July 29th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
(Hiking, Nature, Wild Foods and Medicines)
Went hiking yesterday up by the river. We haven’t hiked there in the summer before as there is more poison ivy than either of us would really like to deal with. But we went yesterday because it was something different to do. I collected a lot of violet leaves to make oil for salve and we looked for medicinal plants that don’t grow here but all we found were plants of “Questionable Toxicity” -Cup plant, something violet I don’t remember- and something that could well kill you but is quite pretty: wood sage. Neither of us got any poison ivy but we both have a lot of bug bites despite the bug repellant that we applied twice.
Eloric decided to replace my dead digital camera too yesterday, though I was protesting because right now it’s neither here nor there to me. He insisted, saying he was getting a new computer, so I got a new camera. This camera is quite different from my old camera and will take some getting used to. I am a bit excited now as it has a night picture function and I’m hoping to get some shots of the moon that I could not get with the old camera.
I started poke flower essence today; we’ll see how that goes. I put the flower in a vial of spring water and then placed the vial in the glass of spring water, which is the “alternate method” of imprinting essences from material samples. I learnt it from one of my crystal books as there are several crystals that cannot be imprinted by the normal method of straight immersion. Poke is toxic except for the berries (the seeds are why people aren’t supposed to eat them but if you don’t break the seed coat, you’re OK), the properly tinctured fall root in drop doses, and the very young spring leaves boiled in no fewer than three changes of water. I had the impression that the flower is to soak for an entire day, so I wasn’t taking chances with toxicity. I hope it turns out half as good as teasel.
I think we’re hiking more up by the creek later though I dunno if we’ll be able to get the blue vervain this time. Too many variables. I do hope to find more new herbs though.
Attention Getting Device
I’m considering writing about how to make flower/gem essences. I’d like some imput from the people who read me as to whether or not you think this would be an interesting addition to my blog-type-thing as I don’t have a lot of content in here but for some silly stuff about myself and some textures and Interstitial Cystitis.
July 23rd, 2006 at 11:01 pm
(Metaphysical, Nature, Thoughts, Wild Foods and Medicines)
I’ve still been down lately. I think it’s been a combination of worrying about my mother, who has since developed blood pressure problems since I last blogged, and gnawing the walls because I’ve been wanting to see something new. Thank you flu for trapping me inside for so long. Eloric cured part of the problem for me after he got home from work this evening- we went for a walk.
During this walk, I cut myself some teasel flower heads, took a sample of two mystery plants, found a nice mica specimen, laughed at the neighbor boy who thought he was hiding on the bridge, smoking (he’s 14), and ate a tiny, yet tasty crab apple. Oh- and collected a tick on my shirt and freaked out before Eloric picked it off, saying it hadn’t attached itself to my back. *whew!* What is so funny about that is that I was picking teasel, which is often used to treat Lyme Disease. Talk about your doctrine of signatures there. Heheh.
First things first- One of the plants was in the field that the Nature Rapist sold off to a local farmer. It was near four feet tall, with deeply serrated leaves and beautiful blue flower heads. I was very suprised to find out, when I looked it up in my medicinal plant guide, that it was blue vervain. I didn’t think that blue vervain grew wild here, so I was pleasantly surprised. There was only one plant though and it won’t survive the soybean harvest… so I’ll probably make a flower essence from one of the flower branches I took. The other plant looked like an nasturtium with orange flowers, spotted with red. I thought it was jewelweed- which again, I was not aware grew hereabouts, since I have never seen it- and though I didn’t think to take a leaf to make a positive ID, I believe that’s what it is. Again- only one plant but a honking big one. *sigh* Naturally I find this after I’ve ordered seeds of the same from Richters. Oh well.
I made a flower essence from one of the teasel heads because Matthew Wood says the Chinese call it “Restore What is Broken” and use it to get people back on their paths and to bring use back to the body where it has been lost. The book is in the cottage but I believe he said that it is used for broken cartliage, ripped muscles, and perhaps nerves. So I imprinted that sucker- Eloric and I both have bad knees and Wood often uses the flower essences like homeopathic potencies of the herbal material tincture. Though the evening light was dimming by the time I set it out, it seemed that it was the proper thing to do. I checked it once and found it wanted to chill in the dark for a while, so I left it until about 45 minutes ago. Or so.
I took the glass into the cottage and took a hit right out of it. Sometimes I get carried away and hardcore- the flower head was still in there. But it smelled fantastic and the water tasted a little sweet, so it didnt concern me as I laid down on the cot to see what the teasel essence had to say and what it would do. I’ll just excerpt here from my 43Things entry because I’m both tired and lazy:
I felt very warm and then felt the sensation of a large teasel flower head beginning at my heart and growing to the top of my head. The flower enlarged until it was the size of my entire body. My knee hurt- my bad knee but it felt like things were moving inside. My injured back also felt like the muscles were being manipulated- rather like when I had physical therapy and the therapist was stretching the fascia. I felt more connected to myself than I have for a long time.
