Come in on Memorial Day Weekend and Save 15% Off Any Purchase Over $10. Present a Military or Law Enforcement ID and Receive a 20% Discount!
Check out our new selection of jewelry, oils, incenses, statues,books,candles and all of your Wiccan and Pagan needs!
SHAMANIC DRUMMING & VISION QUEST – $10
May 19 –Sunday 2-3:30
Class Description
Take a “vision quest” through smudging and drumming deep into the world of totem animals. Meet and
communicate with your specific totem animal and learn the meanings of each! A magickal experience!
Taught by Paula Forester – Lady Gnosis HPs
Call the store now to reserve your place 845-210-4047
Basil is an annual plant. It will grow, set seed and die all within one growing season. For this reason it is best to keep the flower heads pinched back. Once the flowers set the leaves will become bitter. The word Basil comes from the Greek meaning “King.” It’s Latin name is Ocimum Basilisicum . Ocimum is said to mean “to be fragrant,” while Basilisicum is from the Latin for Basilisk. But, no matter what you call it, Basil is a regal plant rich in history and folklore.
Soil – Basil is best planted in a coarse-textured growing mix. Basil thrives in a soil that drains well and hates standing in water.
Container – Clay pots have a tendency to allow the planting medium to dry out too quickly. It is best to plant Basil in a container such as glass or plastic. Be sure the roots have plenty of drainage.
Light Requirements – Basil requires at east 6 hours of good direct sunlight. A south facing window is best.
Starting by Seed or Nursery Plant – Basil is an easy to grow plant whether starting from seed or from a nursery plant.
When starting any plant from seed it is a good idea not to plant the seeds too deeply. Covering seeds with their own thickness of soil is usually adequate. Use a mister to ensure that the planting medium is moist and loosely cover the pot with plastic wrap till you see the seedlings emerge. You probably won’t have to mist before that happens, but do check daily to be sure. Basil likes to be kept uniformly moist. Be careful not to drown the seedlings once they come up.
Watering – Water regularly, but not excessively. Let the soil dry slightly between watering. A good rule of thumb is to stick your finger in the pot. The soil should be about 1/2- 1 inch dry before watering.
Care - Feed monthly spring through fall with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted by half. Be sure to use an organic fertilizer if you are going to be eating the leaves.
Varieties – Basil come is many varieties, some really quite beautiful. The following are but a few:
Sweet Basil – Classic, used in pesto, sauces, salads.
Purple Ruffles Basil Ruffled, large and frilly purple leaves. Beautiful and fragrant. Stronger flavor than Sweet Basil but milder flavor than Green Ruffles. Adds color and flavor to herb vinegars.
Basil but milder flavor than Green Ruffles. Adds color and flavor to herb vinegars.
Thai Basil More tender and more intensely flavored than Sweet Basil. Thai basil seeds are highly aromatic with a licorice-basil aroma. Great in both Thai and Italian recipes. Wonderful container plant. Late flowering. Height 24″.
To find more varieties just type Basil Varieties into a Google search.
The first recorded mention of basil, in records dated to pre-206 B.C.E, states that it “exists only to drive men insane.” For the Greeks, and later the Romans, basil was associated with hatred. To grow, it had to be sown with swearing and ranting. However, basil later became a symbol of love in Italy, to the point that Giovanni Boccaccio used it to symbolize the tragic love between Lisabetta and Lorenzo in The Decameron. Sicilian folklore associates it with both love and death, and in Moldavian folklore a young man who accepts basil from a young woman will fall in love with her…
Read more: http://www.motherearthliving.com/natural-health/basil-herbal-lore-and-legends.aspx#ixzz2SosjuokM
“Airmid, also known as Airmed or Airmeith, is the Celtic Goddess of the Healing Arts. She was a member of the Tuatha De Danaan, the most ancient race of deities in Ireland and just as they did, she had great magickal powers…
Airmid was the daughter of Dian Cecht, the God of Medicine, and the Chief Physician and Magician of the Tuatha De Danaan. She also had four brothers: Miach, Cian, Cethe, and Cu, and they all followed closely in their father’s footsteps. Airmid also had a sister named Etan, who was a poet who was also married to Oghma…
When the Fir Bolgs first arrived in Ireland, the Tuatha De Danaan fought against them in a great war, protecting its people and land from invasion. During the first battle…Nuada, the King of the Tuatha De Danaan [was] seriously injured in that his arm became severed from his body.
Since Dian Cecht was the Chief Physician of the Tuatha De Danaan, he was immediately called upon to attend to Nuada’s wounds, and he brought Airmid and Miach with him to assist. While Dian Cecht was working upon Nuada, it became increasingly clear that Airmid’s and Miach’s skills as healers were much greater then those of their father.
