Tag: Fruit

Daily OM for Sept. 9 – Have Fun & Save The Planet

Have Fun And Save The Planet

Think Globally, Eat Locally

We all know that our planet needs our help right now, but we often feel unsure about what to do, where to make an effort, and what will really help. The good news is that we can heal the planet on a daily basis simply by buying and eating food that is grown locally. Food that has been transported long distances doesn’t contain much life force by the time it gets to your kitchen. Making a commitment to shop, buy, and eat locally is not only a very important part of creating positive change, it can also be delicious fun.

One of the best places to begin the adventure of eating locally is a farmer’s market. Stalls brim with fresh fruits and vegetables grown on nearby farms. Not only is this good for the environment, it’s good for the farmers since they benefit from selling directly to the consumer. The consumer benefits, too, from the intimate experience of buying food from the hand of the person who grew it. In addition, the food is fresher and more diverse. In supermarkets, particular varieties of fruits and vegetables are favored due to their ability to survive transport to a far destination. Alternately, at a farmer’s market, you will find versions of the fruits and vegetables you know that will surprise and delight your senses—green striped heirloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower, white carrots, and edible flowers, just to name a few.

Make an effort to buy as much of your food as possible directly from local farmers. You will become one of a growing number of people eating delicious food to save the planet and having fun doing it.

Pomona, Goddess of Apples

Pomona, Goddess of Apples

By

Patti Wigington

Pomona was a Roman Goddess who was the keeper of orchards and fruit trees. Unlike many other agricultural deities, Pomona is not associated with the harvest itself, but with the flourishing of fruit trees. She is usually portrayed bearing a cornucopia or a tray of blossoming fruit. She doesn’t appear to have had any Greek counterpart at all, and is uniquely Roman.

In Ovid’s writings, Pomona is a virginal wood nymph who rejected several suitors before finally marring Vertumnus – and the only reason she married him was because he disguised himself as an old woman, and then offered Pomona advice on who she should marry. Vertumnus turned out to be quite lusty, and so the two of them are responsible for the prolific nature of apple trees. Pomona doesn’t appear very often in mythology, but she does have a festival that she shares with her husband, celebrated on August 13.

Despite her being a rather obscure deity, Pomona’s likeness appears many times in classical art, including paintings by Ruben’s and Rembrandt, and a number of sculptures. She is typically represented as a lovely maiden with an armful of fruit and a pruning knife in one hand. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Professor Sprout, the teacher of Herbology — the study of magical plants — is named Pomona.

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

From

Patti Wigington

In the English ballad “Thomas the Rhymer,” young Thomas is cautioned against eating the Fairy Queen’s apples, because to eat the food of the dead would prevent him from ever returning to the land of the living.

For the ancients, the apple was considered a symbol of immortality. Interestingly, it’s also seen as a food for the dead, which is why Samhain is sometimes referred to as the Feast of Apples. In Celtic myth, an apple branch bearing grown fruit, flowers, and unopened bud was a magical key to the land of the Underworld. It’s also a symbol of the harvest, and is frequently found on altars during Mabon celebrations.

The apple is often found as a component in love magic, and the blossoms may be added to incenses and brews. In traditional folklore, apples are used as part of love divination — peel the apple in a continuous length, and when the first strip of peel falls off, it will form the initial of the person you are to marry. Cut an apple in half and count the seeds — an even number means marriage is coming, an uneven number indicates that you’ll remain single for a while.

Other names: Silver Bough, Tree of Love, Fruit of the Gods

Gender: Feminine Element: Water Deity Connections: Venus, Aphrodite, Diana, Apollo, Zeus

Calendar of the Sun for August 21

Calendar of the Sun

21 Weodmonath

Consualia: First Harvest of Rome

Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a brown a cloth display the preserved fruits of the harvest thus far. There should be a pot of fruit that has been cooked to charring as a traditional offering, a wreath of flowers, and a chalice of wine. Outside, the underground stone altar of Consus is dug open and revealed.
Offering: Burned fruits.
Daily Meal: Food out of the garden.

