Green Witch - Mystique Moments - Aberdour

Samhain brings to us the importance of the circle of life. This is the end of one year and the beginning of the next. The circle is being renewed as the earth goes to sleep to gain strength to begin the life circle again in the spring. All is dormant now and winter will cleanse the earth in readiness for new life. As with life, the inevitable lesson is death at the end of it, when the soul then leaves the body it has been in this lifetime to return to the Summerland to account for what it has learned. It can then enter a new body to continue with its lessons until it can evolve. In the Witch’s world, there is no heaven or hell – no place for the good people to go knowing the bad are somewhere different; we all go to the same place to account for the life just led and if we have led a good life and learnt what we needed to, then we can move on to the next lesson. If we have learnt nothing, then we have to go back and do it all over again!!

Samhain is the Feast of the Dead, when the spirit world can cross the great divide and visit if they so choose to do. This is represented by the children donning scary masks and ripped clothing and visiting the neighbours offering “Trick or treat”. Pumpkin faces are made as grizzly as possible and lit to keep bad spirits away, as they too get to come back! The colours of Samhain are black and orange, and Samhain is the night to cast stones, read cards or scry in a crystal ball; any divination will be heightened on this most “spiritual” of nights. It may be a busy night for the kids but witches should spend the night in quiet contemplation, looking back on the year gone by and our achievements and try and find out what the year ahead has in store. Light some candles & some divination incense and see who comes to call and what they have to say. Think of those we have lost from our lives and spend a little time reminiscing and light a candle for each of those you spend time thinking about.

Protection House Spell for Samhain

To keep your house protected for the coming year, mix together sea salt and black pepper in a pestle and mortar and grind them together. Bring in a sprinkling of marjoram for happiness and grind them all together whilst visualising all residents happy and safe in their castle. Now split the mix into 2 x black pouches and add 1 x small quartz and 1 x black stone such as tourmaline, obsidian and onyx to each pouch. Hang at the front and back doors and keep this bad world away from your door…it is done!!

Black – colour of Samhain

Black is the colour when we think of Samhain or when we think about death. Black is devoid of colour as the Earth is devoid of life at this time. It is a colour of Protection and thinking inward. It is the colour of our base chakra – the very root of our being and our connection to the Earth. It is the colour of the night sky and of coal. It is a defensive colour as we give nothing about ourselves to others and if you wear nothing but black, then maybe you are saying there is nothing to look forward to and should try and introduce a little colour to your wardrobe even if it is just a scarf or jewellery!!

Knights of the Tarot

Tine to investigate the young chivalrous knights on our journey – these are the young men that, once they have learned their roles, will grow into the Kings of our Realm.

Knight of Cups is a young blond man always looking for opportunities or challenges and more occupied with having fun on his journey. This knight can signify a new love, an invitation or study of some form for a new job but changes of some emotional kind are afoot

Knight of Wands is a talker amongst talkers with charm to boot. He is friendly and fun and very social but not trustworthy so usually is a salesman of some kind learning his trade on his journey. His arrival signifies travel, meetings and the unknown around but watch for the scam somewhere as these guys have the gift of the gab

Knight of Swords is young, dark and mysterious, intuitive and clever – an honourable, brave and chivalrous guy who wants to help people and would never cause hurt by his actions. His appearance means being brave about a situation and finding the right person to help if you cannot deal with it.

Knight of Coins is business and money minded, hard-working and trustworthy, but is still to learn about business and how to make it work – he may be text-book clever but the skill of business is yet to be gained. This knight signifies the man with the money but not to be a backer yet, more the bookie…

The uses of Castor oil

No, I am not referring to the so-named Motor oil but the Castor oil that was used to get women into labour and added to zinc to make an old-fashioned baby healing cream. The Egyptians used this oil for making ointments over 4000 years ago and as a purgative after poisons, because it is very efficient at removing toxins from the body; not a pleasant oil to take but then if you have been poisoned…!!! Great for relieving constipation; taking a spoonful will soon sort you out. Externally, Castor oil, applied to the feet, will soften hard skin and will make the removal of corns and callouses much easier, whilst rubbing into liver spots will help them fade. Scrunched into the hair, it makes an excellent hair conditioner, but rubbed into the scalp, it will check dandruff and reduce hair fall. 50ml £3.00 for organic oil

