Herbs and Enchantment of Fall

The wheel has spun and here we are, on the colder side of the year. Though I am not a Wiccan by any means, I do love the imagery of the wheel of the year. And although I rarely celebrate the sabbats as they were designed to be celebrated with traditional foods & crafts, I always am inspired by the images I see of fellow pagans & witches online.

Instead of celebrating the transition from summer to fall on the 20th or 21st of March, I like to celebrate the transition all season long. And really, that is what these witchy blogs are all about ~ living an enchanted live everyday.

And part of that path is making little acts, and even tedious chores, feel magickal. When cleaning dishes or tidying the house I try to light a candle or inscence stick. When weeding the garden I tell the plants how I want them to grow and plant protective herbs all around the house. That last task is something I have been working on lately. For a couple of years now the catnip has slowly been spreading around the front yard and a few days ago I was inspired to extend that garden bed to include more medicinal herbs.

And out in the forest there is plenty to do. The hawthorn tree is full of berries which I like to harvest each year for heart medicine.

Yesterday afternoon there was quite sunny and warm so I went out to harvest a couple of baskets of berries before the rain clouds came in. Normally it is best to harvest in the morning, of course, but, a busy herbalist takes any moment of good weather she can.

Inside the house I am doing my best to keep everything tidy, cute, and cozy. I have my battles with this old, dark house but, it is also my shelter and where I have felt safe for the last 6 years. So while I try to push away any grumpy feelings I have about the old plumbing and lack of windows and instead focus my effort on cleansing and beautifying this house.