New items!!!

Wow! It's Monday already? How did that happen?

Well, I've been busy getting my new tea ready for sale. The formulation and testing always take longer than I think, but being a bit of perfectionist when it comes to my products, I guess I shouldn't be surprised!

Drifting Away 100% Organic Herbal Loose Tea Blend is a relaxing blend of herbs to help you relax at the end of your busy day! If you're like me, once you lay your head on the pillow, you start thinking about your day: what happened, what you should/could/must do about EVERYTHING! Well, this gentle tea blend can help quiet that inner chatter! The key word here is Gentle! This won't zonk you out, just help you relax. It's also a good choice if you are taking a homeopathic sleep aid, as I formulated this blend without mint so it won't antidote your remedy. You might also like this tea when you get home from work, in the event of a very stressful day!

The other item I listed yesterday is this lovely Calcite Geode! It's unusual in it's formation due to a calcite crystal growing on the edge. This formation is referred to as a "diamond".It's a pretty little stone and I hope you like it!

Yesterday, I spent most of the day working. I took a bunch more photos of the crystals I have yet to list in my shop! Have you ever tried to photograph Labradorite? You know that beautiful blue flash you can see in it when you turn the stone to the light? Well, just try to capture that with a camera! Sheesh! I just about drove myself nuts with that! Anyway, once I get those photos edited to size and correct the color, I'll let you know.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Talking Turkey

Here a photo of the guys that visit my feeders for corn several times a week.

They are part of a flock of turkeys that congregate together in our neighborhood every winter.

We haven't seen too much of the birds so far this year. Until we had our recent snow, they stayed mostly in the woods, where they were still able to find acorns and other foods. This year has been very mild, without much snow at all here. Usually, by February, I have about 25-30 turkeys at my feeders for corn every day. When the snow is very deep, they can't scratch down thru it to get to their food.

There are many cultural references to turkeys that are less than flattering. However, if you really examine the wild turkey, as opposed to the overbred domesticated birds, you'll find a wiley bird with beautiful plumage. They actually can fly for short distances, and it always startles me to see them roosting in trees. Turkeys can also run really fast, although it does look slightly silly. They are native to North America.

Turkey, as a being, has been respected in many earth traditions, and are part of the mythological stories of the Native Americans, Aztecs and Mayans. Turkey is signified by the aspect of shared blessings and the harvest. Hen turkeys will share a nest in which they lay their eggs. They take turns sitting, ensuring a larger,more successful brood. turkeys frind strength in numbers. The turkey is also associated with wisdom and growth. This is because of the mainstay of their forest diet, acorns. Acorns are symbols of new growth and hidden wisdom.

If a turkey (or a turkey feather) turns up in your life, you may want to look at the blessings in your life that are shared with others. You should be aware of opportunities for new growth that will come your way!
If you ever see a turkey fanning his feathers in the sun, you will be amazed by brilliant red, green and brown colors! Beauty in the most ungainly of creatures!

Element of Fire

When I got up this morning, the outside temp was a balmy 10 degrees. The inside temp was about 58. Both have since increased slightly. I found myself looking at the calendar, trying to figure out how long it will be until I can go lay on the dock, and bake in the sun. It's going to be a long time. I just haven't been able to get warm for the last two days, no matter how many sweaters I have on. I think this is a function of having Fibromyalgia and CFS. The winter season has gone from being a time of joy for me, to one of just wanting it to be over. But, I digress.

Since I have been so cold, I choose to focus on the element of Fire, and it's corresponding direction, South. While we all know that the Sun is hottest in a south-facing window, there are some surprising correlations of this element. While the power of a full-fledged fire can be devastating, fire can also be healing when it's managed. Scrying into a campfire, or even a candle flame is one of my favorite form of short meditations. I am a complete nut when it comes to campfires and bonfires. Not that I would ever have a fire outside of a proper container-not that kind of nut! I just find it so beautiful, and useful. I like the freedom I feel when I toss old writings and spells, such as from my Spirit jar, onto the flames. It's cleansing and a completion of the work that I had done. One of the reasons I like to go camping so much is because I get to play with fire all weekend. I have a knickname for these excursions: Woman who F%$*s with Fire. Cute, huh? I just can't help myself.

