 I wasn't aware of this when we came here. But as I've been doing my apprentice work and have learned that  a certain leaf or branch for rites, spells and potions was needed. I would come to discover the tree was practically growing in my back yard!

As for my Spring cleaning goes, as I remove old and past potency items  and replace them with fresh I am also renewing my  enthusiasm, my love and wonder with all the marvels of Mother Earth, Gaia.

Gaia, Mesa Verde and the Full Moon of May

Pink Colored May Full Moon over Mesa Verde

Climbing Down to Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde Colorado

Cliff Palace

Large Kiva at Cliff Palace

Looking through window at Sun Kiva,, Mesa Verde Colorado

Outside wall of Sun Kiva

Square Tower ancient Indian Ruins

We've been traveling.   Hubby and I have always wanted to go to Mesa Verde  especially after we had read Nevada Barr's mystery novel, Ill Wind. The book is set in this area. We planned our journey and off we went.

Knowing we would be there during Full Moon, I could hardly wait to see it rise.
And did she put on a show!
 The winds at Mesa Verde are always blowing and as they blow they move the red dust around. As Selene ascended ,the Sun shone on her through a haze of pink dust and made her glow a lovely  shade of peachy pink shade of copper.
 My camera doesn't do her justice.  I tried so hard to capture her loveliness.
 I have heard of a Copper Moon but to actually have viewed one was amazing!

Mesa Verde is well know for its Ancient Indian ruins and Cliff Palace is the largest ruin in the US. As I climbed , walked and viewed these wonders I had James Taylor's song, Gaia ,singing in my mind until it became a chant , a prayer and a love poem to Mother Earth, Gaia.



GAIA

The sky was light and the land all dark.
The sun rose up over Central park.
I was walking home from work.
GAIA
The petal sky and the rosy dawn
The world turning on the burning sun
Sacred wet green one we live on
GAIA
Run, run, run, run said the automobile and we ran
Run for your life take to your heels
Foolish school of fish on wheels
GAIA
Turn away from your animal kind
Try to leave your body just to live in your mind
Leave your cold cruel mother earth behind
GAIA
As if you were your creation
As if you were the chosen nation
And the world around you just a rude and dangerous invasion
GAIA
Some one's got to stop us now
Save us from us Gaia
No one's gonna stop us now

We thought we ought to walk for a while
So we left that town in a single file
Up and up and up mile after mile after mile
We reached the tree line and I dropped my pack
Sat down on my haunches and I looked
back down
Over the mountain.........
Helpless and speechless and breathless
GAIA
Pray to the forest pray to the tree
Pray for the fish in the deep blue sea
Pray for yourself and for Goddess sake
Say one for me
Poor wretched unbeliever
Some one's got to stop us now
Save us from us, Gaia!

Happy Beltane!

I pondered all last week what I might do to celebrate Earth Day,whether I might go to the neighborhood nursery , walk up and down the aisles just enjoying all the greenery and maybe deciding which herbs I might buy. I thought about participating in several  of the events published in our local paper as well.

But I discovered the best way that I could celebrate, Gaia, Mother Earth was to go outside and walk around my herb garden, touch the plants and smell their wonderful scents.

 It makes me happy and fills me with a sense of belonging and being a part of something greater than myself.

I will celebrate Her by being more mindful and respectful of how we use her gifts. Therefore I recycle, reuse and renew when and where ever I can.

Praise to Gaia!!

Hathor-Affection and Beginnings



Hathor





 Mistress of pleasure
Queen of the dance, mistress of music,
Ruler of ecstasy, queen of flirtation,
You, oh Hathor! Intoxication!
Intoxication! Oh Hathor! You!

Over three thousand years ago, when these invocations were written in Egypt, one goddess was the most beloved. Other goddesses brought wealth, fertility and power but it was Hathor who brought love. From the moment we were born, she was one of the midwife goddesses, til we met Her at the sycamore tree in the west, where souls go after death, Hathor was intimately connected with our most treasured joys.
Hathor was beloved by the common people who sang songs and wrote poetry to her.
 Dancing was one of her primary forms of worship. People danced together in gender-segregated groups, expressing themselves in free form dance.
In ancient texts Hathor appears to have been a co-ruler of the Sun with Ra. But returning upon a journey she discovers she's been replaced. Demanding the sun back Ra changes her into a snake and places her on the crown of Egypt's pharaoh.
Hathor was connected to the gentle cat goddess Bast and to the raging lion goddess Sekmet suggesting that she had a dual identity; as a gentle protector and  as a fierce force of purification.
Her primary symbol is the mirror due to her ancient connection to the sun. Mirrors bring the sun's light right down to us, making them magical implements allowing her worshipers to connect directly with the solar goddess. Golden jewelry pleased her as did the color yellow in robes and other clothing.
Hathor also appeared in two animal forms, the winged cow of creation symbolizing protection and maternal love and the cat. Many depictions of Hathor in Egyptian art shows her having ears like the cow.
 Hathor's cat identity, like the cow, connects her as a vital protector of the stored grain, keeping it safe from destructive rodents.
Many festivals are tied to Hathor but one of the most important is celebrated on her birthday, September 17th.
The desire for love and affection is most associated with Hathor. She is the goddess of infatuation, the wonderful period when the lover's every action seems charming, joy bubbles up and one seems giddy and effervescent.   Hathor is the goddess of beginnings.
The basic framework of a Hathor ritual deals with pleasant company, flowers, attractive settings, music and dance.
An altar to Hathor should contain bright pleasing colors, flowers and jewels. There should be wonderful fragrances, incenses and scented candles. One should have a mirror to represent the goddess's solar identity and her connection to making oneself beautiful for love.

