Category: rural life

Harvest & Roll…

A regular part of my practice includes smoke cleansing or smudging. I was taught this practice by a Peruvian native and shaman. When I purchase smudge bundles I always purchase them from native sources and have tried several times to make my own with wobbly results. An acquaintance shared her method with me, using baking parchment.

This afternoon I harvested about half of my flowering lemon balm plant to make smudge bundles. Lemon balm is a fantastic herb for so many things and the aroma of it is simply magnificent. Using lemon balm in smudges helps to improve emotional balance, it is calming, it can help partners deepen their bonds to one another, helps us clear negativity, and so much more.

Lemon balm smudge bundles wrapped in baking parchment ready to dry.
Lemon balm smudge bundles wrapped in baking parchment ready to dry.

Once I brought the lemon balm inside I started trimming it down into pieces that would allow me to make the bundles. After I had a nice stash of cut herbs, I started cutting twine and baking parchment. I ended up with enough lemon balm today to make 13 bundles…an auspicious start.

I layered the lemon balm with special notes in the center with a sprinkling of sakura petals (innocence, joy, delight, living in the moment) and a few grains of resin. After they were topped off with more lemon balm to complete the wrap, I rolled them up in the parchment adn tied it shut with lavender twine.

Now the bundles are set to dry out and then will be finished with the twine and stored for use and gifting. We’ll see how they come out!

Gifts to the Forest Witch…

One of the barred owls that lives in the forest behind my home.

It’s been a bit crazy in my world and will be for a while yet but I thought I’d share something really amazing with you guys.

As some of you know, I live in the Pacific Northwest (Olympic Peninsula of WA state). My husband and I have a cute little house with a small forest surrounding it. I like to spend time in the forest when I can and my body permits me to do so (physical health issues prevent this sometimes). Over the years, I’ve posted a lot of photos from my property and the area so if you want to check them out they are here!

Anyway, on one of our walks, up the hill – through the forest and just off the property we came across a truly AMAZING natural gift and offering. I have long had a love of owls and something managed to catch a barred owl. We have several that roost in our area so while I was bummed about one of them being caught…it is a part of the cycle of life – everything feeds something, after all. The first indication was a wing resting in the path just sitting there and a little further down feathers…everywhere. There were no other bones or wings in the area. I picked up that wing and cleaned off the bone that still had meat and tendon on it.

Today, I began the cleansing and drying process, using a Native American method. I chose to place it in borax. It must rest in the borax for a minimum of one month. I decided to turn the entire process sacred to my path and journey in this life. You see a part of my path is shamanic in nature, I was taught by a Peruvian shaman many years ago and incorporated those teachings into my Wicca & Witchcraft path.

This wing will rest in the borax until around September 15th and then at Mabon I will consecrate and dedicate this beautiful gift for use in my path to be used for the first time in the Samhain season.

a barred owl wing rests atop a layer of borax.
A barred owl wing rests atop a layer of borax.
a barred owl wing covered with borax for preservation.
a barred owl wing covered with borax for preservation.