As usual my #haggingout can be broken into a couple aspects. For April's challenge, in the days leading up to May Day I prepared food, but the most important part of the event was the Hexennacht ritual. In Czechia Hexennacht is known as Pálení čarodějnic (burning witches).
In Bohemia, on the eve of the first of May, young people light fires on hills and tops, at crossroads and in pastures, and dance around them. They jump over glowing embers or even jump over flames. The ceremony is called 'burning the witches'. In some places, it is customary to burn a puppet representing a witch at the stake. We must remember that the first of May is the famous Walpurgis Night, and the air is full of invisible witches on hellish errands. --James Frazer
According to much of my reading this practice is more about burning winter and hearkens back to the drowning of Morana a few weeks earlier. The burning of witches is actually a German influence (Much of Czechia was ruled by Germany in the nineteenth century) and closely tied to Walpurgisnacht.
In my practice this was certainly the last goodbye to Winter, but also a banishing ritual to get rid of some lingering negativity. I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves and not got into too much detail on this rather personal ritual.
A few days earlier I began preparing food for May Day weekend. First I gathered spiderwort flowers and candied them (simply brushing them with egg white and sprinkling with sugar and letting them dry).
The I made sweet and savory spring pancakes with Allium oleraceum, wild field garlic. I topped them with honey and the candied spiderwort.
Preparing seasonal food is such a big part of observing the changing of the year to me. I also made a rose and strawberry syrup with the first of the strawberries that are coming into season here.
This is a honey based, very rich syrup that I used in my May Day cuppa tea.
Working with roses, strawberries, spiderwort, and wild field garlic was so relaxing and well, celebratory of the season.
Happy #haggingout everyone! Thank you as always, @graveyarddirt for hosting!
September’s “hagging out” is about foraging, which is the only kind of plant work I can do. (I’m probably wanted for war crimes against seeds by now.)
I’ve been meaning to try this out for a while, so… I got some poke berries to make poke berry ink. Poke is very toxic to humans (though the young shoots can be edible if prepared properly), but the berries are good for birds and they create a very pretty color when smashed. I’ll post an update when I have time, but here’s what I’ve got so far.
I’m late, but this is my #HaggingOut for July on the theme of Honey. It’s more a collection of things regarding bees and some recipes, since I didn’t have any active honey-based projects in July.
I love bees. I always have. I think of bees as a symbol of plenty and fertility, and a sign that a place is thriving. You can’t have a healthy land and a hearty harvest without the work of bees. Like most mammals I dislike getting stung, but it’s rare, and I’m rather content to let them buzz around me so long as we’re not pissing each other off.
Every summer I have a companion spirit that moves with me, who arrives in May and leaves by Canadian Thanksgiving. Grackle is a common guest. Last summer it was Garden Spider. I’ve had Frog, Toad, Snail, Spider, Garter Snake and Dragonfly. But most often it’s Bee, usually in the guise of a bumblebee.
I have made many lovely pieces of jewelry featuring bees over the years, a few of which I’ve kept with me:
And there’s a few that have moved on, but still remain favorites. I made a ritual cord that had bee charms for the tassel ends, and a full set of Aset regalia for a fellow covener’s first time as the vessel in an Invocation ritual that featured bees. I cannot think of things Kemetic without thinking of “They of Sedge and Bee”.
My grandparents always had buckwheat honey, which is strong and dark and thick, and that’s where my palate has stayed. I like most honey, but buckwheat honey from the fields around me sings to me. I buy my own honey from a local farm at the farmer’s market who really work hard to nurture the local native landscape. They also sell a huge bucket of their regular honey that let me bake and Craft with it to my heart’s content for quite a while.
I’m going to share two recipes, and then toddle off:
Smitten Kitchen’s Honey Cake is hands down the best recipe I’ve tried. I stud mine heavily with nuts, more than they call for, but it’s equally as good without. I’m sure with some finangling it can be made suitable for various diets (although not vegan). I heartily recommend that you use 1tsp. of baking powder, though, and not 1 tbsp!
And I’ll share a simple Honey and Oat salt scrub recipe for the bath - it leaves the skin glowing and smells amazing.
