Newsletter going out with big news!

Just one last reminder that it is time for my fall newsletter...and boy, do I have some stuff to announce! Don't worry, if you don't feel like getting the newsletter, I'll announce everything here too...the newsletter folks will just get it first :-)

If you want to sign up, the quick form is at the top left of the blog.

OH BOY, NEWS!

(There might be an extra or two in the newletter, of course...like maybe a recipe or a ritual.)

A Spell to Ease a Pet's Passing

I just got an email from one of my readers and a follower of this blog, telling me that one of her rescue animals was dying of cancer and asking me if I knew of a spell to make a pet's passing easier and more comfortable. I had to tell her I'd never come across anything like that. But her story touched me--I've been there many times myself, and will no doubt be there again--so I wrote a spell for her dog Noelle.

Then it occurred to me that it was something other people might be able to use. It will probably end up in one of my books someday, but in the meanwhile, here it is. I hope you never need to use it, but if you do, I  hope it helps.

Here's love for you, my gentle friend
With gratitude for time together
Here's ease of passing at the end
And joyful sunny weather

I hope you run and jump and play
Into the Summerlands
We'll meet again some time and day
Safe in the Lady's hands

Peace to you and quiet ease
Go with the Lady's grace
Love is yours and will not cease
My heart will keep your place

A Herbal Harvest

Most of the garden has been put to bed now, other than one last batch of lettuce and spinach which will last until it snows (or maybe beyond, if I cover them). So this weekend I took care of the last harvest: clipping various herbs and bringing them inside to dry.

This is the small new herb patch by the back door. Most of the herbs are grown in a larger section off to the left of the main garden. They don't have to be fenced in because very little bothers them.

I use my herbs for a number of purposes, primarily culinary (cooking) and magical. Luckily, most common herbs can serve both purposes. For instance, rosemary is great in chicken or lamb dishes, but it is also used in protection magic, or for remembrance. (We often throw it in the Samhain bonfire for that reason.)

 Here's this year's harvest: starting at the middle left, you can see parsley, thyme, rosemary, purple sage, common sage, lemon balm, and chocolate mint. There are some chives tucked in there too.

 Magic and Angus are investigating, but I believe they were unimpressed, since there was no catnip.

Here are the herbs hung up to dry in my mudroom, over the shelf holding the garlic, boxes of small potatoes, and a few lovely squash that my friend John grew.

I love rosemary (and garlic, which is used as an herb, although it is actually a member of the onion family). I have a great rub that I use on leg of lamb: combine 12 cloves of garlic (yes, really), some rosemary, thyme, and oregano with a couple of tablespoons of sea salt or Kosher salt and some pepper. Throw it into a food processor with enough olive oil to make a paste and smear it on your roast. It forms an amazingly flavorful crust, and keeps the meat really moist. (Thanks to my friend Bobbie, who gave me this recipe years ago.)

What is your favorite herb, and what do you use it for?

Full Moon Feline Friday

Since tonight is the full moon, I thought I'd devote this week's Feline Friday to the black cat in the household. After all, everyone knows what the great philosophers say:
"Black cats are magical and cool."
(Magic the Cat)

Happy Friday, and I hope your weekend holds something wonderful.

 Greetings and salutations from Magic the Cat. I'll wait while you bow.

 I am a black cat. I am magical.

 See? I made the sun shine on me!

 I like to supervise the gathering of items used in ritual (see "magical" above). This was Mabon, back in September.

This is the book Deborah and I are reading right now. We LOVE Tamora Pierce! (There is a character in the book who has SEVEN cats!) What are you reading now?

Fast and Easy Protection Work

Y'all asked for it, so here it is. Let me know if you have any questions.

Fast and Easy Protection Work

I think it is natural to feel a little more vulnerable as winter approaches. The nights grow longer and the days colder, and some echo in the back of our ancestral brainstem tells us that soon food with be scarce and predators will prowl. (Which explains why I suddenly want to eat lots of fattening comfort foods. Thank you SO much, hindbrain.)

This makes the fall a perfect time to do some fast and easy protection magick. You don’t have to do long and complicated rituals, or even be a full-time full-on practicing witch. Folks have been doing this kind of work forever.

First, put together a quick herbal protection mix. In the best of all possible worlds, you would grow the herbs yourself (I do). But not everyone has a garden, or the inclination to grow stuff. So feel free to pick these up at a local health food store, New Age store, or even the grocery store, if that’s all you’ve got. (Herbs tend to be fresher and more powerful if you buy them loose from bulk bins, rather than getting them from the spice section, where they have often been irradiated, and might been years old. The bonus—they’re cheaper when purchased loose, and you can use what’s left for cooking later.) I use dried herbs because it is easier, but fresh will work fine too.

