The Magickal Cottage

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I’m very drawn to the whole artemisia family of plants, and mugwort is so obliging and easy to grow. It dries wonderfully and retains its fragrance when burned, so can be added to smudge sticks and incense. What more could you ask for in an herb?!

I grow both the California native mugwort and the artemisia vulgaris or common mugwort. Both herbs are great for setting the stage for meditation, divination and astral work. Use an infusion of mugwort to wash your divination tools…the waterproof ones….

It is sacred to Cerridwen, a goddess bff of mine. 💜 And, of course, belonging to the artemesia group of plants, it is sacred to the goddess, Artemis. It has a definite feminine feel to it. Some say it is ruled by Venus and some say the Moon. Maybe it’s a switch hitter. Explore mugwort: sit next to the plant, meditate, and have a little astral tete a tete. See what she has to communicate to you personally.

The name, “Mugwort”, is believed by some to have originated in the practice of using it to make beer before hops were discovered to be of use in brewing. “Mug” for the drinking vessel and “wort”, which is an old-timey word for “plant” or “herb”.

There are medicinal uses for mugwort but it should not be used for more than a week at a time, and definitely not if you are pregnant. Read the article in Witchipedia if you are interested in its healing properties. Mugwort

I have dried a bunch and plan to use it in incense, smudge and as an addition to a protective wreath. I may even put some in a dream pillow to help with lucid dreaming, but I am allergic to ragweed (one of its plant cousins) so will need to go slowly with that experiment.

Mugwort is easy to grow from seed or cuttings. It likes well draining soil and a sunny location. It will spread through underground stolons, so make sure your neighbor likes mugwort, too, or grow it in a pot. Harold Roth at Alchemy Works sells the seeds here: Alchemy Works Mugwort Seeds

Magickal mugwort! Every Magickal person should grow some in their enchanted garden. It’s a wonderful addition to your witchy apothecary.

Worty Blessings!

Sarina

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I’m sure you have heard about the fires in the rainforest in Brazil that are destroying our planet’s “lungs”, the trees and plants. If we could send some energy it would be wonderful.

Here is a spell that my circle and I are doing to help bring rain to the area.

You will need:

A candle, a clear glass bowl and a map of the rainforest area.

Put the map of the rainforest in Brazil under the clear glass bowl. I etched “rain for the Amazon rainforest on the candle and anointed it with rose oil to speed things up. Place the candle in the bowl and fill the bowl with water (rain water is good!). Pour the water up to about an inch below the top of the candle. Light the candle and envision rain extinguishing the forest fires. When the candle burns down the water will put the candle out. Rain in the rainforest! For the highest good! So Mote It Be! 🌧💦💧

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Every magickal garden should grow rosemary. It is often said that rosemary can be substituted for just about every other herb in magick. Plant it near your front door for protection from low vibrational energies. Some say that a home with rosemary growing by the front gate is a home where the woman is the boss. That seems reason enough to plant it!!

“Rosemary for remembrance”, is an old saying. You can use rosemary in oils or incense form when performing spells where you want to make a lasting impression, as well as in spells to help your memory. Rosemary oil applied behind the ear could help during a test or exam…although it’s no substitute for studying!

Making bundles of rosemary tied with cotton string and allowing them to dry is a wonderful substitute for sage smudge sticks. I call the rosemary ones “European smudge sticks” since rosemary is native to the Mediterranean. Wild harvesting of native white sage can be a problem in the US, so rosemary smudge can be a great alternative. Dried rosemary can also be added to homemade incense. The smell of rosemary can be enjoyed fresh, dried and burned!

One traditional story about rosemary states that if you are trying to decided between two (or more…lucky you!) prospective suitors, write the names of each person you are considering on identical flower pots. Plant a small rosemary plant in each pot and observe how they grow under the same growing conditions (same soil, light and water). The plant that grows the best is your best choice for a relationship. If you have no prospects at the moment, create a poppet (cloth dolly) of yourself and stuff it with rosemary. Enchant it at the new moon to attract your perfect partner.

Rosemary can be used for remembrance in kitchen witchery as well. It goes great with roasted potatoes. Infuse olive oil with rosemary to be used in the kitchen as well, and serve as a dipping sauce for a hearty, herbally bread. You are sure to create a memorable magickal meal!

Rosemary likes a sunny, sheltered location but hates soggy soil. After watering let the soil dry before watering again. I have found rosemary grows well near a wall or sidewalk and that the concrete will protect it from freezing temperatures. In Texas I was able to keep a plant alive for years in such an environment. You could also grow rosemary in a pot and bring it inside to a sunny windowsill during the freezing weather.

If you haven’t added rosemary to your magickal apothecary, I highly recommend it.

Herbal Blessings,

Sarina

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Every morning, as I sip my coffee, I make a point of pulling a couple of tarot cards. Last Saturday I winced as I dealt myself the Ace of Wands Reversed

and the Tower.

Of course no card is really bad, but these cards seemed to indicate there would be challenges ahead! I had no idea what the cards were referring to, but by day’s end they made sense to me.