Honey and Oat Sugar Scrub
2 c. Sugar
1 c. honey
1/2 c. oats
2 tsp. vanilla extract or 5 drops vanilla oil
That’s it from me for #haggingout! See you again soon, hags.
A huge 'thank you!' to all of the ill-tempered and greying-haired Baba Yagas who took part, an enthusiastic thank you to returning Hags, and a welcoming thank you to the new Hags that joined us this month as we focused on the rituals, workings, customs, festivities, and/or sabbat spectacles of Witches’ Night [aka Walpurgisnacht & Hexennacht], Beltane, May Day, and International Workers’ Day.
If you're interested in reading what the Hags got up to this April entries can be found using the tag #hagging out, and by clicking the entry-linked Xs below:
So as some of you know this month went off the rails on me almost immediately, with my cat Shy passing on the 8th, which is the day after my oldest sister who died birthday, and also childhood trauma, September fucking sucks for me already, so I tried my best to occupy myself with #haggingout but well this probably won't be my best entry just heads up going in, also I wanted to do a separate Autumn Equanox post but lost the spoons so I'm Hulk smashing em together hope that's alright Dirty
It was appropriately overcast on the Equinox this year, also check out my nails I've never had em this long before (I chewer) and this weeks the fist time I've painted em since I was like fourteen! Having em long was helping me detangle Shys fur, she also liked me runing em across her head, so I was motivated to not chew, I couldn't cut em or chew em right after she died so the other day I decided to paint em for spooky season, funnily the last time I painted they were probably black to,
I didn't do to much for the Autumn Equinox this year I was having a pretty bad brain day so I did offerings to the land, to the Horae (the seasons), to the Anemoi(the winds) asking for a wet winter, they've been to dry lately, and thanking them for the harvest I got/am getting,
that loaded backwards, but fuck it you get the idea, I gave oats and some tea that was starting to go bad, I figure rotting leaf juice is a good land offering, I also finished the last of my solstice/equinox working, I started December 2021 I finished September 2022, whew, and I almost forgot to do it too!
So while I still have some pumpkins on the vine mostly the harvest is winding down, here's my broom seeds!
The strawberries were in great form this year though if I'm honest there freaking me out a little, back you mangy vegetation! back I say!
And I'm so freaking proud of my broom this year, last year I only got a couple up, this year I got 20 sets of three seeds to come up, we did have an unfortunate bird attack so I had to rapidly cut the seeds down before I lost them,
Here's a shot before they'd all seeded and rippend, and then got mauled by evil little birds lol
honestly I think my backyard itself is my basket this year, I'm so amazed at the work ma and I have done to it, I told you all in my bed hagging out earlier it was struggling in the heat this year?
Well as soon as the temps dropped a bit the everything started blooming, the butterfly hit, and we've got like forty different bee species, I saw a fucking praying Mantus going up our lattice, my dudes I've NEVER seen one of those in nature! Also ma saw a fucking humming bird at our butterfly bush! Never seen that around here! Also also a humming brid mouth took residence here for like three weeks, I'd seen one up in the mountains once a few years ago got it on camera and was like the fuck is this, and it was so cool to have one just hanging around chillin on all the flowers and really liking the sunflowers that crop up every year,
This backyard was such a ugly waste land when we got here,
We'd moved in October 2017, I worked my ass off that first year getting all that wood bits off the ground to keep my dogs from cutting up there paws on it, there was also plastic crap under it and the dirt I pulled up, and there were these metal things around the rocks I had to get up also a paw slicing hazard, and don't even get me started on the fire pit, I went to move it thinking it was a ring with spikes pushed into the ground oh no these dumb fuckers varied a regular fucking big fire pit into the ground, anyway here she is now:
Only sad thing is the line tree died on us, there was a bad winter followed by fires near by that bolted out the sun a had a film of soot over everything, it tired but this extremely hot summer did her in,
All in all though while I can't fit my whole yard into my hand basket I've got broom and pumpkin etc and hopefully more next year!
