Kin based medicine

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 meet someone who makes such haughty claims to things mundane, that i just can’t help to …

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 and how to apply the balm for best care.

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 dedicated to something they felt preserved their livestock or perhaps the agent of their destruction (usually a wild animal). Facing a fire…