Making your own medicine

I'd like to encourage you all to do something simple yet effective. Go out in the sun and find a herb you recognise. Pick it and take it home with you. Wash it if necessary. Then buy a bottle of around 40% vodka and pour a little off so you can stuff as much herb in as possible. Label it with the date. In 6 weeks time you'll have your own tincture. It really is that simple.

The quality appears to be very different when you make tinctures yourself. It tastes very different, often sweeter. I would like to compare the methods described above to those employed with mass production of tinctures to begin hypothesising why they taste so differently and which one might be more effective. The best way to assess this would be through testing in a lab to compare the substances.

My taste buds tell me it's better quality because the taste it often stronger and often sweeter. However, my tinctures are always made wih fresh herb which should technically water them down. My logic says they will work better but unfortunately this can only be based on sensory perception and intuition; and that's not much of a logic at all! Still fun though ;)

-- Post From My iPhone

Searching for enlightenment in self help books

I remember when I used to believe enlightenment would come upon me one day like a light switching on. I think self help books cultivate this idea. I've only read one which explained that enlightenment is something which comes gradually. I believe now that enlightenment is not something you learn or acquire but rather, it is a way of being.
It seems to be about being in the present moment.

With this presence of being often comes a sensitivity to the world via the senses. However, some are naturally sensitive to their surroundings, often to their annoyance, but most people can learn to be sensitive to their surroundings. This is not the aquirement of senses you havnt had before but more so a case of being more attentive to things when you experience them.

Although there appears an ethereal or subtle quality to nature I think most esoteric skills, such as intuition, are not as special and mystical as the books make out.

Our senses are magickal without the need for talking them up to be something they're not. Doing this makes them unatainable to some which is an unfortunate side effect.

Karuna; give life your full attention and it's intricate pattern will unveil itself before your very eyes.

-- Post From My iPhone

Nettles and blessings

Made myself some Nettle syrup (with brown sugar! yumyum) and it's been sweetening my tea ever since. It's beautiful.

There is a satisfaction that comes from making your own delicious treats which is quite like no other. It is sensations with qualities like this which should be emphasised in our society. The euphoria of childbirth, the amazement when meeting something wild up close, the satisfaction of home made bread... The greed of money, the longing for romance, the sadness of war are all things we need less of in our lives.

Children are being born left right and centre in my life at the moment. My friend Charlie has a beautiful birth story which I hope to share with you soon.

Blessed be my witchy brethen

The bigger picture

I'm sat up watching the elections. It looks like it's going to be a hung parliament which dosn't bother me as much as conservatives being in power. I am concerned about what is going to happen to us as a country and how that will affect the earth. However, the bigger picture is all about the individual.

I think after this vote I will make more effort to put good intentions into the world. From what I've seen it is possible to change our world by the way we choose to see it. At least, there is nothing to gain by feeling negatively about the world unless, of course, this drives you even more to take action to improve it.

It's very easy at times like this to see the individual as insignificant but this is not the case for it is the individual that makes the masses. Moreover, let us never forget all the individuals that have changed the world over! Live as you should like to see others do so. You can inspire others.

Let us be inspired by one another