Tag: Seed
Calendar of the Moon for November 15
Calendar of the Moon
15 Ngetal/Maimakterion
Day of the Yew Tree
Color: Ivory or bone-white
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a bone-white cloth set a vase of yew branches, a single ivory candle, a pot of soil, seeds of a sometimes-poisonous medicinal plant, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Care for a cemetery.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Yew Tree
Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
As the leaves fall and turn to brown,
As their breaking bodies crack beneath our feet,
As the earth itself browns and fades
And every stalk and tree gives way
To withering, the evergreens alone
Hold up their heads, and watch over
A kingdom which begins in death.
This is your kingdom, sacred yew,
Whose wood made bows to shoot
Flying death into the hearts of enemies.
Wreath of sacrificial bulls, beloved of ghosts,
Barrel-maker’s joy, coffin of the vine,
Churchyard tree whose roots spread
One to each corpse’s mouth,
Whose scarlet berries bring still more death,
Spell of knowledge, King’s Wheel,
Boundary of autumn and winter,
Saturn’s tree, slow to grow and slow to die,
Eagle who shrieks and dives to kill,
Whose all-seeing eyes follow shadows,
We hail you, sacred yew tree,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this the day of your deathwatch.
Chant: (To be sung to the slow beat of a drum)
Like leaves we fall Like leaves we fly Upon the winds
(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)
Calendar of the Sun for November 10th
Calendar of the Sun
Ancestor Day
Color:
Black and grey
Element: Earth
Altar: Spread a black cloth, and lay it with photographs, paintings, and other depictions of our ancestors. Add also symbols of their old tools, and statues of ancestral deities, a bowl of seeds for the future garden, pots of soil, a pitcher of water, and many candles of black and white and grey.
Offerings: Things they would have liked to eat, drink, smoke, or smell. Tend a cemetery and clean up the graves.
Daily Meal: Food from an earlier era, using authentic recipes.
Invocation to the Ancestors
Our ancestors got up at dawn,
Slaved in the dirt,
Sweated in the sun,
Chilled in the cold,
Numbed in the snow,
Scattering each seed with a prayer:
Pray that there be enough,
That no one starve this winter.
Pray that no bird nor beast
Steal the food I have struggled for.
And most of all,
Pray that each seed I save
Of this harvest
Shall next year
Bring forth a hundred more.
We live today
Because they worked
Because they sowed
Because they harvested
Because they prayed.
Chant:
Those who came before
We are your children
Those who came before
We honor your names
(Each person takes seeds from the bowl and plants them in the pots of soil, speaking the name of one of their ancestors as they do so, as in: “In honor of _______.” The pots are watered, and the candles put out one by one.)
Dangerous Plants
DANGEROUS PLANTS NEVER EAT OR INGEST ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
Avoid experimenting with ANY the following plants.
Some of them possess highly potent medical properties and should only be used by the truly experienced witch or herbalists. Many are poisonous in part or in whole and cause serious illness or death if not used properly.
Aconite
Bittersweet
Black nightshade
Blue flag
Burning bush
Calabar bean
Calico bush
Camphor
Castor oil plant (seeds)
Celandine
Christmas rose (root)
Cowbane
Daffodils
Deadly nightshade
Dog’s mercury
Elkweed
Ergot
Flag lily
Foxglove
Gelsemium
Hemlock
Hellebore
Henbane
Holly (seeds)
Honeysuckle (vine and fruits)
Horse balm
Impatiens pallida
Indian arrowroot
Inkberry
Jack-in-the-pulpit (root)
Jerusalem cherry
Jimsonweed
Laburnum (seeds)
Laurel (seeds)
Mandrake
Mayapple (roots, leaves, seeds)
Monkshood (fine as a rub – The smallest amount is deadly if used internally)
Mistletoe (seeds)
Poinsettia Poison
Dogwood
Flag
Hemlock
Ivy
Oak
Sumac
Poke root
Rosebay
Springier tree (seeds)
Spurge
Swallow wort
Thorn apple
Tobacco (Believe it! This IS a deadly poison if concentrated and eaten)
Wahoo
Wake-robin
Water dropwort
White hemlock
White bryony
Winter rose
Wood anemone (seeds)
Yellow jasmine
Yew (seeds and berries)
Calendar of the Moon for November 1
Calendar of the Moon
1 Ngetal/Maimakterion
Day of the Reed
Color: Blue-green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a blue-green cloth set a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a pot of soil, seeds of some rare but useful plant, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Reed
Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
In this time of whistling winds
And growing cold, when we see
The year wind down towards
Inevitable winter, the reeds
Sing their mournful song
Along river and marsh,
And the eternal ocean’s shore.
