Pagans, Renegades, Lovers of Celtic Magic and Lore

Continuation of blog photo upload

2007-09-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

I will try to upload the photo again.

Gargoyles, Watchers, Pagan Sites

2007-09-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last night of the dark of the moon, with the new moon rising on Sept. 11th, 2007 at 8:44PM in my central US states time zone. The dark of the moon is good for working spells of banishment, protection, and divination. When I awakened this morning, it realized that tonight would be too late to perform my gargoyle home protection ritual, since a new moon would already have risen, making it a new moon. New moons, which to me is the first beginning crescent of show, is of a different, lighter energy. So, quickly, this morning before going off to work, in the morning before the sun rose, I performed a fast ritual. I wanted more protection for my home, garden and entryway to keep out negative or harmful influences. I work with other spirits for the inside of my apartment. However, I wanted another layer of defense to keep intruders from damaging my garden or coming up my steps to enter my home.

Gargoyles were used as protectors, especially on churches, as protectors. It was a throwback to pagan times and the concept of dragons and other beings, watchers, who guarded sacred land. For amore scholarly explanation, follow the link.

http://www.leyhunter.com/archives/tlh8.htm

So, I used my four inch grey gargoyle statue, bought at a $1.00 Halloweeen display, as my symbol and talisman. Sacred space was case, calling the quarters only. Then I took the inanimate statue in my hand, and with all my will, cupped in my hands, said:

Though you are clay, I place my energy and that of the elements into thee. You are to protect my garden, my door from any who wish me harm. Bar them from coming up my stairs if they mean harm. Bar them from touching the plants in my garden if they mean harm. DO NOT KILL NOR MAIM! (said three times with feeling) But SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF ANYONE WHO COMES WITH HARM IN THEIR HEART! (again, must be said with all the power and feeling you can muster) I breathed three strong breaths into its mouth, put my saliva and female fluids (not blood, fresh out of that for now) on it and placed it on my altar. When I come home tonight, the gargoyle will be place near my garden entrance, buried back unseen, to guard and protect. If you do something like this, it is a good idea to reinforce and visualize your commands from time to time. It is like a thought form, the more you concentrate on it, the stronger it becomes.

Some Wiccan, women especially, make a Witches Bottle, filled with thorns, nails and their own body fluids, especially urine, and bury them at the base of their property. It is said that the power of protection lasts a year and a day.

Belief in this is needed to make it work. I don’t know know if it will protect unconditionally, but hey, it can’t hurt. I also believe the collective conciousness of pagans throughout time, especially the Celts, creates an energy field that makes the protection more likely, because it is believed in.

Red Sumac Tea For Hot August Nights

2007-08-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

It is the time of the year to gather the red sumac berries that grow in abundance in the semi wild places I visit in my neighborhood in northeastern Oklahoma. You can make a healthy tea from the berries. Be very careful that you are picking RED sumac and not WHITE, which is poisonous. It would be advantageous if you are new to wild crafting to explore the internet beyond the scope of this blog to make sure you are picking safely. The berries are best when gathered before rain. Alas, I could only gather a handful last week before the deluge came last night. As soon as it dries out , I will get more. Be ever mindful not to over pick an area, because wildlife depends on the berries, too. Folk wisdom suggests putting the berries in ice cold water because direct contact with hot water when making tea makes the tea bitter. I guess that is like the rule of using cold water for teas and coffees, also. Some people dislike the little hairs and want to strain the tea thru cloth. It has not bothered me. Last night I made a large pot of red sumac tea with a few yarrow leaves from my garden, sweetened with a little honey and the juice of sand plums. My purpose in drinking these wild teas is mostly for health, so sometimes it does not taste like a gourmet tea. That is OK. I think that the act of sacred gathering is tied to the energy of the plants properties and it boosts its medicinal value. Just an intuitive thing. Certainly science would scoff at that. If they can't measure and analyze everything and find the "value" then to them it has no value. The berries go into my battered copper tea kettle upon my stove, which is to me, sacred space. Though I do not have a hearth like a hedgewitch of times past, my stove is dedicated to Brighid, Goddess of the Hearth, Healing, and Fire, among other names. More on sacred space stove concept can be read on an earlier post called "My Stove is Sacred Space". The berries have phytochemical nutrients I have not really researched, but check the internal links if you want to know more. Certainly there is good stuff in there, better than the junk in a Pria bar, for sure! As soon as the ground dries out , I will be gathering more berries for the winter.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waste Not Want Not

2007-08-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Since I have become more identified with the path of the hedgewitch, I find that I cannot tolerate seeing waste, things being destroyed before their usefulness is wrung out. I cannot control what others do in this regard, but there is a feeling of deep satisfaction with re-using, re-purposing, and recycling. I don’t want to take it to extremes, and sometimes food does rot in my fridge and I have to throw it away. I live in an apartment and a compost pile is not feasible. I do throw eggshells and other wastes on my garden when possible,but not all of it. In my limited space, that would create rodent problems. However,tea bags, after being wrung out to get the last drop, get torn open and put on the plants. Leftover bones with some meat still on go in the stockpot for soup. Did you know that making homemade soup with the bone and gristle being reduced into the broth has great health benefits? You get calcium from the bone and some for of collagen/glucosamine from the gristle. Somehow soup from a can just cannot offer these advantages, I think. To me, without waxing too poetic, there is something akin to sacred in these acts. I feel connected to all the life forms and know that my body will recycle to feed other life forms someday. The food cooking ,simmering on my stove is like a small sacrament, in thanks for all that is given to me.

I planted some yarrow and use it medicinally, gathering the dry stalks, leaves, and flowers for winter teas. Every bit is used. Even the woody stocks, when decocted in water for several hours, yield their precious healing compounds to be used. Since I do not have room for many yarrow plants, I want to be sure that I make the best of what I did grow. Returning something of yourself or leftover food is both a composting and spiritual act to me.

Any comments on how others feel about not wasting?

