Happy Autumn Equinox!!

I'm so excited for this change of seasons. Summer is over. The leaves are turning, the rain has started up again, we're midway through harvest times. It's a time of bounty and gratitude as we start the slow journey inward, entering the time of the crone. It's a time to reflect on our blessings and give thanks.

I celebrated today by making an altar for the house to celebrate at their own time as they wish.

Some of the highlight: I have tools for smudging, including a green candle for abundance,.

Some salt for salt cleansing:

A station for writing down what you're grateful for.

My Motherpeace tarot deck for divination.

And a spirit plate to make offerings to the spirits so they may enjoy the abundance as well. On the plate pictured, I put a pickle from a jar that I made and a small glass of wine that I infused myself. I have since added a piece of my bacon-avocado salad I made for dinner, and C.J. put some of his curry and a couple reese's pieces. It's debatable if the spirits would want them but he says that he thinks he has to put something that he actually wants. The logic is sound, in my opinion.

Some of the other stuff I included was an altar tile, a large rose quartz crystal, a timepiece (partly for a paperweight, and partly to recognize that this holiday is a marker of time moving forward), bones to symbolize the shift in seasons towards a time of death, and my roomie let me use her pumpkin for the time being because like... fall of course!!

I'm pretty pleased. I've never done a house altar before and it feels really good. For the first time living in this house, there is more witchy representation, so it's nice to know that I can do these things without feeling like I am infringing on the common space.

I ate dinner at the table with the altar and the spirits. Then I took a page and filled it with things I have gratitude for and burned it in the cauldron.

What a sweet time... Fall is my favorite...

Happy Equinox, all, and Blessed Be!

Natural Dandruff Control

I have pretty bad dandruff. It's really itchy and irritating. I know my scalp is really sad and needs a lot of love, so I am (sadly) transitioning out of having super wacky cool hair colors and going back to my natural color. My hair-love plan basically consists of getting a hair cut and adopting some new methods for regular hair maintenance.

At the present moment, I shampoo my hair with castile soap, and condition with this store-bought conditioner from Grocery Outlet that smells really nasty like baby powder. The ingredients list has some amazing stuff in it though! Like horsetail! I mean, I've seriously never seen a commercial hair shampoo that has stuff like horsetail in it. But being real, considering I found it at Groc Out (pronounced: gross out), I'm a little skeptical that it has the ingredients it claims to have. I don't wash or condition often. Maybe once or twice a week at most. I still find that in the meantime my hair is super dry and brittle, so I'll give it a little massage with some avocado oil, concentrating on my frayed ends. Avo oil is great. It's pretty close to your body's natural oil, so it doesn't look goopy or oily or gross. For my hair, it's perfect considering my hair is already dry. It just moisturizes and protects and feels pretty great.

But this routine isn't working for me. I still have dandruff and an itchy scalp and my hair is still so brittle. My chief complaint is the dandruff though... so here's what I have planned:

• Continue to shampoo with castile soap
• Follow up with an apple cider vinegar (acv) rinse
• Note: vinegar cancels out castile soap. the soapy sudsies do their job in my hair, but many who use castile soap can attest to the weird residuey build up. if you wash your dishes with the stuff, you can surely see it, and if you wash your hair with it, you can feel the waxy residue it leaves. An ACV rinse serves two functions. First, it neutralizes the castile soap and removes the reside. And secondly, it serves as a mild anti-fungal medicine for the scalp.
• Condition with homemade conditioner (will post recipe later)
• Massage garlic-infused avocado and tea tree oil into scalp daily

I'm waiting to acquire a couple of ingredients before I can put together the conditioner, but as soon as I do, I'll make a post about it.

Something else I'm doing is trying to incorporate raw garlic into my diet daily... if not, then every other day. I mince a single clove into a small bowl and mix with raw honey and eat. Raw garlic is very hard to down but its incredibly good for you, and far better in its raw form than cooked. Cooked garlic still has some medicinal properties, for sure, but raw is best. I think that's pretty true for a lot of things. The honey helps- it's kind of a spicy-sweet sensation. It promotes heart health and is incredibly anti-microbial. 

