The fear creeping up on you when your still in bed… the taste of a small animal that has crawled into your mouth used it as a toilet and the subsequently died there without any last rites or a word from their relatives. Open one eye, light cracks from between
It’s the time of year when we are around family and we celebrate the holidays and the winter moves in. As the winter comes fast and hard we huddle with our nearest and dearest and folk we might not have seen for a long time. A time where we share stories round the fire safe in the warmth of family …. and i say this now … don’t trust anyone at Christmas. One of my own stories of this time of year, goes back to when I was around 7 or 8. I recall a cozy house and a christmas tree of
Cough cough sputter its cough season in our house. Both myself and my better half have caught a wee cough and so it was time to bring out the good old cough cures! In Celtic times it was thought that by passing someone under the belly of a white horse you might get rid of their coughing as the cough would pass to the animal, sadly we don’t have any white horses around so I figured its best to stick to the herbal remedies and this one is for herbal cough tea and cough drops for dry coughs. There are
Ah the majestic and humble Rowan Tree. I have to say this is one of my favourite trees, its flowers in May, and the way its leaves turn fantastic colours of red in autumn. Rowan is best known for its use in Rowan Tree and Red Thread Charms or the berries strung up as decoration and used for protection, but also for its very direct Celtic connotations to the Ogham and other deeper folklore uses. It’s an enticing tree with much mythology behind it and its Berry with a little five-pointed star at its end leads us to ponder other questions
With the Blood Harvest Moon tonight it got me thinking about autumn and Valerian hot chocolate. The leaves start to turn their beautiful shades of red and golden yellows and the mornings start to become crisp, my head and heart starts to wonder to thoughts of scarfs, gloves, bonfires, mulled cider and hot chocolate. Nows a great time to harvest and use Valerian Root as you may also be drying it off for personal use (hopefully away from your cats). This hot chocolate recipe has Valerian added but also is helped by the soothing effect of other relaxing herbs allies mingled
On my travels through both life, herbalism and academia I have the pleasure of meeting a lot of people, on the whole everyone is delightful, down to earth, filled with wit and mirth, splashes of brilliance and amazing to be around, but there is on occasion, a time when you
Our bones that we have on display need as much care as the bones in your body but in a different way. For this is I have created what I’m terming a Bone Balm, and this blog looks at how it is made, the ingredients that are part of it
Island Spinning Song Hullamackadoo, hooravahee Hoorovahinda, hoorovahinda, Hullamackadoo, hooravahee, O dicko-o-deck-o-dandy When will someone come to me? Will he come by land or sea Will he my own lover be? O, tell me truly, wheel. Wheel o’ fate what is’t you say? This year, next, or ne’er a day? When will a wooer come my way? O, tell me truly, wheel. Be he dark or be he fair, Shy or bold or debonair, Ribbons braw will deck my hair To meet and greet my true love. (Traditional Scottish spinning song [1]) We hear a lot about cauldrons, besoms, and crystal
Traditionally a Bealltainn/Beltane/Beltuinn bannock (a ‘bannock’ is a whole oatcake, whilst a ‘farl’ is a quarter) is made and eaten on Beltane morning, to ensure the health of your crops and your herds. This involved a simple ritual of sorts where the bannock is separated into nine ‘knobs’, each one
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