Fear - You Cannot Escape it

2007-07-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

It is two days before I am scheduled for pelvic surgery and the apprehension is quite uncomfortable. How does one stop the anxiety of the anticipated pain without drugs, or even with them? Though not major surgery, this is a procedure with much post op pain, and I just want to get through it. I have been reading “Red Branch”, a fantasy semi historical novel about the pre Christian Celts woven with the myth of the Hound of Ulster, The Morrigan-Raven, and Deidre. Cuchulain, the Hound, is a warrior conceived by the god Lugh, or Lewie the Long Hand. He is part human but personifies the raw courage and ferociousness of the warrior. As I read this, I think of courage. The lives of warriors are steeped in pain of battle. It is one of the attributes I have not developed well in regard to dealing with physical pain. I have become quite courageous psychologically, and am a fighter. But pain brings me to my knees. In the preceding days, I have been talking in spirit /meditating with The Morrigan and Brighid for courage and healing, respectively. On the physical level, I am doing all I can beforehand with diet to make this easier. There is nothing else to do but walk through it, no respite from it, no changing my mind about the surgery (That would cause more problems later.) How hard life must have been back then. Getting cudgeled on the head and being torn limb to limb in battle was the norm in warfare. Certainly our warriors today have to face pain and being blown up in the process. I keep reminding myself, that in the larger picture, my fear of this pain is a mote in the eye of the world. About getting older and facing my own mortality and a body that will need further healing by virtue of age- it creates more compassion for those in pain around me. So like Nike says, Just Do It.

Surrender Surrender Surrender.

The Dawn is Breaking and It's Early Morn

2007-07-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

There is a feeling of quickening of events, going faster and faster toward some final destination. All around the globe, there is turmoil and awakening too. It is a great and terrible time to be alive. Various religions have a thread of destruction and hope in their prophecies of the end time. To the old prophecy of the Celtic world, an end time did not mean an end of the earth all together. It meant an end of a certain belief paradigm. It is the same with the Baha'i Faith.I have read the prophecies of Hopi, Algonquin/Bird Tribes, Pleadians, Icke, Biblical, Celtic,Aztec and others. There is an overlay of light and dark, good and evil, building and destruction, in all. Faster and faster the changes are coming. It is as if The Great Mother herself is groaning in childbirth, birthing a new paradigm. Will much of the people perish in the purging? Already there is so much pain and suffering. Has it been that way before, but we did not know it because communications were sparser? I wonder about this. Sometimes I wake up at night and cannot go back to sleep with some of the fear and wondering. There is so much greed, hatred, and disregard for The Earth. Yet underneath it, like a woman giving birth in great agony, is great joy. I don't have all the answers and am wary of those who are really sure. Sometimes I am afraid, sometimes overwhelmed by the ugliness. Yet...there is a quickening, and the final outcome, will, I believe, be a shift to a higher conciousness on the planet. I do not remember where I read it, but there was a passage, Native American one that says the Dawn is coming. The people in the canyons are asleep, mostly. But one by one, as the Dawn breaks, up, up up, on the higher plateaus, people are awakening. With each awakening, more and more are rising from the Dark Slumber. I hold that prophecy in my heart. May I be brave to face the coming days, to serve,and love with all my heart. It is a bumpy ride, my fellow earth people. Hang on and Love with all your hearts.

Rosemary Herb of Remembrance

2007-06-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs, packed with antioxidants, and attractive. I have a pot of it on my porch stairs, and it is thriving in all the rain we have had here on the southern plains. When you plant herbs, there exists a delicate balance to bring out the most aromatic properties in many herbs. You want to grow herbs in reasonably rich soil, but not too fertile. That spoils them and they are not as pungent. The stress of growing in less than perfect conditions brings out the best in them They are like people in that respect; adversity can make them flourish if it does not crush them. Rosemary needs thorough watering more infrequently rather than lots of regular watering. I put my eggshells around the base so they can absorb the calcium. Though I am mostly organic, I do not have room for a compost pile in my apartment setting. Consequently, I do use a little Miracle Grow on my plants in addition to dry browns and green mulch. This plant gets about three small does of Miracle Grow a year, and lots of mulch in late fall to protect it from the cold in zone 7. I also overwintered two potted plants on my south facing windowsill. It is a welcome addition to potatoes, lamb, and chicken. A theme that runs through much of my writings is to be more self sufficient in regard to self healing. I hope it doesn’t happen, but there is a danger that our access to supplements to maintain health will be seriously curtailed in the US and other countries with the enforcement of CODEX. Have a backup plan. Silently start planting and learning about the healing plants, wild and domesticated. Your personal well being depends on it. If you do not have a yard, make choice to live in a place where you can grow some of your own food. If you rent, find creative ways to find space on porches and sunny windows for some plants. Even more than the scientific factual aspect of the value of herbs, consider the spiritual also. When you nurture herbs in your garden, often with products of your own body and food leftovers, you create a bond with these plants. Thank them. Tell them you appreciate them. If you are a believer in Other Worlds, thank the devas for their help in making your plants grow. Occasionally leave offerings for them. Here is an part of a Celtic song that has been adapted and sung by Lisa Thiel. I sometimes use the chant in my daily work with the plants:
I CALL ON FLOWER, PLANT, AND VINE, THE HEALING POWER OF THE GREEN BE MINE.

Crones and Imperfection are Wabi Sabi

2007-06-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Recently at the Barnes and Noble I came across a little book called "Wabi Sabi" Though it is an oriental concept,it is universal in its love of imperfection and simplicity. That definitely intersects positively with the renegade celtic hedgewitch lifestyle! It was a result of fifteenth century Japanese excess. The parallels to our society today abound. In a world that has gone crazy accumulating stuff and being divorced from the natural world, Wabi Sabi is sorely needed. Although each one would have an opinion of what is Wabi Sabi and what is not, here is my list:
Wabi Sabi is:

Crones in their wisdom and wrinkles and knarled hands

A vase of wildflowers

Sitting on the porch with homemade lemonade and talking to a neighbor in the twilight

Making homemade whole wheat pasta with fresh garden basil and olive oil

Grey hair that is cut neatly surround the smiling face of a gorgeous sixty-ish ex flower child-man hunk.

WHAT WABI SABI IS NOT:

Young ladies wearing so much makeup and shoes so high and pointy they are a danger to themselves and anyone who they kick.

A mass of artificial plastic flowers gracing a front yard

Twelve people sitting in a board room in suits and those pointy shoes for the ladies and ties for the guys. They are discussing how to increase sales by creating more plastic junk.

Kraft Mac n Cheese with its white flour, pseudo orange cheese laden with preservatives

Black dyed hair and a necklace inset with blood diamonds.

There is something so satisfying about simplicity, simple elegance, and products made from real wood or real fabric like cotton, silk, or wool. You can feel the satisfaction deep in your soul when your home is filled with the energy of things that mean something specia to you. There is peace in a home with simple things. The home may be a Martha Stewart nightmare to some people, but you can feel the love. Have you ever walked into a home like that? One that defies style as seen by House Beautiful, yet evokes joy and peace? May your life be a testament to Wabi Sabi. Who would want to live the other way? Not me.

