Any Witches here? Part 20

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.
A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration..
This is the 18th thread- anyone looking for a deep dive into juicy magical topics may like to browse previous threads.....
It is a long list!!
Part 1 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3241689-Any-witches-here?pg=1
Part 2
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3338025-Any-Witches-Here-Part-2?pg=1
Part 3
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3366411-Any-Witches-Here-Part-3?pg=1
Part 4
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3404406-Any-Witches-Here-Part-4-Edited-by-MNHQ?pg=1
Part5
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3437092-Any-Witches-Here-Part-5?pg=1
Part 6 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3482023-Any-Witches-Here-Part-6?pg=1
Part 7 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3520269-Any-Witches-Here-Part-7?pg=1
Part 8 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/a3568622-Any-Witches-Here-Part-8?pg=1
Part 9 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3637696-Any-Witches-Here-Part-9?pg=1
Part 10
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3726266-Any-Witches-Here-Part-10
Part 11
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3850635-Any-Witches-Here-Part-11
Part 12
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3997761-Any-Witches-Here-Part-12
Part 13 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4116107-Any-Witches-here-Part-13
Part 14www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4213962-Any-Witches-Here-Part-14
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4328830-Any-Witches-Here-Part-15?msgid=113505801
www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4435233-Any-Witches-Here-Part-16?page=40&reply=118807589

www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4598225-any-witches-here-part-17?page=40&reply=122990208

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4717929-any-witches-here-part-18?page=1

Thinking of you Speakout😍

Oh, I bought a uv torch ages ago to try and find the cats secret loo.
Then of course I had to find out what the rest of the house looked like ...

One interesting thing to do with it is to shine it on flowers when it's shady or dark, that gives you an insects eye view of the path to the pollen and nectar.

We were warned to wear special goggles with the UV torch, but it was the depths of winter, as it was dark early and they kept steaming up! Looking round your house would be scary, though. We went to a science event with the dcs and they got you to wash your hands and put them under a UV light so you could see the bits you missed.

Thank you so much for the well wishes as I attended a consultation at the hospital today.
The support from my sisters helped me keep calm, and I felt a warm cloak of energy the moment I drove into the car park.
The staff were all so kind, receptionists, nurses and surgeon. were all such kind souls and put me at great ease.
I have surgery booked in two weeks time, and I will have both eyes done in the same afternoon.
I have lost my mojo for cooking in the past few months, but was in the mood today after my hospital visit.
DD is coming over for dinner and staying the night, I have made a taco bar, lots of side dishes- protein options , home made guacamore and pico de gallo. Cooking ahead means I can have a chill evening and coorie uo with my DD.

Great news to get it all done in one go and not a long wait either. Colours will be amazing!

Craftycorvid strange energies around here too at the moment. Two small fires happened in my house this week, luckily spotted early and minimal damage, Despite having bad eyesight ( or perhaps because of) my sense of smell (and hearing) is extremely acute.
I agree with you about the water situation. We don't have to pay water bills in Scotland and because of our terrain and weather have very abundant sources- we never have hose pipe bans etc.
It still feels a precious resource though, so many on our planet have no clean water- we are so fortunate.
Like many places in the UK there seems to be many new homes being built, many hundreds in my local area alone. House builders erect the homes, sell them and are off. Our sewage systems are not able to cope with so much extra demand so emergency run off into local waterways and rivers happens frequently raw sewage runs straight into rivers. That makes me cross. Builders make little provision to extend infrastructure- including ameneties like retail units, GP or dentist, public transport links, recreational halls. Many of these new estates feel like ghost towns.
I would love to know more about your rituals quirkychick morning or otherwise!
My rituals vary according to my mood, and are not always the same. I have a number of activities, so pick and choose according to my mood and energy.

It is so bright and sunny here today, which is showing up too much dust and jobs to be done!

@speakout my morning rituals atm are pretty much put on fairy lights, light a candle, do some online yoga (sometimes weights then yoga stretches). I sit with a coffee, do a Headspace meditation and some journalling, usually related to the meditation.

This morning, I was supposed to go to Vinyasa Yoga, but felt tired and achy yesterday, so I went into illness rituals and did two meditations, journalling and some drawing. I've also made some elderberry syrup, having ginger and lemon tea, Floradix, soup etc.

Night time, rituals are light a candle, herbal tea, often greek mountain tea or night time tea, essential oils, magnesium, read and listen to a Yoga Nidra for sleep, if I meed to.

quirkychick these all sound such lovely ideas- thanks for sharing.
I know Vinyasa classes can be quite demanding, you are very wise to listen to your body.
Your elderberry syrup sounds wonderful, I have just made a batch of blackcurrant honey. I'm not a fan of very astringent or sour fruits, but the sharpness contrasts really well with honey. I am guessing the vitamin C will be extracted from the fruit and end up in the honey as it is water soluble.
Your Greek tea sounds interesting, is it a herb blend- I love the flavours of Greece.
I am having a cosy evening with some peppermint tea and having a look at future local events. I have a soundbath booked for next week and having a look at a "self love workshop" happening in a few weeks. It lasts two hours and includes meditation, cacao, sound bath, reiki, oracle cards- so much packed into such a short time may not do any of these activities justice. So I am swithering a little. The studio is lovely has a heated floor and the company of other women in that space will be beneficial I'm sure.

