Mercredi: Herbal-Wise

Nettle is a common weed in cooler climates all over the world.  Known to Native shaman, old wives and root workers alike, nettle’s most common use is to break and turn away jinxes.  But there is so much more to the ancient history of this herb.

In hoodoo nettle is used specifically to dispel evil.  A tea of nettle and rue is added to baths along with a handful of black salt to lift curses and crossed conditions.  At least some of the bathwater should be thrown out the front door of the home to seal the cure.

Both natives in North America and old wives in Europe recommended nettle tea for pregnant women to strengthen the fetus and ease labor.  After the baby’s birth, nettle tea continued to be prescribed to encourage milk production.  Dried nettle was also sprinkled on the feed given to dairy cows for the same purpose.

According to Scott Cunningham, nettle should be carried in a sachet or stuffed into a poppet to remove a curse and send it back.  Wiccans sprinkle dried nettle around the home to ward off evil.  It can also be thrown into a fire to prevent harm coming to home or person and it is held in the right hand to ward off ghosts, particularly while walking alone at night near haunted ground.  Putting a bowl full of nettle clippings under the bed of a sick person is thought to aid healing.

Pow-Wow also uses nettle, and for similar purposes.  Silver RavenWolf says that a combination of nettle and yarrow makes a powerful amulet against fear.  Scott Cunningham agrees, saying the two will also dispel negativity.  Pow-Wows also use dried nettle to enhance lust, and sprinkle it over the bedclothes of the sick to encourage recovery.

A very old German “spell”, which probably originated in one form or another prior to the widespread success of Christianity in the Middle Ages, saw farmers using nettle to remove maggot infestations from their cows’ hooves.  In Highroad to the Stake: A Tale of Witchcraft, Michael Kunze says the nettle should be picked before sunrise and held between both hands.  The farmer should then recite:

Nettle, nettle, hear forsooth,

Our cow’s got maggots in her hoof,

If you don’t drive the maggots out,

I’ll twist your collar round about!

The nettle stem was then twisted until it broke off and both pieces were tossed over the farmer’s head.  If all steps of this process were repeated three days in a row, the cow would be cured.

Finally, nettle has been used for centuries as a bandage in cases of bleeding.  The leaves should be bruised slightly to allow the juice to flow and then applied to the bloody wound before bandaging to help with clotting.  Bonne chance ~

Header: Cows in a Pasture by Marie Dieterle Van Marcke de Lummen

Lundi: Recipes

It's getting on to that time again; the holidays are right around the corner.  So much so in fact that my jaw dropped when I noticed Thanksgiving is two weeks from Thursday.  Holy buckets!

With the holidays comes holiday cooking and for most of us that means obligations away from home as well as closer to it.  There will be pot lucks at work, expectations of side dishes at family dinners, parties and what not that will require you not only to make something tasty, but give it legs as they say.  Then too it seems like everyone is watching their waist/health so throwing marshmallows on sweet potatoes and calling it a casserole just isn’t going to work these days. 

Here’s a recipe that fits all the bills: it’s easy and quick, keeps and travels well, is quite health conscious and features winter veggies.  It’s even red, white and green so it looks perfect at a Christmas buffet.  Sounds too good to be true, I know, but check it out.

3 pounds trimmed green beans

2 to 3 pounds fennel bulbs

2 heads of radicchio (also known as red chicory) halved, cored and sliced

1 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Cook the green beans as you normally would, either in boiling salted water or steamed in the microwave.  Drain and put in a large mixing bowl.

Trim off the lacey tops of the fennel bulbs and cut away any bruised areas.  Cut the bulbs into quarters lengthwise.  Add the fennel and radicchio to the beans.  If you are preparing this recipe a day ahead, stop here, cover the bowl and pop it into the frig until just before you want to take it with you.

Pour in the olive oil and toss to coat.  Add the vinegar and repeat.  Add three cups of the cheese, salt and pepper to taste and toss one last time.  Before serving, sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top.  Bon appetite ~

Header: My Eldest Daughter Suzanne with Milk and a Book by Carl Larsson c 1904

Dimanche: Swimming

Non-fattening Libby's ad via Mid-Century

Samedi: Old New Orleans

I've spent the day helping out/volunteering at a local bazaar so no "proper" post today.  Instead a beautiful painting of New Orleans the way it used to be.  The lady in the foreground is coming home from "making market"; doesn't that sound so much better than "grocery shopping"?  The painting is New Orleans by Louis Oscar Griffith via American Gallery.  Bon Samedi ~

Vendredi: Cartomancy Tricks

When you are learning a new skill, whether it be riding a bike without training wheels or driving an 18 gear semi, it’s good to have a few at-a-glance tricks to help you master the subtle stuff more quickly.  Reading cards is the same way.  It can be pretty daunting to try to get a feel for the querent, open your psychic centers, remember which spread to use and keep the meanings of the cards in the front of your mind through the entire process.  No wonder so many experienced practitioners recommend a hot beverage and a bite to eat after a reading; you do need to recharge.