**GARLIC-IS-GREAT-RANT*** 

So here's a cool factoid: the smell that garlic leaves you with is actually not just on your breath. The active constituents in garlic are actually absorbed into your blood, which is why you can still smell like garlic hours after you've consumed it. If you've ever used garlic as a vaginal suppository to treat yeast infections, you may have noticed that you can taste the garlic in your mouth even though its in a completely different part of your body. Again, that's because that wonderful smelly stuff is floating around in your blood and permeates your whole body doing so. Some plants have active constituents that really only serve as topical applications, like calendula. When a plant has constituents that enter the blood stream, it has more power to get around. Blood goes everywhere. Something like a calendula tea will only really benefit the cells it comes into contact with- which is great for cuts, scrapes, and even internally, for ulcers in the stomach and intestines. But somethings like garlic can get around. Most plant constituents that enter the bloodstream need a helper to get to the hard-to-reach places in your extremities, and in the lymph so you have to pair them with circulatory stimulants like cayenne. Garlic is a circulatory stimulant on it's own, which makes it an excellent and intelligent medicine. It's powerful and it has capacity to go anywhere. That's pretty cool.

TL;DR: My hope with incorporating garlic daily is manyfold... of course there are so many benefits that I don't care to list all here, but anti-fungal is a huge one as far as dandruff goes. This is why I'm incorporating a garlic-infused oil as a scalp massage into my regimen. I'm hoping that both internal (through the blood), and topical exposure to such a strong anti-fungal medicine will go a long way. 

A Simple Curry Recipe

This morning I woke up with the faintest hint that my cramps were coming. They had incorporated into my dream and slowly nudged me out of it into the waking world. My cramps are not just little twinges usually. They are debilitating. But for some reason when I woke up they kind of slowly faded out. That's cool because it gave me time to do my morning routine and have breakfast before they set in. I am composing this curry recipe before they come back so that my partner can take on dinner duty. I'm planning on being in bed with a heating pad. I'll have him take pictures of the process and I'll post them later.

Simple Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp butter or oil
• 4 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 can + ~3/4 of a can of coconut milk
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast OR 1 block extra firm tofu, drained
• Assorted veggies (for example, this is what we have on hand)
• 1 small head broccoli
• 2 small potatoes 
• 2 small/medium sized bell peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 medium onion
• 1-2 carrots; I do not have carrots for my curry today but they are a good addition
• 1 cup rice 

This recipe will serve two, plus have tons of leftovers. If you intend to feed a bunch of people at once, you'll just need to prepare more rice. I usually do about 1/2 cup of rice per person. BTW, rice cookers are the shit. I seriously recommend you get one.

Step One: Do veggie prep

Wash and chop all of your veggies. If you prefer skinless potatoes, now is the time to peel. I like to chop most of the veggies small-ish. I like little 1/4-1/2" bites of potatoes and peppers especially. For onions, I like good-sized chunky slivers. Carrots I normally cut into pennies. 

Step One and a Half: Get the rice going

I recommend doing this early because depending on your method of rice prep, it could take awhile. If you know how long your rice cooker takes to prepare whatever amount you're making, then you can time this however you see fit. I'm often spacey and forget to do it until the curry is totally done, and then I end up having to wait another 20 minutes before I can eat and that's really irritating...

Step Two: Protein prep

If you are using chicken: cut chicken in to 1/4-1/2" pieces. Prepare a sauté pan, and use a couple Tbsp cooking oil of your choice. Add your chicken and cook on medium to medium-high, making sure all sides of the chicken pieces are white. This cooks the outside only, so don't try and pop one in your mouth at this point. Set aside.

If you are using tofu: cut the tofu into whatever your preferred size is. Place in pan WITH NO COOKING OIL on medium to medium-high heat. Place the tofu in the pan and stir often. What you're attempting to do is evaporate out any extra water, leaving you with a kind of dry-spongey tofu that will soak up flavor like no other. It should take anywhere from 5-10 minutes. You'll know its ready because it will go from moving around like a soggy tofu, to a more bouncy, dry-looking tofu. It's hard to explain, but its like it suddenly got infused with rubber and when you stir, it doesn't gracefully swirl around the pan anymore and starts to bounce. Be careful not to burn it. 

