Lusty Jasmine

Jasmine is one of my favourite flowers. It has so much more to it than most people realise.

Jasmine flowers are white and delicate, part of a climbing tree; these flowers are best picked at night, as this is when their aroma is most intense.

Jasmine for this reason has strong connections to the night, and the moon. Whenever I work with the Moon, Jasmine is usually involved.

Properties;

Antidepressant
Antiseptic

Antispasmodic

Aphrodisiac

Sedative

We all will have heard that Jasmine is an aphrodisiac, but it is so much more than that. We call it an aphrodisiac because Jasmine increases the number of spermatozoa in men, which helps reduce infidelity. And because of it's deeply relaxing nature, most herbologists think that this may be responsible for it's effect over sexual problems like impotence, premature ejaculation, and frigidity.

Jasmine is a superb hormone balancer, it helps relieve spasms of the uterus, and eases menstrual pain. Mix with raspberry leaf, in a tea, and you have a super effective womb tonic.

This does mean that it is best avoided during pregnancy...unless you are ready to go into labour, in which case go nuts!

Jasmine is a valuable remedy when it comes to severe depression. It's calming to the nerves, whilst also being warming to the emotions. Such a power combo. Burning jasmine in the home will help aid your mind, as will carring essential oil mixed into a carrier oil to apply in the style of a perfume.

See!
How amazing is Jasmine.

If you'd like posts on a specific herb or flower, comment below, and I will do my best to oblige.

Glastonbury Visit

Hello lovelies!

Today once again found me in the magical streets of Glastonbury. I went with my witch sister Suzie, and we went to do some shopping, visit the Wytches Market, and get matching tattoos...yep we're that cool.

  

The Wytches Markey was in the town hall of Glastonbury, and featured lots of lovely stalls of all magical persuasions. Such as 'Steel Stick .N. Stone', 'The Ivory Dolls', 'Tawny El' - The only thing I purchased from here was a beautiful art print by Vikki Yeates Illustrations, but there was so much creativity in that hall.

 Moving on from here, with plenty of time till our appointment at the tattooists, we hit all of our usual Glastonbury favourites; for some reason I feel like Suzie and I walk around more than most when at Glastonbury. We go up and down the street more times than necessary, letting our inner guide lead the way. We did discover a lot of new great stores, we've never seen before; Our favourite being 'ShieldMaiden' - A new store for all your Viking needs. Whilst the shop was a bit of a vegan minefield, there were plenty of interesting things to look at, and some beautiful ceramics, and clothes.  

StarChild is always a must on these trips.
This was actually the first time I needed to purchase from behind the till.

I needed a few herbs for upcoming ritual work I have planned, and a few ingredients for teas. They weigh all their herbs out on scales, and charge by weight. Literally like something from TV, you are watching the sales woman stand on a ladder, and reach for one jar, from a wall of multi-coloured herbs and plants, all with a hand written label.

After lunch, which was a delicious vegan tomato and bulgar wheat soup with ciabatta - we had to make our way to the tattooist.

 We'd already picked our design, something I really loved after coming across it on Pinterest (I know not very original) Our tattooist was a guy named Tom, who was great. He put up with all our weird questions and behaviours, joked with us, gave me 2 lollies throughout my tattoo, and just overall did a beautiful job.

Before heading home, we stopped in the George and Pilgrim, 15th century inn, and had half a pint of Guinness. Purely because this is Jason Mamoas' beverage of choice...and he is a God, so.... There was logic there somewhere.

It was a lovely way to end our trip.

And finally once I got home, I took a shot of all my shopping.

Final Shopping List;

Hare Art Print - Vikki Yeates

StarChild Happy Tea

Samhain Card

Poisons, Potions, And Aphrodisiacs Book

2 Rat charms (to be made into earrings)

Catnip

MeadowSweet

Raspberry Leaves

1 epic tattoo

Good Old Lavender

Lavender is probably one of the most common herbs/plants that everyday people know about and use. They'll have a lavender bubble bath to help them sleep, a lavender mist spray for their pillows.

Lavender is definitely not one of my favourite scents, but I cant deny it's properties.
I bathe in the stuff, literally.
In summer I put lavender in my lemonade.
And when I'm stressed nothing is more soothing than cooking up a batch of Lavender biscuits. (Look below for the recipe.)

Part of this trust in Lavender has to come from my nan. Any ailment, and illness; "Put Lavender on it!"

Lavender is the most recognized smells in the world. And is known mostly for it's aids in sleep and reducing stress.

 It's even good on a biological level, as it attracts lots of bees, due to it's excess pollen. And the worlds bees are in serious crisis right now.

It has amazing skills in reducing migraines and headaches.
It soothes and calms the nerves.
It aids in all types of skin problems; burns, insect bites, sunburn, acne, abscesses...
It's an antisceptic.
It's great for depression, and anxiety.

The flowers are the part of the Lavender plant that we used, the dried buds and flowers. These flowers should be collected between early summer and early fall, just before they open. It's then very easy to dry them at room temperature, so they're ready for you to make into an oil, make a tea with, or pop into these delicious biscuits below.

Recipe for Vegan Lavender Biscuits

Ingredients;

2 tbsps homegrown Lavender buds

100g Plant Based Butter

50g Caster Sugar
100g Plain Flour

Directions;

Mix your butter and sugar together, like a normal cake batter.
Pour in your flour a little at a time, and getting your hands in there, mix it in.
Now add your lavender, and give it a thorough mix. 

Get 2 spoons and dollop the mixture onto grease proof paper.

This size recipe will make about 6 - 8 biscuits.

Chuck the biscuits into the oven, on a medium heat, on the center shelf.
Cook until slightly browning.
Roughly 15 minutes.

And it's that simple!
Aromatherapy in a biscuit. And a quick healing fix, for those tough days.