@speakout the elderberry syrup was a recipe shared on mn - an old Outlander thread. It's elderberries simmered with ginger root, clove and cinnamon, coollled, squashed through a sieve and mixed with honey. Your blackcurrant honey sounds delicious, I love blackcurrants and other sour fruits, apparently it's a genetic adaptation to eating fermented foods! The Greek Mountain Tea is ironwort, we buy it direct from amazon and just put it in the pot with hot water. My Chinese friend said they do that with lots of herbs in China.

Your workshop sounds good, but probably a taster! I have a feelgood workshop next week, which includes healing body movement from a reiki teacher and a work/career focused one. The week after, my Yin teacher is doing a Chakra Dance workshop, which I'm looking forward to. It can be a tricky time of year and it's important to have things planned in, I find. I love Vinyasa Yoga, but it is quite tough, so not a good call if you're fighting something off. I'm glad my rituals are helpful, they've been developed over time. I'm always open to others' ideas, I've definitely adopted the 8 and 8 candles, so lovely.

Good to hear elderberry being used. I take elderberry tincture every day and have managed to avoid and coughs and sniffles.
I also made a lovely elderberry glycerine which combines with tincture of wild cherry bark for nagging coughs...glad I haven't needed it yet tho.

Today I made minestrone soup and bread,and a lemon and pine cleaning spray. Also a jar of ginger switchel which is helping get me through Dry January.

@Hedjwitch the elderberry is working so far, along with a mushroom blend in my coffee for Immunity. We had minestrone for lunch too.

Good afternoon sisters. I have just eaten my first foraging of the year..a dandelion leaf salad. Slim pickings but new growth busting out everywhere. I want to try and eat a lot more foraged food if I can. Having just read " ultra processed people" I desperately need to change my eating habits

@Hedjwitch that sounds lovely, foraging is really something I'd like to get into. Dandelion leaves are supposed to be very nutritious - we sometimes get them in the garden, so I'll keep an eye.

I have bought some spring bulbs for the kitchen windowsill: some tête-à-tête daffodils and some hyacinths. I buy some every year and then pot them outside for next year. It feels symbolic of the coming spring.

Too many dogs where I live to safely forage dandelions. But I wish I could. Your dandelion salad sounds lovely.

I am so happy to hear of growth too. I should probably go and check if any of the crocuses near me are up yet.

Thanks for that quirkychick my grandmother used to make rosehip syrup and would give me a large spoonful when I went to visit.
I remember thinking0 as a 5 year old that no other taste or food came anywhere close to that rich spoonful, sweet and fruity, full of love and healing energy.
We are battening down the hatches here in preparation for tomorrow's storm.
I live in the very centre of the hardest hit area, winds of 100mph predicted for tomorrow, red alert danger to life. Everything is closing up, OH work closing early, schools finishing at 2pm today. We are being advised to stay home tomorrow, everything will be closed- no shops, no public buildings. Will be severe.

Good luck today. Thinking of you 🍀

Candle lit for you Speakout and protection sent.

We're fine so far, I heard something make a scraping noise on either the roof or the terrace, will see what it was after Eowyn has passed.

Feel sorry for ndn, they lost a chunk of fencing when Darragh hit and only had it replaced just over a week ago. Hope Eowyn will be kinder.

@speakout candle lit for you and thinking of you. A few years ago, we lost a fence panel which dented our old car, . My mum and grandma used to make rosehip syrup too - so delicious!

Edited for typos

Defunct satellite dish attached to the chimney was waving around ominously, we saw the microphone thingy fell off and hang by its wire. A little later the dish clattered off the roof and landed in the garden, fortunately the metal bracket didn't seem to damage the solar panels, phew. The microphone is still dangling.

Storm is still raging here, we have had two massive trees completely blocking the only two roads in each direction so unable to leave the little place we live in. Not that I will be venturing outside! A house just a few streets away has had its roof ripped off.

Awful to see mature trees felled like that. Hope this won't be as bad as storm Arwen. Our local woods were devastated.

@speakout that's a really shocking photo. We've had mature trees down in previous storms blocking the main roads, it's quite scary. So far, we've seemed to escape the worst of it.

Been wild here in the red zone today.

Hoping you are all staying safe in this wild weather. I live in a ‘yellow zone’ and, so far, with the exception of a few gusts this morning, it’s been quiet so far.

Hopefully the storm is starting to ease a little, I have been checking arrivals and departures at Edinburgh airport, five hours ago all flights were cancelled, I see a trickle of flights moving again- although I wouldn't like to be a passenger.

FizzingAda I agree that it is sad to see trees falling, and too often it is because of human interference, digging through roots to lay cables, laying tarmac etc.
But trees falling in storms is a natural process, and fallen trees will often start to grow again in crazy ways, dead or decaying wood provide wonderful habitats for many species. There is an upended old oak tree near me and I have been watching with great interest the colourful fungi and insects setting up home in the decaying branches and roots.- would be a good trip for a dark UV torch walk! think woodland management are slowly changing their approach. Traditional parks- bandstand and rose gardens would remove dead or fallen trees because they look untidy.
I have woods around me, some are managed, others have no interference. The managed woods have walking trails and "unofficial" paths, but fallen trees are left in situ unless entangled or pose a safety hazard. Reminds me that death and decay are all a natural and often beautiful part of life.

I hope everybody's OK after the storms. @speakout your woodland sounds wild and lovely.

The clear weather has really shown how much later the sunset is now. There's also been a lot of birdsong the last couple of days, I'm sure I saw great tits in our hedge this morning.