The Magickal Garden

Do you have a witch's garden? A place to make offerings to the earth deities? Do you engage in any conscientious garden protection? Well, now is the perfect time to plant even a small garden (if you don't already have one), transform your already existing garden into a place to thank the Goddess and God, and do some simple spellwork to protect all your hard work from negative energies as well as annoying (and hungry) pests. If you're starting from scratch here, you can reference the term "garden" below for a few brief lists of basic plants, but for the sake of time and space, I'll assume you already have a garden to work with. Note that this doesn't have to be a full-sized garden in your backyard. City dwellers can modify some of these practices for a container garden on a terrace or even a kitchen windowsill (though I wouldn't recommend sprinkling vinegar and oils on your kitchen woodwork).

In the center of my witch garden I have an antique sundial that was given to us by a friend and on which I place offerings to the deities, burn incense, and even use as a table of sorts to complete fire spells that I have begun indoors but for obvious reasons don't want to finish in my living room, lest I accidentally burn down my house. But you need not use something so ornate. Two stones, one relatively rectangular shaped and placed standing vertically with a smaller flat round stone placed horizontally before it works just as well. They can be big or small depending on your space. Place your offerings or burn your incense on the flat horizontal stone. If you don't have the room for stones or just don't find the idea of looking at rocks particularly pleasing, you can simply push lit stick incense into the soil either in the center of, or around the perimeter of, your garden. You can even walk the perimeter of your garden while carrying incense and say a blessing to both your growing plants and the god or goddess of your choice.

Small garden statuary often gets a bad rap, and let's be honest, a great deal of it is pretty tacky, but don't rule all of it out. Why not find a small stone creature that speaks to you? Or even add an inanimate version of your power animal to a corner of your garden? If you choose a small enough statute you can face the quarters while holding it and call upon the powers of both the divine and the elements to bless your garden. Did you know that those big glass garden balls on pedestals that were so popular during the early and middle part of the last century are in fact exactly the same thing as a (smaller) witch ball hung in a home's window? Any glass ball that has been silvered on the inside is, in fact, a witch ball. One of these can be placed in the center of your garden in a color that is personal for you, and besides the protection it will offer, on a quiet day (and not in direct sunlight), you can sit and with soft eyes gaze into your garden ball and scry.

Moss agate is a powerful stone that vibrates to the element of earth and can be carried in your pocket while gardening. It ensures a rich crop and plant fertility. Charge your agate before use, and for an added boost of power, you can "plant" some agate directly into your garden. Four small agates can be placed either at the corners of your garden if it's square or rectangular, or at the quarters if your garden is round, buried into the earth to make your garden grow.

And to keep those hungry pests away from all your hard work you can mix a simple potion that can be sprinkled around the edge of your garden. In a small glass jar, mix 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of either olive or sesame oil, chop a clove of garlic and tear up or chop some fresh spearmint or peppermint. You can also sprinkle some black pepper into it as well. Shake vigorously and drizzle it around the perimeter of your garden, but take care to not get the vinegar on any grass or plants as it can burn them. You can also recite a spell as you do this:

Creatures of the air,

Creatures of the land,

This garden is protected

by my heart and my hand.

By the powers of three times three,

As I will it, so mote it be.

With these simple steps and the power of intention, you'll be sure to have a lush and very productive season ahead!

Photo of yarrow and bee balm courtesy of ben.tebbens on flickr.

Kitchen Witch

The kitchen is the place where we make simple, common magick every single day and while we are in there working, why not make sure both ourselves and our homes are protected?

Grow an aloe plant in the kitchen for protection from negative energy and accidents while cooking. Placing it in a sunny window is best, but if you can't keep one in your kitchen, having one somewhere else in the home is almost as good. Onions, garlic and peppers are also known for their protective properties. Hang a rope of any one of them in your kitchen to keep you and your family safe. If a whole string of them is too much for you, a single onion or a bulb of garlic placed on the windowsill will ward off negative, harmful energy. If you are using these as a protective measure, be sure to never use them to cook with. You don't want to ingest any of the negative energy they've been absorbing!

It's considered very bad luck to ever run out of salt in your kitchen and home. It's long been thought that to do so means certain bad luck, bad health or even worse, so be sure to keep an extra container of salt at the back of your cupboard that you never open or use and this will never be an issue for you.

Make yourself a Kitchen Witch Bottle. Take a clean bottle and place within it three needles, three pins and three nails. Fill the jar with salt and a pinch of dried rosemary, shake it nine times and drip red candle wax over the jar lid to seal it. You can say a brief protection incantation and make the sign of the pentagram over it if you'd like before you place it in the dark at the back of a cabinet where it won't be seen.

Stay safe while making your house a healthy, well-fed and happy home!

Photo courtesy of The Titus on flickr.

A Hearty Tomato Soup

We're diehard soup lovers here in our house and what better way to use some of the most abundant vegetables of this time of year than in a hearty soup, and in doing so honor the bounty of the harvests that occur between Lammas and Mabon? And as the evenings grow cooler, a hot bowl of soup and a thick slab of bread not only feeds the tummy, but the soul as well.


Delicious Tomato Soup makes 4-6 good size servings

2 28 or 35 ounce cans of organic whole peeled tomatoes
a couple of fresh ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (optional)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 quarts (8 cups) water or stock
1/2 cup chopped organic parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375f degrees. Drain tomatoes and reserve the liquid. Halve canned ones and put those and the fresh (if using them) in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil, toss, add the thyme and roast. Turning them once or twice, roast for about 30 minutes. If they begin to dry out or stick, add a bit of the tomato liquid as needed.

Put the remaining olive oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook just until it begins to color, in a minute or so. Add the carrots and onions and cook, sprinkling with the salt and pepper, stirring for about five minutes. Stir in the stock or water, along with the contents of the roasting pan and the reserved tomato juice.

Turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat so it bubbles gently. Cover and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Garnish with the parsley and serve.

This is an amazingly vivid-colored soup, vibrant with the reds, golds and oranges of autumn and Mabon and it tastes delicious. Serve it with a loaf of buttery rich homemade corn bread and you have a simple, yet perfect, meal for this time of year. Enjoy and rejoice in the impending arrival of the Great Harvest and the autumnal equinox.