Other realms of Fire are sex, love, and transformation.

Here are some correspondences for the element of Fire:

• Magickal tool: knife/athame
• Herbs: chilies, thistle, nettles(thorny things), coffee, dragon's blood, hot spices
• Stones: Carnelian, lava rock, jaspers, clear quartz
• Animals: salamander, snake, scorpions, lady bugs, shark
• Zodiac: Aries, Sagittarius, Leo (that's me!)
• Oils: Basil, copal, neroli, pettigrain, peppermint

There are so many aspects of Fire in the natural world. This list is by no means complete. One of my favorite kinds of spellwork is candle magick. I find it so effective! Stay tuned for more on that subject!

New Stuff!

I was delayed posting today due to another round of frozen pipes at my house this morning! This time the water main pressure switch was frozen, or so the plumber said. We had water when I got home from Vermont this morning, but only for an hour or so. Called the local plumbers and they were out here in about an hour! Love those guys! So, they got us going again, and now I can relax and regroup, not worry about possible broken pipes. Whew!

I want to tell you about a few new things in my shop! I have posted a couple more crystals, such as Lepidolite and a lovely enhydro Herkimer Diamond. I also have a new organic herbal loose tea sampler available. This pack has four of my most popular teas in it, so you can try them before you commit to a larger bag of any one kind of tea. Each packet makes about ten cups of tea. In a few days, I will be listing my new Drifting Away tea! This is my evening/bedtime relaxation blend. Of course, it's 100% organic, like everything else I make!

You're going to love it!

Finally!

It Finally Snowed!

I never thought that I would be excited to see it snow. I was watching the storm last night, just like a little kid anticipating a school day tomorrow! At our house, we got 4.25 inches of snow. it's the first time all winter that we have had more than one inch of snow at a time.
While it has been nice, in terms of lack of shoveling and bad driving, it's just wrong!

The man that plows our driveway got here at 5:00 this morning. Our bedroom is just feet off the driveway. It feels like he's coming thru the wall when he goes by!

Here's a picture of my little gargoyle guy on the deck this morning.

Since it's snowed, I need to go out and make sure the bird feeders are full, and put some cracked corn out for the wild turkeys. They'll probably show up later for a free lunch. It's a beautiful sunny day out there, although the wind is really blowing!

I hope it's nice where you are!

Making a Spirit Box

Making a Spirit box or jar is a great way to have some fun and make a useful magickal item. A Spirit box is a place for you to put your problems and fears, to give them up to the Goddess, God, Universe, or however you refer to your higher power. If you have a problem that you can't solve or a fear that is holding you back, write it out on paper, fold it or tear it up, and put it into the jar, and put the lid back on. You are giving this problem to your higher power to deal with, for the best possible outcome. For this to work, you really have to trust your higher power. Do you?Really? I have found that putting my problems into the Spirit jar to be quite freeing. It also serves to help me keep the faith, as it were. The photo is of my own Spirit jar.

This really doesn't take a long time to do! This is a fun craft to do with a friend.

To make a Spirit box, get any box with a separate lid. It can be as large or as small as you like. You just need to make sure that it can hold several pieces of torn or folded paper at a time.You can also do this with a jar. You should decorate the box, but feel free to use any/all materials you wish. It can be simple or quite elaborate. If I'm using a paper box, I decorate both the inside and the outside. To do a jar, I just do the outside. I use paint, rubber stamps, glitter (always glitter!), cut out pictures from magazines, printed tissue papers (especially for the jars). I might glue on beads, ribbons, feathers, shells, and/or acorns. There are no rules or right way to do this! The goal is to have fun, and not stress out about the results!

For adhesive, I recommend using Mod Podge. You can also use white Elmer's glue, thinned out a little. Mod Podge is nice because you can seal your work when you are done by brushing on a coat all over the box. It also comes in a sparkle version. If you want to pile on beads or other attachments, Golden Regular Gel Medium is good. You can press the beads into it and it will harden nicely. There are lots of different craft glues on the market, so you can just use your favorite. Let the whole thing dry overnight, keeping the lid separate until it's dry.

