Hedgewitch Hoedown

Be inspired by the industrious herbalist monks who steadfastly worked with these gifts from the earth to create blessed brews for health, comfort, and pleasure. Gardening is not a chore when you invite your fellow pagan pals for an outdoor party to sow seeds, do a little weeding, and plant herbs and flowers. Serve your guests a Goddess Green Chartreuse or another suitably herbal option, such as a Lavender Love Drop Mocktail, and enjoy each other’s good company and the generosity of Mother Earth!

You can also say these words together:

    Great Goddess of our Green Earth, we thank you today with heart and hands.

    We pledge to preserve your beautiful land, and call all to join in the healing of our planet,

    Ancient One, we thank you for your generosity.

    With heart and hands, gratitude to you. Blessed be!

Beltane Brew

Honeyed mead is revered as the drink of choice for this sexy Pagan holy day. It is an aphrodisiac, and with its sticky sweetness, it is perfect for dribbling on your lover’s body and then licking it off. This is my special recipe for honeyed mead, handed down through generations of Celtic witches. You will need:

• 1 quart of honey
• 3 quarts of distilled water
• 1 packet of yeast
  
• Herbs to flavor

1. Mix the honey and water. Boil for five minutes. You can add the herbs to your liking, but I prefer a teaspoon each of clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice

2. Add a packet of yeast and mix. Put in a large container. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise and expand. Store the mixture in a dark place and let it sit for seven days.

3. Refrigerate for three days while the sediment settles to the bottom. Strain and store in a colored glass bottle, preferably green, in a cool, dark place. You can drink it now, but it is even tastier after it has been aged for a period of at least seven months.

Song of Myself—A Ritual for Self-Expression

This is definitely one of the more entertaining solo rituals. It requires you to look hard at yourself, but it’s also fun. Essential elements that are necessary for this ritual include:

• Big sheets of butcher paper
• Color markers, glitter, beads, shells, cloth, ribbon, yarn—whatever colorful materials you respond well to
  
• Sewing kit and craft boxes with random scraps, buttons, and/or shiny objects

It is good to undertake this ritual on a Sunday, but whenever you need support, reserve half an hour of quiet time and brew up some willpower to help you with your self-expression. Light a white candle anointed with peppermint oil and light spicy incense such as cinnamon. Prepare for your Song of Myself by sipping this warm drink for encouragement: Take a sprig of mint (homegrown is best), a cup of warm milk, and cinnamon sticks and stir together clockwise in a white mug. Recite:

Herb of menthe and spicy mead,
Today is the day I will succeed.
In every word and every deed.
Today I sing the song of me.

Drink the brew while it is still warm and “sit for a spell.” You will know when you are ready.

Now take the paper and markers and begin your song of yourself. Write with any marker you pick up and finish this sentence at least twenty-four times: I am _____________________.

Be as wild and free and true as you can. You are so many things. Express them here and now, once and for all. I will share some wonderful “Songs of Self” that I have seen and heard: 

I am a wild woman.
I am beautiful.
I am wide.
I am a secret.
I am sexy.
I am brilliant.
I am a blue sky.
I am all possibility.
I am a dream come to life.
I am truth.
I am the Goddess.
I am the living incarnation of wisdom.
I am life.
I am a living blessing.
I am the road.
I am perfect.
I am a tiger.
I am yesterday and today.
I am hope.
I am angry.
I am art.
I am a crone.
I am a sister to the sun.
I am a poem.
I am creative.
I am me!

This can go on as long as you want it to. Only when you feel you have expressed every aspect of yourself should you put down your marker and begin to decorate the paper. Paint on it, glue mirror shards to it, do one or many self-portraits. Scrawl symbols on it. Write more words and allow yourself total and absolute creative freedom. There is no wrong or right; there is only you and all your myriad aspects. Celebrate yourself and reveal yourself completely. By the end, you should have a one- of-a-kind self-portrait that tells your real story.

Hang your self-song portrait in a sacred place, perhaps near your altar or shrine area. Its energy will permeate the place with your personal essence in a wonderful way. 