Why is the witch feared?

2007-06-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about this today, wondering what that deepest source of fear is in societies, particularly Indo-European ones. Because I am a woman, I am referring mostly to the aspect of witch that is specific to women. The fear exists also in regard to male witches, but my reference point is the female witch. It is that quality of defiance of convention that frightens the masses. She is seen as the symbol of freedom. Freedom from what? From convention, cemented belief systems based on fear and an authority outside of oneself. She can peer into the universe, seeing it as one whole with aspects of light and dark, building and destroying, life and death. When a Falwell rants against the witches and lesbians and ungodly, he means those that will NOT bow down to expected values of a patriarchy and jealous monotheism. Why is the lesbian feared? She says pleasure can be found in the arms of one other than a man, if one is so inclined. The status quo unconsciously thinks, “What if there are more like her? The fabric of society will be torn. The dominant power of the male and institutions like the Church and governments are challenged.” As a hedgewitch with ties to the sacred Earth that feeds and heals us, I stand my ground against a medical system based often on greed and control. Besides the obvious money to be made by disease mongering, there lies an undercurrent that says, “ I am in control of your body and its healing. Your intuition and connection to the earth and spirit frightens me. I may be displaced. “ So it goes on and on, in the US, in Europe, in the Middle East. A couple of years ago I read a fascinating true account of an anthropologist who studied the people of an Indonesian Island group in the 1950’s. The same battle ensued here. The dominant religion was Muslim. Conflict between in Imans and a young girl with psychic gifts came to a climax. Just as paganism existed underneath the fabric of life in Europe, the same paganism within the Muslim culture also exists underneath. It was a great read. The book is called “Gifts of Unknown Things.”
Keep the faith, all manner of witches. Hold your power in silence when necessary. Stand at the top of the mountaintop, wild wind blowing in your hair, arms reaching up to the Goddess, chanting your love and devotion to the Great Mother.

Summer Solstice Guided Meditation-Sacred Wells

2007-06-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

Litha, the Celtic celebration of the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere, arrives on June 21st this year. In past Celtic lands, it was a time of celebrating the fullness of life, the growth all around. The God was at his prime symbolically, and the consort of the Goddess. Sometimes a mock battle between the Oak King and Holly King ensued, with the Oak King being defeated. It is easy to get that mixed up because we symbolically think of oak as a summer tree and holly a winter tree. Even though the sun is at its zenith on this day, every day thereafter till Winter Solstice, a bit less daylight ensues. Hence, it is really a reminder of the coming winter, and holly. Last year, I performed this solstice ritual and guided meditation, and present it here as I remember it. I use archaic words sometimes, not for affectation, but as a tool to connect me with the mythology of the Celtic past. Also, note the meditation is not designed to be historically acurate completely. It is my feeling and not a factual journey. You will need an altar decorated with summer flowers, maybe a white altar cloth. Representations of each element would grace your altar. In the center in a bowl, have a candle representing the goddess. In a shell, have silvery coins available for passing out to each participant. The meditation will be an honoring of Brighid. Both holy wells and bale fires were used to honor Her. A sealed pretty piece of glassware with water to represent the well would be on the altar. Create your ritual as desired, and pass out the coins so that people may place their petitions into them. Here is a paraphrasing of the meditation:It is the eve of Litha. The people are returning sweaty from their labors in the field. Into their huts they go and prepare to wash up for the Litha observance in the village square. Chubby fingers of little children clutch flowers for Brighid. Precious coins, one per person, are held safely in pockets to offer to the Lady of the Healing Waters. Twighlight is approaching. Villagers gather up their children and old ones and hoist them upon the wagons. Torches are lighted and a joyful procession walks up the hill to the sacred well. Men,women and children join hands and circle the well, singing and chanting praises. Each person removes the coin and silently pours their prayers and desires for healing and a successful harvest into the coins. Silent petitions and thanks are murmured in the coming darkness. Around the well they walk in reverence for Brighid and drop the coins into the depths of the healing waters. Later,there is feasting and merriment around the fires in the camp. Out in the distance bale fires are lit to honor Her. There is laughter and joy here. When the feast is over, mothers place sleepy children in wagons drawn by the great oxen. Men and women gaze upon one another and anticipate a night of pleasure with one another when the last candle is blown out. Grandmothers and grandfathers sleep and remember other Solstice celebrations of the passing years.

However you celebrate this joyous warm time, I bid each of you a prosperous, healthy summer.
Brightest Blessings
Raven Waldenpond

Human Urine Used As Garden Fertilizer

2007-06-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

If I have not already horrified you with the title of this post, then maybe you are less of a mainstream person, and can accept unconventional ideas. Not all fertilizer needs to be bought at Home Depot. It is right there in your body, with no transportation costs, no money needed. Human urine can be used on gardens with certain cautions. Yes, I do it. You should not use urine if you have an infection. Otherwise, urine is sterile when no infection is present. If you use supplements for maintaining your health, consider that whatever is passed out of your body, can be reused, put back in the soil to nourish the herbs and other plants you eat. I also have to take blood pressure meds, and I don’t like that they would end up in the soil, but it is a small downside. Also, you need to dilute urine to a 10-15 parts water. If you are watering potted plants, it should be an even milder dilution, like 1 to 30. Always use urine no longer than 24 hours after it is passed. Otherwise, it turns to urea and can burn plants. Urine provides nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. You would want to balance your compost or mulch around your plants with an ample dose of browns, like decomposed leaves or dry grasses. If you have vegetables, stop applying about two weeks before harvest for any safety concerns. Since I am the only one consuming the plants, I feel I am immune to my own germs. If you go to another country, like China, where this is also practiced, you may get sick eating veggies grown this way, so I am told. It is likely because you are not immune to the specific set of microbes in that locality. I believe there is also a metaphysical, other worldly reason to do this. When you give of your own body to the plants you nurture, there is a connection fostered between you and your garden living beings. I talk to my plants, thank them, and say stuff in my head to them, like: Guess what you sweet bloomin’ ladies are getting tomorrow? My own pee pee! I will also throw in the crushed eggshells from last night’s dinner. I love you! I thank you ! I give a piece of myself to you! Brightest Blessings!.. I tell no one about doing this, as many people would think I am cuckoo. Certainly my neighbors who admire the garden will never be told. Heck, there are even some pagans that are not ready for this. It is in this way similar to spellwork and a creative process. Consequently, keeping silent is part of the equation. One day last fall, I was gathering up some dead leaves in a bucket, when a pretty young thing in the next building saw me. She stood there in all her glittery prettiness, and said, “You are putting LEAVES on your garden. Why not just go to Home Depot and buy some mulch?” You can imagine she would run screaming the other way if I told her that I also use pee on my plants. So that is also why I seek to keep my identity secret in this blog. Learning silence in the many aspects of magic and healing that I practice is an ongoing challenge of subduing the ego.

