Elm specifically excels at lessening inflammation and excitation of the tissues. We often think of soothing herbs as those that are so mild as to verge on useless for any serious condition, and Elm is an excellent plant for correcting that flawed mindset. Elm is gentle enough for interna
Tag: Tree Lore
Sacred Tree Profile: Juniper’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology and Meanings
Here on the East Coast of the USA, we are still in deep winter. Soon, the maples will be flowing. Soon, the winter snows will melt. Soon, spring will return. But until that time, the conifers, particularly offer strength and wisdom. One of my favorite conifers is Juniper, also known as Eastern Red Cedar. It is delightful to come across a wild juniper in the winter months, with her sweet and pine-scented berries and her delightful sprigs that offer friendship and hope through the darkest times. So come with me today as we explore the sacred Juniper tree.
Juniper here on the land
This post is part of my Sacred Trees in the Americas series, where I explore sacred trees within a specifically American context, drawing upon folklore, herbalism, magic, and more! I think it’s particularly important that US druids and those following other nature-based paths in North America understand…
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ENCOUNTERS IN GRATITUDE AND A CHANCE TO LISTEN
A long time ago, Anne and I traveled to Ireland. We vagabonded slowly down the west coast from hostel to hostel, over green hills to rugged seaside cliffs, stopping at standing stones and the ruins of circle forts, visiting old-growth forests left intact for hundreds of years. One day we were wandering in the southwest corner of the island with the goal of reaching one of those old forests. We crossed over a small waterfall. We walked between two ancient, massive linden trees whose roots and branches had grown together, leaving an almond-shaped opening just wide enough for us to cross. And finally, we came to the oak wood we’d been seeking. The trees were old, yes, but not very tall: craggy, leaning at odd angles, with moss covering their trunks up to the lower branches. This forest is still part of a protected area…
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Home-Grown and Wildcrafted Smudge Sticks: Plant List and Recipes
Basket of newly made smudge sticks
Creating homemade smudge sticks with local ingredients is a wonderful activity to do this time of year. As the plants die back, you can harvest whatever you aren’t using for other purposes and create a number of beautiful smudges that can be used for many different purposes: clearing, honoring spirits, protection, setting intentions, letting go, bringing in, preparing for ritual or mediation, and much more.
A few years ago, I wrote an initial post on homemade smudge sticks using local ingredients–this has become my most popular post on my blog. Given that, I wanted to offer a follow-up post with some additional information and share a few smudge stick recipes for specific purposes. For initial instructions on how to make your sticks, please see my first post. This post expands the plant list that you can use to make smudges and also offers…
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Making Smudge Sticks from Homegrown Plants and Wildharvested Materials: Step by Step Instructions with Cedar, Rosemary, Sage, Mugwort, and More!
I recently posted about my research on Eastern White Cedar, and I wanted to follow-up that post with information on making smudge sticks, inspired by Eastern White Cedar. Smudge sticks are bundles of herbs that are dried and burned for purification and ceremonial uses. They come out of Native American traditions, but today they are broadly used by many for their purification purposes. I use them as a druid in my ceremonies, to bless and cleanse my house, to cleanse outdoor spaces that are in some kind of energetic funk. But I also use them practically–as a blessing for my garden at the start of the growing season, as a way to remove hostile energies from my chickens who aren’t getting along, or to pass among friends before sharing a meal. They are a great way to bring a bit of ceremony and the sacred into the everyday.
Freshly Wrapped…
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Sacred Tree Profile: Oak’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology, and Meanings
A glorious oak tree in fall colors!
There is nothing quite as majestic as an oak, which is likely why ancient druids met in groves of them to perform their ceremonies. As I write this, I look at my glorious black oaks, white oaks, and burr oaks in the surrounding landscape and their incredible mantle of gold, tan, crimson and oranges. Where I live, the oaks keep the green on their leaves through most of the fall season, and begin their transition into color just before Samhain. The oaks and beeches, here, are the very last to lose their leaves–if they lose them at all. Many of the oaks, especially the younger ones, keep their leaves all winter, dry and crackling, and only drop them before they bud out again in the spring. Their behavior in the fall and winter months is certainly a testament to their energy and…
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Sticky Toffee Acorn Bundt Cake: Nutty, Sweet & Nutritious — Gather Victoria
This moist, dense and gooey Sticky Toffee Acorn Cake was made from acorns harvested from my neighbourhood. And despite the nearly full day it took to create (from harvesting, shelling, leaching, roasting and grinding – to the actual baking) it was well worth the effort! It took first prize in a most wonderful old-fashioned community harvest…
via Sticky Toffee Acorn Bundt Cake: Nutty, Sweet & Nutritious — Gather Victoria
Acorn Folklore
Sacred Tree Profile: Apple’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology, and Meanings
“Nothing gives more yet asks for less in return, than a tree: particularly, the apple” –Johnny Appleseed
“As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my loved one among the sons. I took my rest under his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” – The Song of Solomon
Spirit of the Apple – from the Plant Spirit Oracle (www.plantspiritoracle.com)
All summer long, we have had so much rain and thunderstorms. Penn Run, a small creek behind my home, once again overflowed, raising several feet for a time. When the waters had subsided, I was delighted to find delicious wild apples lining the banks–the river had carried them to me as a blessing for this wonderful Fall Equinox! It reminded me that I have been wanting to write of the apple–of her magic, of her folklore, and of her abundance=. And so…
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The Plant Spirit Oracle Project
Spirit of the Oak from the Plant Spirit oracle!
As we’ve been exploring over the last few weeks, plant spirit communication can take many forms. The rustle of leaves outside of your window, the inner knowing, or the song a plant sings to you as you honor it for the harvest. These simple messages weave a complex landscape beyond what we can sense with our fives senses, and invite us deeper into the mysteries of the earth and all living beings. And as we’ve explored, the voices of the plants, the spirits of the plants, take a number of forms and can appear to each of us uniquely. What is clear is that the more that we open ourselves up to understanding them, honoring them, and working with them, the more connection we have with the living earth in her many forms.
Part of the reason I’ve been sharing so…
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Paths I Walk 
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