Color has a profound effect on our psychological and physical health. Consider carefully the colors that surround you; each of us have special colors that encourage sound body and mind. For example, if you have a weight issue and lack ambition or energy, you may need more orange in your life. Wear orange clothes and eat foods associated with orange, such as red plums and wax beans. Here are some basic color connections:
Violet is associated with sentiment, melancholy, and religious devotion and can be enhanced by eating chocolate, thyme, and scallops.
Flower essences restore emotional balance and aid physical harmony. Naturopathic doctors and healers recommend using Dr. Bach’s flower remedies, which were originally created from the morning dew found on flower petals. These subtle medicines are available in most health food and metaphysical stores. To know which essences are right for you, take a pendulum and write the essence names on paper in a wheel formation. Holding the pendulum in the middle, wait for it to select one name while chanting:
Spirit of the flower, help me this day To keep disease and depression far at bay. Blessed be.
To prepare the following remedies, mix two drops of flower essence in 30 milliliters of distilled water. Take four drops of the remedy daily until your health is restored. You can also apply the remedy to your pulse points: wrists, temples, behind the ears, back of knees. You can also add it to your bath, or spray it into the air. Following is a guide to healing flower remedies:
Addiction: skullcap, oregano
Anger: nettle, blue flag, chamomile
Anxiety: garlic, rosemary, aspen, periwinkle, lemon balm, white chestnut, gentian
Teas brewed from a single herb are commonly called “simples.” I love that phrase of olden times. Experience has taught me that these simples often have the most intensity, since the very singleness of the herb gives it potency. A simple made from one of the following herbs enhances mental clarity, even clairvoyance. This will jumpstart you on your path toward any creative pursuit. Here is a recipe for a very inspired tea:
Boil one pint of spring water. Place into your favorite crockery teapot a half-ounce of any ONE of the following herbs: rosemary, mugwort, yarrow or thyme.
Take a few sprigs of basil before you cook and put them in a green bowl on your kitchen altar. Boil water as for tea and pour over the herb in the bowl. Now chant this medieval-inspired charm:
With bounteous hand and healthful balm,
Blessed basil, most verdurous herb Bring me health and heart and calm.
Abundance I shall see by every deed and verb.
And so it is.
Breathe in the steam from the basil bowl and fill your lungs with the smell of prosperity. Repeat the spell once more; leave the basil bowl on your altar for 24 hours. Not only will your thinking be greatly clarified, but you will begin to see signs of your wealth increasing in one week. With basil flourishing in your herb pots, you have a ready source bursting with positive money energy.
Rather than chasing money or possessions, you can simply draw them toward you with wisdom from days gone by. A tiny green pouch filled with the herbs chamomile and mint, three cinnamon sticks, one silver dollar and a green stone—peridot or a smooth mossy-colored pebble of jade—would be perfect. The untrained eye might perceive this as a bag of weeds and rocks but any kitchen witch knows this is a powerful tool for creating powerful change into your life and attracting good fortune.
Prepare your attraction pouch during a waxing moon; the strongest power would be when the sun or moon is in Taurus, Cancer or Capricorn. Hold the pouch over frankincense incense and as the smoke blesses the bag, you speak:
Your morning pot of tea can be a daily ritual you use according to your needs. If, upon rising, you feel a bit blue, brew up some bergamot. As you sip the soothing libration, you will feel your spirits lift and you can greet the day stronger and infused with this simple and true magic. Along with healing and energizing properties, herbal teas can aid the mind. Try the following blends:
Janet Boyer
I love the idea of green burials! I first heard of Recompose right before it launched. I wish there were more here on the East Coast; that's how I'd l...
Victoria
I would say as neopagans we are constructing our futures rather than reconstructing THE future. I'm not sure if we are in the process of becoming a tr...
Steven Posch
Not so sure about "culty," though.Many--if not most--peoples with a collective sense of identity have a term for the "not-us people": barbaroi (non-He...
Mark Green
OK, this is funny.But could we [i]please[i] stop using that word (or, worse, "Muggles")?Having a down-putting term for people who aren't a part of you...