Consualia Invocation

Hail, Consus, Lord of the Storehouse!
As our ancestors stored things deep underground,
So we have opened the earth
To give you what is your due.
For it is not enough to grow what must be grown.
Our sustenance must also be cultivated,
Plucked from vine and stem,
Cleaned and prepared,
And if necessary preserved.
You are the keeper of next year’s seeds
Which we must save as if our lives
Depended on those tiny cradles of life.
You are the keeper of next year’s grain,
And may we all come to love and understand
The cycle of seed and fruit on which
Our table, and our bellies, depend.
Hail Consus, keeper of the seeds,
May your blessing carry through
To next year’s garden, and each year forever.

(All go out to the garden, where the open hole reveals the carved stone of Consus’s altar. The burned fruits are laid in as an offering, and the wine poured in on top. Then the altar is covered again with earth, and the wreath of flowers is laid over it.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Wicca Book of Days for July 26 – Fading Freckles

The Wicca Book of Days for July 26

Fading Freckles

 

If the summer sun has caused a crop of unwanted freckles to spring up on your face, you could try encouraging them to fade by taking the following advice, which was originally published in The Compleat Cook, an English handbook, in 1671: “To take away freckles or the Sun burning. Steep a piece of copper in the juice of Lemon till it be dissolved, and anoint the place with a feather morning and evening, washing it off with white wine.” Alternatively, regularly dab a freshly cut lemon slice on your freckles and then do not wash your face for at least 10 minutes.

 

Chargrill Chef

Not only is this Leonian day governed by the sun, but its element is fire and its polarity is masculine, all of which point to barbecuing! So take advantage of the relaxed summer vibe and warmth of the evening to hold an outdoor feast – just fire up the barbecue and get grilling!

Lammas Ritual

Lammas Ritual
Scott Cunningham

Place upon the altar sheaves of wheat, barley or oats, fruit and Breads, perhaps a loaf fashioned in the figure of the Sun or a man To represent the God. Corn dollies, symbolic of the goddess, can be
Present there as well.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the Circle Of Stones.

Recite the Blessing Chant.

Invoke the Goddess and God.

Stand before the altar, holding aloft the sheaves of grain, saying These or similar words:

Now is the time of the First Harvest,
When bounties of nature give of themselves
So that we may survive.
O God of the ripening fields, Lord of the Grain,
Grant me the understanding of sacrifice as you
Prepare to deliver yourself under the sickle of the
Goddess and journey to the lands of eternal summer.
O Goddess of the Dark Moon,
Teach me the secrets of rebirth
As the Sun loses its strength and the nights grow cold.
Rub the heads of the wheat with your fingers so that the grains fall
Onto the altar. Lift a piece of fruit and bit, savouring it flavour,

And say:

I partake of the first harvest, mixing its energies
With mine that I may continue my quest for the starry
Wisdom of perfection.
O Lady of the Moon and Lord of the Sun,
Gracious ones before Whom the stars halt their courses,
I offer my thanks for the continuing fertility of the Earth.
May the nodding grain loose its seeds to be buried in
The Mothers breast, ensuring rebirth in the warmth
Of the coming Spring.
Consume the rest of the fruit.

Works of magic, if necessary, may follow.

Celebrate the Simple Feast.

The circle is released.

It is appropriate to plant the seeds from the fruit consumed in Ritual. If they sprout, grow the plant with love and as a symbol of Your connection with the Goddess and God.

 

Daily Feng Shui Tip for July 1 – ‘National Blueberry Month’

Happy July — it’s ‘National Blueberry Month!’ According to ancient tradition, the blueberry was considered more than just an antioxidant and anti-aging super food. Long believed to be a Native American fruit, the blueberry was thought to bring an arsenal of personal protection to whoever ate it with that same intention in mind. It is still believed by some to offset the negative energies associated with the ‘evil eye’ and magically enhance our own inner defense systems (when eaten with that specific goal). If you ever feel under attack, these fruity forces can bring that battle to an end. Crush some fresh blueberries, dip a finger into the blue juice, and mark a Star of David on a piece of plain white paper. Keep this talisman in the kitchen, and don’t forget to wash that finger right away!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

To Overcome An Enemy

To Obtain An Enemy

Take a brown candle and write your enemy’s name three times on it. Place it in a bowl filled with brown sugar. Light the candle and affirm:  “Your hostility, I’ll overcome. In day of nine, your friendship is mine.” Do this before you go to bed. Allow the candle to burn itself out while you sleep. In the morning take what is left of the candle wax and the brown sugar and throw it in your enemy’s yard. Do this for nine consecutive days without fail.