So, you've just made a Spirit box! To use, just write out your problem on paper, read it out loud, and ask your higher power for help in solving it. Put the paper in the box and put the lid back on, and forget about it! I keep my Spirit jar on my altar. It's good to occasionally clean out the box. Don't go back thru and read everything! Just dump it! I burn the contents of mine outside in the fire pit. I hope you have fun making your Spirit box! I'd love to see photos of yours when you get done!

Caring & Sharing

Every time I get complacent, the Universe cuffs me 'upside the head. Last night I had one of those reminders. I had an unpleasant experience on the Etsy forums last night. Someone took exception to some things I had listed, and the reasons why I listed them. It was very upsetting for me. It felt like a personal attack, and those of you who know me know that I don't do very well with things like that. But that isn't why I'm writing about this. I'm writing because of what I feel came out of the whole thing for me.

I have always said that I am so incredibly lucky because I have a FANTASTIC close community of friends, and friends that are like family. You know who you are!!::insert your picture here::

It's a rare thing- this community of mine! It's hard to express just what it means to me.

I have been a member of Etsy for the past six months. I have started to build community there with some of the buyers and sellers that frequent my shop, the Treasury and the Forums. I always try to keep my head above the fray in the forums, give as much information to those who ask me questions about my products, and give encouragement to those who seem to need it at any given time, in the forums, and directly thru email. I do this because it seems like it's the right thing to do. I'm big on doing the right thing for others (I'm still learning to do it for myself).

Well, I got a reminder last night that there are others like myself out there on Etsy. I received emails of support from several people after the flaming forum posting went up, and they helped me so much! This new community in my life is such an unexpected joy, a bonus of joining Etsy!

So, many thanks to those of you who sent your support! It means so much and really did help me feel better again about what I'm doing on Etsy.

Tomorrow night is the full Moon! I think that I will use this opportunity to do a little ritual. Being that the moon is full, it seems like a good time to acknowledge all this good energy in my life. I'll light a candle for my friends, sending positive energy out to them and the Universe.

Goddess knows, we all need it!

Brightest blessings to you all!

~tracyw

Walking on Water

Now, isn't that quite the trick for a witch? We are supposed to sink, aren't we? I suppose that I should clarify;
I've been walking on ICE Water! :0)

Lake Mattawa is finally frozen. Yesterday was a bright, sunny, and even sort of a warm day, so I went walking out on the lake. Not to worry, there's about 7 inches of ice on it! The ice fishermen were out in force, but only a few fish were to be had. I saw one man who had caught a small salmon, at about 2.5 pounds. Other than that there wasn't much going on out there. Sure, everyone was having fun, but not with the fish!

The element of water corresponds to the Western direction. Water rules our emotions, and is the element most closely related to LOVE. And how important is that? Well, everything is based on Love ~ all that we do, and all that is magick, or Universal. Water is purifying and healing. We are made out of mostly water. I don't know anyone who doesn't like to listen to the tides rolling in, or a babbling brook. These are so soothing to us, because we are a part of it. The gateway of the West is also where we turn to honor those who passed from this life. Learning to trust our intuition is to learn to work with this element. The following lists just a few of the many correspondences to element of Water and the direction of West:

• Color ~ Blue
• Astrological signs ~ Pisces, Scorpio, Cancer
• Metals ~ Silver, Copper
• Herbs ~ most flowers such as Roses (love), waterlilies, horsetail
• Planetary ~ Moon
• Animals ~ Bear, Raven, Dolphin, Whale, Heron, Frog
• Tree ~ Willow

There are so many associations with the element of water. Too many to list them all here. There are a couple of books that are really good for learning about the elements and directions. Scott Cunningham's Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Amber Wolfe's In the Shadow of the Shaman. Both are good to have on hand for reference, but also have nice exercises and rituals, as well.

Tuning In With Incense

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon blending up a new loose herbal incense blend. This blend is a formula that I have been making for years, and have decided to make it available for purchase. It's called "Honor the Ancestors", and is suited for rituals involving ancestor work and past-life regression. I blend loose organic herbal incense to use for ritual and magickal work. These incenses need to be burned on charcoal. I always have a charcoal burner ready to go on my altar, filled with sand and I keep a roll of charcoal disks in my altar drawer.

