BANISH BAD LUCK

Merry Meet to All of You!

Welcome back to the Herbal Chalice, after a short sabbatical due to family visiting, I'm back in the swing of things. I hope you all had good times while I was gone, I am glad to be back with you :D.

As today is Friday the 13th, I thought I share with you a little bit of protective Magick, to ward off any bad luck, which might befall you on this, as some say, 'unlucky' day.

Its a really easy bit of 'Kitchen cupboard Magick', as you probably already have 90% of the ingredients in your household supplies.

To protect yourself from bad luck, simply grind the following constituents together and wear them in a mojo bag on your body and/or place them around your home as a protective potpourri.

Frankincense

Juniper Berries

Cloves

Dried Dill

Dried Fennel

Dried Tarragon

Dried Bay Leaves

Use the ingredients in quantities of nines, sevens and fives, as these numbers possess protective qualities too, for example nine bay leaves, five cloves, etc.

With this, I wish you all a good Friday the 13th, free of bad luck :D!

Warm Blessings,

Ilona

PS. For a comprehensive list of herbs and their properties/use in Magick, click here

INCY WINCY SPIDER

Merry Meet to All of You!

After I recently published a post about natural insect repellents, 'Cast out Creepy Crawlies', a lovely Facebook friend of mine pointed out, that there was no mentioning of any repellents against spiders, so I did some research on the subject and found the following method you could try, if, like me and her, you don't like to kill spiders but also don't want them inside your house.

An easy way to repel spiders ecologically friendly and without harming them is to mix vinegar and coconut oil and spray the affected area.

You can also use the the following recipe to create the perfect natural repellent.

The ingredients are:

1 quart of water (1/4 litre)
5 tablespoons of liquid natural soap
1 ounce of neem oil (29 ml)
A few drops of either lavender or tea tree oil

Mix all these ingredients together in a spray bottle and spray the area where you have spiders. This will not harm the spiders at all and will drive them away, because sensors on their legs react in an unpleasant manner to the ingredients (bit like us having an allergic reaction).

If you can't find neem oil in the local shops, there are plenty of suppliers on the Internet, here's one example:

http://www.pukkaherbs.com/NeemOil

I hope this will come in handy for all of you, I shall certainly try it out :D.

Summer Blessings,

Ilona

PS.

I think I found a real cutie for the picture, even if you don't like spiders...look at that little face :)

KEEP IT CLEAN - A SPELL SET IN STONE

Merry Meet to all!

As you all know during spring and early summer, most of us feel the urge to do a good all out clean up around the house, clearing out the clutter and freshen the place up. But as you also know, clutter and mess have the uncanny ability to creep back in, claiming your place back ;).

Here is a lovely little spell I came across, which can help you to keep your home tidy after you have done all the hard work!

Collect some nice stones, one for each room in your house and put them in a bowl, covered with a green cloth. Then, holding your hands palms down over the bowl, say the following blessing, once for each stone:

Now I have done the cleaning feat,

bless this stone to help to keep

my lovely home smelling sweet

always tidy, always neat!

Place one of the stones near the entrance of every room and they act as charms to keep clutter and mess away.

Bright Blessings,

Ilona

PS. If you like to clean your home with natural products, for recipies to make your own household cleaners go to: http://www.ecocycle.org/hazwaste/recipes.cfm
Brilliant site!

A LITTLE MAGIC FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Merry Meet to All of You!

The holiday season is fast heading towards us and, to be honest, don't you hate the niggling feeling on the way to airport:'I hope I haven't forgotten anything!?' and then, worse, when you arrive there, you find that you have....in the worst case scenario even your plane tickets or passport?!

I have certainly suffered from 'have I packed everything' stress, so I was really pleased when I came about this little spell, which can help you remember your essentials whilst packing your bags.

To begin with, fill the room with the aroma of lemon, either by lighting a lemon-scented candle, or , if you can' t get hold of one, a simple white one next to a bowl of lemon juice.Next, take a red pen to a white piece of paper and write down everything you want to remember to pack three times. Then burn this list in the candle whilst saying:

"When I touch my bags to pack, from memory this list bring back!"

Then, simply stop worrying and have a great holiday!

Warm Blessings,

Ilona

CAST OUT CREEPY CRAWLIES

Merry Meet to All of You!

With summer here, keeping your home free of creepy crawlies, which re-emerge with the rising temperatures, can become an issue.

If you are like me, and don't like to use the 'chemical warfare' of conventional repellents, here are some ideas of how to apply aromatherapy, which is natural and kinder to the environment (including the creepies, as it keeps them away without necessarily killing them), to achieve the same effects.

You can use the following essential oils for the different kind of insects:

Mosquitoes:

Use Citronella. A few drops on your pillow case and/or mattress will keep them at bay. Alternatively, you can dilute 15 drops of the essential oil in 30ml of sunflower oil, which you rub onto your skin (this also soothes the effects of bites).

Flies:

Use Lemongrass. Mix 15 drops of the essential oil with 600ml of water in a pump spray bottle, shake well and spray around the room or onto the buzzing flies directly.

Ants:

Use Tea Tree and Thyme. Dilute 8 drops of Tea Tree oil and 7 drops of Thyme oil in 30ml of water. Use a pump spray to spray the areas where the ants come in or walk.

Pet fleas:

Use Geranium, Lavender and Tea Tree. Dilute 6 drops of Geranium, 5 drops of Lavender and 4 drops of Tea Tree in 30ml of water. Use a pump spray to spray into you pets fluffed up fur, avoiding their eyes.I hope these little tips come in handy to keep your home chemical and pest free during the summer months.

Good luck in your fight against the crawlie invasion ;)!