Herbal exploration within the Celtic realms

Why did we get liquorice as a sweet or put sage or thyme in the chicken? The herb world was understood back then and gran knew that liquorice would stem a cough, thyme would help give you courage and make you strong and sage was a cure-all meaning “to save” and would help if the chicken wasn’t quite cooked. These habits are born out of tradition but the reason has been forgotten. Over the next few newsletters, we are going to investigate our favourite herbs and spices and see how they can help our health by inclusion into our food. The EU has now banned a lot of new and foreign medicine so we have to now turn back to our traditional herbs in the kitchen cupboard for answers to keeping healthy…the way forward is by going backwards…!!

Black Pepper…the strengthening condiment

We daily grind pepper to add to our food, but why? Is it to protect our food? After all, you mix it with salt to dispel negativity and evil so maybe the two condiments came together so you didn’t eat anything that was going to kill you!! I adore the aroma of black pepper – there is a sweet overtone that I find energising. Black pepper is ruled by the planet Mars and the element of Fire. It is one of the oldest spices in the world, being used in India 4000 years ago, and was a luxury in Europe as it spiced up the bland European diet. It was worth its weight in gold in the Middle Ages when brought to Europe overland, so Columbus and other explorers set off over the Atlantic to find their own route to India for such as the trading of these valuable spices.

Black pepper stimulates our taste buds and our digestive system whilst boosting our immune system, enhancing our circulation and helping eliminate toxins too. It contains piperine which is similar to morphine so makes a useful painkiller – massage with the oil for nerve pain and painful joints and on the stomach for digestive issues.

Magickally, inhaling the aroma of crushed peppercorns or the oil will give you courage and determination to overcome any issue. If you have a daunting situation to face, whether going for an interview or daily having to walk down a dodgy street to get to your work/home, then inhale daily and visualise a spiral of power whirling around you and call on this whenever you feel threatened (but also ensure safety first at all times).

Peppercorns 50g £1.00; Black pepper oil 2.5ml £3.50, 5ml £6.50

Looking after you and your skin through the winter…with the magick of oil

Oils are essential to our body and this winter more than most, we will need to top up on both Vitamin D and the omega oils if we are to survive in one piece!! I will be taking 1 x EPA/GLA containing Omega 3 & 6, plus 1 x Super Cod liver oil complex, which not only contains 1250mg fish oil (omega 3) but also 1000mg Vitamin D (the sunshine oil). In Britain, we need more Omega 3 than 6; this is my chosen combo for the winter…what’s yours??

Also, to keep skin healthy and our weather-seal protected, ensure you apply oil (not baby oil) to your body 2-3 times week, add oil to the bath for added moisture and apply a good cream/oil to face and hands to keep them in good shape once the cold weather gets a grip. There is nothing like extreme cold followed by central heating to dry skin out. Try my Cream for dry skin or Intensive hand-care cream on hands and my lip balm on dry or cracked lips, all made with local beeswax and natural oils to keep the moisture in…you so deserve the best!!

Talking of beeswax…

One of my beekeepers has come up with a little wax this weekend, so Orange and black will be limited but there will be some made in time for Samhain!! We will then face Yule when hopefully, someone will have come up with more…I’ll keep you posted on the web but there are no candles presently in the shop until I get making!!

Moon times:

New Moon:    Wed 26 Oct @ 19.56 hrs    Full Moon:    Thur 10 Nov @ 20.16 hrs

New Moon:    Fri 25 Nov @ 06.20 hrs    Full Moon:    Sat 10 Dec @ 14.32 hrs

Shop Closures during winter…

All businesses have to adapt to the current financial climate if they want to survive and mine is no different. After much thought, I have decided to close on Mondays. My assistant’s path is taking her to new horizons and I have always used Mondays to mix my lotions and potions and then been in the shop Tue-Sat. With the promise of a worse winter than last year, change is my only option to avoid the chaos of last year. Please pass on the word to any other shoppers you know and you can still reach me by e-mail or via the website where any changes will be notified. Thank you…and I will hopefully see you soon

Bright Blessings from Chris (alias the Green Witch