Elder flowers

The elder flowers are beautiful just now.

'Both the berries and flowers make excellent wines, jams and jellies and can be added to the cooking of meat, vegetable and sweet dishes.  In addition, elderflower water makes an excellent facial rinse, which cleanses and brightens and if cotton pads soaked in it are placed over the eyes, they will feel brighter and refreshed.

Elderflower tea can be taken as a painkiller and is useful in the treatment of colds.  Elderflower tea cleanses the blood and is slightly diuretic so it can also speed recovery the morning after the night before!  

Elder leaves can be made into an infusion and rubbed onto the skin to deter flies and other insects.  Elder leaves boiled until soft are useful for dressing bruises, strains etc.  However, I would not recommend using them on an open wound as, under some circumstances, they can be toxic.'

From:  'The Real Witches' Garden' by Kate West

The Spring Solstice

'The Spring solstice falls on 21st March.  At this moment, the equinox, the earth is in perfect balance and day and night are of equal length.  This was a powerful festival in times gone by.

The sun - which was considered male - was in perfect harmony with the moon - which was female; the solstice is a divine symbol for the female receptivity of the earth preparing to take the (male) seed and blossom forth.  The first signs of spring flowers bursting with life are evidence that all is right in the divine world and that the earth is blessed.'
From: Titania's Book of White Magic' - Enchantment


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"It is common for many of us to become caught up in emotional reactions to the circumstances of our lives.  Even if we do not outwardly express our emotional reactions to things, we still feel them.  Many of us live without awareness of how our reactions stir us into un-empowered action.  An imbalance in emotions causes us to act out, to speak in harmful ways and it causes us to dip right back into the thinking mode.  Reliance on thinking and emotional reactions go hand in hand.  If you've noticed an imbalance in one of these areas, it is best to explore possible imbalances in the other.  When we emote and react to each circumstance, we start an internal monologue of complaints.  "I don't like the way she makes me feel."  'He's stingy.'  'Why does she always criticize me?'  Meanwhile, we miss out on what is actually happening.  We miss the sound of the wind, the sensations of our bodies, the taste of our food, the things we see and feel.  We miss out on the world, which is the realm of Deity or power.

The opposite energy of emoting is blocking emotions.  Most of us have experienced painful situations as a simple matter of living life.  As a result, some of us choose a strategy to block out the pain of our circumstances.  We make ourselves tough; we ignore our hurts.  We work at developing our insensitivity, hoping that this is the answer to a life where pain is a natural part of the process.  But this doesn't work.  It only results in numbing ourselves from the whole of life, so we miss out on both the pleasure and the pain.

In reviewing your emotions, do you find that you are out of balance?

In which direction do you tip the scales?  In over-emotionality or in emotional blocking?"

Taken from 'Wicca - a year and a day' by Timothy Roderick"

A light in the darkness.

No matter how dark the night, the dawn will always come - eventually. All we need is a little glimmer of hope, like the flickering glow of a candle flame.

Persephone, goddess of death, spent each winter in the underworld, returning every spring to live with her mother, Demeter, the goddess of corn.

During the winter, you could say we 'go to ground.'  We hunker down, preferring our warm firesides to the cold winds outdoors.  However, this dark time of the year is important to our psyche.  It allows us to rest, to 'recharge our batteries' to think deeply about the new season, which is coming.  For however dark our world appears, there is always a candle waiting to be lit, a new song waiting to be written, new people to meet.

According to the Greeks, Persephone's father, Zeus, promised his beautiful daughter to Hades, the Greek God of the underworld, without consulting her mother. When Hades rose from the underworld and took his bride by force, Demeter was beside herself with grief.  Winter had come into her life and all of nature reflected her sadness.  The land was no longer fertile, plants wilted, animals bore no offspring and death stalked the land.  Eventually Zeus was obliged to intervene and ruled that Persephone should spend time each year with both her husband and her mother.  Persephone could never return entirely to the living world because she had eaten in Hades's realm.

As we wait for spring to come, let's not waste our time.  We can sit usefully in front of the hearth, planning what we shall do when the weather improves.  We can look into seed catalogues, plan a new area of the garden to cultivate.  Maybe we could join a new club or society.

Whatever we plan on doing, it will soon be time to get out the trusty broom and sweep the house clean, won't it?

Are you planning any changes in your life in the springtime?

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Source of information:  The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology by Arthur 
Cottrell and Rachel Storm

Imbolg -Candlemas

For me the worst months of the year are November and February because they are dark and cold and the days are long -  but in February Wicca brings us Candlemas.

The joy of lighting candles is a pleasure at all times of the year, but especially in the winter.  I light candles to bring light into my world and also to practise magic.  Candles are a wonderful way to focus my thoughts and light the path into that other world where the sun is always shining and only happy clouds hang in the sky.

February 2nd is Candlemas, also known as Imbolg.  It is a time when new life is quickening.

In the northern hemisphere, where I live and in the Celtic lands in particular, this time of the year belongs to Brigit, the triple goddess of inspiration and poetry, smith craft and healing.

Winter is slowing changing into Spring - in Wicca the crone face of the goddess is becoming the maiden again.  Age is giving way to youth.

In your own life it is a wonderful time to buy a new outfit.  Buy it for the person you are now, not the person you were ten years ago.

Look in your garden for signs of new life.  You may be able to see snowdrops popping up and the tips of daffodil bulbs breaking through the soil.

Light candles in your home, choosing spring colours of green, white and yellow and enjoy the new scents they bring.  They will make you feel good and bring light and refreshment to your home.

I wish you a wonderful Candlemas, bursting with new life, inspirations and ideas.

Hearth and Home

When frost is hanging cobwebs with pearls and diamonds, we seek out a warm fire within.

'Fire may have been the first magic that our ancestors discovered. Down through the ages it has become a focal point of our lives and culture. In ancient times the hearth formed the center of the home, where people cooked food, washed clothes and gathered to socialize.  Today, many homes still have a fireplace or a woodstove and the hearth remains an important part of our magical and spiritual practices.'
Elizabeth Barrette

The 21st December is Yule, the midwinter solstice and the night of the Long Nights Moon, a magical time indeed.

How will you be celebrating?

It is a good time to look back on the year and all the things you have done with your life. Could you improve yourself for when the wheel moves around?

Although the flowers and bulbs are sleeping, there is still plenty of greenery with which to decorate your home.  Holly and ivy, laurel and dogwood stems - all very colourful and sweet smelling.

I love candles and will be dotting them around my home to bring light into dark corners. As I watch them burn down, I shall reflect on how I can bring light into the dark corners of someone else's life.

A very happy Yule to you all.  Blessed be.