Bright Blessings,

Ilona

KITCHENCUPBOARD MAGICK - HERBAL BATH SATCHETS

Merry Meet to All!

You don't need to buy expensive and exotic ingredients to add a little bit of natural magic and holistic approach to your lifestyle.
Just have a good look in your kitchen cupboard (and garden, if you have one) and you'd be amazed what you can do with the 'everyday things' in there.

Here, for example, is a really nice recipe for herbal bath sachets, which are very simple to make and will give you an invigorating, 100% natural bath experience, which puts the spring back in your step.

All you need is:

4 cups of dried lemon verbenna *
2 cups of dried thyme
1 cup of dried peppermint
fabric, like muslin or organdie, which can be easily penetrated by water

*lemon verbenna is a common garden herb (see picture), but if you can't get hold of it, you can use dried lemon rind

Take to needle and threat and make little sachets of the fabric, which you fill with the herbs - that's all there's to it!

When running a bath, hold the sachets under the tab or simply float in the water. A filled sachet can be used twice, and the sachets themselves can be refilled with fresh herbs again and again.

Enjoy!

Summer Blessings,

Ilona

TIP OF THE WEEK - MAGICK ELDER

Merry Meet to All of You!

Have you been out yet, to start foraging for elder flowers?

Well, you really should this month, because apart from being really tasty in cooking (see Elderflower Champagne blog) they have many health benefits, which I have elaborated over at the Richmond Chalice blog:

http://richmondchalice.blogspot.com/2009/06/tip-of-day-elderflower.html

On top of that, elder is a plant steeped in magic and folklore, and is said to help opening the doors to the Faerie realm, especially on Midsummer's Eve.

If you would like to see the Fairies reveling, it is said you just have to stand under an elder tree at midnight on Midsummer's Eve (with it just being around the corner, test it out if you like). Alternatively, drinking wine made from elderberries is said to be a facilitator to see into the Faerie realm.

Elder also possesses the magickal power to cleanse and purify, so write your worries or annoyances on a piece of paper and bury it under an elder tree. The tree will absorb your worries and cleanse them out.

For all of you eager to get married, English folklore gives us a 'get engaged spell', for which you simply create an infusion of elderflower, add it to wine and beer (after its cooled down) and contrive your chosen spouse to take drink with you out of a shared cup.

Sprinkling elder flower around the corners of your house is also a protective charm.

So, why not go out there and get your dose of this magickal (and tasty!) plant this month?

Summer Blessings,

Ilona

TIP OF THE WEEK - A MAGICK BREW

Merry Meet to All of You!

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine as we are closing in on Misummer?!

I know, the lovely wheather makes you crave cold drinks more tham anything, but I found this tea recipe I want to share with you regardless.

It's called 'Magical Working Tea' and helps you with your preparation and mindset before undertaking, well, magickal work.

It is dead simple, just make an infusion out of:

2 teaspoons rosemary

1 teaspoon lavender

grated peel of 1 orange

let it infuse for 10 minutes and drink about an hour before your magickal workings.

Rosemary stimulates the brain while lavender relaxes you and orange is linked with solar energies, thus this tea can help putting yourself in the required mindset for your purposes.

(Recipe taken from: 'The Real Witches Kitchen' by Kate West, page 141; see:

http://theherbalchalice.blogspot.com/2009/05/tip-of-week-kitchen-magic.html)

So, even in this warm weather, the right cup of tea can still work wonders (my next tip will probably be a cold alcoholic bewerage, sunshine permitting)!

Enjoy this lovely summer weather and make the most of it outdoors,

Sunny Blessings,

Ilona

TIP OF THE WEEK - KITCHEN MAGIC

Merry Meet to All!

You might have noticed that the main theme of our next chalice meeting is "Kitchen Cupboard Magick", e.g. using everyday kitchen ingredients for magic and/or healing purposes, so if you would like to find out more, pop along!

If you haven't got the time here is a good book for you to read, which shows you how to utilise your kitchen for magick purposes.
It's called:

The Real Witches' Kitchen: Spells, Recipes, Oils, Lotions and Potions from the Witches' Hearth">http://The Real Witches' Kitchen: Spells, Recipes, Oils, Lotions and Potions from the Witches' Hearth

So, if you have chance, take five, make a cuppa and bury your noses in some kitchen Magick!

Warm Blessings,

Ilona

TIP OF THE WEEK - DOWN TO EARTH

Merry Meet to all of you!

I recently read Marian Green's book 'The Gentle Art of Aquarian Magic' and really enjoyed it.
Here is a little quote from the chapter about Earth Magic, which stood out for me, as it sums up my feelings perfectly.

"...you don't need artificial, modern written sources to lead you to the Goddess of Earth, Mother Nature [...] Any walk among trees, over wild countryside or along a wintry, deserted beach will bring you far closer to the roots of the oldest religion of all than muttered rites in a man-made house, or words read from a page by guttering candle light."

(Marion Green; The Gentle Art of Aquarian Magic; The Aquarian Press; London; 1987)

I feel this is so true, how can you be closer to the magick of the Earth than when you are surrounded by it?!

Next time you want to connect to Earth Magick, why not take a long walk, and open your eyes and soul to what is around you.

You could collect a stone, which you find while out, one which spoke to you through it's patterns or shape, and take it home with you. There you can take some quiet time, just holding the stone, reaching out to it, feeling it's energy. In time you will develop a relationship with your special stone, and in time of need, just holding it can give you a sense of comfort and peace. This is one very simple way of letting the magick of the Earth into your life.

So, next time you take a walk, open yourself to the beauty and spirit of Mother Nature around you!

Warm Blessings,

Ilona