Healing recipes (please note that many of these recipes come from the book Incense Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham. Also everyone is welcome to share their own recipes in the comment section…) Please feel free to contact me, or leave a comment/question below! This month we will focus on healing blends.  Always remember first off, that each person will smell the fragrance differently. To some it might make a headache go away and leave them feeling euphoric. For others the scent could give them that headache if they might be allergic to it. Always go with what works for you, or the person in question. Don’t make yourself go…

Scents for your Sensibilities: Aphrodisiacs Happy Mid Spring; This time we are going to concentrate scents that can put you in the mood, or put a partner into a romantic frame of mind. There are a whole host of scents and different ways you can use them, but we will concentrate on the most easy. Of course, you can always plan to double up on “affect” by using food support, a meal of differing tastes and sensations, while burning a ritualized candle, (red for power and sexuality, runes or images that court to your intuition that will aid the intent.) With of without anything else, there are oils that you…

Now we are going to have a little fun with some recipes. Most of the ones we will discuss  were discovered or created by Scott Cunningham in his book titled Incense, Oils & Brews. I have always found this book to be a priceless tool when trying to figure out what to blend with what and by how much technically. Though I always go by what my intuition tells me, Mr. Cunningham gives me an excellent base to start off with. Many of his scents or recipes for scents have worked really well for just about every person I have ever spoken with about it. They say this book is…

Oils and Spells Oils can be extremely useful for spells. It is actually one of my personal favorite ways to include the power of the scent or plant, in the working. Some would say that an Essential oil works better for magical purposes. I will agree to some extent. If you are using the power of Rose the flower, the scent, the color, everything about “Rose” then you will probably want the actual essence of rose. Blends and synthetics are good for their purposes as well but they are created by taking other scents and a base oil being mixed together so there would technically be other vibrations mixed in…

Well, I thought we would start things off with Oils. But as we discuss this wonderful art of making, using, as well as the different ingredients that can be used; we are also going to delve into why these things can be used to truly help lift our spirits, bring us money, open our heart to love and magic and a whole bunch of other wonderful things. Oils are not “just” scents, they truly can change and help our “sensibilities” to keep us grounded and happy. I will be using a number of different references but I’d like to make it clear right off, that other than the internet, and…

Imbolc This month we get to celebrate Imbolc on February 1st. It is and has been since ancient times one of the major Sabbats to celebrate the impending return of Spring. It also could be considered in those ancient times, a celebration of the New Year. For pagans with a Celtic lean, it was a time to celebrate Brigit which also means “bride”. Though now she is considered a Christian Saint, she began as a Celtic Goddess, meaning “Light-Bringer.” The bringing of Light, the return of Spring, the return of flowing this after the thaw. The flow of water, of milk from mother giving birth, it is a celebration of…

Winter Solstice The Winter Solstice was important to many different cultures in times past. It really marked the passage of seasons and marked a time of celebration for the winter months, it was finally the time to rest at least in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere it marked the time of summer and sunshine filled days. The Solstice celebrations are a hard thing to put a time line on without knowing the exact date the Earth was born. But as far back as recorded history goes, the Winter Solstice, no matter which hemisphere you lived in, was an important event. For our purpose here, we will focus on…

Meandering… In the spirit of the holidays as well as our continued meandering through the past, I thought I would talk about the Samhain/Halloween holiday we all just experienced. This is a time where in our half of the hemisphere, the northern half, bits and pieces of the world are getting ready to sleep. It is also a time of year to remember and honor those we loved, who have passed on. Samhain is also considered the Celtic New Year. To show respect to the men and women who were accused of witchcraft and thus killed way back in the day, my family and I took a jaunt down to…

On the History of Ireland History of Irish Myths Well this author was thoroughly impressed to discover that Ireland has a rather rich historic mythological background. I also suspect that it wouldn’t be considered “myth” had Christian monks not been the ones recording everything. The fact that they are of a tradition, caused me to hesitate, but then again, if it had been my own tradition doing the recording, then, maybe I wouldn’t feel that way. This will mark the beginning of a series of articles studying the different periods of the history of Ireland. If you would like to read about the history of your own tradition please feel…

What do you think it meant to be a witch back in “the old days”? Well, in Europe as well as the east coast it meant a death sentence for one thing. If you were caught practicing what the authorities considered to be witchcraft, you were arrested, and most, hanged or burned. Sad Times. Sadder still were some of the things which could label you as a witch. Aside from actually healing someone, or helping someone with their crops, you could be assumed a witch just by the shape of your chin, or lies told by your neighbor. That was the usual way you were declared a witch. More sorry,…