June 2024 Newsletter
Welcome to our June 2024 Kitchen Witch newsletter.
A very warm welcome to June - halfway through the year and the energies are ramping up! A lot of exciting things are happening at KWHQ - we have our brand new online emporium which has kept us kitchen witches very busy over the past month or so. We also have the fabulous Pagan Tribal Gathering this month - Rachel will be doing a talk and Heather and myself will be running a ritual. We will also have a shiny sparkly Kitchen Witch stall tent (ok - maybe not shiny and sparkly) but do come and find us if you are going - we would love to say Hello!
We are also running a series of workshops with Lucy at the fantastic EdenRawBeauty in Wickham, Hampshire, which we are very much looking forward to. There is also our online ritual, mini workshop and book launch to celebrate the release of Rachel's brilliant new book Dragon Magic. All details of the aforementioned events can be found at the bottom of the newsletter.
Have a awesome month!
Ness xx
What's Going on in Nature this Month from Ness Armstrong
June - as we approach the halfway point in this year and the Summer Solstice here in the UK, Mother Nature has been exceedingly busy. We haven't got the long, very warm days or balmy summer evenings - whoever is in charge of Spring won't quite let go - but I feel that perhaps we are getting there. The rains are keeping the earth very happy and greenery of grasses, plants and shrubs are in abundance. So much colour to see, and from the spring blossom, tiny fruits are appearing on some trees and shrubs - apple, sloe, gooseberry, medlar. I have seen a few bees, but think that the showery weather is keeping them in their homes at the moment. June, of course, is when elderflower makes an appearance. That lovely scent definitely brings thoughts of summer evenings and a elderflower cordial with ice and tonic, and we can't forget the wonderful delicious strawberry - yum! My favourite, lavender, is also in bud. That will surely bring the bees from their homes...
Flower of the Month by Heather
Honeysuckle
One of those summer evening scents which is so evocative of happiness and abundance is honeysuckle. With its sweet and fruity fragrance notes, to its curiously-shaped petals containing tasty nectar inside, honeysuckle is beautiful for us and for wildlife.
Not only that, but it also packs an arsenal of magical properties within its flowers, twigs, leaves, and berries – health warning do not ingest the berries, they are toxic.
Honeysuckle Magical Correspondences
Botanical Name: Lonicera caprifolium; Lonicera japonica
Folk Names: Dutch Honeysuckle, Goat’s Leaf, Woodbine
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Sign: Gemini, Cancer
Magical Properties: abundance, prosperity, balance, lust, memory, happiness, protection, divination, intuition, psychic powers, love, luck, wealth, and healing.
Magical Ways to Use Honeysuckle
Take a few fresh flower heads and steep in hot water, strain, sweeten if wanted with honey, sip and relax.
Fresh or dried honeysuckle flowers can also be added to wine for a magical concoction. Simply allow the blooms to steep in your beverage, and then strain them when ready to drink.
Honey suckle scent can stimulate dreams of love and passion. Try burning a honeysuckle scented candle or spritzing your home with a honeysuckle room freshener.
According to superstition, bringing a honeysuckle plant in bloom into the house will cause a wedding to take place soon.
Growing a honeysuckle plant near the home or placing the vines in a vase attracts love, good fortune, and wealth and protects against negative energies.
Burning a green candle encircled by honeysuckle flowers will also draw wealth.
Rub fresh honeysuckle flowers on your brow to stimulate your psychic abilities, enhance your intuition, and inspire prophetic visions and dreams.
Dreaming of honeysuckle is believed to be an auspicious omen and usually means that good fortune and happy days are ahead for you and your loved ones,
Sources and further reading –
Cunningham’s Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs
A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Plants & Herbs by Rachel Patterson
www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/magickal-properties-of-honeysuckle
www.magickalspot.com/honeysuckle/
Fruit for June – Strawberries by Heather
Grown around the world, todays strawberries are descendants of the wild strawberries, that were originally the common source of the fruit.
There is mention of the strawberry fruit in Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use. The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 14th century. French king Charles V had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden. In the early 15th century western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts. The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, English, and German art.
Strawberries are bright red, juicy, and sweet. They’re an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese, also containing folate (vitamin B9) and potassium. Strawberries are rich in antioxidants and plant compounds, which are being researched for having benefits for heart health and blood sugar control.
Usually consumed raw and fresh, these berries can also be used in a variety of jams, jellies, and desserts. However, as with many foods, some people are allergic to them.
Magical Correspondences –
Planet – Venus
Deity – Freya, Freyr, Aphrodite, Frigg, Virgin Mary.
Element – water and earth.
Use in spells for –
Love, romance, good luck, fruitfulness, parturition, abundance, dedication, problem solving, strength, happiness, success.
Recipe –
Strawberry lemonade
Ingredients
450g/1lb ripe strawberries, plus extra to serve
5 unwaxed lemons
350g/12oz caster sugar
To serve
1 litre/1¾ pints sparkling water (see Recipe Tip)
ice
2 lemons, sliced
fresh mint leaves
Method –
Hull the strawberries and thinly slice into a bowl. Add the juice of 1 lemon and 100g/3½oz sugar and stir well. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight to allow the sugar and lemon juice to draw all the juice from the berries.
The next day, strain the strawberry juice into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve. Tip the remaining 250g/9oz caster sugar into a pan, add 500ml/18fl oz water and the rind of 4 lemons. Slowly bring to the boil over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer for 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove the syrup from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
Squeeze the juice from the 4 pared lemons and set aside.
Strain the lemon syrup into the strawberry juice, add the lemon juice and stir. Pour into a large serving jug, add sparkling water to taste and serve with ice and extra slices of lemon, sliced fresh strawberries and mint leaves.
Sources –
A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Food by Rachel Patterson
www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/strawberries#bottom-line
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/strawberry_lemonade
Spell of the Month - Plant Elixir by Heather
I like to make this magical potion to give my garden and house plants a treat. It is best made on a sunny day during a new, waxing or full moon.
Fill a bottle or jar with water, I also like to add crystals to my elixir: citrine for abundance, aventurine to protect from pollution and a clear quartz crystal to enhance positive energies. I cleanse the crystals, then charge them with the intention of my plants all growing well. Dropping them into the water, I hold my bottle and visualize my plants being lush, colourful and fruitful.
Place your bottle/jar where it will be able to absorb the energies from the sun and the moon for 24 hours. As I do this I say whilst looking up at the sky or you can say your own words:
‘Powerful energies of the Sun and Moon fill my water now,
To make my plants lush and fruitful, support them as they grow!’
I then keep the bottle near my watering cans, adding a little of this elixir when I am watering my garden or the plants indoors.
Rune of the month from Ness Armstrong
A rune quite fitting this month - Raido! Raido is the rune of the chariot, a rune of movement, of a journey and in some cases - a rune to encourage you to get things done! The image from the runic oracle by Athene Arcana shows a whale moving swiftly through the water - it seems he is knowing where he needs to be, he has a focus. This month, figure out what is holding you back from moving forward, what needs to be done to get yourself moving and push yourself forward to your goals!
With blessings of the month from
Rachel Patterson, Ness Armstrong, Heather Dewhurst
