What's up in June
Its June already! Where did the time go? Oh yeah, family emergencies,
helping those that are healing, extra work load, family events, and
taking care of my own businesses and house. When you are busy, time
flies. I’m getting extra money and exercise by taking care of the
house my sister cleans until she can resume cleaning it. And I cleaned
my sister’s house before she went home (the cats had taken over!).
There’s the usual outside spring planting-fixing-weeding-mowing
going on too. No wonder I missed the May newsletter : )
I will be at the Holistic
Festival at Gibraltar Trade Center in Mt. Clemens on June 18 & 19.
Note that this show is only 2 days - Saturday and Sunday only
(on Friday there is a Senior Fun Festival). Because of this, I will
be setting up Saturday morning so at the start of the show, 10:00 am,
I may not be fully set up. Even tho this is also Father’s Day weekend,
I am doing the show as my expenses will be a little lower (2 days of
driving instead of three and $20 less for table fee). So come on out
see what’s new! I put pics of new stuff on our
Infinite Flame Facebook page so 'Like' us to see them.
Infinite Flame June Special: We put our Bast
and Hecate candles on sale! Order online
and get $2 off the price of each candle. We created and aligned these
candles with the energies of the corresponding Goddess. They are a great
addition to any altar when working with either Bast or Hecate. We
usually donate 10% of the sales of these candles to animal shelters.
During the sale, we will still donate 10% of the original price to these
shelters, even tho they sold for less.
While reading emails, I came across the About.com Paganism/Wicca newsletter
which had a link to this article about
creating a Birthday altar. What a great idea! Too many people, especially
women, have a negative self image and/or were taught to think of others
first and that it is not proper to like anything about yourself (I’m
not talking about being conceited or self-involved, but more like recognizing
talents and honoring the self). By creating an altar for yourself,
you are honoring the wonderful spirit that you are and will help those
with low self esteem to gain confidence. Even if all you are able to
do is display b-day cards (which show how loved you are) and a few pictures
( to help you see your inner and outer beauty), that is something. If
you decide to leave it up all year.....then you have a problem!
Lovely Lilacs
I wanted to write about lilacs in May, as that is when they bloom
here in Michigan. Since I didn’t send a May newsletter, I’ll
include the info here. I had a hard time researching lilac as only two
of my books referenced it. I think there are a few reasons why lilac,
syringa vulgaris, is not a commonly used herb. One:
there is no true lilac essential oil. Two: it blooms for a very
short period each year. Three: the plant has to freeze to produce
flowers the next year so it is native only to northern areas.
Lets tackle the no true lilac essential oil fact first. If you
do an internet search, you will find some sites selling lilac oil. These
are fragrance oils, not essential oils.
I found a
site that is selling a blend of other essential oils that once combined,
smells like lilacs. There is a new product out there, a
lilac Co2 extraction. This is a true lilac essential oil but they
rate the scent as medium and it is very thick thus hard to work with.
And it is very expensive. (for more info on Co2 and other methods
of producing essentail oils, visit Nature's
Gift: Methods of Extracting Essential Oils.)
The problem seems to be that lilacs have such a short growing cycle
and if the weather isn’t just right they don’t bloom much
at all. This makes it hard to harvest and produce the essential oil.
The scent molecules are very fragile and don’t hold up well during
steam distillation, thus producing a very light and/or changed scent
in the final product.
There are a couple of pages online telling you how to make your own
lilac essential oil. These actually are instructions for making
lilac water (essential oil is the oily substance that floats
on water after the distillation process. The water is often sold too
as it has the plant’s components in it as well). I was going
to try making lilac water myself this year (I have made rose water
in the past) but the lilacs I got from my parent’s house were
already past prime and would not have made a good product.
Lilac is associated with water (every source except Cunningham,
who says earth) and Venus. Magickal properties
of lilac are: banishing, clairvoyance, clarity, divination,
harmony & balance, love, memory & concentration, peace, protection,
purification & cleansing. I remember reading somewhere that a lilac
bush was believed to have protective properties and that is why they
were often planted near a home. The source said that in many rural areas,
the actual homestead may be gone (due to fire or collapse) but you could
find the foundation by looking for a lilac bush. According to Cunningham,
it was widely believed to keep away ghosts.
When in bloom, use fresh flowers in your rituals and spells to utilize
lilac’s powers. Just placing them, with intention, in vases through
your home can cleanse the energies or bring protection. Dry flowers
and leaves for use during the rest of the year. You can make lilac water
out of fresh lilacs too (check the internet for instructions, this can
be done with or without boiling the water).
Civil War....isn't that an oxymoron?
I didn't know what to put here so I started looking for a song quote.
The following is a war protest song but not from the 60's. Since we
have just celebrated Memorial Day, I thought it fit.
I respect and honor all the brave men and women who have fought
for this country and our rights. I do not respect those that
start the wars and then sit back in their comfy offices. In older times,
leaders would do just that, lead their armies into battle. And I am
opposed to war. It is senseless and a waste of lives. Why can't the
leaders arm wrestle or something to settle their differences?
Ok, off my soapbox. I'll let Axl and the boys tell you all about it....
~~~~Rhiannon Rose @--^--
Civil War
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before
Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before
My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By the bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars
D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "peace could last forever'
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
An I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land
And I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil war
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war
Whats so civil 'bout war anyway
--Written by Slash, W. Axl Rose, and Duff McKagan. Performed by Guns
n' Roses. From the album Use Your Illusion II
Listen
to it here! ** this is not the official video, the other YouTube
stuff was too violent.