Faerie Sidhe Sith Musings

2007-06-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Speculation about the origin of faerie.

These small nature beings are present in the mythology of every culture in some form. For the Celtic view, one needs to separate the faerie concept from the fluffy pretty little beings of Victorian sketchbooks. The origin of faerie, according to scholarly opinion is derived from three ancient words. The first one is fatum,or fate, regarding Fatae, the goddess who ruled human affairs. Second, there is a connection to the word “fatare”, which means to enchant. Third, there is reference to the species of nymphs who in Latin are referred to spirits dwelling in nature. The equivalent word “faierie” in Scottish and Irish language is “Sith” or “Sidhe”. The “sidhe” is sounded out like “shee”. Hence, you have “the cry of the ban-shee”. Conjecture about the origin and attributes of these beings spans a range of beliefs. Some say that Faeries and humans existed together on the same plane but as man became more civilized, i.e. farming, the two drifted into different worlds, only to be glimpsed upon when the veil is thin or by gifted humans. There are some who also believe that they are related to the greys from outer space. I don’t know. The space and time continuum can make both of these theories possible. Documented accounts of mortals being trapped in Faeryland have been collaborated, of matings with them, and the abduction of children. Others believe that to speak of your experience with Sidhe is disrespectful to the Sidhe. There is a slipping into, and out of, dimensions by some who are fortunate or unlucky enough, to be taken by the Faery. If interested, read the whole hyperlink, being trapped in Faeryland. This world is now a wind up mechanistic universe as described by Newton and Descartes. There are mysteries and worlds beyond ours. I would enjoy reading your comments or Otherworld experiences. More on the Faeries will be forthcoming in other posts. The old saying that where there is smoke ,there is fire, makes me think all the people through the ages could not just all be making this up for attention. So what gives?

Calling Down The Morrigan Spellwork

2007-06-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

OK. So here is a guideline of spellwork for calling The Morrigan, Celtic Goddess of War and the Battlefield. It is best to perform this on the waning moon because you want to deconstruct something... in this case, take down some aspects of the Medical Industrial Complex that is a bloated, greedy, powermonger of lies and half truths. Set up your altar, preferably facing North, which is the direction most powerful for witches. Create sacred space by drawing the parameters of your circle with salt and or an athame, or even just your finger. I just use my finger. That way, I never forget to get it. Think DARK. Assemble these items: a dark color altar cloth. I am using a deep burgundy because it represents both the life force of blood and the darker powers of destruction. Arrange a black or dark candle in the center and representations of every direction on your altar. You could use a feather, a small votive for fire, a small vial of water, and a dark rock for North. Prepare yourself mentally and spiritually. Create your sacred space. Meditate on the current state of healing in this world, its debasement of herbal and energy healing. See that omninous Medical Industrial Complex (MIC) as a looming tower with greedy lords and ladies that take from the people in surrounding villages. See them take more and more land and resources so that the common people have little access to what they need. What I am getting at, is see in your mind's eye a visualization of what is happening today and overlay it with the struggles of peoples against tyranny in the past. Use your imagination. Most of all feel your anger and frustration against them. Call Morrigan to come into your sacred space and do battle with the MIC. Stress here that you are battling the institutions and do not focus on physically harming the people involved. See my previous post to clarify this. Invite her into your space and talk to her as your soul asks. Maybe you have made a sigil or drew simple symbols of the situation on paper. Pour your anger and feeling into the paper. Say your words that resonate with you and burn the paper in the flame. Chant if you like. Thank the Morrigan for helping you do battle with this injustice. From time to time, especially at the waning moon, call The Morrigan again informally but with respect and care and reinforce your intentions. Bid the Goddess of War farewell, say farewell to the quarters. Ground and center. Open the circle. Keep silent most of all of what you do.

Calling Down The Morrigan on Big Pharma

2007-06-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

What can an ancient Celtic goddess of war and the battlefield do to change the appalling paradigm of control, lies, and disease mongering of Big Pharma today? As a believer in holistic healing and the power of magic, The Morrigan is still alive in the group consciousness of the pagans who believe in her destructive and cleansing power. Fluffy bunnies who feel that witchcraft and magic is just pure white need not continue reading what I am about to propose. It is my belief that I, as a witch, must act honorably, and cause no physical harm to people, but what about the institutions they represent? What about the swath of destruction of the relationship of Big Pharma and the FDA has laid waste to people’s lives? This must be reckoned with. As all of us is part of the collective consciousness. I know that I would to a degree be affected both positively and maybe negatively by the destruction. I have some stocks, and last time I checked, I have some interests in some of the companies I despise. I just have not had the inclination to change where my retirement money is allocated, and accept the consequences that must occur. Sorry, I am not perfect either.
In the ritual I am going to perform at the waning moon, which is now, I will call down the Morrigan to set the balance right, to do battle with these foes. My only exception in ritual that I will stress is that I do not wish to kill or cause physical injury to anyone. Certainly, I do not fancy myself to be so powerful that I could. But the power of many witches working similar magic could cause the shift. If The Morrigan chooses to wreck havoc by causing many to lose their careers, so be it. So if the wife and daughter of a pharmaceutical rep or FDA henchman, is deprived of using her Saks credit card, bring it on. If they can’t pay for their three car garaged homes in the gated communities, bring it on!
Getting back to the mythology of The Morrigan: In Celtic myth, she is part of the dark aspect of the triple goddess. The other two goddesses are Macha and Badb. The Raven is one of Morrigan’s symbols, as the shapshifting bird of the battlefield. Morrigan is also known as Great Queen and Phantom Queen. The sculpture shows her naked, with a torque, two spears, a shield, and a cape. Her body is covered with tattoos, which are believed to give her strength, courage, and ferocity in battle. When life is cruel and harsh, call The Morrigan to assist. She is the patron of war, battle, prophecy, and even passionate love. Later in Celtic mythology, The Morrigan also becomes the Washer at the Ford. She is the weeping woman near the stream washing the blood stained shrouds of battle. Even as I write this, chills go down my spine, because I feel her power and sorrow mingled with my own. So is the Morrigan real? I believe that a god or goddess exists both separately as an entity and also as a creation of the collective consciousness of a culture of people who believe in her. That is good enough for me. She is created and exists from the Void where thought is formed in matter and consciousness. Later aspects of her are Morgan Le Fey, Queen of the Faeries. Morgan Le Fey is part of the mythology of King Arthur and the Round Table. As practicers of magick, we can not only use it for our own needs, but the changing of the world into a more balanced, just, and peaceful world.
In my next post, I will submit an actual ritual that you can adapt as your own if you wish to join in the effort to bring the Medical Industrial Complex down a notch or two.
Brightest Blessings, Raven