Home Protection Potpourri

Simmer this mixture whenever you feel the need to infuse your home and heart with the energies of protection. This will safeguard you and your loved ones from outside influences that could be negative or disruptive. Set your intention and gather together the following herbs:

1⁄4 cup rosemary
4 bay laurel leaves
1 tablespoon basil
1⁄8 cup sage
1 teaspoon dill weed
1⁄8 cup cedar
1 teaspoon juniper berries

Mix the herbs together by hand. While you are doing this, close your eyes and visualize your home as a sacred place protected by a boundary of glowing white light. Imagine that the light runs through you to the herbs in your hand and charges them with the energy of safety, sanctity, and protection. Add the herbs to a pan filled with simmering water. When the aromatic steam rises, intone:

By my own hand, I have made this balm;
This divine essence contains my calm.
By my own will, I make this charm;
This precious potpourri protects all from harm.
With harm to none and health to all,
Blessed be!

Pot of Gold: An Abundance Altar Blessing

Cauldron magic is more about the act of brewing something new than it is about purification by water. To attract money, fill a big pot with fresh water and place it on your altar during the waxing moon. Pour into it an offering of a cup of milk mixed with honey. Toss handfuls of chamomile, woodruff, moss, and vervain into the cauldron. With your hands raised, say aloud:

I call upon you, gods and goddesses of old, to fill my purse with gold. In return, I offer your honey’s gold and mother’s milk. With harm to none and blessings to thee, I honor you for bringing me health and prosperity.

Place the offering bowl on your altar and leave the aromatic mixture there to imbue your space with the energy of abundance. When the magic has been fulfilled (or before the milk and herbs begin to spoil, pour it outside your home into the ground and bow in appreciation of the kindness of the gods and goddesses.

Longevity Elixir: Homemade Pear Potion

Pears have long been prized in Asia as a lucky fruit that also nourishes a long and prosperous life. The great magical teacher Scott Cunningham advocated for their use in love spells. This pear liqueur is a special brew indeed. You will need this to make it:

• 3 large ripe pears
• 2 pods of cardamom
• Lemon peel of half a lemon
• Vodka, 1 quart
• 1 clean and sterilized 1-quart Mason jar with lid (preferably dark-colored glass)

Start by crushing the cardamom pods, then set aside. Peel the pears and cut into thin slices. Gently place the pear slices into the jar. Put the crushed cardamom and lemon peel on top of the pears. Cover all with the vodka. Close the jar and tighten the lid, then gently shake twice. Store the jar full of pears in a dark, cool cupboard for ten days. After the ten days, remove the jar from the cupboard. Pour the contents of the jar into a mixing bowl and mash thoroughly using the back of a fork. Strain the mixture into another bowl, using a colander that has been lined with a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Repeat this process twice, then pour the pear liqueur into the Mason jar. (The strained-out pear slices can be consumed or used in cookery, but remember that they may be quite potent!) If you are feeling fancy, you can store your pear liqueur in a pretty bottle. Live long and prosper!

Liquid Love: Spicy Cinnamon Liqueur

This popular beverage gives peppy energy and can also be a love potion. These few ingredients can lead to a lifetime of love and devotion:

1 cup vodka

2 whole cloves

1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup simple sugar syrup

Pour the vodka into a bowl and add in the herbs; cover and place in a cupboard for two weeks. Strain and filter until the result is clear liquid. Clean the canning jar and dry it thoroughly, then put the clear liquid back in. Add the simple syrup and place back on the shelf for a week. Store this in a dark-colored bottle that seals; you now have liquid love! You can drink it “neat” on its own or add this to hot chocolate, water, tea, or milk for a delightful drink to share with your loved one.

Make Your Own Herbal Vinegar

If you love everything about lavender, you may well want to create your own lavender vinegar. Many herbs make excellent vinegars, so pay attention to which ones especially appeal to you as you go about your gardening. The more herbs you pack into the jar, the higher the mineral content in your vinegar, which makes it more flavorful and healthful. Once you have your own apple cider vinegar or a premade organic variety you and your family love, pick an herb you know works for you and pack a quart canning jar as full of that herb as you can. Pour room temperature apple cider vinegar to cover, then cover it with paper and rubber bands and pop on a dark corner shelf for six weeks, giving the jar a shake once a week. At the end of the infusion period, strain out any remaining compostable twigs or stems. Store your herb vinegar in a colored bottle and add a pretty label. These make wonderful gifts, so I recommend you either create or acquire a set of labels for all your herbal brews.

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.