Recipe for Autumn Potpourri

Pine Cones
growers box

On my walks in Autumn I collect seeds from trees and flowers to make an autumn potpouri. This year I have collected pine cones, horse chestnut, sweet chesnut seed cases, acorns, sycamore & maple seeds, beech masts, poppy seed pods.... I only take a few from each place leaving the rest for the animals, birds and insects that need them for food during the winter.


I dry herbs leaves and flowers on a muslin screen made from an old picture frame. Each herb  or flower I dry separately so that the scent is pure. Some are stored for use in winter cooking the rest are used in potpourri. To the seeds, herbs and flowers I put together a mix of spices.


This potpourri will cleanse a room and fill it with a sweet, relaxing scent.  The cost is very little if you collect the seeds, grow and dry your own herbs. If you live in Urban area the parks are a full of seeds which you can gather.  If you haven’t the  herbs leaves  I recommend you go to a Chinese store where there are usually large packs of dried herbs leaves, flowers and all the spices you need at very reasonable prices.

Here is my recipe I am using for this years potpourri.

To seeds from trees and flowers I add dried herbs:

Peppermint leaves

Sage leaves

Rosemary leaves

Lemon balm leaves

Scented geranium leaves

Wild Bergamot leaves

Lemon verbena leaves

I add dried flowers:

Pot marigold

Borage

Cornflowers

Chamomile flowers

Elderflowers

Lime flowers

Rose petals

Strawflowers

The Spice guys

whole cloves

Cinnamon sticks (broken)

Nutmeg grated

Coriander seeds crushed

Cardamom crushed

Star anise whole

Dried orange and lemon peel

This mix looks wonderful in a glass bowl you can layer the ingredients of just tumble them in to the bowl.  when the nights draw in even more I will take some of the mixture and put it in a plastic bag with a cuttle fish bone (you can get it from a pet store)  which has had a few drops of  essential oil on it,  I like pine.   Leave it in the bag for two or three weeks for a even more delightfully scented potpourri.  As  Christmas draws near I will dip some cones and seeds into gold, silver paint or glitter to add that festive touch.  I just love glitter and sparkle at Christmas



Last years potpourri I will burn some in my fire  at Sumhuinn -  all Souls day on the 1^st November  and all Saints day the Second of November.  I will burn the rest during Yule time,

With Reiki blessings and light

Merry B

Autumn Equinox - Alban Elfed

It was a lovely day on Friday, Pops and I went for a meandering walk to my allotment. We walked for an hour and then went into St. James Green dog park where Pops met up with her friend Luke. She had a lovely time, running and chasing balls while I stood with a a group of dog owners  enjoying the warmth of  the sun as we watched our dogs play.   Pops and the other dogs had such a sense of joy to be with each other it made us all smile and laugh.

Pops and I then went to allotment.  It was very peaceful there.  I looked around and saw that it was time to take down the bean poles and compost what was left of the beans. As I cleared the beans away green shield bugs tumbled out, huge garden spiders crawled away and woodlice scurried this way and that looking for safety. I love seeing the insects that live on my plot.  I have planted flowers and herbs that are beneficial to them as well as leaving wild areas. The reward is I have very few pest problems.  For example an army of ladybirds and their larva  march on black fly and aphids and clear them away.


Last year I cleared a bed at the bottom of my plot and put my herbs there but did not like them so far away from where I meditate, or just sit and enjoy being so near to the sea with the natural world around me. So here I was clearing and lightly digging a bed at the top of the plot for my herbs. Some plants I will plant now but some I will pot up and put in my cold frame over winter. I grew 31 herbs last year.  In the coming year I am going to add to my collection lemon verbena, sweet cicely and perhaps others as well.


The next task was to cleared another bed to plant broad beans.  They are such tough plants last year I planted them in October, those that the mice had left had just emerged when they were first covered over by water then the water turned to ice, I could see the tiny plantlets under the ice, It snowed in November and January for several weeks  but by late Spring they had grown and produced a huge crop of beans.  They have an amazing hardiness and survival ability.  


As I worked I realised that it was a wonderful way to send the day of the Autumn Equinox. My Ancestors would have worked to bring in the harvest at this time and I was very aware how blessed I was to have had a wonderful harvest this year and am very grateful for this and for my plot and the wonderful seascape around me.

