Notes from the Apothecary: Marigold     The marigold is a complicated puzzle to unfurl. True marigolds, tagetes, originated in North America and found their way back to Europe via Spanish and Portuguese explorers. Yet the plant we most often call marigold is actually calendula, which travelled the complete opposite way, arriving in America from the Mediterranean hundreds of years ago. The two types of plants are not botanically related, so calendula lovers, I’m sorry, but keep your eyes peeled next month. This month it’s the true marigold’s chance to shine.   The Kitchen Garden Marigolds are striking and beautiful, with yellow and orange petals that come in a fascinating…

The Road to Runes: Raidho, The Traveler’s Rune The fifth rune in the Elder Futhark, Raidho is also the fifth rune in first ætt, or set of eight runes. These first eight runes are known as Freya’s ætt, and relate to physical and emotional happiness, nurturing and compassion. Raidho literally means riding or wagon, and as such is strongly associated with journeys, arrivals, departures, reunions, relocations, traveling and vehicles. The overriding theme is not remaining stationary. Of course, not all journeys are physical. Each one of us is a traveler, making our own winding way down life’s path. We are all on a spiritual journey as well as physical one.…

Book Review The Bed By Laura Perry   Having ready and enjoyed Laura Perry’s non-fiction work, I was excited by the thought of a novel by the same accomplished writer. However, I had no idea what to expect. What took me by surprise were delightfully real characters, a magical story full of occult surrealism and a page turner that I literally couldn’t put down. I’ll try to avoid spoilers as I review this great piece of ‘witch lit’, as I really want you all to go and read it for yourselves! Relatable The first thing that struck me was how relatable Laura’s characters are. The dysfunctional family. The best friend…

Notes from the Apothecary: Sunflower   Despite being used by many Pagans as a symbol of the Summer Solstice, the bright and bold sunflower actually flowers a little later, in the deep heart of summer, during July and August. When the lazy, hot days take over, before the light starts to wane, these great, golden faces nod towards their namesake, spreading sunshine wherever they grow. Sunflowers range from small, cheeky bright yellow flowers to towering golden giants, yellow and black, resembling great, mutant bumblebees on stalks. There are darks ones, pale ones and even some that seem almost black or purple.   The Kitchen Garden Sunflowers are pretty easy to…

  The Road to Runes: Learning the Layouts Before I expand further into learning the individual meanings of the runes, I wanted to understand a bit more about the different layouts used in rune divination. Like tarot, there are various ways of displaying runes, and each layout can have different meanings and is useful in different types of situations. We’ve already had a look at a three rune spread, showing what has happened, what is happening right now and what is going to happen; past, present and future. More metaphysically, this can be seen as our current situation, our desired situation and the eventual actual outcome of the situation. We’ve…

https://lifeshare.thinkific.com/courses/increase-your-psychic-ability I was intrigued by the title of this course. What, exactly, did it mean by developing psychic abilities? We all think of different things when people say ‘psychic’. Some of us might think of ‘readers’; those who do tarot and other divination methods to help read a person’s needs and desires and so help them sort out what they need to do in their lives. Others may think of telepathy and mind reading. The term ‘Psychic’ is even conflated with mediums and those who connect with our beloved dead. I wondered which, if any, of these definitions this course would focus on, so decided to dive right in and…

Astrid Brown: A Psychic Affair Astrid Brown is a medium, a psychic, and an incredibly prolific author. Her most recent offering, A Psychic Affair, blends the mysteries of psychic development with the romance genre, exploring how long-distance relationships can develop not only through the words and messages we send, but through a true, psychic connection. The story is interwoven with poetry and descriptions of how certain aspects of psychic development work, creating something Astrid describes as a ‘hybrid’; a cross-genre concept that will appeal to romance fans and students of the psychic world alike. Astrid was kind enough to give us some of her time, and here’s what she had…

The Road to Runes: Ansuz, Woden’s Rune For this stage in my journey with runes, I decided to do a little divination for myself. I’m wanting to begin working from home within the next year, hopefully within a few months. I’m at home with the six-month-old baby at the moment, but will have to return to the ‘day job’ by October, and everything in me rails against it. I want to be at home with my family, and I already write all the time anyway, so why not make a career out of it? Having already made steps in this direction, I was interested to know what the runes would…

Notes from the Apothecary: The Poppy With colors ranging from a delicate, golden yellow to brash, bold scarlet, the poppy is a self-contained paradox. Powerful, yet delicate and short lived, this evocative flower has been associated with sleep, death and rebirth for many centuries. This connection comes from the fact that opium, a powerful drug used for inducing sleep and trance like states, is derived from the seed pods of one particular kind of poppy, papaver somniferum. It is possible that humans have been cultivating this poppy since 6000 BC. Red poppies are also a symbol of remembrance, ever since the trench warfare that took place in World War One…

App Review Simple Habit – Meditation for Busy People Once more into the world of meditation apps I wander! This time I’m exploring the benefits of Simple Habit, an app I’ve had for a while but only used very sporadically. Again, I started with the free version then looked to upgrade for more features. The app is normally about $6 a month for the full version, but you can invite friends to get limited time access to premium content, so I bugged my friends and family in order to get access to the good stuff. Just for you guys. Because I loves ya. The interface is less showy than the…