Blog Party and Giveaway!

Hey everyone! The Domestic Witch is having an October Blog Party and I'm going to be there! Swing on over and check it out!

Also....The Domestic Witch is having an awesome GIVEAWAY called Queen of Cups Giveaway in honor of her 100th follower. Woohoo! The Domestic Witch is one of my favorite blogs. She really knows her magick and lives it everyday. See for yourself and go on by and see what this giveaway is all about. :)

So, what did I do with those blackberries I harvested this weekend? See for yourself. :)

Nothing smells better than a warm home with fresh baked pies in the oven to welcome Fall!

Peaceful blessings all!

'Tis the Season to Harvest those Magickal Blackberries!

Yesterday my girlfriend and I decided to take her two horses (Ari and Magic) out trail riding. So, we loaded them up, drove to the trails, saddled them up and then it happened. Magic backed up into a rock and sliced his leg! After a few moments of "freaking out" I calmed Magic down (told him to use his own magick to heal himself) while Debbie tended to his poor little injured leg. We stayed there for awhile, making sure the blood stopped and Magic was fine (which we accomplished) and headed home afterwards.

So.....we decided not to lose the whole afternoon and decided to harvest blackberries! Deb has blackberry bushes lining her long driveway and we got our bowls out and started harvesting. :)

The boys even helped us out!

Ari did a great job! Stuck his whole head in the bushes (ouch!). Oh Ari, you need to clean up after yourself! Lol!

Magic was still a bit mad from his wound. If looks could kill!

And look at all the blackberries we harvested! Aren't they so plump and full of life?

I haven't done much with blackberry magick but I did learn a few new things.

Botanical name: Rubus villosus

Deities associated with blackberries: Venus and Brigit

Gender: Female (traditional western Western European magickal gender)

Western element: water

Magickal uses: healing

Magickal substitutions: Rosemary and rose

Ritual uses: Offerings to Venus

I am fairly new in learning the magickal uses of blackberries. If you know of anymore information, please let me know! :)

Now...time to make a blackberry pie or some cobbler! Venus would love that. :)

Harvest Prosperity Tea

I sense Fall in the air with the changing of the leaves and a little bite in the air in the evenings. I recall this time last year my girlfriend and I made this wonderful prosperity tea and it worked wonders, prosperity-wise!

This wonderful tea is packed with cinnamon, candied ginger, cloves, chamomile, fresh mint, cinnamon sticks and vanilla (real vanilla bean - scraped). I can't even remember the measurement for each one but we crushed everything with a mortar and pestle and steeped it all in boiling water over the stove. When we were done we poured ourselves a hot, steeping cup each and topped with fresh mint. For the remainder of the tea, we put them in jars and put them in the refrigerator for refreshing cold tea! We made this tea on the New Moon and drank slowly until the Full Moon to get the full effect from the Universe! Who could ask for more perfect ingredients for Fall than these?

I think it's about time to make some more. :) My little Miss Mocha (aka the The Queen) is ready for Fall. She loves sleeping under the covers. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Peaceful Blessings....

P.S. Thank you all for your wonderful, encouraging comments in my last post. I feel 100% better!

Challenged

This week has been especially challenging for me. My beliefs have been challenged. Every core of my being has been challenged. I think all of you may have experienced this at some point in your life. What hurts me the most is that who I am, what I'm about is only about good intentions, only about giving and caring for others...caring for animals, God's animals but because our society has dubbed what we are all about, I have to challenge those that are naive about what they don't know. And what comes after that? What they don't know, scares them. I have been especially emotional lately and the last few days I have found myself crying. Crying because I so badly want to be me. I want to be me in a society that has standards for LIFE. I respect the living, I respect the dead...I even respect those darn annoying little ants that get into our kitchen cupboards. Yep...I can't just wipe 'em up like everyone else does. I have to scoop them all up and throw them outside so they can live their little lives continuing to annoy all of us because that's what they're about. That's what they do. Who am I to disrupt nature (because they're only searching for bits and pieces of food to survive on)? I'm allowing those little ants to be themselves. I know I must sound wacko at this point. Okay, so maybe that's going a little too far but did I get my point across at all?

