Some favorite magickal books

Last night I was looking thru some of my favorite books on different magickal subjects. At this point, I have quite a collection! I thought that I would share some of the books, I turn to again and again for information. These are listed in no particular order:

• Ancient Ways and Wheel of the Year, both by Diane Campanelli ~ these are great books about the sabbbats of the pagan year, the activities and crafts associated with the different months, and beautifully written short rituals. there are nice illustrations and some photos, as well. They are both great introductions to our sabbats, and why we do what we do when we do it :0)


• Wicca for the Solitary Practioner by Scott Cunningham~ This is what I consider the Bible for starting out on the Wiccan path. Full of rituals and information, it's a very comfortable book to work with. I still refer to it often, as Cunningham's writing is so solid.


• Good Magick by Marina Medici~ this book is full of beautiful photos to illustrate the chapters on crystals, plants, candle magick and lots of other useful things. At first i thought that it was too slick and glossy to be useful, but the information is helpful and it's really well-done.


• Queen of the Night, Rediscovering the Celtic Moon Goddess by Sharynne Macleod NicMhacha~ this book was written by my friend, Sharynne, a Celtic scholar, writer, singer and incredible woman! Full of folklore, mythology and beautiful rituals, this is a wonderful resource! the book is written in 13 chapters based on the moon's lunar cycles. While Sharon is scholarly, her writing makes the subject fully accessible to the rest of us. It's published by Red wheel/weiser, ISBN#: 1-57863-284-6


• What's Your Wicca IQ? by Laura Wildman~ This fun and informative book is written by another friend of mine, Laura. Set up in a question/answer format, it's full of information that even the seasoned practitioner will find new and useful! every question is multiple choice, sorted by subject. There are chapters with titles such as," burn two candles and call in the morning", which covers spellcraft. Yours truly helped to write the chapter section covering herbal magick! Laura and I had allot of fun doing this together! This is published by Kensington Press, ISBN#: 0-8065-2347-6


• Tarot for Yourself by Mary K. Greer~ This is a great workbook to learn the Tarot! There are worksheets, information, layouts and other exercises to help you learn how to do readings. This works with any deck, too!

Well, I think that's enough for now! I have many other books that I refer to often, but I'll save those for another day! What are some of your favorite books about magick?

Have a great day! ~ tracyw

answer: bolline or silver knife

Feeling better today

Yesterday, I actually did everything that I told you to do when you get a cold, and today I feel much better! Imagine that! I'm still sneezing a bit, but other than that i feel OK. I took two droppers of Elderberry syrup four times throughout the day, and two Emergen-C packets.

I really do think that the Elderberry syrup is the key! I think that I'll try to make my own syrup next fall when the fresh berries are available. Yum! Elderberry Wine, anyone?

Tonight, Tim and I are just going to relax with a movie, Superman Returns, and have a quiet night in. I hope you have a nice night, too!

When you wake up feeling like...

you might be coming down with something, there's a few things you can do to cut the duration of the cold. Yes, this would be me this morning! Stuffy, achy, and just generally feeling like I'm getting a cold. So what does the herbalist do when she's feeling crappy? Besides making a few cups of my own Cold & Flu Care Organic Tea Blend, here's what I do:

• Emergen-C powder: You can find this stuff almost anywhere now. It's a packet with 1,000 mg of vitamin c. just add water and you have an energy boost to your immune system. I buy the Super Orange, with 32 mineral complexes and B vitamins. I'll take one this morning and another one this afternoon. Your body can't use more vitamin C than that at one time, and the excess will just be excreted.


• Elderberry extract or Syrup: the berries of the Elder tree/shrub are are full of phytochemicals that help boost your immune system. There are several good brands out there, but try to find one without added sugar. I like Herb Pharm's Alcohol-free black elderberry syrup. it's made with vegetable glycerin, and they don't fumigate or irradiate their berries. Your local food co-op will have something, and you can even find Sambucol brand syrup in most groceries and pharmacies. This brand works if you can't find anything else, but it's not organic and they add sugar.


