into 2018

May your soul be at home where there are no houses.
Walk carefully, well-loved one
Walk mindfully, well-loved one
Walk fearlessly, well-loved one
Return with us, return to us
Be always coming home
 :: Ursula K. Le Guin

This little pocket of land in north Katoomba and the old rundown cottage that is tucked behind a crumbling fence, has captured my heart and soul.
It’s a place where my own spiritual path combines my love of Mary, the seasonal wheel, magic, ritual and meditation. Folklore and ancestors. The spiritual path, is becoming my own and I’m coming to a place of ease with that. When I am at home, here, I feel as if I am apart from the world, and that’s a good thing.

Almost to the end of February and the wheel is turning towards autumn equinox. The apple tree is beginning to colour up, with leaves falling gently onto my newly planted parsley. The falling leaves have the promise of rich compost in their rotting leaves. I’ve been creating veggie garden beds, filling them with compost and soil from heaps left by the previous owner. Joe gathered me a pile of half composted cedar leaves and I almost squealed with glee when I saw squirming worms in it. They were all placed safely into the new beds. And all covered with spent straw. Now the beds will sit over winter, slowly breaking down into a rich soil for spring veggies. The plan for this garden is mostly to be a food and medicinal garden. A bee hedge will be planted as well as a small orchard, with plums, apples and pears. A fig in a pot and lots of rhubarb. I hope to learn how to keep bees and become a beekeeper. Along the verge, I plan on planting citrus and currants, both red and black. Herbs will be planted, in a dedicated bed for both medicinal and magic and herbs will also be planted throughout the veggie garden in a companion type of way.
The cottage itself has a lot of fixing up to be done and we will slowly tackle that, all the time being very careful not to take away the charm that attracted us in the beginning and that we love so much. It’s exciting. We have road trips planned to the country to find old windows and architectural bits.

*self seeded tomatoes in my garden

 



It’s a wonderful place that I find myself in as I journey through my 60th year. I truly feel like I’ve come full circle since leaving Inglewood at Woodford

I have started back with my journey of hedgewitch - creating poppets and charms.
today, I made a protective charm poppet to help dispel negativity from our home, to help stop negative energies from crossing our boundaries...
using fennel, basil and oregano, a head of garlic, a black feather gifted to me from a currawong and a piece of black tourmaline.

 

*fennel: wards of negative energies;  basil, so I have read, is the protector of family; oregano if used as a wash, will form a protective barrier against negative energies (I shall do this as well, eventually), for the time being a sprig in my poppet will suffice) and we all know that garlic protects us from vampires but seriously, folk lore tells that it is a powerful protector from negative energies and it amplifies the effects of other herbs.

 



It is now first quarter moon in Gemini and I wish to begin again, the ritual of sipping herbal tea on the phases of the Moon.

first quarter Moon in Gemini :: ritual herbal brew ::
* lavender * skullcap * valerian * oatstraw
as it is autumn, I will mix the brew with warmed apple juice and use the essence cerato.
Gemini is connected to the lungs, nervous system and breath. tonight, I am going to make a concerted effort to practice a meditation focusing on my breath. I will also  make a self massage oil using peppermint & lavender.

that, is my day.