Seed Moon Love Potion

Seed Moon Love Potion

Make and drink this potion to put more love, wisdom and passion into your love life.

You will need three cups of white grape juice, three drops of vanilla, nine ice cubes and three strawberries.

Strawberries are a favorite food of elves and because of this, Bavarian peasants tie a basket of strawberries on the horn of their cattle so that the animals may prosper with blessings of the elves. In Norse mythology, the strawberry is sacred to Frigga, wife of Odin and Goddess of Love in terms of relationships and marriage.

Mix the grape juice, vanilla, and ice together using an electric blender. Turning of the blender, add the first strawberry, and say:

Oh great Goddess Frigg

Let my beloved and I share a love that knows no bounds.

Blend the first strawberry, then turn off the blender and add the second strawberry while saying:

Oh great Goddess Frigga

Let my beloved and I share a wisdom that knows no bounds.

Blend the second strawberry, then turn off the blender and add the third strawberry while repeating:

Oh great Goddess Frigga

Let my beloved and I share a passion that knows no bounds.

Blend the third strawberry, then pour the mixture into  glass. Before drinking toast the elves:

With this fruity potion I toast the magick of the elves

And ask for their blessings so my love will always grow.

Calendar of the Sun for Monday, April 16th

Calendar of the Sun
16 Eostremonath

Iduna’s Blot

Colors: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of green place a bowl of apples in different colors, a horn of mead, a polished stone, a bowl of nuts, and many gardening tools such as hoes and spades.
Offerings: Today’s work should concentrate entirely on gardening, even in inclement weather. If there is an orchard, special care should be taken with it.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian. Serve fruit and nuts.

Invocation to Iduna

Hail to you, Lady of the Sacred Orchard!
Hail to you, gardener of Asgard!
Let the other gods quarrel
About who may sit higher than whom,
About whose sword is sharper
And whose spear is keener.
You, Lady, know your place,
And that place is indispensable.
You are the One Who Works,
The one without whom all the plans
And grandiosities of the others
Would simply come to nothing.
Giver of health and immortality,
Keep our bodies sound and strong!
Keep us healthy, that we may, like you,
Get up each and every morning
While the rest of the world quarrels
And go quietly to our tasks,
Working the Earth that you love so much,
Knowing that ours is the real work
And the real life, not some shell
Of unbodied, distanced work
Whose products we will never see.
Help us in our daily round of sacred labor,
Lady of the Sacred Orchard,
And may our gardens bloom as yours.

(The horn of mead is passed around, and the rest poured as a libation to Iduna. Each takes an apple and some nuts as a snack for their work-hours, and then each takes a gardening tool from the altar, thanks Iduna, and goes outside to work.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

7 Reasons Why You Should Grow Your Own Food

7 Reasons Why You Should Grow Your Own Food

  • Judi Gerber

 

Not that being part of a trend is ever a good reason to start or learn something new, but if it helps you move forward by being part of the “in” crowd, then you really need to plant your own edible garden this year.

That’s right, having your own vegetable garden is now trendy. In fact according to the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report conducted by the Garden Writer’s Association (GWA) Foundation, over 41 million U.S. households, or 38 percent planted a vegetable garden in 2009. And, more than 19.5 million households (18 percent) grew an herb garden and 16.5 million households (15 percent) grew fruits during the same period.

The study found that there was a growth in edible gardening from both experienced gardeners and from an influx of new gardeners: 92 percent of respondents had previous experience and 7 percent (7.7 million households) were new edible gardeners.

And one-third of the experienced gardeners grew more edibles in 2009 than in the previous year. The GWA indicates that given the strong response for plans to grow more edibles into 2010, the vegetable gardening trend will continue and there will likely be a new high level of edible gardening activity this year.

Another survey done by the American Gardening Association showed a 19 percent increase in new hobby country farms and urban edible gardens in 2009 over 2008.

So, aside from its popularity, do you need some other reasons to grown your own food?

  • The GWA’s survey found that the main reason given for increasing or maintaining edible gardening last year was to supplement household food supply — to help them save money on food. That alone is a very powerful reason.
  • There is nothing more local than food grown in your own backyard, your windowsills, or on patio containers.
  • Growing your own fruits and vegetables means that you know exactly what does and does not go into your food and exactly where it comes from.
  • You will get healthier in a number of ways. Not only will you end up eating more fruits and vegetables, but you will be getting added exercise. Did you know that you can burn as many calories in 45 minutes of gardening as you can in 30 minutes of aerobics? And, working in the garden reduces stress.
  • You will get a bigger variety of your favorite fruits and vegetables because you can choose from hundreds of different varieties and you can grow the things you like the best.
  • You can teach your children or grandchildren where their food actually comes from and that it doesn’t come from the supermarket but from the soil, the earth that we all depend on.