I also was able to get a Hekate statue I've been wanting since last year! I spent all month praying over her while passing her through smoke,
And finally, with how upset Mittens has been with the loss of her sister ma and I after discussing and prayers to my Gods decided to go look for a companion for her, I found a pretty 4 month old kitten in a shelter nearby, we've been having her be a little apart so they can get used to each other and we've kept kitten in the bathroom at night, funnily enough we had a basket in there full of stuff and I walked in couldn't find her at first only to see she'd stuffed herself in it around the stuff, we ended up giving her a different basket cause she kept smacking her stomach on the hard rim and they'd recently fixed her, so ouchy stitches!
I've named her Circe, she's the third cat I've had whose name I plucked from Greek mythology
Does she count? She is in a basket, lol, also took me a bit to show y'all her cause I needed to get her added in to my protection spells,
actually does any of this count I had a little trouble trying to fit this one with where I'm at right now, anyway thank you for the challenge Dirty and for hosting these! Love to you dear♡
Happy autumn 🍂 to my cohost @graveyarddirt / @msgraveyarddirt !!! I thought you would love this. Follow the link for more beautiful paintings!
Thank you for being a constant inspiration to me. Your #haggingout challenge this month is really getting me outdoors in the sunshine 🌞 and helping my mental and physical health. Your invitation to join you in this endeavor is doing the same.
I hope this autumn brings you much joy and happiness!!
Hey @graveyarddirt, @msgraveyarddirt <3!
Here's my little unexpected contribution to this month's #haggingout theme! (late as usual, since I was not planning to participate. But I came across this article today by chance.)
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"My father went to thresh wheat with a flail in winter at a neighbour's. This neighbor also had two day laborers who threshed his wheat. So the boss made them eat the soup in the evening. In the evening, he made them peel chestnuts while waiting for the soup to be ready. One evening, he said to them : "There, I'm leaving" (he didn't tell them what he was going to do.) "You will finish cooking the soup and you will eat it. I'm leaving." Then he lay down backwards under the fireplace, then said to them, "You mustn't touch me, you will leave me here as I lie down."
Then all of a sudden they heard a big buzz come out of his mouth and saw a big bumblebee go up the chimney, while the body of the boss remained there.
They left the soup on the fire and left quickly, they were scared! It happened like this. He had to go to the "synagogue" that one ! (= name given to the sabbath in the Alpine mountains)
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(Story recovered in Haute-Savoie, mid-20th century.)
(…)
The theme of the alter ego in animal form :
presence of observers who will report on the link between the alter ego and the hero
human sleep (or at least sleep posture)
prohibition (taboo) to touch the body
exit of the mouth of the man of an insect, identified thanks to its noise.
departure of the insect towards the outside, in an upward movement, by the only exit allowing to communicate without obstacle, closed doors and windows, inside and outside: the chimney.
immobility of the body once its vital force is gone.
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[ Often, the rest of the story also indicates : ]
return of the insect through the mouth of the man
the narration of the man (through the report of a dream, for example) which tells "what the insect did" during its journey outside him.
the formal identification of the animal and the protagonist.
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[Other accounts] present variations on this same theme :
During a wake, an old lady dozes off in her chair ; at the end of the vigil, the other participants want to wake her up but there is no one in her clothes, which fall to the floor. An old man advises putting the clothes back on as they were before they touched them. A little rat, the next moment, returns to the clothes : the witch wakes up. (…)
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A story reported by A.C in 1966 shows women of bad life, leaving immediately, when the devil summons them to his feast, the work they were doing : "their bodies like bark, remaining motionless in the position or had surprised them the call of the devil". When their spirit reintegrated their body, after several hours, they told what had happened. (feast, dance.) Note that the women are not asleep, but surprised in their daily tasks.
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in "The bumblebee flies on the sabbath", Revue Régionale d'Ethnologie, by J. Berlioz. 1992.
Translated and arranged with difficulty by me.
Cooking is the way I Work, quietly and alone, or raucously with those I love.
When I’m in need of restoration, I make soup. When my body aches, soup. When my heart hurts, I make soup. When I have lost, there is soup. This particular soup is half acknowledgement of the dying world, and half celebration of its bounty. Sure, I could make it in June -- but it wouldn’t be the same. Fall is when the world is singing its loudest, to me, inviting me to take in every last ounce of warmth and joy I can, before it’s time to huddle up against the snow, and sleep like seedlings in the dark, waiting for the sun.