Organic Gardening

The Atumn Equinix is Celebrated in Druidry as the festival Alban Elfed, one of the Celtic fire festivals, a time of contemplation, of gratitude for not only the harvest but for the experiences of the past year. As the blowzy summer months have given way to the chill of Autumn,  I have been planning for next Spring, sowing seeds and planting bulbs ready for the rebirth of light and growth.   Preparing for Imbolc, Candlemass when the goddess Credwin and Brigid brew the essence of Spring and the celandines and snowdrops begin to flower  - the heralds of Spring. 

With Reiki Blessing

Merry B

Red Alert - No more hedgehogs?

Hedgehogs in Britain are on the red list of endangered species. They could disappear altogether in 10 - 15 years. Toni Bunnell estimates that the hedgehog population has decreased by 25% over the last decade. It is partly due to the use of pesticides by farmers,  along with gardeners and allotment holders.  The use of large mower, strimmers, rat poison and plastic netting on fruit cages and vegetable crops.   There are also so many sterile gardens with all weeds rooted out, gardens paved over or covered in decking. Hedges are replaced by impenetrable fences and walls......

Recently I found a baby hedgehog with a terrible wound across it body probably from a strimmer. It died shortly after I found it.  It was heartbreaking to see a a baby animal suffering such a painful death.  Hedgehogs when under threat curl up tight in a spinney ball which is a bad defence against modern machinery, and cars.

It would be so sad if this iconic creature was no longer part of our garden and countryside wildlife. We can help in their survival by creating the right habitat for hedgehogs in our own gardens and joining together with people in our street, estate or community in the Hedgehogs Street campaign:

http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/news.php

This link to http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ will give you information about these animals and show ways each of us could to help them.  Recently the Charity found that slug pelts that had a picture of a Hedgehog on them suggesting that it was safe to use for where  there were these animals, was in was in fact  poisonous to them.  After the Charity informed B&Q they reacted quickly and withdrew the product and went straight to the manufacturer to use their influence to change the product..

The Charity also provided evidence to McDonald’s which prompted the company to changed the lid on their McFlurry dessert!   The original containers  carelessly tossed away trapped many hedgehogs who crawled into lick up the leftover ice cream or for shelter and could not get out again.   Some were released by kindly passers by, some were found dead, and it will never be known how many were never found at all. The new lid has a smaller aperture so the customer will take the lid off to get to the ice cream. Even if the cup does get thrown to the ground with the lid attached, the hole should be too small for hedgehogs to push into.
   
It seems that powerful global business  can be persuaded to get  behind the campaign for the survival  of Hedgehogs.  But each of us individually can, however, help them just by providing as safe small corner of our garden and allotments as a wild life sanctuary we can attract wild life and hedgehogs,  by planting a hedge, creating a hedgehog street, building a log pile or creating a dead hedge for hedgehogs.  These simple measures would give hedgehogs a safe haven to sleeping in during the day or hibernate in over winter and safe routes to roam in.   It could bring the reward of seeing visiting or maybe resident hedgehogs. They in return will clear the ground of slugs and snails and other pest.

I hope we can join together to create safe havens for our hedgehogs. And future generations, our grandchildren and great grandchildren, will have the delight of seeing hedgehogs visiting their garden, allotment,  or  while walking in the countrysides at dusk see them ambling past.

With Reiki blessing to Hedgehogs and all living creature

Merry B

Web Weaving the Elements of our wonderful Planet

web weaving

Web weaving is a way of creating associations that a word or phrase calls ro mind - some people may call it mind mapping, or brain storming. When studying the OBOD Bardic course we studied the four elements and created web weavings.  Here are part of my thoughts and feeling about each element.  I have put  them into linar form.  They were  created in my journal as a spiders web of ideas. For example Earth was placed at the centre then radiating from that images and ideas that I saw in my minds eye , and the connections made from one idea to another. 

