Tumeric for Accident Soreness

Hello fellow green folk:),

Just a quick post tonight. I've been pretty preoccupied with canvassing for Moveon.org and the Obama campaign. It's beautiful work. I love being outside and meeting people and especially getting them excited about voting. That's very awesome.

It's amazing that this work is really re-invigorating me to want to be involved in herbal education again - particularly with children. I have so many ideas. I'm thinking about whipping up a proposal for someplace. I'm waiting for the idea to totally form;-).

Wellpers, what I wanted to definitely write about is this. Day before yesterday I was in an icky car accident. Things weren't horribly bad, but I did walk away with an achy back, leg, and stiffish neck. I definitely didn't want to go for pain killers, especially because I knew that my kitchen witch in me knew a better source.

My intuition kept suggesting paprika which I do think would have been a great choice. However, I didn't have any BUT as I looked for it I found Tumeric! Tumeric is awesome for sprains and bruised muscles. So I poured some lavender infused oil in my hand and sprinkled a good portion of Tumeric into it and rubbed it deeply into all the sore spots.

By the end of the day, the soreness had subsided considerably and I was able to walk a whole bunch that day. Towards the beginning of the day, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it up the hill:).

Yay for Tumeric:).

Here are the pictures I captured from the accident: http://www.photoblog.com/missleah/2008/10/06/car-crash.html

Here's some info on kitchen herbs from me: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art21352.asp

and from someone else:): http://vanithagohi.wordpress.com/2007/06/21/home-remedies-for-sprain/

Messages from Lemon Balm and Rosemary

Well today was very good. I was inspired by other aspects of my life (like finally finding a consistent job:)) and finally was able to "feel right" about going out and communing with some plants. I'd been trying for a few days to no avail. I'd gone to the park but couldn't really get settled enough. Too many people walking around made me feel self-conscious and I couldn't bring myself to really just focus on me and the plants. I wonder if I'm the only green witch that has experienced that. I doubt it. I think that's a big part of being a city green witch, working through those feelings of weirdness/oddness, finding it in yourself to not care what others are thinking, finding it in yourself to take it one step further and even hope that they are wondering what you're doing and have enough courage to ask. That i think would be ideal. That I know is the kind of conviction, belief in myself, and settled content sense of self I'm aiming for.

Anyhoo, I digress. Today I was able to get some great messages from Lemon Balm and Rosemary. I'd started with going out to my backyard as usual but just wasn't able to make a connection with the plants out there. I don't really know what they are and maybe that was the reason. Maybe I needed to start with plants I know very very well. Hence Lemon Balm and Rosemary:). These two herbs are truly included in my favorites. Within the top three I'm sure. Here in this picture is my Rosemary at nighttime. I just took this picture about 15 minutes ago. This is what I learned about Rosemary from Rosemary itself.

Rosemary Impressions.
*Blood
*slow acting
*wound healing (I envisioned a football player)
*astringent and acrid

So it seems to me that Rosemary was trying to tell me that in addition to all the things I already know about her, it is also a good herb for the blood but must be taken over time since it's slow acting. I got the impression that this was in general as well. Slow acting for all it's activity.

Wound healing seemed to refer to sports injuries, maybe bone related. I got an impression similar to the knitbone herb (of which the name fails me now). Also when I think of Rosemary, particularly looking at it, it looks like the spine with all the leaves coming off like nerves. So perhaps it's a good herb for strengthening the bones and connections of the spine.

I'm sure at some point, I'm going to go hunting and see if I see any references in herb books about these qualities. They could be impressions just for me though:). We'll see. As people begin to come around and read here, I'd love to hear if any of these impressions make sense to others out there.

This here is a picture of my Lemon Balm. I love Lemon Balm. It's scent. It's strength. It's vibrancy. And interestingly enough, these are the impressions I got.