Reed who thatched our ancestors
Homes, who gave them roofs
Over their head and shelter
From the wild elements
That your month promises,
Remind us that the best way
To assuage sorrow and mourning
Is by finding some way to work
With hands and body
Toward the coming of a new day,
Even if that day be only for the eyes
Of others not yet born.
Let us put roofs over the heads
Of all who need them, borne
Out of our own mourning
For what should already have been.
We hail you, sacred reed,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this your day of falling.
(Use any keening, wordless, mournful polyphonic chant. Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)
Calendar of the Moon for October 16
Calendar of the Moon
16 Gort/Puanepsion
Day of the Blackthorn Tree
Color:
Dark Blue
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a dark blue cloth set a vase of blackthorn twigs, a single dark blue candle, a knife, a pot of soil, herb seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell. Several wooden staves lean against the altar.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Face conflict.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Blackthorn Tree
Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
Blackthorn tree of the hedges,
Whose thorns dissuade cattle
And intruders from trespassing,
Tree of the walking staff
Whose name is Strife
And whose job is Boundary,
You teach us that sometimes
Guardianship can lead to battle,
And that not everything can be held
Peacefully, be it land or goals
Or objects or rules or values.
Sometimes there will be strife
By the very nature of the universe,
Which encompasses both equally
And sees conflict as the necessary
Adjustment that points out our blindnesses.
Tree of thorns, hulking and sullen,
You will not stand to be mistreated
Or taken advantage; your nature
Does not lend itself to yielding.
We hail you, sacred blackthorn tree,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this the day of your bloodshed.
(Let one who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual arm themselves with a staff, and guard the altar. Each approaches the altar, and is swung at; they take up a staff and meet the blow with it. After this they are allowed to approach and plant a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)
Calendar of the Moon for October 1
Calendar of the Moon
1 Gort/Puanepsion
Day of the Ivy
Color: Sky blue
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a sky-blue cloth set a pot of ivy, a single sky-blue candle, a pot of soil, seeds of some rare medicinal herb, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Do a spiral walking meditation.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Ivy
Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
Ivy that twines up stone walls,
Who can hold up a house or tear it down,
Spiral dancer whose twisting
Echoes the material we are made of,
Wreath of the Maenads,
Kin to the red-caps in the faery rings,
You remind us that there is a price
For your twining sister’s intoxication.
Mute swan who outstretched wings
Are your elegant speech to the sky,
Ivy-girl of the final harvest,
You bind the last sheaf of wheat,
As mute testament to the failure
Of those whose work has not
Matched the speed of the turning year.
We bow our heads in supplication
Before you, ivy that winds us
And our dead in their sleeping places.
We hail you, sacred ivy,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this the day of your binding.
(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Then all join hands and move in a silent spiral dance to the sound of slow drumming. Ring bell and dismiss.)
Autumn Equinox
Farewell, O Sun, ever returning light. The hidden
God, who ever yet remains. He departs to the land
of youth, through the gates of Death, to dwell
enthroned, the judge of Gods and man. The horned
leader of the hosts of Air. Yet, even as stand unseen
about the circle the forms of the Mighty Lords of
the Outer Spaces, So dwelleth he, ‘the lord within
ourselves.’ So dwelleth he within the secret seed, the
seed of new reaped grain, the seed of flesh, hidden
in the earth, the marvelous seed of the stars.
‘In him is life, and life is the light of men,’
that which was never born and never dies.
Therefore the Wicca weep not, but rejoice.”
– The Book of Shadows (1957)
Gerald Gardner
Calendar of the Moon for September 1
Calendar of the Moon
1 Coll/Metageitnion
Day of the Hazel Tree
Color: Dark brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a dark brown cloth set a vase of hazel twigs, a single dark brown candle, a pot of soil, seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Write. Play music. Sing.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Hazel Tree
Hail, Green Man of the Summer!