While Dian Cecht had decided to replace Nuada’s severed arm with one that he had constructed from silver, Airmid was actually able to regenerate the King’s own arm to perfect working order. Then Miach, using his amazing surgical skills, took the regenerated arm and re-attached it to the King’s body. These actions were extremely important to the Tuatha De Danaan and especially to Nauda, because according to its laws, no one could ever be its king, whose body was not completely whole. If Nuada’s arm had not been re-attached to his body, through Airmid and Miach’s amazing skills, then his reign as King would have ended…” – http://www.angelfire.com/journal/ofapoet/airmid.html
The healing charm they used is still in use today: – http://www.seanet.com/~inisglas/airmid.html
Bone to bone
Vein to vein
Balm to Balm
Sap to Sap
Skin to skin
Tissue to tissue
Blood to blood
Flesh to flesh
Sinew to sinew
Marrow to marrow
Pith to pith
Fat to fat
Membrane to membrane
Fibre to fibre
Moisture to moisture
“…Dian Cecht realized that his son’s abilities were so greatly superior to his own he became extremely jealous. Soon, that jealousy began to turn into rage, and that rage became so great that he drew his sword and…struck his son in the head, severing Miach’s brain completely from his skull. ..
When Airmid buried her brother it was with great sorrow…One day, when she arrived at Miach’s grave, she was amazed to find 365 healing herbs growing on and around his grave, with one herb for every joint and organ of his body.
Methodically, Airmid began to gather up the herbs. Then,.. the herbs began to speak to her, telling her of the full range of their healing powers. Airmid then took the herbs and separated each from the other. Then she arranged them systematically upon her cloak, each according to its own particular use or special properties. With the knowledge she had gained from the herbs, she then proceeded to use it to heal people who needed medical attention.
…Still consumed by his enormous rage, Dian Cecht went over to Airmid’s cloak and overturned it, scattering all the herbs into the wind; thereby making certain that no one except Airmid would ever know the use of the herbs’ healing properties or the secret of how to achieve immortality which was made possible through the herbs proper use…
It is believed that Airmid still works as a Physician, high in the mountains of Ireland, spending much of her time healing Faeries, Elves and humans; bringing them all back to good health through her practical knowledge and amazing magickal skills.” – http://www.angelfire.com/journal/ofapoet/airmid.html
For more information about Airmid and the Tuatha de Danaan visit these sites:
http://www.seanet.com/~inisglas/airmid.html
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/ofapoet/airmid.html
http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess//Airmid/airmid.html
http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/races/tuatha-de-danann/page1.htm
Check out the new wands.
Sorry guys, new wands are only available by mail-order by calling the store or online at our Ebay Store.
To view the individual wands and learn more click this link – http://salemsmoon.wordpress.com/product-line/wands/
Thyme is a low growing, hardy perennial, but can reach a height of 12 inches under optimum growing conditions. Thyme likes to creep, so it can live either on the windowsill or hanging from a basket.
Soil – Thyme requires an airy, light, fast-draining soil; a mixture of two parts sterilized potting soil to one part of coarse sand or perlite works well.
Container – Thyme does well in just about any type of container. Be sure to lace drainage holes at the bottom of the container and cover these with small stones or pebbles. Thyme does not like to have its roots soggy.
Light Requirements – Thyme, like Rosemary requires at least 6 hours of direct sun per day. Turn plant for even growth because it will tend to grow toward the light source. An east facing window is a good location for your thyme plant.
Starting by Nursery Plant –Thyme is best grown by starting with a plant obtained from a reputable nursery. Its root system is rather delicate though, so be sure to remove the plant from its original pot carefully, leaving as much of the original soil around the roots as possible.
Watering – Water regularly, but not excessively. Let the soil dry slightly between watering. Thyme is naturally drought resistant.
Care - Feed monthly spring through fall with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted by half. Don’t fertilize in winter, because there is little growth during those months.
Varieties –
French or Common Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
This sub-shrub is the thyme of the kitchen garden. One attractive cultivar for hanging baskets is silver thyme (T. vulgaris ‘Argenteus’).
Red Creeping Thyme (T. praecox subsp. britannicus)
The tiny leaves of this thyme have very little scent or flavor, so it is mostly used ornamentally as groundcover. The flowers are purple to mauve. Commonly sold cultivars include ‘Doone Valley’, ‘Kew’, and ‘Albus’.
