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WitchCrafting: Dandelion Honey
Few flowers look as much like the sun as do dandelions. With Litha being a time to honor sun deities and celebrate the bounty of the earth, these bright flowers can do both and are quite likely growing in your yard or a nearby field. Be sure the ones you pick are not from lawns treated with chemicals and did not absorb exhaust fumes by being close to the road. There are many recipes online. I used one by Megan on Tic Tok. Fill a bowl or basket with dandelion flowers. Pull off just the the petals and discard the bitter green outside. It took me about an hour to…
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In The Kitchen With Skarlett Mayday! Mayday!
Beltane, AKA May Day, falls on the first of May. It is the festival that marks the midway point between Ostara and the Summer Solstice. In Celtic traditions, it also means the start of the summer season. Other Earth-Centered Religions have celebrated this rebirth of the Earth in many forms: The Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night is a boisterous and beloved celebration involving bonfires and much, noisy merry making; The Greeks would have celebrated Protomagia, Summer’s victory over Winter by making and hanging flower wreaths on their doors. and Vappu in Finland honors the Earth waking up with raucous picnics and mead known as sima shared round. This is only…
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In The Kitchen With Skarlett: Bunnies And Flowers And Eggs..Oh My!!!!
As the wheel turns, we see the icy grip of winter is receding and the days frow longer and warmer. All around new life is blooming, chirping and hopping…yes dear folk Spring has sprung!! With the Equinox comes the need for balance as we shake of the sleepy days of winter to begin new projects, to plant our seeds to grow them to fruition. The chill in the air still warns us that we need to plan and not go off half cocked. Some of the things we can do is get out and breathe in the good spring air. So welcome after being confined for the winter. Take a…
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In The Kitchen With Skarlett
Apple Cider Donut Cake Apples are one of the sacred foods of Samhain. In Celtic tradition, apples were buried at Samhain to feed the dead as well as used in various forms of divination. Apples are good for faerie protection, abundance, protection, long life, health and creativity. Butter is there to bind things together and to ease transitions. Cake mix for happiness. Eggs for fertility and beauty. Sugar for attraction, love and romance. Now to the apple pie spice: Allspice for money drawing and good fortune. Cinnamon for protection, wealth and passion. Cloves for abundance, lust, protection and courage. Ginger for protection, power and prosperity. Nutmeg…
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In the Kitchen with Skarlett
Slow Cooker Chili for Mabon With Mabon upons us, thoughts turn to goat’s horn bearing fruit, grain and other harvesty goodness. No..I did not eat the funny mushrooms. I am referring to the Cornucopia also called the horn of plenty. It is a symbol of abundance and good fortune. It is commonly pictured as a large horn-shaped basket overflowing with the fruits of the harvest such as grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts. Small wonder it is adorning American tables at Thanksgiving and various other harvest related celebrations. A possible origin for the cornucopia was in ancient Greece. When Zeus was a baby, his mother hid him away from Cronus…
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The Kitchen Witch
“Doctored-Up” Pizza Whenever my mother was in a hurry and wanted to cut corners in the kitchen, instead of making her own marinara (for instance), she would open a couple jars of Ragu and add a can of crushed tomatoes, chopped onions, mushrooms, herbs and spices, red wine, homemade meatballs or cooked Italian sausage. By the time it was ready for the table, you never knew that this sauce had started out as an ordinary jar of Ragu. My mother called this “doctoring up” the sauce. She did this to all kinds of store-bought items. She was Sandra Lee long before Food Network. I think this is definitely a kind…
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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Shell Wind Chime Merry meet! This issue’s WitchCrafting column is connected to a favorite summer activity: collecting shells at the beach. I have a difficult time not filling my pockets with these marine mollusks. Holding them, I can feel the energy of earth, water, fire, and air. Litha is a special time for capturing the essence of summer, in this case with a wind chime. I used shells that had naturally occurring holes, but instructional videos can be found for drilling them. Thin wire, dental floss, cotton twine, and other fibers can all be used to tie the shells into strips. Arrange them any way that pleases you.…
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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Crafts for Witches: Fire Starters Merry meet. Beltane is one of the fire festivals. The word Beltane translates roughly to “bright fire” and in Celtic tradition, the most important ritual was the sacred community bonfire lit at sunset the evening before. (Celtic days went from sundown to sundown.) Festivities focused on casting off winter’s darkness and celebrating the start of summer. It’s also a time of celebrating fertility You can start your fire with items you likely already have on hand. Perhaps the easiest and least expensive fire starters are made by filling cardboard toilet paper tubes with loosely packed dryer lint. Use two or three to start a fire.…
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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Ostara Cards Merry meet. I don’t always manage to get Yule cards out on time, but it occurred to me: why send cards only for the winter holidays? Why not for spring? Here is a suggestion for an Ostara card that can be modified for any of the other sabbats. I bought packets of seeds that were magickal and, hopefully, easy to grow – organic and heirloom when possible. Then I wrote a verse for the inside of the card that can serve as a spell, which you are free to use: “As the wheel turns and we move into the light, May…
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The Kitchen Witch
The Humble Boxty Many years ago, I went out with a guy named Tim. We were just kids; I was a little older than he was, but we were still kids, basically. I was twenty and he was eighteen. At that time, the drinking age was eighteen years old in New York State. We went to a lot of concerts and to clubs that featured live music. Tim was a major Deadhead and I loved anything I could dance to. But like so many young people, we drifted apart. I didn’t hear from Tim for many years – not until I reconnected with him on Facebook around 2007 or so.…