Herb Garden

Dwarf Irises

Sage

Lemon Balm

Due to our mild winter, my herbs are surprising me with how much they've grown already. Even my rosemary survived.
This will be my third year of planting and maintaining my herb garden. Just getting my fingers in the dirt, touching and smelling my herbs, listening to the birds sing and having the sun shine on my face has been  just like drinking a Spring tonic. It is so uplifting.

Creating Oils

The use of scented oils and perfumes is inextricably bound up with the Craft and magic.
Magical oils are used to concentrate the powers of an herb, flower, tree or root.  The greatest value of oils is that they retain the full scent of the plant. And scents have powerful reactions upon the human intellect and the body itself.
In the Craft , oil is a symbol of the element of Fire. The oils capture, draw out, and store the essential nature of the herbs and flowers the basic energies that the Wise Women called the fiery being.

There are good quality oils on the market today.  I have purchased many myself. But there have been times when I needed a certain oil and it was not readily available.
I did some research and found this simple recipe from Scott Cunningham's book Magical Herbalism, for creating your own oils.
 He writes the simplest method is known as enfleurage.  Fill a small clean bottle or jar with fresh flowers, petals and leaves of the herb you wish to make an oil from. Dried herbs will work if the fresh are not available.  Next pour your base oil,  such as olive oil, over the herbs with enough to cover them. Tightly cork or cap the jar and keep in a warm place ( Out of the sunlight) for three days. Shake the bottle thoroughly each day. On the third day strain the oil, fill the jar again with ,fresh leaves and flowers and pour the same oil back into the jar.. Repeat this procedure several times until the oil is saturated with the fragrance.
Finally strain the oil through filter paper or a piece of fine muslin. Store in a tightly stoppered bottle, opaque being best.
He also states that some herbalists add a few drops of benzoin tincture to the oils as a preservative.

Some of the sources I found recommend lightly heating the oil before adding it to your herbs and to stir the mix with a clean wooden stick such as a chop stick so that all the trapped air bubbles in the herbs are released.  I found recommendations that your jar should only be as large as the amount of herb you are working with due to the fact that you want the least amount of air in the jar to discourage any contamination. There were suggestions that your herb should be partially wilted or dried so there is less moisture in your oil and thereby making it less likely to go bad.
 I found various instructions that recommended  you should place your oil enfleurage in the sun for as long as three days to six weeks. I believe the differences are due to what kind of oil you're creating, whether it is going to be used as a food, beauty, magickal or ritual oil.

 I personally think that when you create your own, more of your inner magic is bound up in the oil and therefore it is more powerful for you.
As with everything read, research and in the long run do what works best for you.

Violet ( Viola Odorata)

The violets have a large family of some four hundred species, predominately perennial herbs but with a few annuals. Violaceae is a family composed of pansies, garden violas and violets.

Viola Odorata
Common name- Sweet Violet

The parts used are flowers and leaves dried and whole plant fresh.

The sweet scented Violet appears at the end of February and has finished blooming by the end of April. In the seasonal soap opera of the garden the violet plays the part of the ingenue. It's understated beauty, down turned head, subtle color, fleeting fragrance and retiring nature makes us fearful that the violet will be overlooked and therefore we make the effort to seek her out.

The violet has been and is used in cooking, medicine and perfumery.

In Scott Cunningham's book, Magical Herbalism, he attributes these characteristics to the Violet.

Folk name: Blue Violet, Sweet Violet

Gender: Cold

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

Associated deity: Venus

Part used: Flowers

Basic Power: Love

Specific uses: Mix with lavender to make a powerful love sachet. A violet chaplet cures headaches. Carrying the flowers will bring a change of luck or fortune. Associated with sunset and twilight, so have on the altar if doing magic at these times.

Ostera- Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox, the dramatic moment each year when night and day are of equal length everywhere on the planet. This is the time to ponder the newness of our human family and the ancient relationships between Earth,Sun and Moon.
The turning of the Wheel of the Year is never ending and timeless. The seasons, planetary movements and tides renew themselves, encoded since creation. As humans we awaken to our common origins, but stand in
awe of the mysteries of the universe.
For witches Spring Equinox is an enchanted borderline time outside of time, where a magical seam joins light and dark., From this moment on, the Sun begins its seminal journey across the sky, its light and warmth over taking the darkness of Winter until its power peaks at Summer Solstice in June.
The change from dark to light sends the message to all here on Earth that Springtime is the season of rebirth.
We have arrived on the point on the Wheel when the Maiden Goddess becomes the Mother once more.

This is the time of the year is when we use herbs and seeds to make the most of the wealth and healing warmth of the Sun.
Trefoil images representing the Triple Goddess have special meaning now, any three leaf grass is a gift from the Fairies bringing protection and luck. It is customary to leave a small token of thanks to the Other World when you take a cloverleaf or any other three leafed grass.
Bring the feeling of new Spring life into your home with pots of crocuses or hyacinths. Fill a vase with tulips and daffodils. Create a mini rock garden for your window sill using rocks, twigs and moss in a dish or special bowl.

Moss is an excellent binder for spells. It brings moisture and freshness inside and is used in spells and philters for attracting wealth. Vervain and moss are used in philters and incense to resolve conflicts that may arise amid the frenetic energy and forces of Spring.

Ostera Oil:

one quarter teaspoon of each-
almond oil
patchouli oil
elder oil
lavender oil
violet oil
Warm all ingredients in an enamel or glass sauce pan. Remove from heat and let cool.
Keep in green,blue, pink, or lavender bottles.
Use to anoint your candles for your Ostera celebration.


Exerts taken from Laurie Cabot and Jean Mills's book, Celebrate The Earth