Add a couple tablespoons of cooking oil, and a couple teaspoons of curry powder to your pan with the tofu and stir well to coat the tofu pieces. Allow this to cook for a couple minutes then set aside.

Step Three: Making the curry sauce

Make a roux with your butter or oil. Start by melting the butter in a medium/large cooking pot, being careful not to burn it. Add your curry powder, and whisk well to combine. Stir continuously for a minute or two, then add your coconut milk, whisking well. Bring to a simmer.

Step Four: Putting it all together

Add all of the veggies and your protein to the sauce, bring back to a simmer, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Check the harder veggies like the carrots and potatoes to see if they are soft. If so, then you're all done! Enjoy the heck out of your curry! You did good!

P.S. Thank you C.J.. I couldn't ask for a more excellent partner. I am so appreciative of all you do to support me whether I'm in debilitating pain, feeling fatigued, or feeling pretty good. Love love. <3

ELDERBERRY WINE?? .... fermented beverage?

So that elderberry bug I posted about a bit ago? I kind of ignored it for awhile because I was disappointed with the ginger brew I made so I assumed the elderberry would be a bummer too but I smelled it today and it smells like this heavenly wine. And I don't even really like wine!

I would post a picture but I'm lazy and also, it just isn't the same as smelling it... sorry. If I could transmit smells, you better believe I'd do it. Just imagine the rich, deep scent of fermented elderberry, along with the deep reddish purple, almost frothy-looking liquid....

I put some honey in it and sealed it in a mason jar to carbonate. it is taking everything in me to leave it alone.

okay i might smell it once before i shove it in my herb cabinet to try and forget about it for a few weeks...

Herbal Mouth Care Experiment: Oak Bark Mouthwash Recipe

Recently I've been reading a lot about natural dental care. It seems that a good chunk of healthy teeth just comes down to diet. If we are properly nourished, and get the minerals our body needs, then we have healthy teeth. Something that's sort of unexpected is that I've read numerous reports of people healing their cavities with no professional dental intervention. I know it seems strange and hard to believe but it makes sense. How could we survive as a species for almost two hundred thousand years if we had teeth that rotted out of our brains? Especially before we began chemically altering our food with fire so it was easier to chew and digest? The initial stage of digestion, the process where we use saliva and OUR TEETH to prepare food for the lower digestive stages, is so crucial, it just doesn't add up that before the advent of dentistry, we just suffered through cavities. Or what about all of our fellow teeth-bearing mammals?

Not to mention, it just does not make sense that bones would have the power to regenerate and heal, while teeth do not. No.

So my sources aren't double-blind, peer-reviewed studies, but as an herbalist, I have to take those mom blogs seriously. I take people's personal accounts seriously because I like to believe people... especially people who are freely offering up information, methods, and strategies without monetary gain.

Most of what I've found suggests that diet is so crucial. We have to be sure that we are getting enough vitamins and minerals, and that our basic body processes are functioning well. The idea is this: our bodies prioritize functions. Think about a time you've been super duper cold. What parts of your body got cold the fastest? Chances are, it was your extremities- numb fingers, numb toes. That's because our body knows that to stay functioning, we must keep our trunk and our heads warm- it's where all of our vital organs live! We would be really sad and easily dead creatures if this wasn't the case. So the same idea I'm seeing applied to our teeth. If we don't have the proper minerals and nutrients in our bodies, our body thinks we are in crisis, and diverts those nutrients to places in the body that need them to keep us alive.

On top of that, things like sugar feed bacterias that eat away at our enamel, and eat holes into our teeth- gross! So high-sugar, low-nutrient diets= a bad, sad situation for dental health. Our body won't be putting resources into keeping our teeth strong, and bacteria will be having a rager with all kinds of booze and techno music, eating at your poor, vulnerable teeth.

