Rosemary Restores You

Rosemary is another of the herbs that thrive best in warm Mediterranean climes but can weather the cold. Tough to grow from seed, cuttings are an easier way to start your row of rosemary plants in your garden. Pots of this bushy plant can enjoy being outdoors in spring and summer and then come in from the cold to a sheltered porch or inside by a sunny window. As a bonus, it requires little water. Rosemary is fantastic as a seasoning for potatoes or roast chicken and makes any Sunday supper taste better and brighter. You can pinch off the aromatic needles to dress plates or sprinkle into soups and stews. Beyond all of what it can do to enhance your cookery, this is a primary plant for rejuvenation. It is prized for how it restores after lingering illness; elixirs and essential oils made from rosemary stimulate, raise mental alertness, and energize as they comfort. In Greco-Roman times, rosemary was believed to help the memory. An excellent kitchen witchery practice is to take dried or fresh rosemary and add it to a steam for an easy infusion where it aids breathing, muscle aches, and anxiety. You can accomplish the same by adding rosemary to a hot bath, either in a fresh sprig or wrapped in a little cheesecloth to keep the rosemary from scattering. Lie back and relax, remembering happy times in your life and those that lie right ahead of you.

Rejuvenate Your Spirit: A Garden Witch's Spell

I advise any witchy gardener to have a rain barrel to make the most of stormy weather; you can use it to water your pots of herbs and your garden during sunnier days and dry spells. On the first day of seasonal rainfall, place a blue glass bowl outside as a water-catcher. Once it has filled with water, bring it inside and place on your altar beside a lit candle. Speak:

    Water of life, gift from the sky,

    we bathe in newfound energy, making spirits fly!

Dip your fingers in the water and touch your forehead. Meditate upon the healing work you and your garden can do, thanks to the nurturing rainfall. Pour the water into the ground of your garden, speaking the spell one last time.

Rosemary and Thyme: A Rejuvenation Retreat

All of us get worn down due to the sheer busyness of life. Oftentimes when we feel depleted, we get a little sad, too. To rid yourself of negative emotions, try this purification bath. Draw a warm bath at noon when the sun is at its healing peak, then add the following essential oils into the water as it flows from the faucet.

• Two drops rosemary for calm
• Two drops peppermint for stimulation
• Three drops lavender for energetic cleansing
• Three drops thyme to relieve mental exhaustion

As you soak and steam, repeat this prayer four times:

Sadness, I release you—goodbye.

Fatigue, I release you—goodbye.

I greet this day anew. My life is now renewed.

Blessed be me, so mote it be.

Rosemary Restores You

Rosemary is another of the herbs that thrive best in warm Mediterranean climes but can weather the cold. Tough to grow from seed, cuttings are an easier way to start your row of rosemary plants in your garden. Pots of this bushy plant can enjoy being outdoors in spring and summer and then come in from the cold to a sheltered porch or inside by a sunny window. As a bonus, it requires little water. Rosemary is fantastic as a seasoning for potatoes or roast chicken and makes any Sunday supper taste better and brighter. You can pinch off the aromatic needles to dress plates or sprinkle into soups and stews. Beyond all of what it can do to enhance your cookery, this is a primary plant for rejuvenation. It is prized for how it restores after lingering illness; elixirs and essential oils made from rosemary stimulate, raise mental alertness, and energize as they comfort. In Greco-Roman times, rosemary was believed to help the memory. An excellent kitchen witchery practice is to take dried or fresh rosemary and add it to a steam for an easy infusion where it aids breathing, muscle aches, and anxiety. You can accomplish the same by adding rosemary to a hot bath, either in a fresh sprig or wrapped in a little cheesecloth to keep the rosemary from scattering. Lie back and relax, remembering happy times in your life and those that lie right ahead of you.

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet: Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

Gently simmer one tablespoon of dried and minced ashwagandha root in one cup of water for eight to ten minutes. Strain and sip once or twice a day as a rejuvenating pick-me-up, anti-inflammatory, anxiety reducer, and immunity tonic.

