/// M E L T // S O F T E N // Q U I C K E N /// I don't know about where you live, but here in southeastern PA, winter has been extra rough. We haven't really gotten a nice calm, sparkly snow yet. You know, the kind where the snow cover mutes the chatter of the world and throws every little sound outside into sharp relief against the hush. I've lived here all of my 37 years, and I can remember some monster blizzards, but I've never heard of a winter storm called a bomb cyclone (happening on the … [Read more...]
Yule Gathering Box 2017
Like most things around Yuletide, this box felt rich and indulgent. I had so many ideas for the goodies to make for this box, that it ended up being a little bigger than previous boxes, but I'm ok with that, Yule being the creature that it is. It's a time for feasting and friends, entertaining and making merry. While we are busy making things bright and cheerful inside, a very different thing is happening outside. The sunlight has been gradually fading and nights have been growing longer … [Read more...]
Samhain Gathering Box 2017
This box was so much fun to create! I was getting ideas for it while making the Mabon Box and couldn't wait to put it together. I went back and forth about whether to call it Samhain or Samhuinn. The latter is the Scots Gaelic spelling (and that's what I'm partial to), but the former is more widely recognizable, so I went with that. Maybe next year, I'll go with Samhuinn. The herbs gathered in this box are to help you honor those who have come before. "Samhain" means "summer's end", and … [Read more...]
Mabon Gathering Box 2017
This was my first go at creating what I am calling "Gathering Boxes." Mabon is the name for the festival that falls on the autumnal equinox. Where I live, this time of year in late summer feels like a "fifth season", a space between. We are approaching a period of equal day and night as the wheel turns towards darkness. It's natural to want to resist the shift from summer to fall, but there is medicine in the balance. The Mabon Gathering Box contains seasonally appropriate herbs to help support … [Read more...]
goldenrod: a graceful physic
Latin: Solidago canadensis, S. odora, S. virgaurea, S. altissima, S. gigantea, S. rigida, S. serotina (and many others) Family: Asteraceae, Compositae Folk names: Blue Mountain tea, liberty tea, Aaron’s rod, goldruthe, wundgraut (PA Dutch for “wound herb”), Barrick Tee (PA Dutch) Energetics: warm, dry Properties: antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, vulnerary Taste: bitter, pungent Parts used: usually just aerial parts, … [Read more...]
the cailleach in the corn
In the Celtic pantheon, the cailleach (Gaelic for hag or crone) is the darker counterpart to the Beltane goddess, Brighid. As the summer fades into fall, so too the goddess ages. She can be seen in leaves changing from green to gold, seed heads bowing down, and crops being brought in for winter storage. As we know, this seasonal death is also the beginning of a new season that we welcome with harvest celebrations. Some accounts call her The Queen of Winter, some paint her face blue, some say … [Read more...]
herb-babies and magical knives
I've been lamenting the stagnant nature of my blog lately, because it's just *too* easy to whip out a facebook or instagram post with a little story attached to a photo. Never mind the fact that I haven't had much time for pleasure writing over the last year due to my full time student status. Now that I'm all graduated with a pretty certificate and have been released back into the current, I'm finding my new "normal" after such an intense herbal program. I feel like I'm emerging a new person … [Read more...]
death rides a fat dachschund
Sorry this post has nothing interesting to say about herbs, other than the fact that I should probably be taking mimosa elixir by the shot right now. Life events like these might be too personal for some to share in such a public way, but this is just how I'm dealing. There seems to be a lot of endings happening in my life lately. Close, lifelong friends are moving away to retire, another family friend is dying (I helped to care for her husband last year at the end of his life), and my 94 … [Read more...]
Hawthorn: by its own pricking
Latin: Crataegus spp. (C. oxyacantha, C. oxyacanthoides, C. monogyna, C. pinnatifida, C. laevigata Family: Rosaceae (belonging to the apple group of the almond subfamily) Folk names: May tree, May bush, Mayblossom, hazels, haw, whitethorn, hawberry, thornapple (not to be confused with datura), tree of chastity, cockspur, cockspur thorn, washington thorn, English hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn (C. monogyna), Ladies’ meat, sgitheach (modern Scots Gaelic), huath (old Gaelic), sceach gheal (Irish … [Read more...]
Hyssop: for health and hearth
Latin: Hyssopus officinalis Family: Lamiaceae or Labiatae Folk names: Isop (Gaelic), Ysopo, Yssop, Ysope, Hinojo (Spanish), Eisop (PA Dutch) Energetics: warm, neutral Properties: antiviral, antibacterial, carminative, decongestant, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, emmenagogue, hypertensive, nervine, sedative, anthelmintic, vulnerary, antioxidant Taste: pungent, slightly bitter, diffusive, slightly warming, dry Parts used: aerial parts of flowering herb Degree: 2nd, … [Read more...]