Borage Healing Weed of Abandoned Prairie Places

2007-06-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Borage is a valuable plant herb for a cottage garden. To the unenlightened, it is really a weed. Species of borage often grow in abandoned parking lots, springing up among the gravel and poor soil. The lovely lilac flowers and fuzzy leaves add interest to any garden. Presently I do not have any borage in my garden, as the last batch did not transplant well. You can obtain your borage by carefully digging up some in a prairie or disturbed area, taking care to take only a little and covering up the hole. Propagating by division works best. Some gardeners with a really green thumb can get plants to take by placing just stems in a sandy type potting medium in summer and fall. Borage adapts itself well to a variety of environmental conditions.

Here is a quote of some of its properties directly from University of Perdue’s Horitcultural Site.
"Traditional medicinal uses of borage include the treatment of jaundice, coughs, fever, dermatitis, and kidney ailments. It has also been used to stimulate lactation and employed as a tonic, diaphoret diuretic, demulcent and emollient. Although little information is available on chemical constituents and biological activity of borage extracts, investigations have indicated that borage contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such as lasiocarpine, which have been reported to cause liver damage and induce cancer in laboratory animals (11.1-154), though this does not appear to be a problem in the seed oil, used as a commercial source of -linolenic acid."
I have gathered some from vacant fields and eaten the leaves, put them in a tea. Borage, according to Culpepper, is a herb that makes people “merry”, that is, perhaps having some anti depressant qualities. The oil is high in GLA and fatty acids. Borage is rich in potassium and calcium, and certain mineral acids. It is used as a diuretic, demulcent, emollient.
In pioneer times, women would gather the flowers and put them in a conserve, honey, or vinegar to preserve, to use as a tonic for those whose constitutions were debilitated from illness.
As a hedgewitch, the interest in healing plants goes beyond just dissecting them and saying: This plant has these compounds and can help this condition. When you actually live near, and harvest the plant, you a making a psychic connection with the essence of the plant. Its powers can help you go far beyond the physical realm. I am just now reading a book called Spirit Plant Shamanism, by Ross Heaven, that really gets into the healing and spiritual theory behind our relationship to plants. If you are seriously wanting to know more about the plant kingdom on a shamanic, spiritual level, this book, is valuable.

Susan B Komen Race for the Big Bucks Big Pharma

2007-06-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Susan B Komen Foundation is in the forefront of the Race Against Cancer. Intuitively, I have always felt that their campaign is off target, emphasizing cures with a heavy dose of pharmaceutical research and minimal focus on the environmental and dietary factors causing breast cancer. The pink ribbons are a mantra, to my vision of this, of
YOU ARE HELPLESS TO CONTROL THIS DISEASE. WE CAN FIX IT FOR YOU. TAKE THESE DRUGS. ONLY WE HAVE THE ANSWER

Mammograms are the Holy Grail of this disease view. Some studies indicate that as far back as 1989 some studies showed that cancer rates were higher for women who had regular mammograms. Could it be the radiation from the testing is toxic? Could it be our lifestyles and baby rearing habits of not breastfeeding are a factor? Use them or lose them.

The mainstream cancer treatment mavens even consider taking the pill Tamifoxin as a preventative. Just see the drug companies salivating over that, more profits. Breast cancer is a frightening condition, statistically there seems to be little value in chemotherapy versus mortality rates. I urge those of you interested to explore the information on the links and other alternative sites so you can get a more balanced view of the situation. Again, I emphasize balance and choice. The big voices on the Cure are powerful and drowning out alternative views.

I personally do not support the Susan Komen Foundation, nor their races. This is too much about money and lining the pockets of the medical industrial complex.
Check these out also

http://www.counterpunch.org/marshall10092006.html
http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/64?from=280
www.stopcancer.org

Social Security Brown Shirts-Are You Helping?

2007-06-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Albertsons, wanting to cash a $25 insurance rebate check, and buy a few groceries. I presented the check with my drivers license for ID. The clerk then asked for my SS#. I refused and asked to see a manager. He also said I must provide it to get the check cashed. I have a checking account of long standing at the Bank of OK, which has numerous branches directly inside the Albertsons. So I just took the extra time and deposited the check and took out $20 in cash. Truly, I resent that they wanted me to provide that number in this era of ID thieves. Several months ago, I was also asked for the SS# when I bought a compounded menopausal cream that is a controlled substance. Again, we have Big Brother making sure that no one is making any money on selling drugs, except of course, Big Pharma. I balked at the time about giving it, but just rattled off a number that was two numbers off the true one. Surely people can understand that maybe I am dyslexic. When I mentioned what I had done on another forum that was discussing giving or not giving out SS numbers, one brown shirt said he would sue me if it was accidentally his. It is this mentality of helping a government and bloated systems that amazes me. Most of the time I have to comply, but , damn, when I can put a monkey-wrench in the system with minimal consequence, I do it just for the practice. I should have just given a false one at Albertsons, but I was not quick enough! Getting back to the issue of me accidentally causing a problem for another by using their number: This is very unlikely and would get straightened out. If mine was used in the same manner to confound and confuse, so be it. It is these sheeple, totally law abiding, lets always obey the LAW types, that enables powerful governments and institutions to step on our rights. So you can see why I would use a pen name Raven Waldenpond. . I still have to live within this corrupt system and cannot be googled for these radical ideas. Heck, it could get me fired or hurt. So I try to have at least one layer of anonymity between me and the feds. Over and over I see the people I come in contact with, Dems and Republicans both, who just want to go along. Sorry, I especially see it with Dems. No offense, I often vote Dem. It is the lesser of two evils sometimes. I submit to you: pagans, renegades, fringe dwellers, and all many of free thinkers to think small and put a few monkey wrenches somewhere. No violence please.

