Notes from the Apothecary: Lavender   I have several types of lavender growing in my garden. Some I bought as tiny plants, but the most virile is the one I grew from seed. It took three attempts to get a viable plant from seed, but, as they say, third time’s the charm! This one is gradually taking over a small space in the garden, and at this time of year, as we head towards midsummer, the blooms are producing that unmistakeable aroma. Many associate the smell of lavender with their nana, or old women on general, but I think this is because it is one of the few perfumes that…

Sea shell for Sea Salt Merry Meet. July brings beach weather just about everywhere in the Northern hemisphere. Among the objects I associate with the beach is shells. Chances are you’ve collected some over the years that have been relegated to a drawer or a box. This craft is meant to inspire you to make your a salt dish or an offering bowl. Select an open shell and others with which to decorate it. Use two-part epoxy, hot glue or other craft adhesive to attach smaller shells, bits of sea glass, charms and pieces of jewelry as desired. Small shells, beads or pearls can be used as legs to keep…

  Known throughout antiquity as a House Goddess, Hekate is said to protect one’s home and those who live within its sacred walls. As a goddess of doorways and liminal places, shrines to Hekate are set up near the entrance of homes, businesses, and temples. As Brimo, Hekate is a fierce protector and will guard your home against storms, theft, and malevolent entities (human or spirit). As Queen of Witches and what I call the Shadow-Lands, Hekate has been the Goddess I have honored most. I am almost Henotheistic in my devotion to Her. She is everywhere and nowhere at once and rules the realms Seen and Unseen. I appeal…

Spiralled Edges: The Changing Role of Parenting   Today is Father’s Day in the UK and America and that has put me in mind of how my relationships with my sons has changed over time. As a parent, I know that if I am doing my job correctly the day will come when my children won’t need me to make decisions for them or hold them up. I have to trust that I have given them the skills they need to navigate their way through adulthood. My eldest son is an adult, and has been for several years. Occasionally, I will have someone ask me – “How could you let…

Healing Goddesses   Like so many others this week, I am saddened and devastated by the recent racist murders in South Carolina, US. In memory and honor of those whose lives were taken and in hopes that this country, and this world can begin to heal the hatreds that tear it apart, this month’s Goddess column will be on just a few of the Healing Goddesses, whom I ask to please look kindly upon us all.   COVENTINA – The British Goddess of springs and wells, she was also a Goddess of abundance and inspiration. Her sacred well, located in Northumberland, is considered a sacred healing site.     ANAITA…

Halo Quin: A Fae Existence   Halo Quin is the author of upcoming Pagan Portal, Your Faery Magic. I caught up with her to find out a bit more about the Faery world, and about Halo herself. Mabh Savage: What was the main inspiration for your upcoming book, Your Faery Magic? Halo Quin: The main inspiration for Your Faery Magic was my experiences as an enchantress. I’ve spent my whole life following a fae path, looking for faeries, working with them, visiting the realm that is their world, and I found very little Faery specific information that properly prepares the seeker for such work. I had to work out the…

Croning: Wisdom Merry meet! This month is the fourth of a six-part series on croning – a feminine rite-of-passage ritual for those reclaiming the power and wisdom of the old woman, the crone. I hope it prompts you to reflect on your life and the wisdom you have to share. While the crone is a symbol of death, she also symbolizes wisdom and power. Fifty years or more of living brings the inherent wisdom that comes with experience. She has birthed and buried, laughed and cried, danced and crawled, succeeded and struggled. She has seen Saturn return twice, and with it, a host of lessons. Her life has demanded patience,…

Our Sacred Vessel We often hear the adage that “we are Spiritual Beings having a Physical experience”. Spiritual, implying non-corporeal and rarified energy and physical being that state of manifest densest layer of existence. The mysteries of the Sacred Vessel are those things crafted and etched in the time of our own making. The intricate weaving and painting that defines this vessel as our own; unique and rare in all of its states of being. This vessel has moved through time and seen the rise and fall of our basest and highest nature. It has changed its alchemical form and weathered the extremes of expansion and contraction, remaining pliable and…

That Tiny Patch of Lawn Hi my lovelies! July has a different meaning depending on whether you are still at school or not, don’t you think? For all children everywhere it signals the end of the school year, the square on the monopoly board that heralds the get out of jail free card, the endless sunny days of hope and wild abandonment, climbing trees (or playing computer games, whatever the modern equivalent is)and sleeping in, ahhhh what bliss!!! For parents and all child looking afterers July has a certain chill to the air…ahead stretch endless days to be filled, manic conversations and arguments to be had and the go directly…

Vision Boards Merry meet. The more senses we involve in magical work, the more powerful spells become. I have made frequent use of vision boards to illustrate what I was inspired to manifest. I flip through magazines (Oprah and Yoga Journal are two of my favorites.), old calendars and books for pictures and words that grab me. If you don’t have a stash, look at tag sales and used book fairs held at local libraries. I have gotten old issues from my gym that were being thrown away, from co-workers and by helping myself to a bag of magazines put in the recycling bin at my condo. I try to…