July Newsletter 2024
Welcome to our July 2024 Kitchen Witch newsletter.
Huzzah! We finally have some sunshine and warm weather! About time too! And I'm guessing that it won't be long before we are complaining that it is 'too hot'
By the time you read this, the Kitchen Witch Team will have been to the fabulous Pagan Tribal Gathering which is held in Nuneaton in the UK every year and run by Pia and her team. First time that we will have had a stall there, we are looking forward to it and I'm sure that there will be a blog or two this month on our adventures.
We have been incredibly busy behind the scenes at KWHQ with planning, plotting and general mischief-making but we are enjoying every moment of it!
Have a fabulous July
Ness
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What's Going on in Nature this Month from Ness Armstrong
https://www.kitchenwitchhearth.net/post/sheep-s-sorrel-by-heather
https://www.kitchenwitchhearth.net/post/bindweed-by-vanessa-armstrong
https://www.kitchenwitchhearth.net/post/burdock-by-vanessa-armstrong
Flower of the Month by Heather
Larkspur
The larkspur is a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and is native to parts of the Mediterranean, Africa, and Europe. It grows wild in the USA, Europe and has become naturalized in gardens all over the world.
It’s other common names are Lark’s Claw, Knight’s Spur, and Lark’s Heel, Lark’s Toe, staggerweed.
Larkspurs are believed to have gotten their name from their resemblance to the claw of the meadowlark. The flowers bloom in early summer before it gets too hot, growing in groups along a single stalk. Each flower has five petals and a spur in the centre. It is highly poisonous to humans and animals if ingested.
Larkspur in History
In Greek mythology, the larkspur grew from the blood of Ajax during the Battle of Troy. Upset that he did not receive the armour of the fallen warrior Achilles, Ajax threw himself on his sword, causing his blood to spill onto the ground and the flowers to bloom.
In other stories, its initial appearance involve a slayed dragon and the mixture of its blue blood and venom, as well as crumbs from the blue sky falling to the ground.
In England, people once sprinkled larkspur in baths for protection against ghosts and magic.
In Transylvania, if larkspur was planted near stables, it was believed to keep witches away.
In ancient Greece, larkspurs were used to treat open wounds.
The Victorian era led to the belief that the larkspur could ward off evil.
Native Americans used the blooms to make dyes and repel insects.
The Larkspur is one of the few flowers mentioned in George Washington’s letters.
Larkspur Meanings & Symbolism
The larkspur is believed to symbolise positivity, love, loyalty, dedication, and sincerity. It can also be used to describe light-heartedness and youth.
Each larkspur colour also has a different meaning –
Blue means dignity and grace; pink symbolizes fickleness; white represents happiness and joy; and purple is a sign of first love.
Magical Correspondences
Love, joy, loyalty, dedication, protection, honesty, celebration, health, happiness, intuition, divination, spirituality.
It can be used charms, sachets, poppets, incense or spells. It was believed that if you put larkspur flowers under your pillow it would enable you to have prophetic dreams.
Picture from Unsplash
Sources and further reading –
https://www.almanac.com/content/july-birth-flowers
http://witchipedia.wikidot.com/herb:larkspur
Fruit for July - Fig by Heather
In the Greek myths, Demeter gifted Dionysus a fig tree. He passed the tree down to mortals, as He believed people should be able to enjoy the finer things in life, not just the Gods.
By meditating with, as well as examining the physical qualities of the plant, it is easy to ascertain the properties of this fruit, it’s magical correspondences and how we can incorporate it into our magical practice. Here I will give you some ideas, but as always, connect with this fruit and go with your own intuition.
Gender - Balanced
Element – Fire and Air
Planets – Jupiter and Venus
Deities – Demeter, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Venus, Juno, Isis
Magical Correspondences –
Fertility, birth, creation, love, knowledge, protection, divination, meditation, happiness, wealth, success.
When using in spell work, you can eat the fruit, make charms out of the leaves, bark, or dried figs, grow and tend a full plant, or use the leaves in divination.