Wiccan Spells and Charismatic Prayer Link

2007-05-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

When witches want to create a change by magic, generally they create sacred space, visualize the outcome, use ritual tools to strengthen the spell. The result is, or hopefully, a desired outcome. The magic performed could be white, gray, or black. I assume readers know the dangers of black or even gray, no point discussing here. Let me tell you a story about the power of charismatic prayer and how it affected me in what, I , as a witch, would actually call grey magic. Firmly, I am a Celtic hedgewitch, and cannot relate to the Jesus is king charismatic hype I see in my neck of the woods. But stay with me here. Three years ago I became romantically involved with a Charismatic, not fully explaining to him right off of my Wiccan ways. I was vague about them. He, in turn, had a basically good heart, but was entrenched in this Charismatic Christian Culture. However, he had serious problems integrating the sacred and the sexual, Madonna Whore Complex, to simplify. I was both and it created a hook for both of us. But he was totally awash in that charismatic prayer concept to get what you need. Also, at the time I met him, he was floundering financially because he was so unorganized. So we had this relationship for awhile, and I sensed that he was wanting to be the dominant personality in this relationship, I did not have the my shields up as well as I should have. After dating for three months, he explained that he would really save money if he could move in with me, blah blah blah. Now I was not that serious about him, and I sensed a desperation using mode here. That I refused. But out of my mouth came an incongruous statement that I could loan him $200. In my 18 years of singledom, never did I loan a man money. I hold my power quite well. It was almost as if someone put the words in my mouth! Jesus made me do it !!. (I am being irreverent here) The words said, he jumped on them and I loaned him the $200 with a written promissory note. I never got the money back. Hence, the relationship ended mutually soon thereafter. But somehow I sensed I was manipulated by unseen forces. These forces can be called God, or Goddess. Or whatever. I believe it is a neutral force,and he used prayer gray magic to get want he needed with the force of will.

What is am getting at is that the same force, can be used no matter what deity you prefer. Neither is Hocus-Pocus. Prayer or spellwork can be truly holy or somewhat tinged by our own need. A prayer that asks the highest good for all is the best. But what of a prayer that forces your self righteous need or will on another? If you create a spell to make a certain man fall head over heels for you, or to compel you to give you money, then the prayer is not pure. What of prayers in battle to vanquish an enemy? Do they work? There is a whole matrix of reality and forces unseen. I cannot scientifically prove what he did. Generally I do not have a victim mentality. Intuitively, I sensed I was manipulated because I did not see it coming. It was a valuable life lesson.

Yarrow Healing Herb Supreme

2007-05-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Yarrow is one of the most valuable plants in my garden. From two plants with yellow flowers I bought last summer, I have been able to propagate it by stem cuttings into several plants. Stem cuttings propagate best when you place the cuttings in soil when there is plenty of rain. I also gather the white blossomed wild yarrow and make infusions and teas from it. This versatile plant is a bitter herb, all around tonic, packed with calcium and magnesium, and phosphorus. It is purported to lower blood pressure, acts as an astringent when taken internally or soaked onto wounds. I have found that it does help with bleeding hemorroids. Though not a subject one would discuss at a cocktail party, this is valuable info to consider. I made an infusion of yarrow, plantain and rubbing alcohol that I placed in a dark area for a month. Then I removed the plant material and used the green liquid on those parts for soothing and reducing swelling. This herb has been used for thousands of years. The fossilized pollen of yarrow was found in a cave that had been used by Neanderathal man 60,000 years ago. Its use for helping to staunch the flow of blood goes back to Greek times when warriors used it in battle. In the Civil War it was widely used on the battlefield also to staunch blood flow of wounds. Consider this herb in your repretoire of herbal uses. We must, as Earth Keepers, retain the knowledge of plants and grow them in our gardens. Do not only rely on the mainstream medical establishment and the pharmacy industry to cure you. There needs to be a re-balancing of healing disciplines from the newer technology and the Old Ways. I have created two links in this blog about both the healing and esoteric value of yarrow that you can persue if you want more info. The yarrow stalks have been used for thousands of years as a divination tool of I Ching. The Orientals consider it a perfect balance of ying and yang by the softness of the flowers and the hardness of the stalks.

Sidhe, Faery, Sith-Musings of Faery Contact

2007-05-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

The faery way is prominent in Celtic paganism. I
am
not an expert in this area, but wanted to share
my
thoughts about how the Otherworld intersects
ours.
Every culture speaks of nature spirits, calling
them
different names. I have been reading about A E
Russell and his fantasy faery art and prose.
Though
having a practical side, he was deeply intuitive
and
shares his otherworld visions in his art. To
him, I
think, the Feary, Sidhe, Sith, whatever you call
them,
were real entities existing in another dimension.
Sometimes that dimensions intersects with our
world
and people can see or feel the Sidhe. If I
understand
correctly, Russell viewed the layer of reality as
three worlds: Our human world, or green existence
the mid world of Shining Beings
the Heaven World of Opalescent Beings. The
Shining
Ones are considered less defined and more
elemental.
The Opalescent Beings, he stated, existed in the
higher world, and are more akin to gods and
goddesses.
Russell's contribution was the beginning of the
awareness of the Goddess, and her rise back into
power, so to speak. Over the course of 100 yrs,
we
see a progression of interest in spiritual
aspects,
beginning with the Victorians and spiritism to
now and
the Neo Pagan movement. There is so much mystery
surrounding the fey and it is truly fascinating.
One
of the criticisms I have of some of the recent
books I
have read is the downplaying of their dark side.
I
respect the fey, honor them with offerings, and
acknowledge them as kindred of the Goddess of
all. If
I work with them, I remember, they are not human.
Their moral code is not necessarily like ours,
and
they can be benevelent, mischievious, evil. There
are
accounts in which they have actually killed
humans.
These are not darling little flitter-bee's so use
great caution and respect if working with them.
Read
all the material you can about them first, and
ongoing. I have my boundaries in my house. They
are
welcomed in my garden and they welcome me to the
surrounding woods and wilder places near my home.
But
I do not ivite them into my home psychically.
When I
see Russell's art, it touches something primal in
me.
I have never seen the fey. Yet I would like to
catch a
glimpse in this lifetime.