I'm being challenged. Challenged. I've heard that word throughout my life, time and time again. Michelle, you're being challenged. Michelle, challenge yourself. Michelle, he's asking for a challenge. And each time I was challenged, it made me stronger, as me, than before.

So. I am being challenged. All I can say is look out because a stronger me is going to emerge from all of this. The nice me, I should add, with even more love to give than ever before. ;)

I quote Aunt Frances from the movie Practical Magic.

"My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!"

Blessings to all and to all a good night. xoxo

Come Mr. Tally Man, Tally Me Banana....

"The true origin of Bananas, world's most popular fruit, is found in the region of Malaysia. By way of curious visitors, bananas traveled from there to India where they are mentioned in the Buddhist Pali writings dating back to the 6th century BCE. In his campaign in India in 327 BCE, Alexander the Great relished his first taste of the banana, an usual fruit he saw growing on tall trees. He is even credited with bringing the banana from India to the Western world. According to Chinese historian Yang Fu, China was tending plantations of bananas in 200 CE. These bananas grew only in the southern region of China and were considered exotic, rare fruits that never became popular with the Chinese masses until the 20th century."

Taken from http://www.banana.com/

And now for something tasty!

Banana Smoothie

1 banana
1 cup cold milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

In a blender, combine banana, milk, egg, wheat germ, honey, vanilla and nutmeg. Blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled glass and serve.

I Won Another Giveaway!

I just LOVE seeing boxes sitting in front of my door when I come home and yesterday, one was sitting there...all alone...waiting for me, just me! Yep, I have been a lucky gal lately. I won a giveaway (and I have another coming!). :) I won this giveaway from The Domestic Witch. She is one fun witch, let me tell you. In fact, I'd call her the Martha Stewart of witches! She loves cooking, organizing, decorating, cleaning, anything vintage and she knows how to have fun with her Ya-Ya sisters! Her blog is so fun. In fact, she lists what housekeeping she is doing that day and tells you have to weave magic into everyday chores. Also, she has the most adorable family, especially her sweet little boy, Angelus.

She packaged everything up so sweetly all the way down to the dried flowers on her beautiful stationary. :)

How sweet is this?

Protection bag filled with a snowflake obsidian, moonstone & lapis lazuli and Anubis Rock made from coal. This mix of stones brings balance, protection, serenity and purity into one's life. I just love it!

Then she was sweet enough to throw in this bonus gift, a vintage Household magazine from 1951! I love vintage magazines. It's always so fun to see the ads they published back then. They even have some vintage recipes (that I must try) although there really is no such thing as a vintage recipe...recipes seem to span time or should I say they're timeless. :)

Here's the funny part. As I was writing this post and watching the Hallmark Channel at the same time (my favorite channel of all time) this movie was playing. One of my favorites! It's called The Good Witch. It's so enchanting! If you haven't watched it, it replays often on The Hallmark Channel. Anyway, I see a lot of similarities in The Good Witch and The Domestic Witch! :)

Thank you so much Domestic Witch! I know these stones will bring me positive energy! Here's the big question...will they make me as domestic as you? I hope so! ;) If you haven't stopped by, please swing over so she can sprinkle a little magic into your life!

xoxo

Getting Reconnected with Spirit

It's been awhile since I've been genuinely connected with Spirit. In fact, this is proof....see the dust on my little cabinet that holds all my herbs, candles, incense. etc? Shame on you, Michelle! My sister in Spirit, Thea and I are going to start getting reconnected and get back into doing energy work together. We are so opposite (yin and yang) and yet we come together beautifully as one during energy work (meditation included). We are going to include yoga into the mix as well! Balance..isn't that the key in most things in our lives? Time to get reconnected. Where do you keep your Tools?