Daily Feng Shui Tip of the Day for December 15th

At this time of year you can easily find the mystical pomegranate, regarded by many global cultures and traditions as the fruit of fertility and prosperity. Pomegranates are considered to be completely lucky and fruitful and it’s been said that if you make a wish before eating one then that wish must come true. As well, other ages old legends tell us that to eat the pomegranate’s seed will promise progeny. These legends also say that carrying dried pomegranate skin will bring more money, and that hanging the branches of this fruit over the doorway will protect the inner space from anything wicked. Plus, the pomegranate makes a pretty seasonal decoration. All-purpose pomegranate filled with possibility, promise and potential. That’s quite a seasonal gift all by itself!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

MABON – THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

MABON – THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

This is the Harvest Home and falls in a busy season. Agricultural work all
through the harvest season, from Lughnassadh to Samhain, should be done
communally and with simple rites, keeping the presence of the Gods in mind, and
accompanied by games and amusements where they can be fitted in. The Harvest
Queen with her chosen Lord preside at all these occasions, leading the work, the
dances and the feasting. Wagons coming in from the fields at Mabon form a
parade. There are garlands around the necks of the draft animals, and the
Harvest Queen rides in rustic splendor on the last wagon.

THEMES

Many fruits and nuts full-ripe. Leaves turning. Harvest in full swing. Bird
migrations begin. Chill of winter anticipated. Farewell to Summer. Friendship
and family ties remembered.

Thesmophoria, the Eleusianian Mysteries and the Cerelia, all in honor of Demeter
or the Roman Ceres. Feast of Cernunnos and of Bacchus.

The myth of Dionysos: the young god is sacrificed or abducted as Winter begins.
Hy is restored to his mother in the spring. Dionysos (vegetable life) if the
offspring of Persephone (the seed corn) and Hades (the underworld, beneath the
surface of the earth).

PURPOSE OF THE RITES

Thanksgiving to the gods for the harvest. Magic for good weather and protection
of the winter food supply. Blessing the harvest fruits.

FOLK CUSTOMS

Gala processions to bring home the harvest. One or two fruits left on each tree,
no doubt originally meant as an offering to the spirit of the trees. Harvest
customs are too numerous to list here. Refer to The Golden Bough. They include
relics of purification rites and sacrifice of the God-King.

SYMBOLIC DECORATIONS

Colors: gold and sky-blue
Autumn leaves and berries
Fruits of harvest
Nuts
Acorns
Pine cones
Autumn flowers

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Husing bees
Harvest parade
Barn dances
Harvest ball
Country fair
Canning and preserving parties

THE RITE

Takes place late afternoon of Mabon Day, in a field or garden, not in wild
woods. The Circle may be marked out with autumn braches. Altar in the west. A
sky-blue altar cloth makes a beautiful background for harvest-gold candles and
decorations of autumn foliage.

Make an image of the Goddess from a sheaf of grain, so that the ripe ears form a
crown. Place this image, decorated with seasonal flowers (chrysanthemums are
sacred to Her, being really marigolds) above the altar. It is a barbaric-looking
figure – no Praxiteles goddess. Have a jug of cider and a supply of cups or
glasses near the altar.

Build the central fire in the cauldron and wreathe the cauldron with autumn
branches.

Coveners may wear work clothes or white robes, or dress in ordinary clothing in
autumn colors. HPS and HP should wear crowns of autumn leaves and berries.
Everyone walks in a procession to the Circle, each carrying a sheaf of grain or
a basket or tray of apples, squashes, melons, nuts, etc. as they continue to
walk deosil within the Circle, HP and HPS take their burdens from them and stack
them around the altar.

Banish the Circle with sat water. In the prayer of intention, refer to absent
friends and relatives who are present in spirit and to the harvest offering. Bid
Summer farewell.

HP kindles the fire. HPS invokes the Goddess and charges the fire. Communion
materials are cider and Sabbat cakes.

