How to Make Herbal Dream Pillows

Good Witches Homestead

In the modern world, it can be challenging to get a good night’s rest. Keeping a healthy daytime lifestyle as well as a calming nighttime ritual are excellent ways to prepare the body for restful sleep filled with exciting and inspiring dreams! There are even traditions in which herbs are used during sleep, not only to bring about peaceful snoozing, but also to create vivid, lucid dreaming landscapes sure to bring happiness, rather than grogginess, to your waking state.

The practice of placing herbs under one’s pillow dates back centuries and was originally thought to protect against evil, bring good dreams, calm bad dreams, foresee the future, or even conjure a lover into one’s life! No matter the reason, herbal pillows are an easy way to help promote peaceful sleep and encourage dreaming. These pillows are simple to prepare and make a wonderful “crafternoon” with your friends or family. The first step is to…

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Ancestral Herbalism and Samhain: Working Deeply with Rosemary

The Druid's Garden

Rosemary Card from the Plant Spirit Oracle

As we quickly approach Samhain, it is a useful practice to spend some time with rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and build here into your Samhain practices. In this post, we look into some of the magic and medicine of Rosemary, and I share a number of ancestor and Samhain-focused practices that you can use with Rosemary.

An Ancestral Ally of Humans: History, Medicine, Magic

Before we get into what you can make or do with rosemary, let’s spend some time exploring and understanding this ancient herb. Rosemary has been with humanity almost as long as we have written records. Native to the mediterranean region, rosemary was first found referenced on cuineform tablets from Ancient Egypt that are from 5000 BCE–thus, humanity has at least an 8000 year old relationship with this herb (but I suspect it is much longer than our written history!)…

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Samhain in the Devil’s Garden | Coby Michael Ward

Good Witches Homestead

All Hallows Eve is quickly approaching. The darkness is creeping closer every day. You can feel the cold grip of the coming winter slithering its way back up from its yearly resting place deep in the Underworld. The excitement and anticipation on both sides of the veil are tangible. It is during this time of year that most witches are at their witchiest, reveling in the sensory delights of the coming holiday. For me, Samhain/Halloween (because I celebrate both) is an entire season, not just one day. It begins at the autumnal equinox when the scales begin to tip in darkness’ favor. Then there is the October full moon known as the Hunter’s Moon or Blood Moon. I look at Samhain October 31st as the culmination of this strange energy that has been building which bleeds into November. The Sun hangs low in the sky, crows can be heard cawing…

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A Culinary Herbal…

A Simple Ritual for the Autumn Equinox

Greetings!

If you’ve taken an interest in foraging wild mushrooms, you’ve undoubtedly encountered rules of thumb that are meant to simplify the learning process.

“If it bruises blue, it’s toxic.”

“Mushrooms shouldn’t be consumed with alcohol.”

“Pulling up a mushroom by its ‘roots’ is a poor harvesting technique.”

In many cases, however, well-intentioned advice and general rules of thumb turn out to be nothing more than myths.

To clear up some confusion, I thought I’d address many popular myths surrounding the foraging and consumption of wild mushrooms.

The following video is one of over 70 exclusive videos featured in Foraging Wild Mushrooms. While all content within the online course is only available to students who register within the next 4 days, I thought I’d share this video with everyone because of the timely information contained within it.

If you’re interested in foraging mushrooms for food, for medicine, for study, or just for fun, check out what Foraging Wild Mushrooms has to offer. This 4-season course covers the most important lessons to get you started and to keep you going.

To learn more, you can follow this link: Foraging Wild Mushrooms

(Don’t forget that Monday is the last day to register.)

In the meantime, here are 16 mushroom myths!

Thanks for reading and watching, and as always, thank you for your support!

-Adam Haritan

Valerian Root Benefits: How to Use Nature’s Wonder Root

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

When Hippocrates had a headache, it’s possible he enjoyed a nice steaming cup of valerian root tea. The ancient Greek physician was one of the first to describe the therapeutic benefits of valerian root.

Since the early days in Greece and Rome, people sought the benefits of valerian for everything from head discomfort to heart health, nervousness, feminine issues, and the blues. Valerian brings some unique mythological history as well. People once used it to keep away troublesome elves — stay away Dobby! — and folklore experts believe it helped the Pied Piper lure rats away from town.

What Is Valerian?

Garden valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is also known as garden heliotrope, Tagar (in Ayurvedic medicine), cut-finger, and all-heal — funny names for a potent plant! The species originally grew in Asia and Europe, but it now grows throughout North America, as well. Its scientific name derives from the Latin…

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Praise of the Pumpkin

Good Witches Homestead

The pumpkin is a fall fruit with a rich heritage and flexible flavor that has been used for centuries.

If the tomato is the queen of garden vegetables, the pumpkin may well be the king. In fact, in some parts of China, it is called “Emperor of the garden.” And why not? No plant produces a larger edible fruit, and what other plants can yield tens (or even hundreds) of pounds of healthful, delicious eating from a single seed in only a few months’ time? Pumpkins are known and loved around the world, for their beauty as well as for the gifts they bestow so generously, asking so little in return.

What’s In A Name?

A pumpkin is a winter squash, but not all winter squash are pumpkins. Confused? So is everyone else. The Oxford English Dictionary defines pumpkin as the large fruit of Cucurbita pepo, “egg-shaped or nearly…

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Who Knew That The Chicken Mushroom Could Have An Endangered Look-Alike?

Greetings!

Within the world of mushroom hunting exists a regionally-dictated and arbitrary list known as the “foolproof four.” Such an assemblage includes choice edible fungi that are easily identified.

Chicken Of The Woods, with its vivid colors and meaty texture, is one wild mushroom whose name is frequently included in “foolproof four” lists across North America. Ask any seasoned mushroom hunter, and he or she will tell you that few wild fungi resemble Chicken Of The Woods.

But few doesn’t always mean zero.

There are mushrooms that, at least from a distance, can certainly resemble Chicken Of The Woods, and featured in the following video (and pictured above) is one such look-alike that’s actually considered to be critically endangered in some forests around the world.

If you’re interested in learning more about this bright orange fungus that can indeed resemble Chicken Of The Woods, check out the brand new video!

And in case you missed it, I released another brand new video last week without sending an accompanying email.

This time, we’re talking about a common plant that undoubtedly lives an unconventional life. With names like Devil’s Guts, Strangle Weed, and Love Vine, this wild plant is despised by many people and surprisingly cherished by others.

Check out the video if you haven’t seen it already!