2-basil moonday

A holy basil blossom. A holy basil harvest. A holy basil oil. 

This is one of my favorite plants in the garden -- holy basil, Ocimum tenuiflorum -- that happens to grow at the very front of a low planter. When the leaves are brushed as people or animals walk (or jump) by, the scent drifts on air and oh my. It's wonderful. The oil I made will be good for soothing and healing skin conditions but my plan is to use it in a more luxurious way -- as a fragrant moisturizer and to scent bath water. I have high hopes for this oil. And it reseeds itself generously which is another plus.

I'm still sewing the June moon cloth -- extending the pattern with little strips, that perfect green is from Nancy. The eye on the house is a woad seed.

A new fragrant orchid in the living room. I think it releases nectar or fragrance at 11:00 AM because that's when I smelled it from another room in the house. Amazing.

Today is a new moonday in the sign of Cancer. This new moon time is good for beginnings of all sorts -- projects, directions, studies, routines, behaviors, and so on. 

In the garden, moonwise gardeners plant seeds now and we can draw on this exact same moon energy for other kinds of growing. Write down wishes or form intentions now. Or place items in a basket to represent hopes and desires. Then as the moon grows into fullness, so too do wishes begin to take form and intentions manifest.

This morning I made a new moon basil honey with Genovese basil from the garden. To make an herbal honey, loosely fill a jar nearly to the top with fresh plant material and fill again with honey. Stir well with a chopstick. Cap and store on a protected surface (it might ooze) in a cupboard for 2-4 weeks. This small jar of basil honey will be just enough to drizzle into salad dressing, sweeten peppermint tea, or eat by the spoonful. Basil is really a medicinal food -- good for digestion, to relieve cold and cough symptoms, and as a relaxant -- among other things.

Again, like the moonwise gardener planting seeds on a new moon, it's nice to be able to make at least some herbal preparations to infuse and increase in potency along with the waxing moon. On the full moon two weeks later, some oils and vinegars are ready to be strained. If they don't seem strong enough yet, I often wait for the next full moon to strain and re-bottle for storage. 

And so, here's to a beautiful week of living moonwise.