But to elaborate- It felt as though it was re-connecting my energetics on a subtle level, rewiring all of my chakras, both kundalini and hara, from the soul star to the earth star. It rewired my central channel and auxillary channels. It brought heat into my body and circulated it. The essence talked about helping to reset karma. But mostly it said- I restore what is broken. Over and over and over again, even when I was trying to get it to tell me exactly which things it restored. But in general, it said that it bridged, unified, knit together, strengthened connexions, restored connexions, mostly on the emotional and physical layers of existance. Whether it can restore interpersonal relationships is up in the air… though it said if it was right and proper for it so to do, then it could. So- if it’s screwed up, teasel might be able to fix it… at least energetically. I really would like to meet it in a material dose but I don’t know if I’ll be able to find first-year non-blooming plants.
I think we might go hiking tomorrow but as yet am unsure. If we do, well be going to the river- which is poison ivy heaven this time of yeat BUT- if that plant I found is actually jewelweed, we may detour briefly to clamber down the side of the bridge and back up halfway to the rail road tracks here before we get too far to harvest some of the jewelweed as it’s supposed to kick poison ivy’s arse. Anyway- I’m hoping to go herb-hunting.
I need more 1oz amber bottles now.
July 21st, 2006 at 9:45 pm
(Witches Weekly)
Do you consider yourself a political pagan? If so, what topics are most important to you and why? If you are not a political pagan, why?
Hmmm. I guess I am a political Pagan as I have written my seriously conservative, apathetic, looney State Rep. several times over issues that concern myself. Lessee- Religion, abortion issues, chronic pain patients’ rights. It’s an exercise in futility because I will forever be at cross corners with this closed-minded fellow I did not vote for. I vote where I think I will be honored, sometimes for my cat Morrolan as a protest.
Abortion is important to me as I believe that a woman has a right to say what goes on with her body. I don’t want to argue about abortion here but I will say that I am Pro-Choice and vocal about it. It is not up to a bunch of men who will never have the ability to carry babies to tell a woman that she must remain pregnant if she doesn’t want to be such, cannot afford a family, will go mad if she is forced to carry the baby, will become ill if she carries the baby. Gubberment- Keep. Your. Morals. Out. Of. Our. Uteruses.
Chronic Pain Patients’ Rights- Because I am a chronic pain patient and it is deplorable how doctors make us suffer because they have not been educated about chronic pain therapies and because they fear they will be punnished by the government for prescribing people enough medicine to give them some quality of life. I find it reprehensible how the government thinks it is being so moral by causing people to suffer. Way to force your morals on other people. Yes, I am in remission but with IC there is every chance that I will come out of remission- so I wrote the fellow, letting him know my own horrid experiences, trying to assuge my chronic pain through the proper chanels because perhaps it will sway his opinion on how pain and suffering makes one a better person. Because it doesn’t. It wears you down and kills you sooner than someone whose pain is properly treated. I gave him references too. *calms down*
Religion- We all have the right to worship as we choose and I take offense to people trying to define how and where I can worship just because I am not Christian. If I had kids, they should be allowed to wear religious symbols at school and I should be able to get my holidays off at work if I work those of the dominant religion. The separation of Church and state applies to all religions, not just religions other than Christianity.
I’ve gotten replies too but of course to let me know that my ideas are not his ideas and that while he appreciated the time I had taked to write him, I am silly, and he will vote as he likes. Not in those exact words but the disgust did roll off of the papers. Sometimes I think it is not worth writing because a person with an alternative view will never get through to a conservative. :/
July 21st, 2006 at 8:29 pm
(Rants)
July 21st, 2006 at 8:14 pm
(News, Wild Foods and Medicines)
Still have the flu only not as bad. I’m better able to focus so now I can answer all of my comments and might even be able to make sense as I write this entry.
I do have a little bit that I’m going to put into a locked entry, since I expect trolls if I don’t, so if I know ya, just ask for the pass and I’ll give it to you. It’s nothing big but one of the reasons I got the new domain and my own space in the first place since my exodous from Diaryland all of those years ago was to be able to say exactly what I want, when I want, how I want to say it. *whee!*
My mother had a doctor’s appointment the other day but didn’t bother to tell me about what it was- and I don’t pry- until I went to see her to ask how it had went. I thought it was just going to be a yearly check-up but damn was I wrong. It turns out that she is having vaginal bleeding again and at 63 years old, well you can see how absolutely WRONG that is. They sent her for a CAT scan, mammogram, uterine biopsy, and gods-know-WHAT else the very next day, which is how I knew that everything wasn’t OK. Her uterus is the size it would be if she were 3 months pregnant and she may have to have surgery. I am worried about her in that it’s pretty disturbing to me that it would be going on with her now, at this age. It freaks me out.
Bumblebees are getting under the cottage by way of the hole under the threshold. I’ve been filling it in with dirt but that’s a joke since bumblebees dig. But it has been keeping them out semi-OK. We’re going to have to put another piece of wood there eventually.
I did start some skullcap tincture the other day before I got too ill. I think I am going to have enough for 4oz in about 6 weeks. I’m very impressed with how the plants came up. I was not impressed at all with the state of the plants when they came from Richters.com- 2/3 of my marjoram plants were dead before they even got to me, the skullcaps were half cut off and the sage looked diseased. But everything is OK now. I’ll have motherwort for tincture soon as well as sage. It’s all good.
