I'm An Herbalist Again!

Tinctures and Vinegars brewing.

After many years of only treating myself and friends and family, I can finally say that I am an herbalist again! In fact, I am more of an herbalist than I ever was- as I am starting to grow my own medicines as well as make them and sell them- and it makes me profoundly happy.

I have plans to put in an herb spiral in the front yard- I am so excited to replace boring useless grass (the patch is small enough that it isn't even useful for playing on!) with useful herbs and wildflowers!

Boline finally has some remedies in the apothecary, with several more on the way- and I have magicks in the works, too. So what have I been up to?

Elderberries simmering in
a thyme infusion.

I made some elderberry-thyme cold elixir. I don't know about where you live, but here in Columbus, there has been this awful respiratory thing going around. Elderberries are amazing, potent, and quite tasty- my son gulps down this syrup happily! They help boost the immune system while fighting off critters. Thyme also is a powerful anti-microbial (and one of my favorite herbs!), and I used raw local honey to finish it off. Because the honey was not cooked, this helps alleviate seasonal allergies, which always make these colds worse.

I set some tinctures up. I have valerian, vitex, and hops brewing, and I have Hydrangea, St. John's Wort, and a digestive bitter tonic available in the store.

My table at a local event.

I made Witch Dance Lip Balm- organic beeswax, virgin unrefined coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and organic peppermint essential oil. I intend on making another batch with essential oils of cinnamon and cardamom and calling the flavor "spice cookie".

I made Dream Well Tea, available loose or in bags- for dreaming. It helps get a person relaxed, asleep, and then invokes dreams with the triple whammy of hops flowers, lavender flowers, and mugwort. It smells divine.

I went wildcrafting. I found all kinds of great medicinal and culinary delights, right within walking distance of my house. I found turkey tail mushrooms, shepherds purse, and wild ramps, to name just a few. The ramps were delicious in a couple of breakfasts this week, and I am planning on harvesting the turkey tail soon. I have to wait for many of the plants to mature though- it is quite early in the season.

An example of an herb spiral.

I am making a batch of citrus-thyme vinegar- which is as germ killing as any bleach as a cleaner for my home.

I have been harvesting all my medicinal mushrooms as they come and drying them, so I can make a big batch of tincture when the time comes.

I am starting my herb garden for the year- and already have sprouts of calendula, parsley, sage, and rue coming up.

I have oils brewing of calendula, clove, thyme, comfrey, goldenseal, and oregon graperoot. With these I will be making  healing salves and anti-biotic ointments for first aid. They need a couple more weeks.

Elderberries in my compost! Woot!

Additionally, Boline has been keeping me busy in other ways. An artist is working on some logos, so that should be coming soon. Another artist is helping me with labels- the ones you see in the store are my temporary ones. I tabled at my first local event with my remedies and got to know folks. It was exciting to talk to people about their maladies and how they might go about working with me to set a path of healing in motion. Several people took cards or flyers for my Crafternoon series (which starts this month!)

At the event, I explained to several folks that usually just getting an over-the-counter medicine is not how herbalism usually works (usually an interview usually happens and an herbalist creates a remedy for them afterwards and it is tinkered with until it works perfectly). Most people in this culture are not focused on wellness, they assume a magic pill will restore them to "normal" when their normal was probably leading to their illness! They were intrigued and I hope that they seek me out for assistance.

Stay tuned for more remedies, more teas, more toiletries, and more magicks coming soon to the store!

Screen Free Week! (April 30-May 6)

Our home is participating in Screen Free Week April 30-May 6. This annual event, thrown by the Center for a Commercial Free Childhood is a way for folks interested in weaning off the electronic teat known as TV (as well as other types of screens, like laptops with Hulu or Netflix, DVDs, or video games) a small start, to see what it is like.

At the link above, you can get an organizing kit, look up screen-free events being held in your area, and much more.

In California, we had no TV. We would let Rowan see some short clips of Yo Gabba Gabba or animals on Youtube from time to time. When we first moved to Ohio, we lived with relatives whose home that had a TV as a main feature of the common space. It's what most American family rooms are like- it's what I grew up with, and after living that way again with my son I decided that I did not want Rowan to grow up that way. While living there, it was kind of inevitable that Rowan see plenty of kids TV- Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba, and the like. I did manage to put my foot down and insist that only the commercial free stations were on for him and absolutely no Disney.

But even the small amount he saw (compared to other kids his age) created zombie-like behavior while it was on (no more playing with toys and using our imaginations- it's time for TV!), begging for more incessantly, and turned my child into a consumer whenever we went shopping. These characters are licensed everywhere-clothes, food, diapers, toys, videos.