Awhile back I decided to give coconut oil pulling a try. There's all sort of supposed benefits, I'm not certain there have been any scientific studies on it, but reported benefits range from body detoxification, to healthier teeth and protected enamel, to re-mineralization, to tooth whitening. I can attest to the teeth whitening- it's true. I've been doing it for several months and I noticed within the first couple weeks that my teeth were lightening. Another thing I've noticed is that my teeth are considerably less sensitive. In the past, I've experienced a lot of pain due to heat and cold in my teeth. Since I started coconut oil pulling, I've noticed that those symptoms have subsided tremendously.

One of my co-berry's, Elisa, recommended I infuse my coconut oil with sage and calendula, and some oak-bark tincture. I ended up just infusing the oil in stead of making any tincture, that was a mistake and I'll talk more about that in a second. Sage acts an anti-microbial, while calendula has incredible tissue-regenerative properties. I've definitely bit my tongue a few times in my day and since using this infusion, I've noticed they heal a lot quicker... it seems that mouth stuff lasts a long time usually- perhaps because it's so easy to pick at and keep re-irritating it... but with the sage and calendula, they really speed the process.

Up until this point, my regimen is to do the coconut oil pulling in the morning, then I floss and brush at night. This has been fine, and I've even noticed that the cavities I've had (yes I have cavities), have stopped growing any larger. They even seem to be getting better but that's debatable and even so, its not as much as I'd like.

So, upon talking to one of the guest-instructors at school, I decided to try out a new regimen:

• Morning: 
• 20-minute coconut oil pull
• drink a shot glass full of a mineralizing vinegar 
• Evening: 
• Floss 
• Brush
• Swish with oak bark mouthwash for 10 minute

Next time I infuse my coconut oil, I'm going to keep the calendula and sage but ditch the oak bark. This is because the things in oak bark that are beneficial to the teeth are more readily water soluble. What I've done in stead is make a gallon of oak bark mouth wash. I'll list the recipe below. I am also going to be making a vinegar infused with high-mineral plants (nettles, horsetail, parsley, alfalfa) that I will drink to make sure my body has ample access to the minerals it needs to make healthy teeth! I'm gonna try this out for awhile and see how it goes!

Oak Bark Mouthwash Recipe

My completed oak bark mouth wash

Makes: one gallon

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. dried oak bark (I'm sure fresh would be great too, maybe better, this is just what I had)
• 1 quart boiling water
• ~1 quart of alcohol (I used rubbing alcohol because I'm cheap)
• Optional: flavoring (I used peppermint oil)

Start by boiling your water. When it has come to a boil, pour it over your oak bark in a container that can be easily covered. I used a quart-sized mason jar. Allow to steep overnight, then strain.

In your gallon container, combine your strong oak bark decoction with the alcohol. The purpose of the alcohol is to keep the mixture shelf-stable, so it won't mold. Add whatever flavorings you desire. I used 2 Tbsps of peppermint oil flavoring. Once these are well combined, pour in cool or room-temperature water until your gallon jar is full. Then you're done! Use daily as a supplement to your dental health-care regimen!

I'll be sure to check in about this stuff once I've gotten a chance to test it out for awhile.

EDIT: I just got a chance to try and I recommend diluting it. Next time I'll probably dilute 1:2 solution to water... Might even do it for half the time...

Happy teeth times!!

Creamy Squash and Potato Soup

Recipe time!

We had a bunch of squash we didn't know what to do with. I'm not into the squishy texture of roasted squash, and fried squash does not keep well... not even in the freezer. So I decided to make a blended soup today. Well okay so my partner made it. I put together the recipe and he did all the steps because:

1. Patriarchy
2. I worked all day on my grad school applications
3. I walked an hour and a half to the library and back to print out said applications and I'm tired

Here's how it goes:

Creamy Squash and Potato Soup

Ingredients:

3-4 medium sized squash

3-4 small potatoes (or ~2 bigger ones)

1 large onion

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

~1 quart broth (I used homemade beef bone broth; if you're using a lighter broth like veggie or chicken, you'll need more)

Water to cover

Wash all your veggies. Start by cutting the squash length-wise and removing the seeds. Then chop into pieces around 1/2" thick. Cut the rest of the veggies around the same size.