Sex Offenders Media Frenzy

2007-05-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today I read the headlines in my local Oklahoma paper about a woman who was prosecuted as a sex offender and how the law creates an environment of shame and exclusion. She was, admittedly, addicted to Xanax, and flashed her breasts at a police officer. Now she is a sex offender and is having difficulty finding adequate housing for herself and her 16 yr old daughter. Though she has cleaned up her life and has a job, she now lives in a seedy motel where there ARE hard core sex offenders. Three times she has been notified that she could not live in a particular neighborhood because she was in the school or park zone. Certainly, I advocate prosecuting true sex offenders who take by force, abuse children and such. However, if you are caught smooching with your lover in a car or in a secluded area and have the unfortunate experience of being caught, boom, sex offender. Being drunk and peeing in an alley can label you as such also. Flashing your breasts or urinating in public is obnoxious, but let us make the punishment fit the crime. I am so tired of one particular TV station in my area that plays this card to death. "Is there a sex offender in your neighborhood". The entire scenario is out of control and we are wasting manpower and money prosecuting some of these cases. So it goes the same with our war on drugs, terrorism, and who knows what else. The balance of crime and punishment is way off. We now have 2 million men and women in prison, and we are building even more prisons. Is it really that society has become badder? Or could it be there are more behaviors that are considered crimes to fuel an every hungry industrial prison complex? In Barbara Marciniak's book "The Bringers of the Dawn" the Pleadians say that certain entities within other dimensions feed on our fear and that many of the world leaders use this to our advantage. Though I do not necessarily believe all of the Pleadian experience, there seems to be some truth to it. In witchcraft, we know that thoughts can become things. When there is a growing fear in the common conciousness of a mass of people, it becomse palpable. Maybe I am preaching to the choir here? The world is truly out of balance. It it is my hope that those who believe in using mind and soul to transform this world will reach critical mass soon and shift the paradigm of fear, greed, and alienation to a more peaceable world.

Twilight Neigborhood Search for Plants

2007-05-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Last night in the deepening twilight I went outside to find some plants around the edge of the park and overhanging residential areas. The maiden moon shone like a sliver of a smile in the nearly dark sky. I feel fairly safe in my neighborhood and walk often in the early evenings. It is my time for thinking and appreciating the beauty around me. Always searching for more native plants, or easy growing plants, I prowl the area with my little bag and scissors for snipping. A snip of ivy here, a snip of sweet potato plant from an overhanging on the street plant there. I do not consider taking a snip from someone's yard immoral. Then again, I don't want to get caught doing it. It is for me not an immoral act if you take a little and don't pull anything up by the roots. That would be stealing from my neighbor. In the park, I have taken some plants that are not endangered, by the roots, and fixed the soil back around the earth, and only in a small area as not to disturb the balance or look of the stand of plants. In the seven years I have lived here and tended my patch of garden, gradually I moved from buying delicate plants at the big box stores. I prefer to acquire them them this way. It is also an economical decision, as a ready made plant habit can be expensive. I plucked a few Russian sage stems, planting them in the dark as soon as I got home. My mother used to say that a stolen plant grows better than a bought one. Seems she is right. The honeysuckle stems I planted last fall are starting to grow in my garden.

Yearning for the Goddess Connection

2007-05-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is a copy of a poem I found in the Spring
2007
issue of the magazine ,Pangaia,
was written by Benn Mac Stephan. Since I had no
way to
contact him for permission, I am verifying here
that
this is his work. I found this poem to speak of
something that is in my heart regarding the
thirst for
spiritual validation. The yearning for
connection todeity sometimes feels like a ripe apple just out
of
our reach. I cannot put proper words to that
yearning,
but Benn Mac Stephan does in this poem:

They all looked at me with such expectations,
I could see the hope in their eyes,
The path ahead seems to great, so wide, so vast.
Where
do we begin?
I was afraid to tell them,
That feeling never ends, I was afraid they would
leave
me
Tribeless
I looked into my own hands,
To see what I could offer them.
Ambiguity, wildness, confusion, step after
endless
step,
The tongues of their ancestors, rambling poetry,
painfull turas,
But no masters, no Druids,
The ones they wanted most.
I can only offer you company. I said I have no
masters, except the teasing De Dannans.
I followed the echoes of their whispers.
Doubt is my Hound of Culainn,
And perserverance my only Sliothar.
I wanted, at that moment, more than any other, to
be
more than I was,
I wanted to fill them with passion, and the great
mountain view.
But the truth against my world was,
"I am still lost, how can I find THEM?
Me and the wandering nomad of the mind.
With my eyes fixed on the great mountain.
So I made an offering to my teasing Lords and
Ladies
of the Mist,
and kept climbing.
Hoping, praying, yearning, and longing for the
company
of my tribe.
Straining to hear the crunch of their feet beside
me.I hope Mr Mac Stephan will forgive me if I got
the
HTML of the layout not quite as his, but I
wanted to
share this beautiful poem.

In the words of that poem, I feel my desire to
grow
more spiritually and sometimes think that to be
a
witch I should have deeper spiritual
experiences.
Like having lucid dreams frequently, seeing the
effort
of my personal magic more often. Maybe even
seeing a
faerie or two. Then I remeber, that I am enough.
Spiritual illumination comes a little at a time.
It is
the hunch, the little magic, the "did that really
happen because of my magic" wondering. It is
especially, that rising of energy that I feel
around
my neck and crown of my head when when I call
upon the
Goddess. Working the craft, I need to remeber,
should
not be a struggle or competiton, but a flow into
greater spriitual conciousness at my own pace

Isaiah Effect, Magic, The Secret =Linked?

2007-05-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

Isaiah Effect, Magic, The Secret =Linked?

What do The Isaiah Effect, Witchcraft Magic, and the book “The Secret” have in common? All refer to a different mode of prayer than the petitioning of a need to a deity. In monotheistic prayer, I think, there is more of a duality of God up there and undeserving servant down here, mode. However, I recently scanned through the best selling book “The Isaiah Effect” and learned that in ancient interpretations of prayer by the Essenes, their prayer was more of a visualization of a change it effected. This effect is the same belief system that Native Americans used for praying rain. I did not make a typo here. It is praying rain, and not praying for rain. He speaks of the drought in the Southwest desert and a shaman rainmaker who explained: You do not focus on the dry parched land and the petitioning as much as feeling the rain on your body and on seeing it fall on the earth. It is the feeling of the prayer that is tantamount and not the petitioning in this case. In the best selling book, “The Secret” Rhonda discusses a similar mode in visualizing something to manifest it. It is not the lack you focus on, but the final result. Even some aspects of Christianity discuss this as Jesus said, paraphrasing,” Go now, for your faith has made thee whole.” Similarly, in witchcraft ritual, one may petition the Goddess for healing assistance, but a major part of ritual is using the tools that create the feeling. That is how the desired result is manifested. So when a witch “prays” or does magic, she would visualize that person in a state of being already healed.