I love to use incense, and burn some every time I prepare to do magickal work. Whenever I craft a new blend or make a new batch of tea in my workshop, I burn incense. I also like to burn scented incense sticks and cones just because they smell nice and they are easy to use! I have certain scents that I use for particular reasons. Some of my favorites include Amber (working around my altar), green tea(anytime at all), jasmine or other floral(doing herbal research) and Pinon Pine/cedar(to freshen my space and energize me). Of course, I don't limit myself to just these scents, but I seem to have developed my favorites. I have a drawer filled with incense, and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm always on the lookout for new scents. My newest favorite is called "Pagan's Brew", made by my friends at Scarborough Cottage.

Scent is a great way to orient yourself to a particular task. Incense makes that easy to do. It's a common practice to use incense before meditation. If you light the same scent of incense every time before you start, you will begin to find that you will achieve a meditative, contemplative head space faster than without it. We tend associate certain scents with certain things. You can train your brain to associate a scent with a particular activity, such as meditation. Wouldn't it be nice to get into that space more quickly so that you can get more out of the limited time you have?

Hmmm, I think I should find a scent to help me when preparing to write in my blog! What are some of your favorite scents?

You Gotta Love It....

...or NOT! Living in New England during the Winter has it's challenges. Living in New England, in a 35 yr. old mobile home, has even more challenges! Just how much fun can two people have? Well, let me tell you.

Here's the scenario for you: Tim gets up and goes to the kitchen for coffee at 6:30am. Checking the outdoor thermometer, he sees it reads 0 (yes, that's zero) degrees. Then, turning on the hot water to heat up his coffee mug,...nothing happened! And in New England, in January, that only means one thing ~ frozen pipes! So begins the standard drill: turn on all faucets to drip, toss in a load of laundry (warm/warm cycle), and get out space heaters. We narrowed down the frozen section to be someplace between the washer and the kitchen. The bathroom seems fine, which is good because that's what froze up last Winter. Tim cleared out under the sink, and put our smallest space heater under there. We had never noticed that there's quite a hole in the floor under there around where the pipes go under the house. There had been stuff stored under there and had covered it up. Well, Tim got under the cabinet (no small feat!)and found that there's no insulation around the pipes under the floor. Wonderful- it's just the way of things with this trailer. Anyway, once the dryer got turned on, the pipe finally unfroze and we have hot water in the kitchen. In the winter, we vent the dryer under the trailer to help with heating.

As I write this, Tim is under the trailer trying to get to the kitchen pipes to see how much pipe insulation to buy. There have been additions built on over the years that are making it very difficult.

We bought this place in Aug.'05. We bought it for the view of the lake. We have a dock and a backyard fire pit, and we love it here. It was also the cheapest house in Franklin county at the time. There were some very good reasons for that. Someday, we will build a nice house here. However, in the last year and a half, we have spent allot of time and money insulating everything. You would think that after 30+ years, the previous owners would have gotten that done, but Nooooooo... We thought that we had insulated all the pipes, but apparently we missed one. So, live and learn!

In the grand scheme of things, I know that Tim and I are very lucky. We have a safe, warm, place to live. It just happens to be a run-down trailer right now, complete with single-pane crank out windows, and there's not a lot on it that wasn't trashed when we bought it. The additions that were done of a living room make it livable, in terms of having enough space. Although, when they built it, they never installed any heating system in it. Go figure? Fortunately, there's only the two of us. There's also a lot more living space since I moved my herbal workshop to another place. We have reclaimed the office/hallway area for our own.

Well, I need to go make more coffee. Tim is still working under the trailer. It's warmed up to a balmy 2 degrees out there! I also need to do another load of laundry to keep the dryer going, so that we continue to have running water.

I love New England! What are some of the challenges where you live?

How do you know?

Posting in this blog has led to some unforseen consequences. Because I really want to make this blog informative, as well as fun to read, I have been revisiting much of my reference library.

I have been on the the Internet checking facts and things, as well. I love this part of writing this blog! I do love to teach and this gives me the opportunity to do so, even if it's "virtually".What has happened due to all of this activity has been quite interesting!

Summer Sea Herbs has been very busy all week. Not just with orders, but with communication among customers and other Etsy sellers, too. I have been taking time to learn some new business techniques, and do some other things to move my business forward.

Since things seem to be going well, and Abundance is becoming apparent, that leads to my question:

How do you know when you're doing the "right" work?