Lemon Balm's Impressions.
*vitality
*heart, veins
*sinewy (maybe tendons and ligaments)
*warrior, strength
*lungs
*sweet, love
*seems decidedly masculine with an underlying femininity/sweetness

I think these impressions are pretty straight forward. I made a tea of fresh lemon balm today after doing this exercise and it was just exquisite. It's a strong tea but filled with just the right sweetness. It does feel to do and work with everything I received in my sit with it. Lemon Balm reminds me of Aquarius, my sun sign. Maybe that's another reason I have such an affinity to it.

In any case, I'm very happy with today. I even ran across a happy mini-field of Red Clover, number 3 on the list. They seemed to be waving at me:). Next time I will take a picture:).

My Green Witch Journal

I ran to Target one day and decided that my journal was there. Just had to find it. And I was right:). I deliberated for a bit - this one was $2.49 as opposed to the cute one with the flower on it that was 99 cents. When I thought more about it though, I figured this: "I am making a commitment to myself in this simple purchase. This is a journal dedicated to green witchery. Isn't it grander to have one printed on recycled paper with beautiful earth tones and nameless green plants on the cover. I thought so too;). 

My Shrine/Altar

In the book The Way of the Green Witch, Arin talks about creating a shrine and or an altar. I've done this for a few years going on many now. It is a place of balance and remembering for me. I guess what I mean by this is that regardless where I am in terms of my active practicing, whenever I walk past it/see it/lay something on it - it gives me a warm sense of peace and protection. Here is a picture of my somewhat junky shrine/altar.
I don't do much magick or spell casting here but I do lay things of importance to me here and the goddess there in the middle - she is a water goddess and she keeps me aware and stable in my cancerian tendencies. All the uncomfortableness aquarians feel with emotions and feelings, she helps me balance:).

Arin also spoke about making a medicine bag to hold special little talismans. I've had different fashions of these before but never one I made myself. So yesterday I made myself a simple little bag for keepsakes. The fabric is particularly special to me because it came into my life as a choice for a dance costume. It was actually the color I was to wear. That color eventually got nixed but I still had the swatches of fabric. It's a vibrant yellow - all air but very fiery in it's own distinct way. And it ties my dancing into my green life in my own little way. Plus I added a green string just to be sure. And I'm very proud of my simplistic handi-work:). Thank the universe for small victories and secret blossoming smiles:).

The Way of the Green Witch

I am really enjoying this book. In fact it's what inspired this blog even. I miss being close to nature. I miss being the crazy girl walking down the street looking at the weeds in the abandoned lot:). I miss making medicine and mixing herbs and making potpourri. And I miss having that magic about my life.

I think what happened is that I started to stop believing in everything. I'm not going to try to figure out why things began to fail me. Why I felt like turning away from everything that gave me peace and stability. But I did. And I think I'm ready to turn back. And in a more full way. A more embracing way. And not just embracing of this one particular thing. But embracing of how this green witchery is interlaced into all that I am. It doesn't mean I'm any less of a dancer, any less of a makeup aficionado, any less of a full fledge modern girl. One day you just realize you can be it all because you are it all. You just have to make peace with that.

I'm still making peace. And it's getting easier:). That's the great thing about The Way of the Green Witch. It's all about embracing you in your path. All the ways I've always been with it, always felt about it - she goes right ahead and affirms me without knowing me at all yet knowing me so well. It's a lovely gift this book. I think every green witch would love it. The Amazon reviews are admittedly kind of bitter but for me, it's exactly what I needed right now. Check the library too, that's where I got my copy:).

My path of the green witch

Well hello. In a flash of inspiration, I've decided to start this blog. Mostly it's for me. To provide me with motivation. To give me something tangible to be accountable to. And to chronicle my re-embracing of my green witch path.

For a few years, I've been barely a green witch. Barely practicing. Barely hanging on to the tradition that means so much to me. There are a lot of reasons for that. But I've finally been feeling the urge to reconnect. Finally been feeling the desire to be out with nature. Finally wanting to craft for magick's sake. And finally feeling the motivation within me saying yes, Leah, it's time:).

So I hope you gather something from this journey of mines that helps you with the journey of yours. I'm sure I'll be thought provoking, humorous, and occasionally profound. I know I'll be interesting. Do follow if you like:). I would like it indeed:).