The Ritual of Harvesting:

Have a fruit-bearing potted plant at the North. Reap the fruit and carry it
slowly, elevated at about eye-level on the Pentacle, on a tour of the Circle.
The fruit represents the benefits and results of our efforts during the year.
The elevation, with all eyes fixed on the fruit, represents our assessment and
evaluation of our results. The coveners’ individual messages, burned in the
fire, briefly detail these. The fruit itself is divided with the knife and eaten
by the coveners as a token that they accept the consequences of their actions.

Have a platter prepared for the Goddess, bearing some of each kind of food
provided for the feast. Using the knife, HPS buries this food before the altar,
inviting the Goddess to share in and bless the feast. HP pours a libation. Then
he pours cider all around and proposes a toast to the harvest.

HPS gives thanks to all the gods for the harvest. HPS asks the blessing. The
usual divinations and similar business follow, then feasting, dancing and games
and the rite ends as usual.

MABON (circa September 21)

MABON (circa September 21)

 

Decorate the altar with acorns, oak sprigs, pine and cypress cones, ears of

corn, wheat stalks and other fruits and nuts. Also place there a small rustic

basket filled with dried leaves of various colors and kinds.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the Circle of Stones.

Recite the Blessing Chant.

Invoke the Goddess and God.

Stand before the altar, holding aloft the basket of leaves, and slowly scatter

them so that they cascade to the ground within the circle. Say such words as

these:

 

Leaves fall,

the days grow cold.

The Goddess pulls Her mantle of the Earth around Her as You,

O Great Sun God,

sail toward the West to the lands of

Eternal Enchantment.,

wrapped in the coolness of night.

Fruits ripen,

seeds drop,

the hours of day and night are balanced.

Chill winds blow in from the North wailing laments.

In this seeming extinction of nature’s power,

O Blessed Goddess,

I know that life continues.

For spring is impossible without the second harvest,

as surely as life is impossible without death.

Blessings upon You,

O Fallen God,

as You journey into the lands of winter

and into the Goddess’ loving arms.

Place the basket down and say:

 

O Gracious Goddess of all fertility,

I have sown and reaped the fruits of my actions, good and bane.

Grant me the courage to plant seeds of joy and love in the coming year,

banishing misery and hate.

Teach me the secrets of wise existence upon this planet,

O Luminous One of the Night!

 

Works of magick, if necessary, may follow.

Celebrate the Simple Feast.

The circle is released.

Zen and the Art of Berry Harvesting

Zen and the Art of Berry Harvesting

by Amanda Silvers

article

I am very warm; it is one of those days where your hair clings to your neck and the sweat beads above your lip. I want something sweet, but not too sweet, and juicy.

Hmmmmmm, I think, about the blackberry bower by the driveway. I think that the berries might be perfect to quench my hunger.

The bush has been very prolific this year, and it is so heavy with ripe berries that they hang down to the ground in places. I think about the berries bowing the branches under their weight, their shiny plump blackness oozing sweetness, and my mouth waters as I walk outside into the sun. I am blinded momentarily by the brightness, and I think about the fact that I left my sunglasses in the house. I am also wearing only shorts and a tank top, not the best attire for blackberry picking! I remember seeing a friend a few days earlier; she was covered with angry red scratches and cuts, from picking blackberries, she said. Oh well, I think to myself, I’ll be careful and just take a few of the more accessible berries.

I approach the bush and the thorns loom, shining sharply; they are all I can see. The thought of the berries is now eclipsed by the terrible threat of injury from the thick branches rimmed with thorns. Not to mention the fact that the berries, so many I can see dozens as I park my car every day, are nowhere to be found now as I stand there next to the bush squinting into the sun.

I stop for a moment as I feel the bush diva pull back its branches and threaten me telepathically with sharp scratches if I so much as try to pick a berry. Then I remember: I have to ask the bush for the berries, and ask it with respect and a small amount of fear for the sharp thorns.

I smile to myself and the berry bush diva as I think to the bush, “Hello there, Mama Berry Bush! How are you doing today? Did you get enough water when I watered you last night?” The bush relaxes a bit, but not completely, as I stand before her with a bowl, smiling at her like a lunatic. I again address the bush psychically, “I was wondering, oh great Berry, you have produced much beautiful fruit this year, would you share it with us humble humans? You know we are unlike you, and unable to produce such sweet and luscious fruit, and we would be honored by your gift.” The berry bramble is practically beaming at me now, and all of a sudden the branches seem to open up, and there is the fruit! Hundreds of beautiful plump shiny blackberries, hanging in hefty clumps of six or ten, along with gorgeous green fuzzy leaves, all on stalks with little, teeny-tiny thorns.