Every time that I have tried to walk away from my path as an herbalist, the Universe directs me back, in NO uncertain terms! However, when I have been "walking my walk, and talking my talk", I am rewarded with abundance in all areas of my life. So, that's how I know I'm doing the right thing, for me.

How do YOU know that you're doing what you're "supposed" to be doing? What signs does the Universe give you?

Books about Working with Crystals & Stones

Since yesterday, I have had my head in my reference books about the metaphysical properties of crystals and stones. I thought that I would share with you some of the books that I use regularly. This is by no means a complete list for you, but I like these particular books and thought you might want to check them out!

• Love is in the Earth by Melody. Actually, any book by Melody is worth having in your collection. This book is considered the bible on the metaphysics of stones. There are two supplements to this volume that are also available. Her other book, The Laying on of Stones is also indispensable.
• Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic by Scott Cunningham. This is my favorite book on the subject! At 250 pages, there's so much information. There are chapters on cleansing stones, and using them for divination, spellwork, and healing. There are six tables, including ones about planetary and elemental correspondences, as well as a handy substitution chart. This is not a technical book and doesn't have information about every type of stone, or how individual stones are structured. It does, however, cover over 100 stones and metals.
• The Book of Stones & Metals by Maya Heath. This is an interesting volume that covers most aspects of the metaphysics of working with stones and metals. It's very in-depth, and a good read if you have some practical experience already. There are very interesting chapters on making talismans, jewelry and other objects. there is some very good information on the individual stones and the families of stones, broken down by colors. I turn to this book often, but have adapted some of her information to align with my own beliefs more comfortably.
• Sacred Stones of the Goddess by Galen Gillotte. This book was a most pleasant surprise! I first saw this when I working in a pagan shop a few years ago. it had just come out and we ordered it to see what it was like. I was prepared to not be impressed. Well, I ate my words! Published in 2003, this has 35 Goddess-based spells, as well as chapters on preparation, meditation, Elemental work, invocations and working with beads. Each spell is like it's own little chapter. For each one, there are paragraphs that list the materials, the purpose, which goddess, the stone, an affirmation and meditation, a spell, the timing, the incense, candles, and some of the practical steps. The rituals are really nice and complete! I think that you will get something out of this book, no matter if you are just starting on the path, or if you are a seasoned practitioner.

These are a few books from my collection that I think will make a nice addition to any library. Do you have a favorite book on the subject?

It's Time to Add a Little Something Extra!

While I love to make my teas and herbal products, I'm always looking to offer my customers new items that are related to healing the body, mind and spirit. With this in mind, I have decided to offer stones, crystals and metals thru my Etsy shop, Summer Sea Herbs!

I have a couple of local sources of stones in New England, where I can go to pick them out myself. This way, I can find the ones that seem to have the best vibrations, color, and quality.
I spend hours choosing these crystals, working my thru many boxes of material to find just the right ones for you! In fact, the picture of me was taken this past weekend while hunting for crystals!

Some of these stones are dug right here in New England, and I also try to buy from stock that is found in the U.S. I used to go dig for quartz crystals myself when I lived in Vermont years ago. The places I used to go have since been closed off to the public, but I still have some beautiful crystals that I treasure. Some of the crystals that I will be offering soon include Labradorite, Pyrite,Herkimer Diamonds, Quartz in it's many forms, Kyanite and others. I also have Lepidolite, which can be hard to find for sale. I have been busy photographing the crystals and doing some research about each type of stone. I know quite a bit about working with crystals, but I want to refresh my memory. we also built a light box today to help with the photographs. What do you think of the results?


It will take me a while to get all the crystals listed in my shop, so check back often to see what's new!

Wind is Elemental

The forecast is for a VERY windy weekend here in Massachusetts. The wind chills tonight are supposed to drive the temperature down around 16 degrees below zero! So, today, I am thinking about the wind and the element of Air. I thought that I would write about the magickal correspondences of this element and of it's cardinal direction, East.