There are a couple of relatively consistent rules that you can check for in a spread before you begin to delve into the individual meanings of each card.  These will often give you a clear idea of what your querent is asking about as far as the reading is concerned.  While nothing with regard to divination is ever set in stone, these points are a great compass for a reading, particularly when you are just starting out.

If you see many of an individual suit in a spread, the following will probably hold true about the reading:

Clubs: Change

Hearts: Love, generosity

Spades: Strife

Diamonds: Political or financial action

By many, I was taught that you should have at least one third of any suit turn up in a reading (no matter how few cards are laid out) for the general conditions above to hold true.

On the other hand, a number of any given types of cards can also point to a trend in a reading.  By types I mean number or face cards and you should see at least three of the same type pop up before thinking about the following correspondences:

Aces: power and attainment

Twos: reorganization and assembly (usually of living condition or goals)

Threes: perseverance through trouble

Fours: calm determination

Fives: conflicts coming to a head with resolution on the horizon

Sixes: satisfactions and rewards

Sevens: uncertain arrangements (may involve personal, professional or spiritual issues)

Eights: travel, change

Nines: increased involvement (in any area of the querent’s life, not just relationships)

Tens: major business/professional activity

Jacks: fresh ideas and/or rapid movement

Queens: influential friends

Kings: contacts with power (people, business, government, etc.)

Since “many” of the same type of card means more than three, the general rule is that these indications do not apply for quick readings.  Pay attention, however, if you get three of the same type of card in a three-card spread.  That is a powerful indication indeed.

Thus, after 57 posts, Cartomancy Friday is put to bed.  I hope you’ve at least enjoyed it.  Now on to the next thing, as they say. 

Header: La Marchande d’Illusion by Claude Verlinde via Old Paint ~ this painting, whose title translates roughly to The Delusion Vendor, stands as an excellent lesson to both reader and querent alike

Jeudi: Curios

Alum is a mineral salt that dries out the mucous membranes and has for centuries been used as an emetic.  Inducing vomiting was considered a healthful purge prior to the late 19^th century.  The famous American medical man Benjamin Rush heartily endorsed the use of alum for everything from the ingestion of poison to high fevers.  One use was frequently a help while the other probably killed at least some of the good doctor’s unfortunate patients.

Perhaps because of earlier use in medicine, alum is employed in hoodoo to protect against malice and bring luck.  For luck, a small lump of alum is carried in a red or green flannel bag.  Adding pyrite (fool’s gold) and salt is said to increase the potency of this mojo.  Dressing it often with Van Van Oil or Hoyt’s Cologne helps keep the mojo from “settling” (losing potency).

To stop the kind of malicious gossip that all too frequently rears its ugly head not only in the workplace but now on the Internet, crush a lump of alum about the size of your thumbnail to a powder and put it into a muslin bag.  Write the name of the gossip on a piece of brown paper and place this in the bag as well.  Put the bag in a safe place where it will not be found, preferably close to the source of the gossip as in a desk drawer or near your computer.  Since alum dehydrates, the like-makes-like theory of this mojo is that the gossiper will be unable to speak further about you since their mouth will be “puckered up”.  No alum at home?  Put a lemon wedge in the bag with the name paper as a substitute and pop the whole thing in your freezer to “freeze their mischief”.  Bonne chance ~

Header: Letters by Annie Stegg via American Gallery

Mercredi: Herbal-Wise

Cubeb, also known as Tailed Pepper, is an originally Asian plant now cultivated largely in Sumatra.  The plant had spread all over the world by the 17^th century and was then considered by the Catholic Church as a necessary ingredient in incenses used to drive away incubi, succubae and when performing exorcisms.  This belief may have come directly from China, where Tang Dynasty physicians used cubeb to “cure demon vapors”.

In Wicca, according to Scott Cunningham, the berries are used in “love sachets and spells”.  The herb is used similarly in hoodoo, with the plant being called Love Berry by many root workers.  It is thought that using the plant in mojos and baths can spark a woman’s passion and make a man receptive regardless of the gender of the person working the trick.  Cubeb is powerful stuff so use it with care.

If you plan to go out on the town – or just in to work – with the intention of attracting a new love, prepare a warm bath and toss in a handful of cubeb berries.  Soak for a while and imagine the traits you would most like in a lover.  When you’re done, allow your skin to dry naturally.  Reserve some of the bath water and berries and sprinkle them around your home, including your front stoop.  You will soon meet someone attractive and attracted to you.  Bonne chance ~

Header: The Lady and the Captain by John Ward Dunsmore c 1900