Where did those huge thorns go? I ask the bush as I begin to pick a berry here and one there, and she answers “Oh, those were in your imagination. I just helped you to see the ones I have as several times as big as usual.” I laugh to myself and continue picking and telling the bush diva how lovely the fruit is.

I pop a berry into my mouth, and it bursts in an explosion of pungent tart sweetness. These are the best blackberries I have ever tasted, I tell the bush. Just then, she reveals even more berries, bigger and more lush that the ones before, and all in easy reach as I stand inside the shelter of the branches and continue to pick.

I picked and chatted merrily to the berry diva as I gathered the remarkable fruit. Toward the end, I made sure to thank her for the fine gift. I promised her that I would only prune her lovely branches and not cut her down, as so many people do. She was delighted and promised me more berries whenever I wanted, at least during the next few weeks.

I finally picked all of the ripe berries I could find that day, and I only ended up with one tiny scratch on my arm. It was near the end of my harvest; I was getting a bit greedy, and she had to remind me to not take any berries that were not yet ripe. I wound up with a huge bowl of luscious fruit to share, and with no pain. See, all you have to do is ask nicely!

Herb of the day for August 30 is Jujube Berries

Jujube Berries

Botanical: Zizyphus vulgaris (LAMK.)
Family: N.O. Rhamnaceae

—Synonyms—Zizyphus sativa. Brustbeeren. Judendornbeeren. Rhamnus Zizyphus.
—Part Used—Fruit.
—Habitat—Southern Europe.

 

—Habitat—Originally a native of Syria, Zizyphus vulgariswas introduced into Italy in the reign of Augustus, and is now naturalized in Provence, and particularly in the islands of HyŠres, where the berries are largely collected when ripe, and dried in the sun.

The trees average 25 feet in height and are covered with a rough, brown bark. They have many branches, with annual thorny branchlets bearing alternate, oval-oblong leaves of a clear green colour, with three to five strongly-marked, longitudinous veins. The small flowers are pale yellow and solitary. The fruit is a blood-red drupe, the size and shape of an olive, sweet, and mucilaginous in taste, slightly astringent. The pulp becomes softer and sweeter in drying, and the taste more like wine. They have pointed, oblong stones.

—Constituents—A full analysis has not yet been made, but the berries are valued for their mucilage and sugar.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—The Jujube is classed with the raisin, date, and fig as a pectoral fruit, being nutritive and demulcent. It is eaten both fresh and dried.

A syrup and a tisanewere formerly made from it, but the berries are now little used in medicine.

Jujube paste, or ‘Pâte de Jujubes,’ is made of gum-arabic and sugar. It may be dissolved in a decoction of jujubes and evaporated, but is considered as good a demulcentwithout their addition. It is frequently merely mixed with orange-flower water.

A decoction of the rootshas been used in fevers.

An astringent decoction of leaves and branchlets is made in large quantities in Algeria, and seems likely to replace the cachou.

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—Other Species—
Z. Lotos, sometimes also called Z. sativa, of Northern Africa and Z. Jujuba of the East Indies possess similar properties, and are used in their respective countries. Z. Lotos is thought to have been one of the sources of the famous sweet fruits from which the ancient Lotophagi took their name, the liqueur prepared from which caused those who partook of it to forget even their native countries in its enjoyment. The Arabs call it Seedra. In Arabia a kind of bread is made of them by exposing them to the sun for a few days and then pounding them in a wooden mortar to separate the stones. The meal is mixed with water and formed into cakes which after drying in the sun resemble sweet gingerbread.

Z. Bacleiis said to be used in the same way in Africa, and also for making a beverage.

Z. Jujubais largely cultivated by the Chinese, in many varieties as a dessert fruit, some being called Chinese Dates, and it is also one of the main sources of stick-lac.

Z. Cenopliaof India has edible fruits, and the bark is esteemed as a vulnerary.

In Cochin-China the berries of Z. agrestisare eaten.

In Senegal the fruits of Z. Bareleiare slightly styptic, and the negroes use the roots for gonorrhoea. It is probably the same species that is used there in venereal diseases.