Harvest time is golden -- and so is this soup.
Begin with a few winter squash (I used butternut this time, but acorn, kabocha, pumpkin... they all roast beautifully), scrubbed, halved, de-seeded. It’s all right if you don’t get all the tiny fibers out -- roasting handles most of the texture issues. Be gentle with yourself, here. There’s no rush in this Work, no stress.
Gild a baking sheet with a generous pour of olive oil, spread it around with your hands, and lay their round, full bodies out, cut side down. Put in a 400F oven for a good hour. This is a chance for rest. Reading a good book, maybe, or watching the birds at the feeder, or checking for chicken eggs, or listening to music while you put your feet up. Give yourself a chance to reflect on all you have gotten done, not all you have left to do.
When the skins have browned, and the squashes are soft, and their sugars are caramelizing on the baking tray, turn the oven off and let them sit for awhile, until they’re cool enough for you to handle.
Peel them, if the skins will come off easily, but if not, scrape out the flesh and set it aside. Marvel at the way there is hardly anything else in the world this color except the fall outside. This glorious orange gold that will stain your fingertips and nail beds and cutting boards, if you let it, to remind you of the richness of your efforts, and the way things sometimes stay, even if you’re not expecting it.
In a Dutch oven, soften two cups of sweet onions and a tablespoon or two of minced garlic; let them mingle and marry and glisten. So what if the onions made you cry while chopping them? So what if something else made you cry? What are tears to a heart that knows soup is coming? Let them dry on your face, and stir your pot. Loosen your shoulders, unclench your jaw, breathe in. Breathe out.
When the onions have just gone from soft, translucent and fragrant, when they are just beginning to brown and stick, pour in two quarts of the best chicken stock or chicken soup you have. Something made with carrots, celery, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Something that makes your mouth water, on its own. You might worry that it will overpower the squash -- don’t. This is no time for worrying. The chicken stock and the squash will transform one another in their absolute union. They’ll transform you.
Add all that lovely winter squash, and let it simmer for an hour. Maybe even two. Let it sit on the stove and fill your heart and your home with the invitation to be hungry. Open your insides. Vulnerability can be anticipation. Good things are coming.
When the squash has begun to break down even further, when everything is bubbling, blend it however you can. A mixer, an immersion blender, a countertop blender, a food processor -- whatever you’ve got. Get it uniform and thick and then pour in a can of evaporated milk, and keep blending. Keep it warmed, if you can, and let yourself go, focusing on working out every last thyme leaf, every last onion.
Standing over the stove with a steaming pot and a spoon is meditative. The Oracle of Delphi wishes she could breathe this in, I know it.
In the end, if you can, pour it through a sieve, press and stir with a rubber spatula, and strain out any last unblended bits -- until you’re left with something that looks a little like you caught the sun in your soup pot, a gold that’s velvet on the tongue, and warm in the chest.
Share it in a bowl, with friends, with family, with bread -- and if you want, add things like roasted chicken, pickled onions, tomato jam, hot sauce, fresh herbs.
Even if this pot is just for you, enjoy the smoothness of it, the perfect silken touch of rich gold, a bounty for both spirit and stomach, and let it warm you against the darkening of the year.
Winter is cold, but beautiful, too, especially with soup.
For @graveyarddirt, @luc3, @satsekhem, @thegodthief, @sycamore, @sagecake, @sparrowhearted, @sparrowinthebranches, and @anothertroy -- I know I’m posting late, but I hope you enjoy the spirit of the work.
How I see myself. This is a big, aromatic bunch of homegrown lemon balm for @msgraveyarddirt ‘s #haggingout challenge for June. We’re preserving things for her December challenge and I decided to make mugwort ale and lemon balm mead for ritual use. Can’t wait to see what the other participants are working on! #haggingout #witchgarden #lemonbalm #ritualbrewing #mugwort #fermenting #preserving #alewife #mead
My celebration of the Equinox was two fold. Most importantly I drown a Morana dolly in the creek in the woods behind the house, and secondly I baked.