Dendrite

In manganese-ore sources, treelike or fern-shaped mineral growths sometimes occur. These are called dendrites. This is the same pattern of growth that happens in ice crystals when the liquid crystal molecules diffuse in the air before attaching to the solid crystal surface. Crystal dendrites have the ability to open and cleanse all the chakras. Unique and interesting-looking, dendrite is great to have around when you are resting and rejuvenating.

Rings of Rejuvenation

Gemstones and crystals have transformative powers and magic that has been worked with since olden days. Bring birthstone blessings into your life by using these Rings of Rejuvenation.

Sapphire has violet energy. Worn on the first Saturday of the month on the middle finger of the right hand two hours before sunset, the stone is said to be a curative for kidney ailments, epilepsy, tumors, and sciatica.

Diamond, which contains rays of indigo light, is good for maintaining the health of the eyes and nose, managing asthma and laziness, and maintaining sobriety, especially if worn on the right pinkie on Friday during the waxing moon.

Emerald has green light rays and can help with the heart, ulcers, cancer, asthma, and influenza. Wear emerald on the right pinkie on Wednesday two hours after dawn.

Pearls radiate orange rays and operate as a curative if worn on Monday morning by the individual afflicted with insanity, diabetes, colic, or fever.

Topaz has blue rays and helps with laryngitis, paralysis, hysteria, scarlet fever, and assorted glandular disorders if worn on the right ring finger on Thursday mornings.

  

Sea Change- Releasing Ritual

A bath blessing that will both relax and purify you is a rare and wonderful thing. To prepare yourself, place one quart of rough sea salt or Epson salts in a large bowl. Add the juice from six freshly squeezed lemons, 1/2 cup of sesame oil, and a few drops of rose and jasmine oils. Stir until the mixture is completely moistened. You can add more sesame oil if necessary, but do not add more lemon, as it will make the mixture overly astringent and potentially irritating to your skin.

When your tub is one-third full, add one-quarter of the salt mixture under the faucet. Breathe in deeply ten times, inhaling and exhaling fully before you do this recitation. You may start to feel a tingling at the crown of your head. The water should still be running when you proclaim:

Thalassa, O Harmonious One,
Goddess and mistress, I ask your guidance. 
Remove from me any impurities
Of heart, spirit, and mind. I open myself to you. 
My wish is to once again become whole,
Free of pain, sadness, and all that is better in me.

When the tub is full, it is time to step inside and breathe deeply ten more times. Repeat the prayer to the sea goddess Thalassa, and use the rest of the salt to gently massage your body. Rest and rejuvenate as long as you like, allowing yourself to feel refreshed and renewed by the ministrations of this Greek goddess from whom eloquence, inspiration and blessings flow.

Rejuvenation Invocation: The Water of Life

I advise any witchy gardener to have a rain barrel to make the most of stormy weather; you can water your pots of herbs and garden during sunnier days and dry spells. On the first day of the rainfall, place a blue glass bowl outside as a water-catcher. Bring it inside and place on your altar beside a lit candle. Speak:

Water of life, gift from the sky,
We bathe in newfound energy, making spirits fly!

Dip your fingers in the water and touch your forehead. Meditate upon the healing work you and your garden can do, thanks to the nurturing rainfall. Pour the water into the ground of your garden, speaking the spell one last time.

Eye Enchantment: Rite of Twilight

For most of us, the minute we open our eyes the day begins, and we put them to work for our jobs, self-care, housework and even Facetiming loved ones and Skyping business associates. If you are a designer or artist of any sort, you most likely use your eyes to create, so caring for them is essential. Take two small muslin bags and three ounces of dried chamomile flowers. Divide the herb in half, stuff the bags, and sew them shut.

Place the eye bags in a bowl and pour a quarter cup of boiling water over them. Cover them and let sit for a half-hour. Squeeze the excess water out of the bags and place over your eyes. Your eyes and your artistic vision should both be rejuvenated quickly. This healing rite is best performed at twilight but, anytime your peepers need some “TLC,” steep away.