And can I say? Sometimes, even while I was being vigilant, another adult would turn on something adult that I did not want Rowan to see- namely violence and cruelty. It was a constant struggle. I am glad for a once-again TV free home, now that we live on our own in Columbus. The adults still watch programs and movies on my laptop, but Rowan is down to maybe 5 hours a week, total. (His latest favorite, checked out from the library, is My Neighbor Totoro.)

But the last week of April/first week of May, we are taking it further- screen free- all of us- for a glorious week. If you watch TV and movies daily, think of how much more you can accomplish by swapping some of that time for things that you have always wanted to do: crafts, games with your family, socializing, patronizing the arts, building community, raising a garden, or getting healthy!

Crafternoons!

There's always one square peg...

As part of my community involvement here in my newly adopted city of Columbus, Ohio (as well as getting my business Boline off the ground), I have decided to host a series of "Crafternoons"- events that are all about fun DIY projects in a single afternoon!

All Crafternoons are about doing it ourselves, sustainability, creativity, and community building. I hope that all will be fun and create amazing projects that people will remember. When Boline is eventually a brick and mortar store and community center, I hope that the Crafternoons will continue in that space as well- bringing the pagan, herbal medicine, and sustainability communities together under one roof.

I am hosting my first Crafternoon on Sunday, April 22nd. It being spring and all, I figured making seed bombs (also known as Earth dumplings) was a great first activity. I hope that the attendees will make their seed bombs, then go out and make Columbus a better place by disseminating them in places of blight and neglect.

Heart shaped bombs.

I am trying to build community and also exposure for Boline here, so I am keeping the fees very low. Fees cover materials, space, and marketing and not much more (so people from all income levels can participate). The materials fee for this simple April Crafternoon is only $15 and should sell out pretty quickly as space is limited to 10 people (so if you want to come, do not delay!).

Future 2012 

Crafternoons will host several sessions this year. This spring and summer, we will be making beeswax candles, making lip balms and other toiletries, and pasta making. This fall, we will be using a bouteous harvest to can tomatoes (and tomato products!), pickle and make kraut, and make sugar skulls for Dia de Los Muertos. Come explore new things and learn with us! Check out the site and register for one of the first three events!

White Shamans and Plastic Medicine Men

Keeping with the theme of racism in the pagan/polytheist/pantheist ("triple P") communities, I wanted to post the documentary, "White Shamans and Plastic Medicine Men" here.

While this deals a lot with the New Age communities (whom to me want to purchase their spirituality and are not religions like many triple P traditions), it also impacts and touches folks in our communities as well. I am a firm believer in "owning your shit". This is something white triple P people need to address, so here it is, in my blog.


Part One:

Manifestation Spells

Miscellaneous old spells.

As I have been unpacking here in the new house, I have found several old spell remnants of mine. One dates back to 1992! Back then, I was living in Boston, MA and my landlady was an old hermit-y Witch whom I adored. On secular New Year's Eve that year, we did a spell where we burned away the old things we did not want in her fireplace and wrote and kept things we wanted to cultivate in our lives.

I have come across these ragged pieces of paper several times since originally packing them away in pouches and am astonished at how my young Witch self had the foresight to cultivate these things (I was a mere babe back then of 22). This is why I have kept these scrawled-in-the-dark-on-the-back-of-old-tax-forms-spells. Here were my life goals back then:

1. Be satisfied at the end of each day.
2. Work towards my perfect world, one step at a time, starting with myself then with others.
3. Work towards my ideal life.
4. Appreciate others more.
5. Look towards my spirituality and take time for it.
6. Love and be loved.
7. Stay healthy!
8. Make my home wherever I am.

I think that I have been moving these ways in my life since that moment. I needed to move from Boston to San Francisco to Oakland to Columbus- but I made my home in each of those places, fully. I have been a spiritual seeker in all these places, finally finding a spiritual home in Faery Witchcraft, Cunning Craft, Conjure, and Unitarian Universalism.

Found these spells packed in my manifestation cube
which is a tool of mine. It is shown here with a
spell available for purchase at Boline.

My ideal life is an integrated one- and my seeming disparate interests of religion, herbalism, urban homesteading, the Craft, working with kids, homeschooling my son, and community building are all coming together in my new home and with my new store, Boline. Living this life does indeed make me satisfied at the end of the day. It also keeps me and mine healthy and creates the kind of world that I want to live in.

It's not all done and checked off my list, though. I still work to be in right relation with others in a loving way. This is my struggle. I am gruff, blunt, and often misunderstood. I am a "do-er" that offers advice and assistance when folks often just want a sympathetic ear (to me, that just feels like not doing anything about a problem and wallowing! My baggage, I know.)

I also found two other spells which I cannot print here, as they are more private (ahem). I also found two sigils that I created that I would meditate upon first thing in the AM- a simple self spell where I would envision the sigil written in fire across my third eye. Witch meditation is so unlike my Vapassana practice!

Do you keep old spells around? What do you do with them?