The drowning of Morana (or Marzanna, or Marena, or Mara, or Smrtka . . . ) is an old Slavic tradition and the beginning of my devotional year. On the fourth or fifth Sunday of Lent, depending on the region, an effigy of the goddess is thrown into the river to drown; sometimes she is also burned. We know that people have been drowning effigies of the goddess since at least 1420, when it was forbidden by the Catholic church, but probably for much longer. It is a misconception by many that Morana is only a goddess of winter and death.
“However, many historical sources and traces of her cult (particularly in the West Slavic beliefs) show clearly that the cold winter is only one of the faces of this goddess. After getting rid of the winter effigy, another similar one was being brought up in a procession around the villages and fields - it was a symbol of spring, the same goddess being reborn after the winter phase and waking up nature’s vital strength for the upcoming growing season. Many of such informations survived in countless folk songs and rituals.” --Lamus Dworski
This is the first year that I drown a doll that I made the preceding year. Before this I always made a doll at the equinox to drown. This year the doll that I made to symbolize Morana’s rebirth last year was used in every seasonal ritual and in the end drown. I plan on doing this yearly going forward.
This year’s dolly will be showing up in many, many posts.
As part of the death and rebirth ritual last year I made a set of Morana prayer beads representing the dark half of the year. This year I made a set representing the light half.
Another addition to the ritual this year was spending at least a half hour every night the week before I drown Morana in meditation and prayer with her, annointing her with oils and holy water and burning incense.
The second thing I did to celebrate the equinox was bake! First I baked Slavic spring birdies to “release” into the wild. I released the majority of them the Thursday before I drown Morana.
“Even before the leaves bud out, as the snow begins to thaw, one must invite–indeed coax–the spring to arrive. If one simply waited, Spring (being willful) might not choose to come, and then, with last year’s food bins already almost empty, one could not survive. To bring the spring proactively, Russian mothers baked bird-shaped pastries in early March and their children clambered about setting these little larks and snipes out like duck decoys on the rooftops, fence posts, and snowless patches of ground, hanging them from trees and bushes or even tossing them into the air, meanwhile singing such songs as:
Larks, Larks, Give us Summer,
We’ll give you Winter,
There’s no food left for us”
–“The Dancing Goddesses” by Elizabeth Wayland Barber
In an earlier time in Ukraine and other Slavic nations, on the Holy Day of the 40 Martyrs, (March 9, O.S; March 22, N.S.), the return of the birds in the spring was celebrated with special spring songs (vesnianky). Birds made of dough were also baked representing the larks that were migrating back to the north.
I started releasing the birds into the wild with my friend @msgraveyarddirt a few years ago. I was delighted to find a picture in a book on the traditions of the Znojmo region of Moravia (where my great-grandparents are from) earlier this year and realize that the birds are indeed one of those pan Slavic traditions.
This morning before I drown Morana, I woke up at 3 am and could not fall back asleep. So I decided to bake. I began making my first manzanec and while it was rising went out to do my Morana ritual.
“Pavla Velickinova, the head of the public diplomacy department at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C., says mazanec is one of the oldest documented Easter foods in Czech history. It comes from the expression, "mazat," which means to anoint, she says. This is why it's baked on White Saturday, the day that reminds Czechs of the last rites of Christ.
This tradition of making mazanec as an Easter treat dates back to the 15th century, says Karen Von Kunes, a professor of Slavic language and literature at Yale University.
But even before that, she says, people across Europe baked this kind of bread around springtime. "In Europe, it was a custom to celebrate spring with making this ... type of pastry," she says.” --NPR
The site where I found the recipe said that the cross represented the sun, unlike the NPR quote above. In my personal devotions I could certainly see it representing the wheel of the year. The dough is nearly the same as the vánočka (Czech braided Christmas bread) that I made for štědrovečerní večeře (Czech Christmas Eve dinner). The smell of lemon peel and vanilla is forever forward going to be related to the holidays.