In Italian Witchcraft, using the hand sign of the fig gives you instant protection from the evil eye. Position your thumb between your index and middle fingers, then make a fist. As you hold this hand sign, visualize yourself as being protected.
Recipe – Baked figs
2-3 ripe figs per person
Handful of walnut pieces
Clear honey for drizzling
Wedges of soft white cheese
Chopped fresh thyme sprigs
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper. Halve the figs, then put them cut-side up in the prepared tray.
Scatter over the walnut pieces and thyme, then drizzle with the honey.
Bake for 5-10 minutes until the figs have deepened in colour, the nuts are toasted and everything smells wonderful.
Divide among serving plates and top with the cheese). Grate over a little lemon zest, season with salt and pepper, then serve garnished with extra thyme and honey.
Image from Unsplash
Sources and further reading –
A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Food by Rachel Patterson
https://eluneblue.com/fig-magical-properties/
https://thereadingtub.com/fig-spiritual-meaning/
https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/baked-figs/
Inside the Wicker Man are.. by Heather
I have attended two Wicker Man events, the first, a few years ago was held at Beltane. It was a very controlled event, the effigy huge and separated from the crowd, no one being allowed near him.
The second was this year, a gathering held between Lammas and Autumn Equinox, this felt intimate (even though it was a large camp), was still brilliantly organised but strangely had a feeling of familiarity. Although in a separate field to the main camp, this Wicker Man was not isolated, quite the opposite, as everyone was encouraged to go and spend some time with him, to place talismans or messages within his structure, which would be burned with him, sending our hopes and intentions up with the smoke, out into the universe. Being a part of this ritual burning ceremony was profoundly emotional.
Having this experience made me want to know more about the origins of the Wicker Man. There are only two historical references, firstly in Julius Caesar’s The Gallic Wars, he writes that the Celts believed “that unless the life of a man be offered for the life of a man, the mind of the immortal gods cannot be rendered propitious”. As a result leading to the assumption that human sacrifices were commonly performed by druids, employed by those who are afflicted by diseases or engaged in battles. Caesar also claimed that human sacrifices involving criminals were “more acceptable to the immortal gods”, though when supply was short, the innocent would also be sacrificed. Caesar described one example of the way the druids carried out this task, which involved “figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed of osiers they fill with living men,” These figures are the so-called ‘wicker men’, which would then be set on fire, and the men in them would perish in the flames.
The second reference is in Strabo’s Geography, where he claims that the Celts “devised a colossus of straw and wood” for the purpose of sacrifice, recording that “cattle and wild animals and all sorts of human beings” were thrown into this colossus, and then burnt. Strabo also states that the ‘wicker man’ was just one method of human sacrifice, and two other examples of how the druids performed human sacrifices are given, “they would shoot victims to death with arrows, or impale them in the temples”.
Today we have no idea if the druids actually used ‘wicker men’ for human sacrifices, because they did not keep written records themselves, and the ones we do have were written by those who wished to discredit them. Also it does not seem a practical way to perform human/animal sacrifice, because although wicker objects are quite strong, they lose their structural integrity quite quickly when set on fire, so anyone inside would be able to escape before being overcome by flames (unless they were drugged, but that is not mentioned in either of the two sources).
So back to the title of this blog and what I believe may always have been inserted, by the people gathering round to watch him burn…
Inside the Wicker Man are all our hopes and prayers.
Sources:
corespirit.com/the-fearsome-wicker-man
Taken from a blog originally published October 2018
Rune of the month from Ness Armstrong
Rune this month is Eihwaz - the rune of the World Tree. This image depicts a cat sitting upon a cat skull with flowers. Eihwaz is about life, death and rebirth. It signifies a change of some description - job, family, friendships but I feel that it can also be a change in mindset, how or what you feel about something, Change is inevitable, we need it to expand, to grow and to flourish!
With blessings of the month from
Rachel Patterson, Ness Armstrong, Heather Dewhurst