• Peppermint or Eucalyptus essential oil: There are a couple of things that I use this oil for to treat a cold. For achy head and sinuses, I put a drop on each of my temples(well back from my eyes!) and rub in for a minute. If my nose is stuffy, I will put a drop right under my nose in between my nostrils. If I'm really blocked up, I'll add five or ten drops to a hot bowl of water, stick my face over it and toss a towel over my head and the bowl. You wouldn't want to do this before bed because peppermint can be a stimulant.


• Take a bath! If you can take a hot soak with some mineral salts, this can help draw toxins out of your body. It will ease the aches, clear your head, and make falling asleep easier.


• I add rosemary oil to my bath, or you can buy all kinds of bath salts pre-made for achy muscles.


• Take a multi-vitamin and B-complex. If you don't take one every day, take one now! you need all the help you can get! I'm really bad about taking my vitamins, but I will when I get sick.

So these are a few of the things I do when I first feel a cold coming on. There are allot of preventive things you can do to keep the world of colds and flu away, but if you do get sick, this will help. If you already have a cold with a sore throat, and it's settled in your chest , my Throat & Cough Soother Tea blend will help.

I hope this info will help you the next time you start feeling like you're getting a cold. It usually works for me! Now, where did I put that Elderberry syrup...

Catnip & You

Today I have to take Snowball, my neurotic feline wonder, to the Vet for a rabies shot and check-up. This got me thinking about the favorite feline drug of choice, Catnip. I thought that you might be interested in the other things this herb is used for in traditional folk herbalism.

Besides being the ultimate cat toy, Catnip has been traditionally used as a mild sedative and included in bedtime tea blends. It's nice and gentle, rather than knocking you out like some herbs, such as valerian. You would just add it to a relaxing tea blend or brew a cup, just like you would tea. It's specific for colicky infants. Catnip can also help with respiratory issues associated with the cold and flu. It's especially useful for children.

Of course, the Egyptians honored the feline forms of the Egyptian goddesses Bast and of Sekmet, who manifests as a lion. You can use Catnip to help create a psychic bond with your cat and honor that ancient spirit in them.

So, I'm off to catch Snowball and put her in the carrier. Now, how much fun can you have in one morning? I think I need more coffee!

Thoughts for a new year

OK, so it's 2007 already! Wow, how did it happen so fast?
If we did a recap of all the stuff- great and not-so-great, that happened this year, what stands out the most for you? Was it job-related?Family?Spiritual?Personal?

For me, it seems that there were a few things that stood out-most were really good, too!
I guess that one of the best things, career-wise, is that i really got Summer Sea Herbs off the ground. Thank goddess for Etsy! That site makes it easy and it's such a refreshing change from Feebay. It's been kind of hard, but interesting, to have a shop on the Web. All the decisions, and all the hours! What to do next and what can wait for now? how to plan for what I will need to do, and still get busy doing it! Some days i don't know what to do next- go make a batch of tea, work on the computer, go for a walk to clear my head, or any of the other one hundred things! Still, I love it and am looking forward to building my business throughout this coming year! I also learned something very important- I really need to do this work! this herbal work! Every time I try to do something else, it becomes apparent that I really shouldn't! good to know/accept~finally. Now I can concentrate on my own business.
As the saying goes " It's not just a job, it's an adventure!"

One of the things I like to do is teach people about what I do~herbalism, magick, gardening and some other things. I hope to post about different herbs, magickal items, how-to's, and who knows what else. I'll have to see how this evolves. I've never blogged before! Still it seems like it will be fun! I'm looking forward to learning about it. hope you'll come along for the ride.
any thoughts on 2007?

A New Year, a New Blog!

It's come to my attention that there are people out there who want to know more about herbs, plants, me, medicine and magick. I figure that the best way to help as many of you as possible is to start a blog. I'm hoping to have posts about plants and herbs, magick and medicine, and even some things about me and what I've been up to.

I like to take pictures and will show off some of those from time to time, as well.
This will be a way for us to get to know each other better!

Feel free to ask herbal or magickal questions and I will try to answer them. When space allows, I'll do that here for everyone to see. If you're looking for products that I make, you can find them at my Etsy shop here http://www.summersea.etsy.com

It's a brand new shiny year and I can't wait to see what happens!
Thanks for coming along for the ride! Stop back often to see what's new!

Bright blessings
~tracyw