Sacred Tree Profile: Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)’s Magic, Medicine, and Mythology

Witch Hazel in Flower, late October

As we move into the dark half of the year and move closer to Samhain, the temperatures drop, the killing frosts come and the plants die back. The leaves grow brilliant and then fall. Brown and tan dominate the land as the earth falls asleep. But there in the waning light is the brilliant, beautiful golden yellow of the Witch hazel! Around here, Witch Hazel (Hamamelis Virginia) begins a magnificent display of tiny yellow flowers, appearing to explode outward with many delicate yellow petals. As the last of the leaves fall, if you walk through a forest with Witch Hazel, you are struck by the beauty of these wild and warm yellow flowers. everything else may look dead, but Witch Hazel is alive and thriving. The time of Witch Hazel is the time of late fall and early winter, and it is a powerful…

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Entering The Crone Moon Cycle | New Moon in Libra Lunar Report

Moon in Libra Spread | Spirit de la Lune

This new moon in Libra might bring our partnerships and relationships into focus once again. We are asked to be diplomatic and peaceful with our approach and keep the focus on solutions and harmony right now, especially as Mercury is now retrograde!

We are officially in the darker seasons of the year. Each day is getting now shorter, and the veil is getting thinner as each day passes.

The Crone Moon Cycle is upon us!

Each new moon, we create the Lunar Report to help you navigate the month ahead. This month we are including a Libra Moon Spread so you can also pull some cards for yourself too.

Read original article at: Spirit de la Lune ~ Entering The Crone Moon Cycle

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN YOU BREAK OR LOSE A CRYSTAL?

What Does it Mean When a Crystal is Lost or Broken? / www.krista-mitchell.com

I’m often asked if there’s a meaning behind losing or breaking a crystal.

Recently on a group call for my Pro Crystal Healer course, a student shared that she had lost the same crystal three times, and was wondering if there was any deeper meaning behind it.

It’s definitely possible!

I remember doing a crystal healing layout on myself years ago where I placed a piece of moldavite on my 3rd eye chakra. As I turned over to shut off the alarm at the end of my session, the moldavite fell off. First I searched on the bed beside me, then under the pillow. Nothing. I stripped the bed. Nothing. I pulled the bed away from the wall and checked underneath, including behind the sideboards. Nothing.

We moved a year later, and before we left the empty apartment, I searched for it one more time. Nothing.

True story!

I also remember the time when I first started working at a busy spiritual bookshop in NYC. I was wearing a lot of jet (a protective crystal for empaths), and I hadn’t learned how to shield my energy yet. Pieces of it would keep falling off me throughout the day, either cracking or breaking as they hit the floor, and I had a pretty good feeling as to why…

There can be many possible reasons or meanings behind lost or broken crystals. Sometimes it’s just an unfortunate circumstance – things get lost, accidents happen. But the Universe can work in mysterious ways, and messages or miracles can be hidden behind the circumstances…

Here’s a few possible interpretations, honor your own intuition or what resonates for you in a heart-based way (as opposed to fear-based):

Read original article at: Krista Mitchell ~ What Does It Mean When You Break Or Lose A Crystal

Nine Things to Know When Starting Magic

Creating Individual or Small Group Rituals: A Step by Step Guide

The Druid's Garden

Rituals are an important part not just of druidry or of nature-based spirituality, but of human life in general. According to leading scholar Catherine Bell in her book Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions, human beings have been involved in rituals for as long as we have recorded history—and likely well before. Rituals use meaningful symbols, movement, actions, repeated forms and staging to help us step out of our normal time with conscious and sacred intention. While many rituals may have spiritual or religious significance, rituals can also be cultural (graduation ceremonies) or personal.

Sacred Mandala as part of our MAGUS 2018 Ritual

A few weeks ago, I hosted a ritual creation workshop as part of AODA’s online workshop series as a lot of people want to start to create their own rituals. In this post, I’m going to offer the framework I shared at the workshop to help you think…

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Daily Rituals and Daily Spiritual Practices

The Druid's Garden

In my time as an Archdruid and now Grand Archdruid in the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), a set of questions I see often are questions surrounding the establishment of daily ritual or daily practice question. These are questions like: how do I figure out how to do something every day and actually stick to doing it? How do I build daily rituals into my life? What are some daily rituals people do? Why would I want to do daily practices? Since these questions are so common, today’s post explores the idea of daily rituals and practices for druids: I’ll share how to begin and some considerations and also share a number of examples of daily or regular practices that you can do to deepen our druid path.

Daily practice

The idea of a daily ritual is, of course, that you do something at the relatively same time…

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New Moon in Virgo Energy Report

New+Moon+in+Virgo+_+Spirit+de+la+Lune+Energy+Report+2020 — Happy New Moon in Virgo, Moonbeams!

Even though 2020 has been intense for most everyone, the moon cycle is always a reminder that we can reset our own energy and mindset. In this cycle we welcome a new season ahead which also gives us another chance to rebirth our visions. 2020 is almost over, but it is getting more intense.

So grab a cup of pumpkin spice anything and get cozy. Read below how you can keep yourself grounded though this moon cycle and we have some big announcements at the end about the 2021 planners!

Read original article at: Spirit de la Lune ~ New Moon in Virgo Energy

Fresh Flower Crowns and Flower Garlands: Step by Step How-To Guide

The Druid's Garden

A woman hikes up to a sacred spring that she visits at least once a season. From her small bag, she pulls out a beautiful crown of flowers that she had lovingly crafted before leaving home. Placing the crown upon her head, she dances and sings around the spring, drinking deeply and celebrating life on this early fall. As a sign of respect and offering, she hangs the flower garland near the spring and carries her sacred water back down the mountain.

Family wears crowns I made at the bridal shower

I find it interesting that the ancient art of flower crowns garland making is almost non-existent today, at least here within the US. This tradition has so much potential. The only people who I’ve seen make these delightful crowns are children, who haven’t yet lost their magic or wonder about the world. And yet, garlands and flower crowns, are…

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Herbal Grief Ritual for Healing of the Soul

The Druid's Garden

2020 has been challenging for nearly everyone in a multitude of ways. One of the things that we are faced with right now is grief: grief over lost friends and family who have passed, grief over a previous way of life that seems to be gone for good, grief over lost careers and uncertain futures, grief over continued suffering and uncertainty with regards to our climate and life on this planet. I have certainly been experiencing many of these things. Perhaps the two most central things that happened to me this summer was the loss of a good friend after a long and difficult battle with cancer and the destruction of a large part of our family’s property to put in a septic line. The loss of many trees that I had grown up with and a beautiful ecosystem that we had cultivated into a botanical sanctuary. These losses happened…

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September 2020

Good Witches Homestead

As is so often the case these days the weather seems to be mirroring the volatile and unexpected nature of the energy flow. As September approached there was an abrupt end to the summer weather almost as though a switch had been flicked. There is now a distinct feeling of Autumn in the air something that is also reflected in the garden and countryside around us.

The Energies of September

A good way to sum up what the energies of September have in store for us would be to say that the roller coaster ride of transformation looks set to continue to increase in intensity.

The winds of change are blowing in, both literally and figuratively, and they are gathering force. This is not something to be concerned about, but it will help to expect the unexpected and be prepared to flow through any transformational opportunities that come your way.

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