Hazel tree of the bard’s joy,
Wisdom in a nutshell,
Concentrated nourishment
Of the body and the soul.
Salmon of wisdom in Connla’s spring,
Magical crane-bag of the poets,
Diviner’s rod, searching out
The hidden mysteries
And sharing them with all who seek,
Teacher of art and science,
Knowledge and beauty bound up as one,
You show us that they should not
Ever be separated, lest we lose
On half of our selves.
Arbiter, mediator, herald
Of any side that calls you,
You teach us to see things fairly
From the bard’s perspective
Where Truth rules first and foremost
And yet can be wrapped in Story.
We hail you, sacred hazel tree,
Green Man of the Summer,
With this your gift of our sustenance.
Song: Brigantia
(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)
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.)
Herb of the Day for August 6 – White Sage
White Sage
Salvia apiana (White sage, bee sage, or sacred sage) is an evergreen perennial shrub that is native to the southwestern United States and 
northwestern Mexico, found mainly in the coastal sage scrub habitat of Southern California and Baja California, on the western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.
Description
S. apiana is a shrub that reaches 1.3 to 1.5 metres (4.3 to 4.9 ft) tall and 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) wide. The whitish evergreen leaves have oils and resins that release a strong aroma when rubbed. The flowers are very attractive to bees, which is described by the specific epithet, apiana. Several 1 to 1.3 metres (3.3 to 4.3 ft) flower stalks, sometimes pinkish colored, grow above the foliage in the spring. Flowers are white to pale lavender.
Distribution and habitat
White sage is a common plant that requires well-drained dry soil, full sun, and little water. The plant occurs on dry slopes in coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and yellow-pine forests of Southern California to Baja California at less than 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) elevation.
Uses
S. apiana is widely used by Native American groups on the Pacific coast of the United States. The seed was a main ingredient of pinole, a staple food. The Cahuilla harvested large quantities of the seed that was mixed with wheat flour and sugar for gruel or biscuits. The leaves and stems were eaten by the Chumash and other tribes. Several tribes used the seed for removing foreign objects from the eye, similar to the way that Clary sage seeds were used in Europe. A tea from the roots was used by the Cahuilla women for healing and strength after childbirth. The leaves are also burnt by many native American tribes, with the smoke used in different purification rituals.
Calendar of the Moon for August 1
Calendar of the Moon
1 Tinne/Hekatombaion
Day of the Holly Tree
Color: Iron-grey
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon an iron-grey cloth set a vase of holly branches, a single grey candle, a pot of soil, seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Arm yourself mentally for a conflict.
Daily Meal: Vegan
Invocation to the Green Man of the Holly Tree
Hail, Green Man of the Summer!
Holly tree of sharpest leaves
Like spearpoints in the forest,
With berries like drops of drawn blood,
You are the tree of weaponry,
The prick of an iron spear,
A swinging sword, the Green Knight’s club
Which is a whole holly-bush.
Charmed by Holda, whose tests
And trials in the underground world
Show the measure of our honor
And the length of our compassion.
Every warrior must have his rules
And bindings, else he turn rabid
And fall on those he protects,
And lose his vision of the humanity
Of other, lesser souls.
You teach us this lesson,
Tree whose color is beaten iron,
Tree of courage, of hellbent rush,
Flock of starlings that swarm as one
And seek their foe; executioner
Of the Oak King in his time.
We hail you, sacred Holly King,
Green Man of the Summer,
In this your time of greatest valor.
Song: Cold Iron
(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)
Daily Feng Shui Tip for July 30 – How To Be Absolutely ‘Irresistible’
Hot, sultry, sensuous and sexy, and I’m not just taking about the weather! If you want to be absolutely irresistible then give this spicy bath a try: Pour two cups boiling water over a cup or bowl holding a pinch of powdered cinnamon, three whole cloves, and a teaspoon each of cardamom seeds and coriander seeds. Let this mix steep before straining and then allow it to cool. Add this blend to a bath filled with warm water and soak up. Let yourself air dry as your romantic apprehensions now flow down the drain. You have now successfully bathed away the beliefs that you are not the single hottest thing around during these hot summer months!
By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com
Witches Of The Craft® 
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