Lemon Thyme (Thymus 5 citriodorus)
This spreading subshrub reaches a foot tall. It’s one of the best for cooking—and one of the most fragrant. Watch for variegated cultivars such as ‘Aureus’ (golden edges), ‘Golden King’ (mostly gold), and ‘Silver Queen’ (cream to light yellow edges).
Caraway Thyme (Thymus herba-barona)
This creeping thyme grows 2 to 5 inches tall with pink flowers. Caraway thyme comes from the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, so it can take higher levels of humidity and rain, making it a good candidate for Southern gardens.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare wrote that Titania, the Queen of the Faeries, often went to "a bank whereon the wild thyme blows," committing to history the old English tradition that patches of thyme were favorite playgrounds of faeries. – http://suite101.com/article/a-brief-history-of-thyme-a69675
The genus name, Thymus, has its origin in the Greek words for soul or spirit. Thyme has long been associated with burial practices, going back as far as ancient Greece, where branches were strewn on coffins and planted at grave sites. In Egypt, oil of thyme was used in embalming, and it was believed by some that the spirits of the dead inhabited thyme blossoms…
Throughout history, the herb was also a symbol of fortitude. During the French Revolution, republicans in the south of France used it as an attribute of their cause. Highland Scots concocted a drink from wild thyme to give themselves courage. There are many accounts of people making a soup from thyme and beer that was regarded by some as a possible cure for shyness. If the thyme didn’t do the trick, perhaps the beer would. – http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/best-of-thymes
Next up – Basil
Rosemary is a tender perennial that does well growing in the hot, dry, well-drained conditions of its native Mediterranean habitat.
Soil – must be well drained and not too rich; a mixture of two parts sterilized potting soil to one part of coarse sand or perlite works well. Add one teaspoon of lime per five-inch pot to make the soil alkaline. If you don’t have lime available an easy trick is to use a match. Bury an unburned matched in the pot below the root system. Be sure to cover with an inch of soil, then add the plant to the pot. It grows best in neutral to alkaline conditions (pH 7–7.8)
Container – Make sure you place lots of drainage holes at the bottom of your container. Rosemary, likes to be kept moist but hates soggy conditions. Rosemary is susceptible to ‘root rot.’
Light Requirements – Place your Rosemary plant in the brightest window in your home. Rosemary needs between 6-8 hours of bright sunlight. If your rosemary plant is not getting at least 6-8 hours of light a day, place a lamp with a fluorescent light bulb as close as possible to the plant to help supplement the sunlight.
Starting by Nursery Seedling – Rosemary is best grown by starting with a plant obtained from a reputable nursery. Its root system is rather delicate though, so be sure to remove the plant from its original pot carefully, leaving as much of the original soil around the roots as possible.
Watering – It is easy to water your Rosemary plant too little or too much. Only water the soil when the top of the soil is dry to the touch. However, never let the soil dry out completely.
Diseases/pests – Rosemary is susceptible to powdery mildew. Keep the plant in an area where it has good air circulation. Treat with a fungicide, if necessary. Be careful to choose an organic mixture if you intend to use the leaves in cooking. I have found that by changing the direction of the light source powdery mildew can be confounded. Try placing the plant in a window with a different exposure.
In monastic gardens of the Middle Ages, Rosemary was tended as a medicinal herb. Valued for its tranquilizing effects, this intensely aromatic evergreen was believed to cure headaches, strengthen hair, and aid memory and powers of concentration. These days, cooks celebrate rosemary’s uncanny ability to create memorable dishes: Just a hint of its fragrant foliage, fresh or dried, can infuse simple spinach soup, roast chicken, or gilled or pan-seared meats, fish, and vegetables with bright flavor.
To make Rosemary Sugar, harvest fresh rosemary flowers and allow any moisture to evaporate from the flowers, so sugar doesn’t clump. Combine with the lightest grade of unrefined organic sugar and grind together in a food processor, or with a pestle and mortar. Then add a few dried rosemary sprigs to intensify the herbal flavor, and store in an airtight jar.
Use the sugar in the same quantities you would use granulated sugar to sweeten teas or to add a subtle hint of herbal flavor to plain biscuits, cakes, yogurt, and whipped cream. Rosemary sugar adds a pleasant kick to shortbread cookies and scones — and it tastes heavenly sprinkled on fresh blueberries or strawberries. – http://www.countryliving.com/outdoor/gardening/herb-guide-rosemary-1009
According to legend, it was draped around the Greek goddess Aphrodite when she rose from the sea, born of Uranus‘s semen. The Virgin Mary is said to have spread her blue cloak over a white-blossomed rosemary bush when she was resting, and the flowers turned blue. The shrub then became known as the ‘Rose of Mary’. - Wiki
Coming tomorrow – You guessed it – Thyme!
