As Autumn Approaches…

Good Witches Homestead

As autumn approaches, it brings with it shorter days and cooler nights. This makes it the perfect time to experiment with warming essential oils, such as cinnamon, clove, ginger, cardamom, and black pepper. One of my favorite combinations contains cassia (cinnamon), clove, and sweet orange essential oils. It just smells like autumn to me! You can diffuse this blend or add a few drops of each oil to an oil burner and let the scent fill your home. You can also mix these oils into a water-based spray. When doing this, I like to add some Moss Agate chips or small tumbled stones to the bottle. Moss Agate is a stone of rebirth and is great to use during seasonal changes.

Autumn also means the start of the school year for those with school-aged children, or for those who recently returned to school as students or teachers. This can usher…

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The Mystique and Lore of Sapphire’s

Good Witches Homestead

Amulets, Talismans, and Religious Beliefs

Sapphires figure prominently in numerous beliefs and traditions, both past and present. For centuries, sapphires have been used for alchemy, magic, healing rituals, and astrological prognostication.

Early priests and scholars believed that precious gemstones, including sapphires, had specific “virtues” that could be used to benefit man if their powers were properly harnessed. According to legend, Helen of Troy (c. 12th century B.C.) owned a large star sapphire, which was believed to hold the key to her desirability. The famous “seal” of King Solomon (c. 1000-931 B.C.) was legendary, not only because it was an inscribed sapphire, but also because it apparently gave him power over spirits in the air, earth, and underworld.

During the Hellenistic period (400-100 B.C.) when gemstones were associated with specific deities or occult powers, sapphires were routinely inscribed with the head of Jupiter (Zeus), the god of the sky. During this…

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Larimar: The Atlantis Stone

Good Witches Homestead

Larimar or blue pectolite is an extremely rare gemstone. It has been found only in one location: a mountainous, relatively inaccessible area in the province of Barahona in the Dominican Republic. The first mention of the stone is in a request to mine Larimar in 1916, however, it wasn’t until 1974 that the stone really made an appearance.

About Larimar

In 1974, Norman Rilling, a member of the U.S. Peace Corps, and Miguel Méndez, a Dominican found pieces of Larimar on the seashore. The word Larimar was created by Mendez, who combined his daughter’s name Larissa with the Spanish word for sea, Mar.

Before Mendez and Rilling, local inhabitants of the region and their ancestors had long been aware of the stone. Early theories suggested Larimar was produced by the Sea, later by the earth’s volcanic movements. Island legends said that the stones could be collected easily on the beach, but…

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Sapphires and Vedic Astrology

Good Witches Homestead

The History of Indian Gemology

The cultures of the Indian subcontinent have studied gemstones for millennia, and many ancient texts detail the medicinal, spiritual, and supernatural powers of various gems. Evidence, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago, that Indian architects used gemstones to decorate and protect the palaces of kinds can be found in the Manasara, a classic architectural manual.

The Vedas, the oldest Indian scriptures, contains several references to the use of gems in ceremonial rituals and everyday life. They describe the powers of precious stones to influence subtle energies and connect the Earth to the rest of the universe. Because precious stones were closely associated with the gods, they had the power to heal and influence destiny.

Sapphire Vedic Astrology The Vedas

According to ancient Indian texts, sapphires were grouped into four ‘varnas’ or classes. Hindus were only allowed to wear sapphires with the color designated for their caste. The Brahmins’…

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Healing Crystals for Balancing Yin and Yang Energies

Good Witches Homestead

The language of cosmic balance stems from each one of our own spiritual balance, which can be briefed as the effect of yin and yang stability. Yin and Yang are the foundation of the life force, which crystal users harness, control and direct for healing, health, and magic.

What are Yin and Yang Energy

Described as the two halves of Life Force, Yin and Yang symbolize Female and Male energies in nature. Each of us is born with a definite aura and energy that resounds the aura. It is not based on our gender as we all are a mix of yin and yang.

The balance of life is attained when a person can balance both the opposing energies equally. For example, craving for love can be summarized as a pillar of the Reintegration System. Being a female, if I look for a man who is strong or…

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WHAT IS CHROMA/COLOR THERAPY?

