Eostre or Ostara? Celebrating Spring

When we view Eostre from this perspective, to me she starts to make much more sense and feel more like a representation of the qualities of the changing season that we are invited to notice for ourselves.

When seasonal celebrations become named and fixed in the calendar, we often miss their original purpose. Nature-based practices were never going to be about scripted rituals or any doctrines or marketing, or about buying the ‘correct’ altar decorations. Something much older, simpler, subtler and more important is lost when we forget our living relationship with land and the sky and replace our own experience with prescription, instruction or consumerism, or when we only follow what we are told we ‘should’ be celebrating…

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Rosemary & The Magician

As you can see, rosemary's energy, qualities and correspondences span all four elements and therefore all four Tarot suits, so it becomes a versatile magical tool, just like array of tools on the Magician's table. Rosemary could be substituted for either tool, energy or attribute, and indeed, it is often used as a substitute for other herbs in things like rituals and incense recipes.

Alternatives to White Sage

White Sage (Salvia Apiana, also known as Californian white sage and Sagebrush) is a herb native to North and South America, used by indigenous people for ‘smudging’ - a traditional, ceremonial smoke cleansing. All indigenous cultures burnt herbs for various reasons, ceremonially and medicinally and some known western practices such as ‘saining’ in Scotland and … Continue reading Alternatives to White Sage