Having several animal totems that are birds, Air is one of my favorite elements to work with. I love to work with feathers and incense, both representative of this Eastern element. East is the direction of the sunrise, which signifies new beginnings. The dawn of a new day is ripe with possibilities, no matter what happened to you yesterday. You can harness some of this energy, if you like. Spend some time, perhaps a week or a month, getting up in time to watch the sunrise everyday. You can actually see the world around you come alive with the light! I find this inspires hope within me, and that in turn, inspires new ideas and plans. Air is the home of Creativity! Some other correspondences of the East and Air are listed below. Keep in mind that this is just a partial list, and will vary among traditions, and from book to book:

• Magickal tool is the Wand or Athame
• Color = yellow
• Some animals are daytime birds, eagle,wolf, deer, cats, butterflies and other winged beings
• Plants include ash, aspen and birch trees, and clover, dandelion and wildflowers.
• Stones are adventurine, mica, jasper, pumice
• Tarot suit= swords
• Instrument= flute
• Body system= respiratory

These are just a few of the correspondences of the element of Air. Messages can come to us thru the wind. What do you hear?

Making a Collage for Abundance!

My post about the Lunar cycles yesterday got me thinking that maybe it's time to do a new collage. Making a pretty art collage is a wonderful thing. However, what I'm talking about is using the process of making a collage as manifestation magick. The process of making the collage really brings what you want and need into focus. Once I make a collage, I usually hang it up on the wall and forget about it. You know, when you walk past something every day, after a while you just don't see it anymore? I can't tell you how many times I have walked past a collage I did, stopped to look at it and realized that EVERYTHING in that collage manifested one way or another! I just love it! I thought that I would share the process with you. Anyone can do this! You don't even need to be a witch to do this work! :0)

1. Decide what you want your collage to be about. I have done collages about improving my health, finances, buying a house, my business, etc. Now as you clip phrases and pictures, you may find that what you thought you wanted to do your collage about isn't at all what is actually happening. Just go with it, and see where you end up!
2. You should get a piece of poster board and a big stack of old magazines and catalogs. These can be on any subject at all. Women's magazines and those on business are really good to use for collage. I also like nature magazines.
3. Start by going thru the magazines, clipping out pictures, words, and phrases that resonate with you. Clip everything you want. don't worry about it not being perfect for what you had in mind. You'll go thru them again later.
4. Once you're done clipping, go back thru what you've cut out and choose the images that you want to put on your collage. Sometimes it can be hard to decide what really works. At this point, you may notice that there's a different theme coming thru than what you were planning on doing your collage about. Just go with it! Trust that this alternate theme is what you really need to do your collage about.
5. Take your poster board and make it as large or small as you would like. I have even cut them into large shapes, such as hearts or a house. Most of the time, I leave them rectangular and use about 1/2 of a poster sheet.
6. Take your clippings and start positioning them about the poster board. At this point, I usually have a few large images to use for the background, which I will paste other images on top of. Once you have a general idea of where things will go, start pasting them to the board.
7. After you've pasted on everything you want, you can add other elements such as beads, glitter glue pens, flowers or any other embellishments you like. You can also leave it plain. Personally, I know that my collages aren't finished until I use at least three different colors of glitter glue pens on them! But then, I am a glitter critter.

And that's all there is to it! You have just made manifestation magick! The process of weeding thru the images and phrases helps to sort of what you really want, and then creating art with them puts your needs out to the Universe! The only caution I have about this is to keep your collage fairly general, around a theme. We can never know how the things we need will manifest. What you need/want may come about in very unexpected ways. You don't want to put so many particulars in your collage that it will either never happen, or it may take years for the right alignment of aspects to happen in order for it to manifest. That said, have fun with the process! This is supposed to be allot of fun and interesting. I have found it's also very powerful magick! Enjoy and let me know what you create!

New Moon

For those who like to keep track of the Lunar comings and goings, today is January's New Moon!

I found a cool moon calculator to add to my blog. Check it out midway down the left side column. This way you can keep track of where the Moon is at!

Now, why would you want to keep track of the Moon cycles? Well, if you were so inclined, you can align yourself with the cycles of the Moon to help you with your gardening, spellwork, personal spiritual work, among other things. The Lunar cycles are strong, so why not pay attention to that energy and run WITH it, instead of AGAINST it?

