Midsummer at the Magickal Cottage

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Midsummer at the Magickal Cottage

June 20, 2014 by the magickal cottage

It’s Midsummer’s Eve at the Magickal Cottage and I am planning my evening celebration. Even though it’s just me and the furrbabies, we will make an evening of it! As you might guess, I am a green witch and love to work with the plant kingdom and the fae whose energy supports all of nature. Aine, the Fairy Queen is my goddess of choice to honor at Midsummer…..and all through the year, for that matter. She is represented by Titania in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I don’t see her in exactly the same light as Shakespeare did. She seems more earthy and no-nonsense to me. She also seems smarter. Some say she was the Lady of the Lake of King Arthur’s story. I say she holds the plant kingdom together, and she makes a wonderful gardening companion!

At dusk I will be lighting a fire in the firepit. The solar energy ties into fire energy, and lighting a fire to celebrate this evening is traditional. The bonfires that are traditional in countries where it is instead St. John the Baptist Day at this time, are lit to ward off evil. Effigies of witches are burned in some countries. Imagine!

It’s funny, I have lived in this house for a little over a year. The hill in back of our yard gave off some “different” energy from the moment we moved in. I wasn’t sure what to make of this energy. Was it the ground squirrels?? The dead tree?? I normally don’t get spooked much anymore, especially when I am out in nature. But it was hard to be out in the backyard at night…until recently. I am hoping I have made peace with what elementals were watching me. I planted loads of fairy flowers this past year. I fed the birds and made compost. I even made some fairy gardens in flower pots, with tiny furniture for them to sit on. They probably thought that was pretty hilarious! But, I was a pretty good caretaker, if I do say so. I’m hoping tonight they will be happy to be honored by my offerings. Since it’s still Mercury retrograde, I won’t be doing a lot of magickal workings this evening….just honoring and givings thanks. That’s fine. I hope to build a better relationship with the elementals this year and petition their help in my future magickal workings.

So, I’ll light the balefire at sundown and munch on some Lemon Lavender Scones:

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup lemon yogurt

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for

kneading

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons lavender flowers

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon butter, melted, or as needed

1 teaspoon white sugar, or as needed

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.	Stir baking soda and yogurt together in a bowl.
3.	Sift flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and baking powder together in a bowl. Cut cold butter into flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two forks until mixture is crumbly.
4.	Mix yogurt mixture, 2 tablespoons melted butter, egg, lavender, and lemon zest in a separate bowl. Stir yogurt-lavender mixture into flour mixture until just moistened.
5.	Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 8 to 10 times, adding more flour if dough is too sticky.
6.	Divide dough into 2 pieces and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Pat and shape each piece into a 6-inch circle. Score each circle into 6 wedges using a sharp floured knife. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon white sugar.
7.	Bake in the preheated oven until scones are just golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, break into wedges, and cool on a wire rack.