I had planned to do some witchy house cleaning, maybe light some candles and bake something. Create some hygge, as they say in Norway. But as I was returning from our morning walk, my fire sign self took over! For what seemed like the millionth time I noticed a bushy plant that seemed to dominate the front garden…in a bad way. And for the millionth time I wished it were moved to our back slope where it could spread to its heart’s content.

The plant I am referring to is dietes, or fortnight lily. Let me tell you, this is one tough plant! In this case it was also a very tenacious one.

I looked up fortnight lily’s magickal properties and came up with nothing, but I would assign it survival and strength….and stubbornness. Ok, ok, it does have pretty white or yellow flowers.

I decided to muster some determination and went for my shovel and pitchfork. As usual, it refused to budge. But today I wasn’t going to surrender. Hey, maybe this plant was loaning me some of its own qualities?

Long story short, I started to develop a strategy and the plant was coaxed loose. I noticed it seemed easier when I explained to the plant spirit that I would find it a better more spacious place to grow. This plant is very easy to transplant. Very easy. Any piece of a root left behind will start to grow again. I have no doubt it will thrive on our back slope.

I piled the plantlets into plastic pots, used a pick ax to dig out more bulblets and carted everything down the back hill.

Then for the fun part! There was a fun part. I placed a small birdbath and statue of a cat in the space where the monster plant had been. Around the statuary I planted sweet alyssum (protective against glamour spells and hexes), dianthus (for the moon goddess, Diana) and blue salvia (for protection, purification and divination).

What do you think? The plants should spread and fill in well in the coming weeks.

I thought back on the morning’s tarot cards. Interesting that the wand reversed suddenly suggested a hard to deal with plant! And the Tower card showed how I cleared out the old to make way for the new! In this case a large unruly plant was replaced with some lovely, daintier blooms.

As I like to remind myself, magick is everywhere. You just have to be open to noticing it!

Garden Blessings,

Sarina

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I’ve always wanted to circle in a body of water, and this Lughnasadh I got the opportunity. I’ve heard that sitting or standing in water helps to amplify psychic energy; thus, my curiosity about holding ritual in water. We have a swimming pool at our current home, and the hot summers here have made us enjoy this watery feature even more. A pond, lake or the ocean could serve as well or even better for a water located ritual.

When I saw a floating drink holder at a local store, a light bulb lit up in my brain. Why not make the floatie into a floating altar?! And so we did. There’s a picture of it above. You could use real candles if you insulated them to not melt a hole in the floatie. I used electric candles and we tried not to splash water on the altar. I cut a piece of plastic table cloth to use as an altar cloth (and to cover up the shark mouth design 😳). The holes in the drink holder were the right size for small candles, and in the remaining two holes I inserted water filled jars with flowers.

So, how did the ritual go? It went very well, indeed! Dancing in a circle in water to raise energy really creates a swirling cauldron effect. Amazing!

We started our Lughnasadh celebration by gathering in the magickal kitchen to craft some corn dollies. This sabbat is to celebrate the first of 3 harvests and to honor the god Lugh. Lugh of the Strong Arm is multi-talented and rather solar in his aspect. The corn dollies we made were a symbol of the harvest and meant to add prosperity and protection to the home.

Here are steps to creating a corn dolly of your own. You will need to find dried corn husks and string or bind wire as well as a pair of scissors.

Gather about 4 leaves.

Tie them together.

Flip all of the leaves over the area you tied, covering the wire or string.

If you want to make hair or a cape, save one leaf out and tie the other leaves together to form a head. Try to pull the leaves taught before you bind them together.

To form the arms, take one leaf and cut it down the middle. Then, line up the two pieces so that the narrow and wide ends are opposing each other.

Roll up the two pieces and bind them in the center.

To add the arms you will need to separate the leaves of the body and slide the arms up to just below the head. Then tie them in place to create the dolly’s waist. It’s looking like a dolly now, right?

Trim the bottom of the skirt so she stands up.

Create elbows and hands with the string or wire.

Trim up the arms to a pleasing length. Cutting at an angle makes the ends look more like hands.

As your dolly dries it will become stiffer and hold it’s shape. You can wire the dolly to create various poses.

Create a flying witch!

Be creative and work at adding your own unique details! Just take a look at what we came up with. Don’t say, “I can’t”. Use your witchy resources! That’s what it’s all about!

As we gathered at the pool edge we set our corn dollies on the floating altar.

We drank some crystal charged rose water to ground and shake off the stress of the day.

We cast the circle, called the quarters and the center, inviting in Cerridwen and Cerrnunos, and proceeded with our blessings and petitions.

We observed the sacred rite of cakes and ale.

As center and quarters were dismissed, and the circle was taken down we stepped out of the water feeling blessed by all we had experienced.

The Lughnassadh incense I had mixed up some weeks before filled the air with the scent of oak moss and copal. We sat on the deck, ate the delicious potluck meal we had prepared and relaxed in the waning daylight.

I hope your Lughnasadh was blessing filled….and there’s still lots of time to create a corn dolly! Let me know how they turn out!

Blessings,

Sarina

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