The Moon can help us work with our "darker" personal energies. Now this might sound dire, but it's not all bad! We can take advantage of these cycles to look inward, and do the corresponding work. If you have patterns in your life that repeat themselves, and you would really rather that they not, you can use the waning phase of the Moon to address this. Similarly, if you want to create abundance, love, and prosperity in your life, then doing work when the moon is in waxing mode will help that along.

When the Moon is full, we can feel that energy at it's most influential. Doing divination work on the full Moon will help illuminate your issues right now. When the Moon is new, as it is today, it's a great time to start planning a new venture. you might want to wait a day or two before doing any magickal works associated with it, though.

Some general lunar magickal correspondences are love, dreams, sleep, fertility, peace:

• Metal: silver


• Stone: moonstone


• Herbs: Lotus, Camphor, Dulse, Poppy, Myrrh, Sandalwood (to name a few)


• Goddess: Athena, Aphrodite (among many others depending on pantheon)


• Animal: Owl (again, there are many)

These are just a few of the many correspondences for the Moon. All the monthly moons have names, attributed to them in Native American traditions. This moon is called the Wolf Moon. This name can be different depending on what text you are referencing. Even if you aren't ready to get something new started right now, you might want to plan for next month's new moon, or even this month's full moon.

Comfort

Bbbrrrr... baby, it's cold outside! A balmy 8 degreess out there! It's our first really cold day, which is kind of ridiculous considering it's the middle of January. I woke up late, cranked up the pellet stove, and fed the cats. You can blame the inventor of the electric mattress pad for my late waking hour (8 a.m.). I finally crawled out from my baking bed and got my day started. The hazards of working from home. This picture is of me standing on the ice in the middle of the lake where I live, last January. This is what it should be like now.
I got thinking about the things that bring me comfort in January. I would have to include my morning coffee, my cat-kids, my family, the pellet stove, and my books. I also feel warm and comfy with something roasting in the oven, watching the birds at my feeders, or buried under blankets and cats in my recliner reading or watching TV. After freezing our butts off in this house last Winter, the pellet stove is a very welcome addition.

Even thought I know that it's just wrong for New England, I like the fact that there's no snow and that the lake where I live isn't frozen yet. I had a really hard time emotionally last year when the lake froze over. I think that part of it was that it was so cold in the house, seeing the frozen lake made it feel even colder!
I know that these aren't earth-shattering revelations, but it's what is on my mind today. what kinds of things bring you comfort, or make you uncomfortable during the Winter?

From my Library ~ Some Books on Aromatherapy

Yesterday I posted a bit about some essential oils that are good for fighting sinus problems. I thought that today I would suggest some books for further reading about aromatherapy.

This list is taken from my own library of reference books. There are links to some of them down the left column of my blog, under the My library section. Most of these can also be ordered from your local independent bookstore. Any of these books would be worthy additions to your library.

• 500 Formulas for Aromatherapy by Carol & David Schiller: This is one of the first books I bought on the subject. it was first published in 1994. It's very straight-forward and set up with recipes to make blends for most any ailment. It's only 128 pages, but I find myself turning to this book quite often for a quick fix.
• Aromatherapy- A Lifetime guide to Healing with Essential Oils by Valerie Gennari Cooksley: 1996, This comprehensive guide covers aromatherapy for all your body's systems, and is very thorough about how to use oils (and what not to do), there's a reference guide to individual oils, as well as a chapter on how to blend oils. it's a large volume at 400 pages.
• The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood: First published in the UK in 1990, this book is one of many that Valerie Worwood has written on the subject of aromatherapy. I think that I turn to this book more than any other I have on the subject. I consider this a bible on the subject. She has recipes for many problems, and chapters on sports, occupational health, beauty, domestic animals, and toxic-free environmental uses. She uses a "core" group of essential oils, all of which are easy to find and not very expensive. That's one of the things that appeals to me about this author.
• The Fragrant Mind - Aromatherapy for Personality, Mind, Mood and Emotion by Valerie Ann Worwood, 1996: this book is an in-depth look at using aromatherapy for psychological issues. I'll just quote from the back cover, " Worwood introduces her Aroma Genera system of personality types and advises readers on which oils and methods can prevent stress, depression, moodiness and insomnia, and which can promote self-esteem, confidence, and well-being ~ all without synthetic drugs or chemicals". This is a very, very interesting way to approach using essential oils.
• The Fragrant Heavens - The spiritual dimension of fragrance and aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood, 1999: I just bought this book a few months ago and am finding that Worwood again amazes me! In this book, she connects the dots between the energy in plants (much like as in Plant Spirit Medicine) and healing the spiritual self with aromatherapy. there are chapters on using oils to clear negativity, angelic vibrations, prayer,and distance healing, among others. A very different look at an alternative healing modality.
• Magical Aromatherapy by Scott Cunningham, 1989: Prolific Wiccan author Cunningham gives us a great reference book for using aromatherapy and oils in our daily magickal life. With a nice guide to the individual oils, I find myself turning again and again to the Tables section where he lists oils for the seasons, lunar cycles, elements, zodiac, etc. At about 200 pages, this little book is definitely worth having in your library, even if you already own his other books on Incense and Oils.

