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Book of Seasons for July!   Strawberries and Sailboats!  Summer is at its height in the northern hemisphere.  Here in the “deep south” everything slows down to a crawl.  It is hot.  And it is humid.  And it is time to just be in the moment.  Gardens are lush and the sounds of nature are constant.  How I love listening to the birds as the sun rises and then the chattering of cicadas and tree frogs as they join the song.  I try to keep the windows open as long as possible in order to hear the hawk and the blue jay just a smidge longer.     Our affirmation…

Feverfew and the Fine art of Tincting Feverfew- Tanacetum parthenium Photo by Louise Harmon It was during an herbal studies class I was taking that another student suggested that the word, “tincting” well described the process of making tinctures. After considerable discussion, none of us were certain if tincting was truly a word. Somewhere in all the clutter filling my brain these days, “tincting” came flitting back as I was preparing Feverfew leaves and flowers for tincture.   A quick on-line search revealed that tincting is an obsolete verb meaning to imbue or to tint with colour or to flavor. Hmmm…it appears that my friend wasn’t really too far afield…

  “Stump the Ghost Guy” I wouldn’t say that I have a unique point of view among paranormal researchers, but it is a rather rare one. Most people exist huddled at opposite extremes; that is, they either have a passionate belief in paranormal phenomena, convinced by the tiniest shreds of evidence, or they think it’s all a bunch of superstition and Hollywood hogwash and keep their worldview locked behind a steel door. There are a few of us in the middle, though. We are both scientist and mystic; believer and skeptic. For as much as I am a fervent supporter of paranormal happenings- be it the adventurer in me or…

Crafting in Sandi’s Enchanted Garden Making an Altar from an Old Table Today we are making an altar!! I have spent the week remodeling my kitchen so I wanted to share a remodeling project with you. This is the witchiest remodeling project I could think of J I bought this old table at Goodwill for like $10, and planned to do something with it. As projects often do it sat around for a couple of years. Now it’s a beautiful altar for the entry way of your home. You can use it to welcome and thank the Gods, and ancestor altar, or a blessing before you leave and when you…

Independence Day – Sun in Cancer at 12 degrees Thursday, July 4, 2013 – 5:49 am EDT (sunrise) and 8:36 pm EDT (sunset) Happy 4th!! Ruled by the Moon, the Sign of Cancer dwells on the emotional side. Be nostalgic and patriotic as you feel best suited for the occasion. For the holiday, the Moon closes in to the Balsamic phase and sits in Gemini bringing versatility in knowledge and effort. If you plan to be on the road to watch fireworks, it would behoove you to know your path and your destiny. Plan ahead, if you need to. Bring a blanket to watch the fireworks on the grass or…

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…” ~ Matthew 7:12 “Be excellent to each other.” ~ Bill S. Preston, Esq.   We all know the Golden Rule, or at least a variation of it. Even those of you raised Pagan have heard it, perhaps as the Wiccan Rede or in one of its other forms. The Golden Rule crosses time and religions and is turning out to be another one of those touchstones in my search for a spiritual path.   This past month I’ve been working my way through a couple of books. First, I devoured the Tao Te Ching. And, I admit,…

The first Pagan books I read were Scott Cunningham’s “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” and Margot Adler’s “Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America”. They were recommended by people I met at a local metaphyiscal shop as a good place to start – one as a good introduction to Wicca and one as something of an encyclopedia of many different Pagan paths.  I bought the books, along with a couple of others, and went on my way. I started with Scott Cunningham’s book.  It was exciting.  I could feel my own journey beginning, learning about something new (to me, anyway); something that I…

Merry Meet all. I am Jade Owl and welcome to my cottage. Summertime is the time of family reunions and kids constantly running in and out, beaches, cook-outs, and hot temperatures. Life seems to be in constant motion this time of year and we long for the slow days of fall and winter when life will move at a more acceptable pace. During the summer we all tend to try to avoid doing a lot of heavy cooking in our kitchens. We move to the outdoor grill or open fire. The recipes I am writing this month will not keep you in your kitchen overly long and will not heat…

A Spell for Personal Energy Take a bath in your Dragon’s Blood Ritual Bath Salts (make it yourself by adding 20-30 drops of dragons blood oil to Epsom bath salts or dead sea salts) Anoint a white candle with some of the dragon’s blood oil by dressing the candle upward (rubbing the oil upward from base to tip and on wick.) Light candle in candle safe holder on counter or safe place in your bathroom. Run bathwater and when your bathwater is almost to the level you wish it to be, pour in your bath salts and add an additional 4-6 drops of the Dragon’s Blood oil. Sink on into…

Unverifiable Personal Gnosis  Wicca has a foundation built on the idea of Unverifiable Personal Gnosis – meaning that our personal knowledge and experiences may not be able to be outwardly proven to others though we hold it as truth. In order to build and nurture our relationships with God Herself, to gain personal enlightenment or to seek the deeper understanding of the Mysteries, one is expected to experience moments of epiphany or gnosis. I would expect that when an individual lives a life dedicated to Wicca she or he would experience several moments of gnosis while communing with Deity either through meditation, contemplation or ritual. These are personal experiences that…