the hermit month

I've discovered a few good things to do in November...beginning with not overdoing it in October. That is key.

Clear and sort -- you might come across at least one project that was left behind last November. With minimal effort, you too could have, say, a new bunting. Pattern here.

Light candles, create sacred space.

Finish the harvest. Long ago at this time of year, the practice was to leave whatever was still growing in the fields, for Nature to do with as she would. It is okay to not collect every single thing.

 

Fold, fill and label seed packets. 

Meet a tree spirit by looking closer at tree trunks and watch and listen for movement in the branches. It will happen. Touch trees and plants and tell them how much you love them and wish them well, the same as you would a loved one. Tender loving care is the core of energy healing.

 

Try to let go and fall like leaves do. I love November so much -- maybe because it's all about relinquishing control. And it's the hermit month of the year so we can do hermit things the whole month long.  

I'm interested in psychometry, the energy in objects. The first time I held the septarian heart at a gem and mineral show, I about fell to the floor. Of course I bought it. It's been on a windowsill for a few months and I am just now starting to work with it. Septarian is also called dragon stone, but I haven't found that much information on its energetic qualities and what I've seen online is contradictory so I guess I will have to form my own understanding. One side of the heart is patterned and polished smooth and the other side looks like plant material inside a pod or under a mushroom cap. Like it's alive. 

Look for true colors...see what the nettles have done in their cronehood. Aren't they gorgeous with their white leaves?

We're in the season of the dark, moving slower, pulling inward. The thought that invisible beginnings are forming now is comforting. x

promise & pain of spring

I'm crocheting around my phone cord for fun and also to distinguish it from the others (I use the term crocheting loosely). There are too many charging cables at our house -- why does the shape have to be different for every chargeable device, I wonder.

Violet blossoms are especially abundant this year. I picked quite a few the other day, a good thing because we are expecting 14" of snow over the next few days. Here I made a salad with violet blossoms, tender baby kale leaves growing on second year kale plants, arugula and feta cheese drizzled with olive oil and a bit of violet vinegar left from last year. 

Violet flowers on a violet plate, flower-topped paperclips, and a tiny 9-patch I stitched a while back.

Vinegar was made. Violets are good for soothing both named and unnamed grief -- more about violets here and here. It's called fairy vinegar because violets crossed over from the fairy realm. That's what I believe anyway.

I read recently that the season of Spring is both promising and painful. I'd never thought of it as being particularly painful...until this year. Now I get it. Things end, things don't come back, things die.

The bees died. Just like that. One day they were fine and the next day they weren't. I want to blame the wasp takeover of last fall but really can't say for sure. I've cleaned and scraped propolis, wax, and more from most of the 30 frames inside the foundation boxes and am now hoping to attract a swarm. If not, I'll try to purchase a colony from a local bee supplier.

That's where the promise of Spring comes in. And I'm ready. xx

a mandala pillow moonday

I ended up making a round insert for the mandala pillow crocheted by my mother or maybe her mother, I'm not sure who crocheted it. Each side has different colors so in a way it's reversible -- it's pretty bright, too, right along with those seven orchid blooms. That orchid is earning a well-deserved rest after the production she's put on for us these past weeks.

The feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium, in the garden this summer is the best I've ever seen with tall, sturdy stems and perfect blossoms. My first moon garden herb ever, it literally glows at dusk and into the night. It is a preventative treatment for migraine headaches and I've decided we don't get headaches very often around here because we have so much feverfew growing all around us. It reseeds freely but is also easy to control. I honor and appreciate this plant, we go way back together.

Today is a waxing moonday in the sign of Leo. If you have been feeling the effects of Mercury's retrograde, it will be happy news that Mercury will go direct again tomorrow, July 1. A Mercury retrograde can have disruptions, mishaps, bloops and blunders that revolve mainly around communication, technology, mechanics, and travel. The positive side -- and there always is, isn't there -- is that these delays might just create more time for reflection, examination and change.

Lemon mint honey was made this morning. I filled a jar with tops of garden mint that hadn't yet bloomed, about half a lemon's worth of grated rind and a few hard squeezes of lemon juice, then covered everything to the top with honey. It is good. Right after that I read in an herbal that mint is a good herb to take during periods of Mercury retrogrades. Ha!

"When Mercury is in retrograde, individuals who suffer emotionally and have great difficulties in their lives will be aided by using peppermint. Mercury's swiftness and ability to impart rapid mental states and quick thinking are activated." The Spiritual Properties of Herbs by Gurudas.

Wishing you a back-in-the-swing-of-things kind of week. xx

angelica

This has been the perfect spring for angelica to grow and thrive -- and by the looks of it, there will be many seedlings to share next year. She grows in the lunaria garden and I do hope they get along all right, giving each other the space they need. About as tall as me, I am reminded of a woman standing watch over the little ones at her feet. According to the doctrine of signatures -- the idea that a plant treats the body part or condition that it resembles -- angelica, with its hollow tube of a stalk that resembles the tubes of the body, heals bronchial (tube) congestion and enhances blood circulation (vessels and veins). The Herbal Tarot describes angelica as an herb that encourages communication with the angelic realm and following the heart's path with faith and certainty.