Now you have a few books to start with for your own aromatherapy collection. I have others, but the ones I listed here are my favorites! What scent will you be wearing today?

Aromatherapy to the Rescue!

Pure essential oils should always be part of your medicine chest. Today, I want to tell you about two oils which are good for sinus problems, Eucalyptus and Peppermint.

Both my husband, Tim and I have been fighting a cold/sinus thing since last Friday. Tim has been sicker than I have been so far. Yesterday, the cold started to settle in his sinuses after two days in the sneezing phase. To bring some quick relief, I put a drop of essential oil under his nose(right in the middle, it may sting a little if your nose is raw) and rubbed another drop into each of his temples, well back from his eyes. This helps to relieve the stuffy nose and the drops along the temple help to relieve the sinus headache and pressure. I use a cotton swab to apply the oil. If you use your finger, do NOT touch your eyes! You'll regret it! You can also add a few drops to a bowl of hot steaming water, lean over the bowl, and toss a towel over your head and the bowl to make a tent. The vapors should clear your head as you breathe deeply.

A few cautions for using Peppermint and Eucalyptus essential oils:

Don't use excessively. where a little is good, alot is NOT better. Both oils can irritate mucous membranes and skin. Avoid use during pregnancy and breast feeding. Do not take if using homeopathic remedies, as they can antidote your remedy.

Store your oils away from light, heat, flower essences and tinctures. I store all my oils together, away from everything else I use, and not in the bathroom.

While you can use either peppermint or eucalyptus, blending them both together is even better. You could also add rosemary, thyme and/or geranium oils, too. These added to either peppermint or eucalyptus are wonderful for healing. Make sure that you buy real essential oils, and not fragrance oils. These oils aren't very expensive(for essential oils), and you can find them at any food co-op. I have even seen decent oils at big-box drugstores. I like a product called "31 Herbal Oil", which is what it sounds like. It's a blend of 31 different essential oils. It's expensive, hard to find, but well worth it! It's made by SwissJust company. I saw it somewhere on-line not too long ago for about $50, for 1.7oz bottle. It's a good thing that a little goes a long way, and it lasts for years.

there are alot of great aromatherapy books out there. I'll post more about those later. To see a few listings, just click on one of the book covers in my section on the left labeled "My Library". To find out more about aromatherapy on the web, check out this site: http://www.aromaweb.com/default.asp

Bombs & Bake Sales

Normally, I won't put political stuff in my blog. I want this format to be for learning and sharing about herbs, magick and the good things in life. However, I have this stuck in my head and need to get it out. This afternoon there was a television show called "Future Weapons", on the Discovery Channel. The premise is that there is this Ex-Navy Seal guy who goes around the world to show the audience about some "cool"new and devastating weapons being produced. Now, I have little patience for the whole idea, but some of it is interesting from a technical aspect. However, when they started talking R&D costs to develop and use some of these weapons, I just got pissed! One weapon costs $2 billion to develop. Another one fires missiles that cost $40,000 each. Apparently these were used to take out a convoy of 19 tanks on the northern Iraqi border at some point. Woo-Hoo. That's $760,000 for one skirmish.

This got me thinking of that classic bumper sticker:
It'll be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.

Yes, I'm a product of the Sixties, and I still think that all the citizens of the US deserve housing, food and a decent education. Silly me!I support our soldiers, and wish them safe home, but I will never support a war. Ok, I'm done. (I will return to sweetness and light tomorrow!)