Just for fun..
As we endure yet another drought here in North Carolina, and we all are feeling the squeeze of rising prices, it might help to discover just why the water bill keeps going up and up..
Beth
Magical Lavender Recipes
Everyday Elsie by Lora Craig-Gaddis Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun,and with him rise weeping. — The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare Here are a couple of lavender recipes you might like to try this weekend. I have to admit I have not made the tart yet, so … Read more
More Lavender Lore
The Love Potion – Evelyn de Morgan, 1903There are some things after all that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can. — Practical Magic, by … Read more
Fair Lavender
Ladies fair, I bring to youLavender with spikes of blue;Sweeter plant was never foundGrowing on our English ground.— Caryl Battersby, 1896 The medicinal properties of lavender are well-known, tried and true for many centuries. But I also love it for its more subtle, equally powerful gifts. I know lavender to be an intimate friend, teacher … Read more
Safe and Effective
Hanged up in houses,it doth very well attemper the aire,coole and make fresh the place to the delightand comfort of such as are therein. — John Gerard, 1597 As our days fill with the gift of Summer’s lush ripening, beloved Thalia, the Grace of Mirth and Flowering, continues to teach us. In the hot, summery … Read more
Summer’s Flowering
The air was fragrant with a thousand trodden aromatic herbs, with fields of lavender, and with the brightest roses blushing in tufts all over the meadows. . . — William Cullen Bryant As the Wheel of the Year turns now to the fullness of Summer’s lush ripening, we continue on our Graceland journey — that … Read more
Power and Glory
The Power and the Gloryby Phil Ochs Come and take a walk with me through this green and growing landWalk through the meadows and the mountains and the sandWalk through the valleys and the rivers and the plainsWalk through the sun and walk through the rain This is a land full of power and gloryBeauty … Read more
Summer Invocation
Summer Invocationby Trish Telesco Fireflies and summer sunin circles roundwe become as one.Singing songs at magick’s hourwe bring the windsand timeless powers.Turning inward, hand in handwe dance the hearthto heal the land. Standing silent, beneath the skywe catch the fire from out God’s eye.Swaying breathless, beside the seawe call the Goddessso mote it be!
Litha and Solstice Blessings!
As the sun spirals its longest dance,Cleanse us!As nature shows bounty and fertilityBless us!Let all things live with loving intentAnd to fulfill their truest destiny.— from a Wiccan Summer Blessing (as reported by the BBC) Happy Litha (Summer Solstice) to those of us in the northern hemisphere, and Happy Yule to our friends below the … Read more
Happy Birthday, Cancer!
(June 20 – July 22)Cancer is the sign of the Summer Solstice, the beginning of the warmest season of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also the birth sign of the United States of America. Cancer is the first water sign of the Zodiac, (making it a cardinal sign), and forms its identity … Read more