Let’s Talk About Stones : Serpentine

Serpentine is also known as New Jade.

This stone helps to balance emotions and smooth turmoil. It’s thought to assist meditation, especially when meditating on finding inner peace.

Serpentine is also a protective stone. It’s supposed to ward against disease and poisonous creatures.

Plus, holding Serpentine against your skin is thought to help with stomach pain, cramps, and indigestion.

-Ck

Let’s Talk About Colors : Grey

Grey is a great color to work with because it represents neutrality. Working with this color can help you bring balance and understanding to a situation.

In addition, grey (like black) is a protective color. It absorbs negative energy, protecting the wearer from bad vibes.

Plus, grey is a super classy color. So if you’re going to an important meeting, wear your nice grey dress or suit. You’ll be unaffected by the crabbiness of others, you’ll feel more balanced and open-minded, and you’ll look suave as hell. Win, win.

Ck

Let’s Talk About Stones : Pearl

Pearls are a symbol of water and feminism, often associated with the moon and the Goddess.

They’re often used for cleansing, emotional healing, and establishing balance in relationships.

Also, wearing pearls is thought to enhance a woman’s femininity … which might be why Donna Reed was so into them.

Ck

A Week’s Worth of Fun!

Hello readers!

I’ve been kind of a slacker this week, and that’s lame. Sorry about that!

I wanted to make it up to you by adding a week’s worth of posts before this week officially ends. Sorry, it’s going to be a long one, but I figured that was better than my subscribers getting a thousand emails in a row…

Anyway, I hope those of you who celebrated it had an awesome Christmas!

Ck

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Let’s Talk About Stones : Mookaite 

Mookaite (also called Australian Jasper) is thought to bring about balanced experiences. It inspires both the desire for change and the calmness to deal with it. This is sometimes called the stone of versatility.

Mookaite is also a physically stabilizing stone, and is thought to strengthen the immune system.

Plus it’s cool looking, and feels weirdly soft.

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Let’s Talk About Herbs : Eucalyptus 

In real life, eucalyptus is greener and more bouncy … the stems pictured are from my dried herb collection 

Eucalyptus is one of the easiest non-culinary herbs to come by. Not only is eucalyptus oil sold in many grocery stores, but the actual stems are frequently used as filler in floral arrangements.

Eucalyptus is a powerful healing plant. The crushed leaves are often used in healing spells – usually as part of an incense, or stuffed into a poppet.

You can also find herbal teas that include eucalyptus in most health food stores. Just be careful, since consuming eucalyptus for extended periods can lead to liver issues.

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Wiccan Wednesday Friday : Familiars

If you go out and Google “Wiccan Familiars”, you’re going to get a million different opinions on the subject. Lots of Pagans claim to have familiars and say that finding yours isn’t difficult. Others say that the familiar has to find the witch, and that you might wait years for yours. Some Wiccans even believe that the term “familiar” is a Christian invention, and should have no place in modern times.

It is true that in The Burning Times (aka, when witches were persecuted and often killed), having a favorite pet was often considered proof of witchcraft. These animals were given the name “familiar” and were thought to be messengers of Satan.

(You can’t see it, but I’m rolling my eyes right now…)

Anyway, most of the Pagans who have familiars nowadays agree on a few things:

-Familiars are creatures (mostly animals, but sometimes spiritual beings or even people) with which a Pagan has a close emotional bond

-Familiars and Pagans can communicate telepathically

-If a familiar is an actual physical animal, they have more human qualities than animal ones (ie: increased intelligence, specific personality traits, an affinity for things humans tend to enjoy – like television, books, certain foods, etc)

There are lots of details that Pagans disagree on, however.

Like I said, some think that the familiar has to choose the Pagan. So, you can’t go out and buy a kitten and decide “yep, this is my familiar” – it doesn’t work that way. A stray kitten would have to follow you home, sit on your doorstep and decide “yep, that is my Pagan”.

Others think that you can choose, or at least that you are drawn toward your familiar. So you can go and buy yourself a kitten, because you were MEANT to pick that specific kitten.

Pagans even disagree on what kind of animals can be familiars. Many think that only cats are acceptable familiars, while others say that any animal is fine (I’ve come across a surprising number of Wiccans who say their familiars are fish). Some say that only a physical animal will do, but others say your familiar is your “Spirit Guide”.

I could literally sit here all day and talk about all the arguments within the Pagan community, but most of you are bored already.

There’s a lot of great useful information out there, so if you’re interested in the subject of familiars, start Googling. Like so many other parts of Wicca, what is right is what feels right to you.

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Let’s Talk About Colors : Green 

Green represents growth. It’s used in ritual to attract healing, fertility, luck, and prosperity.

Green is also the color associated with the Elemental Earth.

Earth is the nurturing element, associated with wisdom and abundance.

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The Myles Family Recipe for Goldenrod Eggs!

Before I say anything else, let me tell you that this is not your everyday breakfast.

If you rolled out of bed and dined on a plate of Goldenrod Eggs every morning, you’d weigh a thousand pounds by the end of the month.

That being said, this is the perfect hearty breakfast for special occasions.

My Pops usually whips up a huge pot of this mess on Easter and sometimes on New Years Day. That’s it.

If you miss Goldenrod Eggs day, you sit depressed for six more months, fantasizing about the amazing magic awaiting you at the next holiday.

You will need:

-Six eggs (hard boiled)

– Two tablespoons of margarine

-Two tablespoons of flour

-Three cups of milk (soymilk works just as well)

-Salt and pepper

-Bread (toasted)

Start with your hard boiled eggs. You want to cut them in half, pop out the yolk into a separate bowl, and slice the whites into bite-sized pieces.

Once that’s done, start on your sauce.

Make a rue by melting your margarine in a sauce pot over medium heat. Add your flour and mix until you have a kind of paste. Turn the heat down to low and add your milk. (Now, if you forgot that step and you’re thinking “Oh, dear God! I’ve ruined everything!” It’s okay. Calm down. You probably scalded the milk, but don’t panic. Your sauce will still taste like liquid magic, it just might have a few weird chunks floating around. Trust me, no one will notice.)

As the milk warms, you can turn the heat back up to medium. Just make sure the sauce doesn’t boil. That’s all bad.

Stir constantly until the white sauce turns into a thick pot of magic. Add your egg whites, a little salt and pepper, and stir until everything is mixed and your eggs are heated through.

Lay a couple slices of toast (if you want to do this Grandma Myles style, you can butter the toast…but that’s basically a heart attack waiting to happen), and spoon out the sauce open-faced style. Trust me on this – don’t try to be fancy with your bread choices. You want the lamest, whitest, wonder bread on earth. I tried to be cool, once, and make this using a hearty sourdough. All bad. Basically, the sauce is so insanely rich and amazing that anything but the most flavorless bread will send you into taste-overload and you may actually die*.

Now, here’s where you impress everyone with very minimal effort. Toss a few of the yolks into a strainer  (you know, the kind with the long handle and the tiny circular net that you really have no use for, so you just use it for straining tea … is that just me?), hold the strainer net over your plate, and smoosh the yolks through with a spoon. You’ll get these tiny little yolk curls, decorating your amazing meal with their fanciness.

(This recipe probably makes about five enormous servings)

Enjoy!!

*Probably not “actually”, but you never know…