@msgraveyarddirt thank you as always for hosting #haggingout. I’m glad we revisited this theme as my yearly rituals are constantly growing and evolving. ( I in no way expect you to publish this until the 29th--I just wanted to get it all down while it was fresh in my mind.)
I have a few small tricks I use for warding my home. I won’t list everything I do here, of course, but here are a few simple ideas.
1. SATOR squares
SATOR squares are a very old charm. There are similar compositions with different words, but the concept is basically the same: the words read the same forwards, backwards, top-to-bottom, and bottom-to-top. Any spirits who wish to do you harm will be stuck trying to read the entire thing.
2. MIrrors
I use small craft/mosaic mirrors for this. There’s a very affordable brand called Darice, but any mirrors will do. I place the mirrors face-out in windows that cover every direction of my house. So one in the front of the house, one in the back, one on the left side, one on the right side. This is to “reflect” anything that tries to get in back out. I use very small mirrors to: 1. avoid being that weirdo with a bunch of random mirrors in the window and 2. avoid causing glares that might cause trouble for people on the street.
3. Cobalt blue glass
Traditionally, the idea is to put a bunch of cobalt-blue bottles on a dead tree in your yard. This would trap spirits who wandered at night and they would be purified by the sunlight in the morning. There are several reasons why blue is chosen for this. Blue is associated with water (for cleansing properties), the sky (for purity/Heaven), etc.
I don’t have a dead tree in my yard. Instead, I place cobalt glass around the house/in the windows. The concept is basically the same. Most of my cobalt glass is in the shape of a container, like a bottle, a vase, a cup, etc., but I have a few items that are simply glass ornaments.
So there you go, a few very simple items to help protect your home. Stay safe!
Well, I succeeded and I failed at this month’s #HaggingOut. I had the best of intentions, and made a good start, but that was where it stopped. But, at any rate, here I am.
This month is “Filling the Handbasket”. I live in a small city, and my opportunities for foraging here are limited. Also, September here is the month where most things are done, not getting started - August is really the month you need to be hitting up a bunch of things. But I made a few plans based around what I know I can find at this time of year out at my in-laws’ country place.
In the spirit of adventure, I harvested some new-to-me things: staghorn sumac berries, goldenrod flowers, and the seedheads of Queen Anne’s Lace that bloom massively in August. I have never ever used any of these things before, but the plan is to make some kind of loose incense with them.
It’s not something I’ll be able to share with the coven (allergens) so I get to go off the beaten path for this one. I am sort of hoping that it will pair nicely with my genus loci salve, even though it will have a wider ‘footprint’ geographically. I am curious as to what exactly I’ll get out of them when I do finally get to it. I’m hoping to add cedar leaf and oak bark (lots of both where I foraged) to the mix, as well as some labrador tea leaves. I may try to add some birch oil if it won’t overwhelm, and as always I reserve the right to make the blend palatable, even if it means not all the ingredients are hyper-local/magical/etc.
I was really really wanting to harvest some mullein stalks for more hag tapers this fall, but there’s just...none. We had a dry, hot drought-y summer after a very cold spring, though, and it was hard for a lot of things to get started. So hag tapers will wait for the future.
Thank you to @graveyarddirt for hosting/herding us hags, as always.
A huge 'thank you!' to all of the ill-tempered and greying-haired Baba Yagas who took part, an enthusiastic thank you to returning Hags, and a welcoming thank you to the new Hags that joined us this month as we focused on traditions, customs, rituals, and chores / work we perform around the equinoxes to mark the passage of seasons.
If you're interested in reading what the Hags got up to this March entries can be found using the tag #hagging out, and by clicking the entry-linked Xs below:
So I had planned on doing some bee research and opening this with some cool bee facts, but seeing as how I spent the month with my brain boiling I didn't get it done,
So I'll start this with one I'm sure we've all heard by now; when the bee keeper dies someone must inform the hive,
Mama and I have been trying to turn our blighted land (the backyard of this house was fucked by the previous people) into a plant haven, for butterflys and bees as well, since we moved here slowly introducing pollinators into the mix, (last year we added milk weed which we got cheap since they were dying we got three two made it and they're doing good!)