I did get an orange phantom crystal with orange healer (although I would call it a dusting, since I’ve never read about “orange healer”) which oddly enough… comes from the Orange River area *lol* so there’s a lot of orange there. I was quite drawn to it. I know I’m not keeping my goal of refraining from getting new stones for 4 months but well… enh. At least I’m not as voracious as I was in January.
July 19th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
(News)
Argle blegh sngurrr.
I have the flu or something. I’ll post something more coherent when I can focus better. I have half a TC to get through on blurry vision.
fgolhizdfvndz bedziofbi; dbhjo.
July 11th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
(Aquired-Taste Updates, Interstitial Cystitis, Metaphysical, Wild Foods and Medicines)
The farmers have been harvesting wheat for the last 5 days and it has kicked my ass. There is no way to escape the air-bourne gluten and I’m paying for everyone else’s bread, pizza, and wallpaper paste. The bladder’s flareing, I can’t stay awake for 8 hours or concentrate, and the costochondritis is up again and I’m having sinus problems. Grrr! The rain today should help some but until all of the farmers in, say a 20 mile radius get done picking their facking grain, I’m going to be ill, like it or not.
I made a new flower essence the other day: Rose Malva. The plant had been pestering me for say- 2 weeks, so I finally got out the spring water, the crystal glass, and set it to imprint on a nice, sunny day. I believe I had it in the glass for nearly 8 hours but I’m a fan of long-term imprinting and I usually listen to the plant to see when it’s done infusing. I took up the mother tincture and sat down to prove it, since I didn’t have much of an idea as to what it was going to do. I did know it was going to have something to do with devas and faeries but anything more, I had no clue.
I took a small sip of the mother essence and waited for a few moments. I began to sense devas. The deva of the plant I’d taken the flower from explained that this Rose Mallow essence was for speaking to individual devas and faeries. Devas of places, devas of individual plants, clouds- natural beings only but also structures- in other words: no machines or devices. It doesn’t help a person to interact with “higher” devas, such as overlighting devas or devas of an entire species and doesn’t help with speaking to totems or animal spirits. It is also a very cheery, uplifting energy- which I’ve had need of as of late, thanks to the wheat.
Other than that, nothing’s been going on. Just been trying to ride out all of the wheat in the air so I can get back to normal. I did make three new brush sets for Aquired Taste, so I may as well post the pics. Click the images to be taken to the download page.
July 5th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
(Rants)
I am quite upset. Less upset than I was, now that it’s all over and the damage has been minimized but still…
My nasty mother-in-law decided to just drop by yesterday without calling. My husband and I have been over it- that she must call before she comes, he agrees, because she always starts things immediately afterward. She likes to make up stories about how she was poorly-treated, that we were mean to her, how we brag to her about our new stuff and how much it cost, how we can have things because we are sooo rich and other stupidities. I hate her. She has done nothing but cause trouble in our lives ever since we married. She seemed OK before we were actually legal but the moment we were, she began telling things to the family that we’d told her confidentially- like health problems we didn’t want broadcasted, etc. We have never done anything to her but treat her with respect and she likes to attack us. She lives to foment tension and hostility amongst her 5 children. It is like it’s constitutional with her. And I will not have it in my personal space.
What’s worse is that she went into our cottage. That cottage is permanent personal SACRED SPACE. When that cottage was built, I did a lot of energetic things with it to make sure that it would have the proper energetic boundaries, always be uplifting, be condusive to prayer, ritual, creativity, and the formulation of plant-based medicines. Defiled. And I think she enjoyed it. I had asked Eloric after we had built it that we NEVER allow that woman in there. But what could we do? The step-father-in-law was there and we like him, so we couldn’t say no. But I put some sacred sage and some wood betony on the boil while she was still there, nattering on about some silly garbage. All I wanted her to do was leave and there she was… touching my things. She didn’t touch any of my herbs or my ritual supplies but she had her hands all over the table and the one chair. I kept cringing every time she moved towards my offering bowls.
After she left, I lit some tibetan incense that was formulated to dispel negativity and attract “pleasant deities” and took some white sage and began scattering it down the walk, everywhere she had stepped. I don’t care if it sounds silly or too much- she lives to cause problems and I’m not having her juju around to cause me trouble simply because she didn’t phone so we could have lied and said we wouldn’t be home. After I did that, I took that tea and I wash down all of the walls, the windows, the table, the door handle, the lintel, the threshold, the doorways, the front stones and then sprinkled it everywhere she’d been for good measure, all the while thinking “Begone, Bessie, begone!” Then smudged after we cleaned out the cottage and aired the bedding.
I haven’t said anything about her lately because I hadn’t seen her for three years. It can darned well be another three before I see that hag again. I had asked her why she acted the way she did, back when I believed in the basic goodness of people and she denied all of her slanderous remarks to my face… but then spat out vitriol right before Eloric. No. I owe her nothing. I was civil to her but I will not go around her again unless there is something I absolutely cannot help again.
« Previous entries
cats, 