Mix together these herbs: basil, rosemary, and sage, crumbling the leaves with your fingers or a mortar and pestle. Place them in a container with some sea salt (regular will do if that’s all you have). If you’re going to use the mix outside, add some garlic powder. For inside use, maybe just a token sprinkle, so you don’t stink up the place. You can stop there, or add a few drops of any magickal protection oil. If you want an extra oomph, you can bless and consecrate this mixture on your altar, or leave it out under the light of the full moon. But if you’re in a hurry, it will work just fine as is. Putting this together will take you less than five minutes, but remember to focus on your intention—protection—as you combine all the ingredients.

Then go around your home and sprinkle the mixture while repeating the following spell. You can do it inside or outside (you may have to vacuum if you do it inside, but wait a day or two), and you can use the same spell to protect your vehicle. Again—this doesn’t have to take more than about five minutes, but it is important to really FOCUS during those brief moments. Put all your energy and will into your intention of protecting those things and people that are precious to you.

House Protection Spell

(works for cars, too)

I call upon the gods above

To protect and guard this place [car] I love

Earth and water, air and fire

Keep it safe as I desire

*

Protect my home [car] and those within

From pest and illness, floods and wind

From any who would cause it harm

Protect it with this magic charm

*

Keep safe and sheltered this my place

With shining light and shining grace

Earth and water, air and fire

Keep it safe as I desire

So mote it be

Stay safe out there, people!

Season's End

One of the best (and sometimes worst) aspects of living in upstate New York is that we have Seasons. We're not one of those places (I'm looking at you, San Diego), where the weather is more or less the same most of the time, and winter means it is 50 instead of 70. Here, it can be 70 one day and 30 the next, just because it feels like it, and when the seasons change, boy howdy, do you know it.

At least it's not boring :-)

Honestly, I like having seasons. I like the way the different times of year have different energy, and different looks, all of them beautiful in their own way. Although it took becoming a Pagan and learning about the Wheel of the Year, that cycle of ebb and flow that all things follow, before I made my peace with winter. Now, although I still don't enjoy the cold and the snow, I DO love the quiet, more restful energy of the winter, when nature slows down and slumbers, and the pace of life is a little bit slower. (In my case, not until after the holiday rush at the shop, but you know what I mean.) After rushing around all year trying to keep up with the yard and garden, and summer activities, it is nice to sit on the couch with a cat or five, a mug of hot chocolate, and a book.

There are lots of signals that tell me that the summer is over, fall is here, and winter is fast approaching. The wooly bear caterpillars are everywhere, the geese honk overhead as they fly south, and the trees have shown their glorious fall colors and are already beginning to fade.

 Across the street

 Next to the back of the barn

 There's always one show-off.

But for me, I know the season is over when I finish tearing out the garden and putting it to bed for the year. That's what I did last weekend (it was really a process over a couple of weeks, but the last of it was finished this Saturday). My friend Ellen and my step-daughter's mom Jo came over, Jo mostly to supervise and keep the other two of us company, since she'd had dialysis earlier in the day. Ellen and I pulled the rest of the plants out, saving a few green tomatoes to ripen on the counter, and leaving the last bed of spinach and lettuce, which will stay alive until the first snows. Here and there is a batch of kale or parsley. Otherwise, the beds are all empty and covered, waiting for the entire process to begin again in the spring. Next year's garlic is planted, and the fountain and pump have been pulled out of the pond. It seems strangely quiet and peaceful inside the garden fence, reminding me that I too should be starting to slow down a little, and turn inward.

Do you have seasons where you are? If so, do you like them all, or only one or two? Do you try and go with the flow, or simply charge along, no matter what? Happy fall!

Feline Friday: Samhain Takes Over

Not Samhain the upcoming holiday, that is, but Samhain the cat (so named because she is orange and black, like the colors of the holiday).

Speaking of orange and black, some folks from my Crystals & Gemstones class asked me to make one more necklace in the traditional "stones" of amber and jet. It's over at my Etsy shop for those who were interested, just in time for the holiday.
Here's a pic, for the curious:

Oh, and my lovely webmistress, the brilliant Annette (Jar O'Marbles) figured out a way to add the newsletter sign-up here, so it is over to the left top, should you want it.

Now, on to the important stuff--FELINE FRIDAY!!!! (Hope you have a great weekend. I'm going to be pulling out the rest of the garden, cleaning the house, and working on--redacted--writing project. Heheheheh.]

 Samhain seems to think that I am for climbing on. (The angle is weird because I took the picture myself and just aimed in what I figured was the right direction.) She will actually ride around on my shoulder quite a bit, less because she adores me than because she knows Mystic the giant kitty can't get her when she's up there. Thank goodness she only weights 6.7 lbs.

 If she's not riding on me, she's lying on me.

Although sometimes she just does solo cute. Could you argue with that face? Nope, I didn't think so.