Next put them in a large pot along with the broth. The broth might not cover all of the veggies. If you are using a vegetable or chicken broth, add more until its covered. You can use a little bit of water, just not a ton. If you're using something heavy like beef or bone broth, you can cover the rest with some water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for around 40 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Strain the veggies.

Look at all that sweet broth you have left. Be sad that you can't save it. Or! You can freeze it and save it for the next batch of soup! If you have a proper container and the freezer space. Whatever.

Now you wanna blend it up.

Oops it doesn't fit in the blender very well.

Hmmm doesn't fit too well in there either. Oh well. Blend until it's pretty smooth. Next you're going to add the coconut milk. It's at this stage you'll want to add any seasonings. This was a little blander than I had expected so I added some salt, garlic powder, and a bunch more ginger. Blend until even SMOOTHER, and voila! Done!

Garnish with whatever you want! This week I am garnishing with scallions and pine nuts, and leftover gluten free baguette on the side. Yummy!

~~~my posting will be slow for the next couple weeks; as I said-I'm applying to grad school~~~

A Simple Spell to Clear and Bless Food

[content warning: in-depth talk of food, food politics/ethics; potential triggers for folks with eating disorders]

***Before I begin I just want to name that my body is pretty "average" sized and that I don't consider myself a target of sizeism; I've also never struggled with an eating disorder. That is my background to consider while reading this. I welcome critiques, call-outs, and call-ins alike if you see anything I write that is questionable.***

So sometimes we don't have the means to buy foods that are organic, local, whole, from places that pay workers a living wage. Sometimes we can't afford it or can't access it and that's okay. I want to share a simple clearing and blessing spell to cleanse the food before you eat it. It won't change the nutritional value, of course, and any pesticides or other things that might be in the food will still be there when you finish it. The goal of this is to help us feel at peace that any energetic things that we can clear, will be be cleansed and we won't be absorbing it. Or if you fall into the category of witches who thinks of spells in terms more grounded in scientific fact, then this spell helps us to feel as if the food has been cleared and blessed, and that as we ingest it, we are ingesting goodness, and can embody the feelings of the blessing. I mean, I was a cultural anthropology major in undergrad, so my familiarity with hard sciences are not as deep as say, my bio anth friends. But I can say for certain that placebo effect works quite frequently.

I mean whatever. I'm not gonna sit here and argue about science stuff because that doesn't necessarily go all the way for me.... Though it is fun for me to make connections... I'll save that for another post.

(I do want to mention that the smoke of smudge sticks are anti-microbial and did you know that the smoke particles bind to bacteria-harboring water particles in the air, make them heavy and sink to the ground, and greatly reduce rates of airborne transmission? That's freaking cool....)

Here we go:

Simple Food Clearing and Blessing (Varieties)

This spell can be modified depending on what you have on hand and what kind of food it is.

You'll need:

• A bowl and smudging stick of sage, juniper, cedar or other "clearing" herb, a bowl or cauldron, and a bowl of salt water OR
• Bells OR Pots/pans, and something to bang on them with and a bowl of salt water OR
• Just a bowl of salt water 

Here is what you'll do with the tools above, respectively:

Smudging method:

• What it's good for: Things that aren't a goopy mess; basically everything but that. The reason for this is that you need to hold it above the smoke. If you are holding a handful of applesauce, shits gonna get messy real fast. You could potentially smudge the bowl but I like the food to be in direct contact with the smoke. Your call.
• Light the smudge stick into a fire safe bowl or cauldron. Pass the food over the smoke, let it float over and around the food item you have. See it penetrating the food and as it does, binding to and absorbing any harmful, negative energies. As the smoke floats up and through it, notice it rising to the heavens to be transformed back into the pure love from which it came. Feel the food become lighter. 
• Notes: Please don't inhale the smoke. Not just for energetic reasons but also to save your lungs and your sinuses. They really don't like smoke that much. Also keep a window open if you can. Some sources say that smudging needs a window to pass through in order to move the energy upwards, while others say that smoking out your room is a bad idea for the whole smoke-harms-your-mucous-membrane-cells reason. One way to circumvent the former thing is to draw an energetic circle as your window. It won't keep your room well ventilated with air though. 