It feels awkward to knit on such big needles for the shoulder cozy, I think I prefer small ones. I bet a lot of people feel the same. It's always a relief for me to knit up a tiny hexipuff on size 3's or whatever they are. I suppose if I knew how to knit socks, I might turn to socks for large-needle relief.

That vintage crocheted pillow was made by my mother or maybe her mother, not sure. I took it apart to be cleaned and must have thrown out the old insert -- deciding now if I should make a new one or take the easy way and just stuff it with fiberfill, which is the direction I'm leaning. As you can see, it's pretty bright but it'll be a nice pop of color on our gray retro-style sofa. Actually, I'm surprised that there was anything this BRIGHT anywhere in my parents' home. But there it is.

Thanks for visiting and happy weekending following your heart's path. xo

a snowflake nine-patch

I finished the snowflake nine-patch pillow just a little while ago. It took me nearly all day, I thought it would only be about an hour, but there's a lot of little edges on a snowflake. I had a nice time sewing and thinking about how much my mom would like seeing her handwork find new life. White cotton crocheted snowflakes, black linen, and a December calendar-cloth patch.

After years and years of drinking herbal infusion, I've started making two quarts at a time instead of one every day, saving time and mess. It took a long time, too long, to come to this.

My focus now is on the change in season and the turning of the wheel of the year. To better see the darkness, I've been stringing lights everywhere, more than I've ever done, I think. The snowball lights remind me of little moons.

Which, by the way, today is the full moon. When I was writing morning pages this morning, I accidentally wrote today is the fun moon.

Happy fun moon. xo

cheer

My favorite time of day now is dusk. With a cup of tea or a glass of wine, a lit candle, in the quiet.

A few days ago, I came upon my copy of Celtic Devotional by Caitlin Matthews and, well, the saying everything old is new again applies here. There is value in forgetting things sometimes. Arranged by season with key words and phrases for meditation or prayer and activities as well, it is a gem of a little book. In the Celtic tradition, Samhain (Sow'en) isn't just one day -- a/k/a All Soul's Day, Dia de los Muertos, Halloween -- it's the entire season of November through January. The winter quarter of Samhain is a time of personal introspection, contemplation on the season, and remembrance of ancestors, loved ones, and "the elders of spiritual traditions whose footsteps have kept the pathways open." That feels good to me because I wasn't able to really let go of that connection with my loved ones at Samhain. Everywhere I look, I see something that reminds me of someone I love.

The black linen, nine snowflakes crocheted by my mom, and white pompom trim are coming together for a simple little sewing project. That she made nine snowflakes is key. I never truly appreciated them until I laid them on the black, it was very exciting.

The paper whites are shooting up. Soon. I read somewhere that winter squash stores well on top of the kitchen cupboards and so far, it's true. I like the way it looks, too.  No snowflake curtain yet, it'll get hung in January this year. For now we'll just have plain and simple cheer.

Thanks for visiting and happy weekending. Cheer. xo

waning crescent moonday

The crocheted green cowl is finished, only because I ran out of yarn -- I loved working on this and will miss it. Maybe I need to start a bigger crochet project? The moon stones on the cowl show how the moon has appeared the last week or so. Where does the time go?

A big event occurred in the sewing room -- one curtain panel was finally chosen and hung -- I'll be going back for three more. It's been a slow process, converting a kid's bedroom into a sewing space. I think there's a part of me that doesn't want to let go of what the room was. And I'm wondering if purple can be a neutral -- because I really do like the purple but I like a lot of other colors, too. Not much stitching has happened because I was out of black floss until yesterday, in the meantime things are contained in the circle.

The little blue doily under the blue stone was crocheted by my Great Aunt Aggie. She had it shaped into a butterfly with a pipe-cleaner but I took it apart for the blue stone flower grid on my table. Have you ever repeatedly chosen the same card from a deck or rolled the same number on a set of dice? Well, that's what happened with both of the cards I drew on the last new moon. Even after shuffling and cutting the decks, I somehow drew the exact same cards as I had in August. From both decks. I guess I'm not done holding still.

Today is a waning crescent moonday in Leo. We may find that we're less interested in certain projects or activities now. Or that other people don't seem as interested or want to participate in relationships and ventures, etc. -- well, that's a fourth quarter moon. No use trying to force things along. Hold still a little while longer, a new moon is coming in a few days!

dark & light

I'm nesting -- getting ready for change inside and out. I've rediscovered my crocheting, along with my spot on the couch.

I went to see a fiber/textile exhibit a few days ago, and couldn't leave without some bundles of hand-dyed cloth. Just unrolled my own moldy little bundle as well -- orache and silk -- definitely colorful, but it's still wet so it may not last.

I'm choosing dark and light cloth components for September's full moon cloth. It will have more of the dark to convey the seasonal changes we're experiencing now. I'm going to like working on this, I love shorter days and longer nights, so beckoning and mysterious. And there's always a sense of relief about now, too, isn't there?

Thanks for coming by and happy weekending -- I'll be getting ready for an Autumn Equinox celebration here tomorrow. xx