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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: The Orange Oranges: juicy, bright globes filled with vitamin C and sunshine. The orange is a citrus fruit that’s one of the most cultivated fruits in the world, and may have been cultivated by humans for around 2,500 years. The sweet orange as we know it today is a hybrid of mandarins and pomelos, and is very different from bitter oranges, the likes of which often line the streets of towns in Mediterranean countries. I once made the mistake of plucking and peeling a juicy looking orange while in Spain, only to have my mouth shrivelled by the intense bitterness! Sweet oranges, in comparison,…
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As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Christianity: The Great Misunderstanding Now, in the last entries, I’ve aimed a lot of criticism at the Christian faith. Setting aside the purpose of the religion now, and whether or not Jesus was real or divine, let’s examine the lore with a more open mind. Let us assume that Jesus was very real, and his words were truth. Then with that lens, examine Christianity once again from the perspective of the man with whom the religion places it’s namesake. Jesus’ message was very much different from what we find in the Old Testament. Which seemed to be a collection of lore stories centered around sin and blood. The tribulations…
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She Who Is All – The Goddess & The Divine Female
Sphinx (Image Credit & Following Quote: The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky) “If I ask the question that provokes will you stretch to find the answer Will you take up the gauntlet flung boldly and defiantly answer the call Will you meet my challenge with tingling in your blood with your hair blowing electric in the wind with all your being knowing that every challenge is an opportunity every challenge presents a gift every challenge is there to serve you or not It’s your choice” The Sphinx may have started out as male, and is still perceived as such today, in Egypt, built as the Guardian of…
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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Ra Merry meet. Cultures since the beginning of time have worshiped the sun. In Egypt, which extends south into the Tropic of Cancer, Ra the sun god was powerful. He was the creator of everything as well as king of all the gods. As such, Ra was a just ruler and a kind father. He’s also a warrior and can dispel darkness with his light. His representation varies: while the most often he is depicted as a man with the head of a hawk crowned by a solar disk he carries across the sky each day, he is also shown as a man with the head…
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Bees in Folklore, Religion, and Superstition
This is an adapted extract of a video I did recently for Pagan Aid to help raise awareness of their campaign to raise money for Bees for Development, an organisation that helps some of the poorest communities in the world create livelihoods through beekeeping. You can view the original video here. There are over 250 species of bee in the UK and around 4,000 native species in the United States. Even humble bumblebees have at least 24 separate species, from orange and black red-tailed bumblebees to the classic white, yellow, and black tree bumblebees. However, it’s the honeybee that gets the most attention, generally, when it comes to…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
This month continues a series of exploration about Our Relationship to the Divine…. Our Relationship to the Divine Part Two: WHO Calls to Me? …. The Divine flows within me. The Limitless All supports me. All Beings of Spirit and Essence are my teachers. I AM the corporeal out-picturing of the Divine’s desire… When we approach Deity through ritual, devotion or meditation it is with the understanding that there is no need for an intercessor or intermediary for they are both within and without our spectrum of experience. With that being said, however, there is still the need for respect and continued efforts at establishing a working relationship…
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Jazzs’ Gems
Citrine (Image by Dieter Staab from Pixabay) Citrine is a very useful crystal with a multitude of properties. It is a yellow variety of quartz and can be orange, brown or yellow. It is a birthstone for November, and also is connected to Aries, Gemini, Leo and Libra. Its element is Air and its planet is Jupiter. Citrine is also known as the Merchant’s Stone and is also sensitive to heat so it is best not to put it where there is too much light or heat. One tip to know if your Citrine is real vs something like heat treated Amethyst is looking at it in the…
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She Who is All – The Goddess & The Divine Female
Yeshe Tsogyal (Image: Wikipedia) Yeshe Tsogyal was born a princess of Tibet in the year 777 C.E. She was born in the same way as the Buddha; a mantra sounded and her mother bore her painlessly. Her clan name was Lady Kharchen but she is known as Yeshe Tsogyal, which means Wisdom Lake Queen, as when she was born, a nearby lake increased in size. They are the waters of enlightenment. She is also called “Mother of the Victorious Ones”, meaning the Buddhas, as well as “Lady of the Lotus-Born”. She is considered the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the ultimate wisdom needed for enlightenment. (Image:…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Lilac Lilac is a flowering shrub in the olive family, Oleaceae, cultivated in many parts of the world including all across Europe and North America. Robust spikes of delicate yet strongly scented flowers come in colours ranging from purples and pinks through to blues and whites. I’ve been writing Notes from the Apothecary for over 6 years now, and some months I struggle to think of a plant that’s magical, seasonal, and of interest to our readers worldwide. I had no such struggle this month, thanks to the wonderful fragrance that stopped me in my tracks as I was out playing with my 3-year-old…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times Summer Solstice for June 2021 Bright Blessings! I can hardly believe it’s just a little over two weeks after Beltaine, and already I’m writing about The Summer Solstice. 2021 is flying by! After more than a year of lockdowns, covid vaccines are more widely available, and States are going to start relaxing mask mandates, opening the way for larger gatherings and indoor things. At 37% of the population of the United States now recorded as fully vaccinated, indeed, many are raring to go to restaurants, and birthday parties, as they have foregone all of that for months and months. Not the top country…