We've been doing fucking incredible,
This summer though has been a bad one we weren't able to get the wild flower seeds we got to go, and everything with flowers have struggled to produce and keep them,
We have a what was labeled a butterfly bush that has these purple flowers, typically it flowers most the summer, this year it flowered for a few days and hasn't produced anymore, its a bush that's been very popular to both the butterflies and bees,
(Butterfly bush in the middle of the two tall grass)
One time I was trying to get some seeds from the long grass we have next to it, and a bee came out buzzed into my face till I backed away then left when I headed back toward the grass it came back into my face till I backed off again, I got its very polite message to fuck off and indeed fucked off, (after doing it one more time cause it was kinda funny and I'm an asshole)
So moving on to my love: beeswax, I for a long time didn't realize that candles made me sick, then I realized that the scents made me sick, then I went sentless and as I slowly started to identify irritants in my environment and remove them I realized that the typically used to paraffin was also fucking me up (and the environment as I read into it) so what's a witch to do when she needs some candles?
enter the knowledge that beeswax isn't just something used by my sisters to coat their ropes (cowgirls) or in The Odyssey in which its used to log their ears due to sirens
(God that was in the original and not just the Hercules: The Animated Seires episode right,(I watched that sooo much as a kid my brain sometimes mixes shit up)
My life was changed in the discovery of beeswax I saw the light hallelujah amen, beeswax is so fucking versatile I'm still haven't gotten through most of the list, do with it were cheaper,
But since it isn't (I'm also not one for waste) I've had to learn how to recycle my wax (not curse candle though that shit goes into the trash)
First we gather up the candle remnants:
Then we cut off the blacked bits, carefully (we've defiantly never almost gave ourselves that boob reduction we want)
Then we get em all melty (mama bought me this thing its bitching and much easier then what I was doing before, she said she saw it on sale and jumped the last one, and was like I had to have it for you, considering I made my fist candles with five secs after I got it, you could say she knows me well)
Tada!
Beeswax has changed my practice a bit (I don't do colors candles much anymore makes shit more 'spensive) but its also making it better, I've also realized recently that I have a problem with wood varnish, guess whose gonna start learning to beeswax her wood (*Snickers* that wasn't on purpose but its staying!)
I do still buy some made candles I haven't quite gotten it all done so
Now to my experiments in the kitchen:
I've been meaning for a while to try my hand at honey cakes (another thing I'd never heard of) I've been doing offerings for Hekates Deinphon for three years now and after I'd heard of honey cakes as an offering I've been meaning to make some, so this #haggingout finally got me in the kitchen at night, while it was rainy and cool, thank Zesus for well timed rain or this post'd be over,
It was definitely food but *shrugs* not my best, first we were out of eyes and we don't do eggs much (ick, also I maybe allergic) so I figured why not try flax seed eggs I'd heard that was a thing and we have some that I'd forgotten so I tut that put and look it up, oh the flax is supposed to be powdered, well I have none powdered and a spiny bladey thing, powder? No, ok what if I put it I water whole? And then let that dog in the fridge? Success!?
Eyeballs the honey so I don't have to figure out how to get honey out of a measure cup, spoiler was not enough,
Opps salt,
I think this needs butter,
This is a ball,
Water?
Yes!
Will it cook?
It did and it wasn't bad it was edible jut to much flax and salt not enough honey, still next night I took it out to Hekate in the corner (crossroads) of my property, and that's that I'll have to give it another spin, might see if I can buy some honey cake so I know how the Fuck its supposed to taste,
Last I just got my first wood burner so I decided to devote my first ever wood burning project to our new friends, its tasking sometime only just got some done this week since it was cooler its heating back up so I want to show at least what I got done since it might bee (ha! Your lucky I restrained myself from doing that every sentence) awhile til I can finish,
Gonna do the whole heart edge blacked with drips off like there's honey dripping down,
*clasps hands* so I guess that's all folks, have bee-utiful day lovelies,
-Stormcrow
(I seem to have a habit of using we when talking about myself, and we when talking about me and mama sorry if that's confusing to anyone)
(Will have to add tag later tumblrs fucking my tags again)