Though there is not enough room to delve into these similarities in this post, but I was thinking about it today. Also, note that I use the term Witchcraft and magic loosely, and realize that there are varying opinions of difference in these terms. Most mornings, I do try to take a couple minutes to say my affirmations to help me visualize those things I want to manifest in my life. I have found it helps me grow.

Life Upon Celtic Life

2007-05-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt you lived before, catching glimpses of a man or woman who you instinctively felt was YOU? Believing in the Summerlands concept of rebirth but not fully understanding all the mysteries of the time/space/soul/ continuum, I feel I lived before in a Celtic land as a woman who gathered herbs. Before this sounds too much like a fluffy bunny precept,, know that it is a personal feeling that I just want to explore around the edges in my blog. Because I want to be safe and free to express all of my thoughts, I have chosen the pen name Raven Waldenpond. The Raven represents my affinity to Celtic Crone Goddess aspect. Waldenpond reminds me that being a renegade and free thinker is the light that helps me find my way in this world. Anyway, I am drawn to fiction that stirs that inner knowing of my soul’s history. It comforts me knowing people hundreds, even a thousand years ago, worshipped the Goddess and gathered healing herbs. When I stand sometimes in ritual, alone, at the waning moon, I sense the power of ancestors, the flow of life after life, and my place in it. I visualize my DNA stranded somehow to theirs, and to the stars. I light the flame in the center of statues of the hand holding people encircled around a cauldron. Sometimes, I play the song form Lisa Thiel’s CD, Invocation of the Graces, “Sacred Ancestors Come to Me”
Consequently, I loved this book- “Confessions of a Pagan Nun”. It is a best selling fictional account of a pagan who becomes a nun in 500 AD Ireland. It is based in historical fact about the documents found in a Irish bog regarding the nuns who tended the Flame and the convent in Kildare. The reviews on the Amazon page are much more eloquent than any I could write. Take a moment to read them, and maybe you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

My Stove Is Sacred Space

2007-05-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Brigid, the beloved goddess of the Celtic pantheon, is the primary goddess I work with. Among other attributes, she is the Goddess of the Hearth. Though I have an altar in my bedroom that I use for magick and honoring all goddesses and their aspects as needed, I consider my stove sacred also. Since I do not have a kitchen hearth like the ancients, nor a fireplace, this is were I can tangibly do healing work and acknowledge Brighid's place in my life as hedgewitch. I use the electric burners to burn incense cones or small amounts of herbs I have gathered. My copper teapot infuses the herbal remedies I use for tonics and fragrant teas. This old copper pot has much of my own energy infused in it due to years of use. It is a consumer's saftey nightmare! The handle gets wickedly hot and a potholder is mandatory. It is scuffed from years of healing usage. I even pull the weeds from my garden with some of the earth attached and brew a fertilizing tea to place back in the garden. The weeds pull nutrients from deep in the soil upward and I can recycle this enery back for the plants I want to grow for food , esthetic beauty, and healing. Water and soap makes it again suitable for making teas I will drink. Thinking of the elements of fire and water, I honor Brighid as I go about my domestic cooking chores.

High gas prices=more foraging for food, herbs

2007-05-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last night on the news were discussions about the price of gas hitting an all time high and will likely be a continuing trend through the summer. In the wake of the gas hike, our food costs will increase considerably. Obviously, our handful of farmer's markets that operate in Heartland cannot support the population of an entire city. Driving the 10 miles to the farmer's market to obtain the organic locally grown food is a considerable expense for me. I thought about my corner of the world and the wild food that supplements my store bought supplies. Buying organic veggies consistently is just not feasible at my income level. Since I have foraged, wildcrafted the edges of suburbia and the fringes of one of several city parks, I know what grows there throughout the seasons. This year, more than ever, drying plants for winter use will be necessary. Already, besides eating some now, I am drying peppergrass and red clover for seasoning meats and stews, and making teas, respectively. The garden that I have been planting in the common area of the apartment complex with permission from the owners, is filled with anti oxidant plants to eat and make tinctures and other infusions. I enjoy the lifestyle a more urban setting provides, and would go stark crazy if I lived in the country with no access to restaurants and some stores. Yet, I love nature and going out to the park and nearby woods, feeding the geese, and watching the wildlife at the park across the street. All those that want to be close to nature and live a "closer to the Earth" lifestyle can still do so in an ubarn setting with a shift in outlook.

Even in the city, weeds find ways to thrive. Don't spray them! Eat them!

Musings of a Celtic Hedgewitch/Earth Lover

2007-05-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful, sunny day, the first dry day after a spate of rain that was much needed. Although I live in a suburban area and live in a small apartment, this does not stop me from gardening, nor foraging for edible and healing herbs. There is a park directly across the street with two ponds where ducks and geese abound. On the outer rim of the park is a wooded area that holds an abundance of useful plants. This is mainly where I obtain herbs for drying for winter use. Actually, signs are posted that you cannot pick any plants, but I do it responsibly and unobtrusively. It is a part that has minimal foot traffic, so it is like my private retreat and pharmacopoeia. Today I picked a few violet leaves and red clover tops for tea. Both serve as spring tonics . (disclaimer- All I say is anecdotal info only. Take responsibility for your own health and/ or contact a licensed health care provider of info on your own conditions.) There are masses of violet tipped wildflowers that grow within the grass. I have taken the tops of those and eaten those also. I am still alive to talk about it. Actually, I did not look that flower up, but it tasted ok and I ate about a tablespoon’s worth. While there are plants that are dangerous, when you look at the whole picture, the risk, in my opinion, is minimal. I always wash the plants first, in case they are sprayed, and seek out the ones nearest the woods where I think spraying would be minimal. It would be ideal if I could guarantee that these plants are never sprayed, but the substances inherent in the plants themselves outweigh not using them at all. At a $16,000 a year income, I cannot consistently afford all organic food, though I buy some and certainly grow some. Compared to the number of deaths and harm from RX drugs, I weigh the odds in my favor as pretty good. I have been studying local Oklahoma plants for six years and share hands on info with like minded herbal folks. As this blog progresses, I hope to delve deeper into plant lore, healing and the mindset of honoring the Earth by being good stewards of the land. Later, I hope that lively discussions about your own opinions of the hectic, comsumerism lifestyle of mainstream America. I hope that people from other countries also come to this blog and contribute.