• Next sprinkle your salt water over the food to bless it. Holding your hands around the food, imbue it with your love and care. I do this by raising energy inside of me by visualizing actions of pure love like this:
• Imagine the delicious meal, or snack or whatever you are going to do with it. If you are feeding it to people, imagine your love and blessing going into their bodies. Imagine good health for you and all who eat it. Imagine that, upon eating this food, you are putting your intention to find better foods in the future. That might mean coming upon some extra time (and finding) a local community garden, getting an application for food stamps approved, or anything at all that can help you access foods that you feel better about. I like to dream big and imagine capitalism being crushed and good, healthy food for all, in a loving community where everyone supports one another and contributes what they are able. But that's just me.

Bells/Pots and Pans Method

• What it's good for: Pretty much anything. Especially since with pots/pans you can surround the item with it...
• Both the bells and the pots and pans method use sound vibrations as their mode of energetic cleansing. The idea is simple: as you ring the bell or bang the pots and pans, sound waves penetrate and move energy. The way I envision it is a little different than smudging, and pots and pans differ from bells:
• Bells move energy with grace. They move through the food like a gentle stream of water that then enters an energetic river. If you're into human biology, I liken it to something that moves our lymph and shakes up stagnation. The blood (energy) can be moved through the body, to the liver (cosmic liver?) where waste (negative/toxic energy) is filtered out and dispensed into a place where it becomes fertilizer (love) for other beings!
• Pots and pans feel different to me in that i think that their clashing, banging, harsh sounds tend to neutralize energy on contact. They also move, shake, and reduce stagnation, but they tend to neutralize as well. 
• Note: everyone experiences this stuff differently and whatever visualization works for you is what really matters. 
• Follow instructions for water blessing as detailed in the third bullet point in the "smudging" section.

Salt Water Method

• This blessing is best used for items that can be submerged in water. One time I used it in a bone broth with beef bones I had that I wasn't sure where they came from (well they came from Safeway, but beyond that I had no clue). 
• To use- simply submerge the item and know that the salt water (water of the ocean, the water of the womb) cleanses it thoroughly. Both salt and water have been associated with cleansing for probably millennia. Christians didn't invent baptism, it was an adaptation of a practice of cleansing that is more ancient than probably anyone really knows, and spans cultures and geography. Water washes, salt has powers of preservation. It was from the sea that the first life on earth was born, and from the sea that our ancestors came from. It is the waters of the womb that we all grow from microscopic single-cells, into the complex beings we are now. I'm not sure I can easily articulate how salt water cleanses the way it does, but it does. Consider it a baptism for your food. May it be cleansed and reborn into something that nourishes every one who eats it. Refer to the salt water blessings above for an idea of how to infuse the food with love.

I consider this is a spell for folks living in poverty or in situations where they can't access food that they feel good about. 

For folks who aren't living in poverty and have privilege to make choices around food, an incredibly strong spell you can do to assure that the food you consume nourishes your soul is to use your means to help others gain access to healthy, sustainably grown food, and food that supports workers who make a living wage. Food banks, Food-Not-Bombs, getting involved in community spaces or churches who feed houseless, starving, and struggling folks are all great options too. 

The greatest food magic you can do and be sure that you eat with a clean conscious is knowing that you are doing all you are able to support a world where all can access the food they need and that deeply nourishes.

I offer this spell because I know poverty and I know how much guilt I harbor around certain food choices I have had to make because of poverty. I believe, for myself, that that guilt is a byproduct of intersections of classism, sexism, and ableism. So many things come up around food and it's all very complicated. But being able to eat and feel at peace with your food is something no one should ever have to justify. Part of the equation is making choices where you can. The other part is knowing when we can't and being kind to ourselves anyways, because we are beings worthy of love no matter what.

Go ahead and say it if you feel compelled: "I am a being worthy of love"