A decoction of the dried leaves of Z. Napecais said to be used for washing ulcers in Arabia.

Z. spina Christi, or Rhamnus spina Christi, of Ethiopia, is said to be the source of the crown of thorns placed on the Saviour’s head. The Arabs call it Nabka.

The Book Of Hours: Prayers to the Goddess

Lady,

 

Your hair becomes a tangle of
green vines and wheat and sweet blossoms
of undefined fruit.
Your arms embrace the sky as
Terra is eternally begotten anew,
ever-emerging from Your boundless womb.
In rapture You call forth life
and without You all would be barren.
I call upon You with many-sided names;
You answer with your rainbow-colored smile.

Meditation

Your garden grows (or sleeps) What do you see in the growing? What do you see as potential?

Daily Affirmation

In the Name of the All-Mother: I will complete a project today.
 

Closing Prayer

Terra Mater, Mother of all life. I give

Thee thanks for Thy blessings–

the fruit of the vanes;the fruit of my spirit;

life’s abundance.

 

Blessed Be

…

 

 

The Book Of Hours: Prayers to the Goddess

By Galen Gillotte

The Goddess Companion

Pomona lived in ancient times,
a nymph whose merest touch would green
an orchard, would fill its boughs with fruit.
Oh how Pomona loved her orchards!
The rest of nature left her cold, but
fruit trees! apples! pears! These were
Pomona’s great delight, her fiercest joy.
She bore a knife, but not for hunting:
no, hers was used to trim a hedge
of rose or cherry-wood, or to prune
a fruitless tree, or graft an aged apple
so that it burst forth anew.
Orchards were her secret nurseries
and trees were her beloved ones
who never thirsted, never withered.
Oh! to live among Pomona’s trees!
Oh! to be loved as much as that!
~Ovid, Metamorphoses
 
The Roman Goddess Pomona was honored as the spirit of fruit trees, and also as the gardener who tends them. For many people, connection with nature occurs primarily through gardening. Even in urban areas, a pot of marigolds on a balcony will brighten the darkest day. The connection between people and plants is one that has always illuminated myth and ritual. Although few rituals exist today to celebrate the great productivity of plant and animal life each summer, we can build our own with friends and family. Eating the first corn, cutting the first ripe tomato, grilling fresh fish in the open air: if done consciously, these can become rituals of thanksgiving and love to the earth that sustains us.
 
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By Patricia Monaghan

Herb of the Day for April 29 is Cocculus, Indicus *POISON*

Herb of the Day

 

Cocculus, Indicus

POISON!

Botanical: Anamirta paniculata (COLEBR.)
Family: N.O. Menispermaceae

—Synonyms—Levant Nut. Fish Berry.
—Part Used—Dried fruit.
—Habitat—India, Ceylon, Malabar.

 

 

—Description—A poisonous climbing plant with ash-coloured corky bark, leaves stalked, heart-shaped, smooth, underside pale with tufts of hair at the junctions of the nerves and at the base of the leaves, the flowers are pendulous panicles, male and female blooms on different plants; fruit round and kidney shaped, outer coat thin, dry, browny, black and wrinkled, inside a hard white shell divided into two containing a whitish seed, crescent shaped and very oily.

—Constituents—The chief constituent is the bitter, crystalline, poisonous substance, picrotoxin; the seed also contains about 50 per cent. of fat.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—The powdered berries are sometimes used as an ointment for destroying lice; the entire fruits are used to stupefy fish, being thrown on the water for that purpose. Picrotoxin is a powerful convulsive poison used principally to check night sweats in phthisis by its action in accelerating respiration, but it is not always successful. It was at one time used to adulterate beers, increasing their reputation as intoxicants; it is an antidote in Morphine poisoning.

—Preparations—Fluid extract, 1/4 to 1 drop. Picrotoxin, B.P.

Citrus Unblocking Spell

  1. Collect as many types of citrus fruits, emphasizing the sour ones. There can’t be too much fruit in this bath.
  2. Quarter each fruit, squeeze the juice into a tub of bath water then toss in the rind.
  3. Add a bottle of orange blossom water or hydrosol.
  4. Enter the bath, rub yourself with the fruit, envision your blocks cleansed away and then allow yourself to air-dry. )Depending on the quantity of fruit used, you may be sticky. Leave the fruit residue on for as long as possible before showering it off.)