Infusions and Intent

In one form or another, a witch that casts some sort of spell has placed his or her intent into that spell.  After all, without having a reason to cast the spell in the first place, would it even be cast?

For me this past year I have dedicated myself to studying and finding the Magic in my Meals.  Finding the Magic in the food we eat on a daily basis to find out how a person can cast the most simpliest of spells by doing something they do every day, eating and drinking.  In this manner, it would not matter if you were "Out of the Broom Closet", stradling that doorway, or completely inside peeking out a crack in the door every once in a while to see if anyone knows you are there. 

With my particular case, I also focus on not only finding the magic in food, but its healing properties as well.   One of the things I do is drink nourishing infusions.

I first learned about Infusions about a decade ago from a woman named Susun Weed.  On her website I began my research into herbs, weeds, and the Wise Woman Tradition which I began to study.  I also found a mentor in J.R. who had apprenticed with Susun that I have also learned from in the form of monthly Moon Lodges, herbal walks, and weekend intensives that hosted many classes from connecting to your inner Goddess, drumming ( including a 12 hour heartbeat healing session with the drumming), plus many many other avenues where I first tasted Nettle Infusion. 

Now my friends and my mentor J.R. know that I am not a big fan of Nettles.  She (the herb) is a stinging herb and very protective about who touches her.  Those that do touch her, do so with much respect to her defense mechanisms and treat her gently and kindly if they wish to consume her healing energies that she holds inside.  Even though I am not fond of her specific taste, right now she is one of my strongest Herbal Allies that I can use.  Once my sister Annette told me "What you want and what you may need might not be the same thing in the Goddess's eyes".  She will give you what she thinks your needs are which could be completely different and have been that way most of my life.  With adding a bit of Raw Honey to sweeten Nettles up, she is more pleasing to my taste buds and now I am enjoying her nourishment in the form of an Infusion every morning.   

Each night before going to bed, I boil my kettle of water.  I place a handful of Nettles in the bottom of a large mason jar.  When the water is nice and hot, I pour it over the herbs.  Next I take a cap and secure the lid on the jar.  I then place the jar upon one of the altars in my kitchen on my pentacle trivet next to a lit candle and then "Infuse my Intent" of healing my body from the inside out with the help of my herbal ally.  I don't just infuse my intent with my herbal infusions, I do it with every meal while I am preparing it and cooking it (mostly cooking for my family as I am tending to eat more raw foods from Gaia's Bounty) 

Anyone can add their intent to their food and use it as a spell.  Just focus on the ingridients and their properties they hold.  If you look at my past posts for Pagan Blog Project you will see a few items whose properties I have already listed out for you.  If you want something for protection, simply use garlic, salt or black pepper.  It is as simple as that if you know the properties of the food you are using and want to focus on them magically.

Utilizing my herbal allies as Nourshing and Magical Food is not all I am doing to take charge of my health.  Last year I was able to benefit by receiving healing energies from a wonderful group of people over at the Temple of Witchcraft co-founded by Christopher Penczak.  I am very grateful for being able to receive those healing energies from them.  Should you be reading this, thank you Stevie the wonderful woman that was my "Case Manager" if you will for everything you and the Temple has done for me, my health continues to improve with each passing month (though lately I have been battling alot of cold, flu and respiratorty viruses and bacterial infections on top of my kidney disease).  The Kidneys however are OH SO MUCH BETTER than last Summer!  For those that have the extra energy they would like to channel and help heal others whether it be thru Reiki, candle lighting, or what other form you possess, please check out their Healing List and offer any energy you can to help them out!  You can view the current list here .  You will notice my name is still being listed since I have an ongoing battle.    Also while I am thinking of it, send Christopher a Happy Birthday note since his birthday is the day before mine.  Happy Birthday my fellow Taurus! 


Well that is all for now...until next time.

I hope you find the Magic in your Meals!

Blessed Be,
Crystal T.

Pregnant Priestess

A couple of friends and I were talking about my pregnancy the other day. We spoke about the things I did with my first pregnancy and then what I did differently with my second. One of those friends suggested that I put my thoughts down to paper to help others that may be thinking what the heck can I do?

So here goes:

1. Have a henna party.



Have your friends decorate your belly and send good wishes to your child thru their artwork.

2. Nursery blessing.
A friend of mine blessed my nursery for the first child with a specific ritual involving the four elements. She smudged the room with sage and lavender for the gift of fire (since you really don't want a burning candle in a small child's room, at least I don't). She blessed it with the gift air using feathers that she also gave to me in a frame to place in my child's room. The gift of earth was an aloe plant that will sat in the windowsill, and the gift of water by a new baby bathtub.

Maybe some of your friends that want to purchase items for you could come up with a similar ritual?
Now for my second child, I have asked my eldest child if it was ok to use many of the items that he received as a baby that he no longer uses...such as the bathtub. By asking his permission to use his old crib, his old bathtub, blankets, etc I am involving him in the process of providing for his younger sibling and making him feel very special as the "big brother" at the same time. He also went as far to put alot of books into a box that he wants to read to his baby brother once he learns how to read himself. I thought that was just precious.

3. Family Artwork.
One thing that I did was that with the birth of my first son, my husband and I drew our hands out on paper. His was first since it was the largest, then mine, and then at the hospital we had the nurses do the handprint of our first born. We plan on doing it again, this time with our eldest son's handprint drawn out just like mommy and daddy's.

Now for other ideas to give a Pregnant Priestess:

I know of one gift package that includes Susun's Book. It was given to me when I pregnant with my first child five years ago.
My kit came from Red Moon Herbs. The lady that runs it, apprenticed with Susun. Here is their link.

http://www.redmoonherbs.com/products/herbal_kits.php

Other things I received were herbs in bulk to make infusions from a local herb farm near me.

Cloth pads for my cycle after delivery and also circular pads (cloth as well to be reused) for nursing pads.

Pending your financial status, I even had a few girlfriends make home made "gift certificates" they can include:
One girlfriend made me a few small home made gift certificates for things like:

(1) - Good for One Hour baby free shower/bath time on me
(2) - Good for One home made Lasgana from the family's cookbook
(3) - Good for One "Overnighter" to take care of baby while you sleep
(4) - Good for One home spa pedicure and foot massage (cause a preg woman's feet blow up, LOL)
(5) - Good for One afternoon nap of two hours

Massages, home made cooking (casseroles), running errrands such as grocery shopping, and cleaning her home a time or two during the first few weeks after pregnancy can be a huge help and reduce the amount of stress the new mom may experience. So that might be something one could look into if it interests you and you are able to provide the time.

I also know of a lady that makes breastfeeding necklaces. Email me offlist if you would like her info. I don't want this email to sound like a solicitation.


Those are just a few ideas of what you can do for your favorite Pregnant Priestess. I hope one helps or inspires you.

Sincerely,
Crystal