Good Witches Homestead

Color therapy, also known as Chromatherapy, is a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) technique. A trained color therapist is able to use color and light to balance energy wherever our bodies are lacking – whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.

Chromotherapists state that colors bring about emotional reactions in people. A standard method of diagnosis is the use of Luscher’s color test, developed in the early 1900s by Dr. Max Luscher. The Luscher-Color-Diagnostic® measures a person’s psychophysical state, and their ability to withstand stress, to perform, and to communicate. The diagnostic is used to uncover the cause of psychological stress, which can lead to physical symptoms.

Findings suggest that color and light have been utilized by healers since the beginning of recorded time. Color therapy possibly has roots in Ayurveda, an ancient form of Indian medicine practiced for thousands of years. Other historic roots are linked to ancient Egyptian culture…

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Druid Tree Workings: Working with Trees in Urban Settings

The Druid's Garden

Maples growing up through grate–been there for years!

I walk down the sidewalk of a street in the small town that I call home. As I journey, I see a crabapple friend with ripening fruit, her leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. I reach out to her, and tell her I look forward to harvesting some in the fall. She is pleased, as her fruit is largely ignored, and delighted that I will return. I see others along my walk: horse chestnuts, lindens, mulberries, serviceberries, balsam poplars–many trees that are different species from the forests where I often tread. Finally, I walk across a grate and wave to the maples growing up from below, in the four foot space below the grate and the drainage channel and into someone’s driveway. These urban trees are often shaped by humans in ways forests are not: an odd growth habit becuase of pruning…

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Color Energy & Color Therapy

Good Witches Homestead

Color, or colour as much of the world spells it, is well known to affect us in many ways. In the modern world, it is commonly used to influence us in advertising, decorating, and dress. Color is also used for alternative healing to affect our personal energies and chakras and to stimulate those energies to heal.

Each color has its own light frequency or energy. Color therapy is when the vibrations of light are used to stimulate healing. This can be done by using colored lights, colored crystals, color meditation, colors of environment and adornment, and other means in these writings on color, the properties are shown for each color are written in a sort of shorthand. Positive properties listed are properties where the color is said to enhance those properties or qualities. Negative properties listed are properties where the color is said to decrease or negate those properties. For…

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Amber

Good Witches Homestead

Amber is the fossilized resin of the amber pine tree, petrified over a period of 50 million years. Amber becomes electrically charged when rubbed with a cloth. Amber presents a soothing, light energy that is both calming and energizing at the same time. Amber brings patience, protection, psychic shielding, romantic love, sensuality, purification, balance, healing, and calmness.

Energy: purifying, transmuting

Colors: light yellow to reddish-brown, also white, blue, greenish

STAR SIGN: LEO
PLANET: SUN
ELEMENT: FIRE
CHAKRA: SOLAR PLEXUS

TIPS FOR AMBER

Hold amber to boost your memory if you are forgetful

Wear amber to purify your body, mind, and spirit

Burn amber as an incense to purify rooms and spaces

Wear amber to bring you good luck and protect you from negative energies

Hold amber in your right hand to help you release emotion and focus your mind

Give amber to your loved one to symbolize the renewal of…

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THE WISDOM STONE: LAPIS LAZULI

Good Witches Homestead

Lapis lazuli is a deep balancer and works especially well with the brow and throat areas. It can remove deep levels of stress and trauma from the system, although some discomfort during the clearing process may be experienced. Lapis brings the spiritual qualities of deep silence and perspective that can be unnerving to those unfamiliar with these sensations. It is in this space, however, that profound intuition and inspiration can arise.

Energy: truthful, serious

Colors: deep blue, often with flecks of pyrite or mottled with white calcite

Uses: Lapis lazuli is an excellent stone for psychic development, divination, protection, self-knowledge, wisdom, creativity, magical power, prosperity, doubling out, which is being in the physical world and the “other” world at the same time, shielding and shapeshifting. Lapis Lazuli is a thought amplifier; it expands awareness and is propitious for personal empowerment. Lapis Lazuli boosts energy and the immune system; it…

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