 

Air through the practice of meditation and Chi Kung I am aware of my breath and the way it changes. If for example I am stressed I can feel the way my breathing is shallow and rapid.  I am sensitive to the changes in the air around me.  I love the feeling of peacefulness on a still summers day when there is very little movement in the air, or the welcome feeling of a summer breeze on a hot day. I enjoy hearing the leaves rustle as the wind flows through them and how it can whistle and roar down the chimney and drive the clouds scudding across the sky. Sometimes the air is dry, sometimes full of moisture before a rain storm, or humid and sticky with no rain. The first thing we do when we are born is breathe and it is the last thing we will do as we die.

Water is an important Element for us all. Water has great powers and often a deceptive beauty. The stream or river that trickles past with barely a murmur can turn into a raging torrent and bring flooding and destruction but ironically leaving behind fertile soil on the flood planes. I live by the sea and enjoy seeing it many moods but I am wary of its power. In East Africa a prolonged drought has caused a famine and millions of people are living in misery and dying. All living things need water to survive.

Water conceals hidden depths, sunken cities mythical realms, sirens and mermaids, luring men into their watery liars. Springs emerging from the earth and secretly run underground until the come into the light and  people create wells which are frequently seen as scared places. Chalice Wells in Glastonbury has water which is white and pure and is always at a constant temperature. At the nearby Red Well the water runs blood red and tastes of iron. The two springs both emerge on the Tor a few feet apart at one of the places the mystical glass castle of Merlin may have stood. Dreams, myths and mysteries are all concealed in the power of water.

Fire is beautiful when contained in a candle, fire pit, or fireplace. It is wonderful to return home on a cold blustery day and light a fire, cook a meal and be warm and cosy thanks to the element of fire. The mellow light of candlelight the smell of incense burning enhances my meditation practice,

 Lighting the candle

the peace and joy I feel

brightens the face of the earth

Thay

We depend on fire for all the myriad of uses we have for energy in the twenty first century. But when unleashed it can harm and destroy. The unattended candle can topple and burn a house down. The heat of the sun can cause fire storm which destroy swathes of forests and farmland as well as houses, melt roads. It twist and distort metal, but also by harnessing it we can melting metal ore to gives us iron, gold silver....

The sun is essential to life on earth without it our planet would ice up and all life would die. I love the sun and its warmth and benefits. As winter turns into spring I like to warm myself in the early morning rays of the sunshine. As summer turns to Autumn I like to walk at sunset and see the setting sun by the sea and moon rising. Each element has its beauty but each needs to be respected as well.

Earth can be harnessed for our benefit and gives us food, fuel and shelter. Often it is unthinkingly desecrated by humanities’ need for more and more resources. A diamond is a very beautiful gem, but it can be tainted by cruel greedy men enslaving people to mine it from the ground. Even from afar a volcanic eruption can effect weather systems and even stop the modern world by its ash grounding planes. The earth as it pushes and moves can shake and destroy lives livelihoods building landndscapes...... As we witnessed in Japan this year.........

Once you start web weaving thoughts seem to casscade through the mind.  This are some of my reflection on the elements - I hope they inspire you to weave your own web about the elements of this wonderful planet with live on.

With Blessings

Merry Rambler

See Touching The Earth April 2011  to read more about my feeling for the Earth

I couldn't use the computer because......

Sorry I haven't replied to your posts.  No I wasn't being rude, or don't care!

At the moment I am not using the computer so much as:

 1. I got rid of my old office chair

2.   I didn't buy a new one as I was not sure which one to get, and if new or secondhand

3.   I sprained my knee and sitting at the computer using an ordinary chair made it stiffer and more painful

4.   I decided to convert a wonderful pine captains chair made by a friend out of his boat and....

5.   It isnt back from the upholsters.  They are making a fitted cushion and adding castors -
 as it is very heavy

6.   I spent too long at the computer writing my blog and my knee was crunch up and is really stiff now and it hurts......

7.   Sitting at the computer for so long strained my eyes -  they are really red and sore

8.   Poppy dog needs long rambles

Reiki Ramblings

As I have been building my new website Reiki Druid's Focus I have been re-writing pages and adding new pages. On my desk is a pile of books about Reiki, Druidry, Celtic Lore. which I have been dipping into for while each day. This has resulted in intensification  of my love of Reiki and a merging and blending with the Druidry and Celtic lore.

Usui Sensei

Reiki is central to my life and there is not a day that passes without me using Reiki or reflecting on its place in my life. However the rebuilding of my website has sparked a flood of ideas about Reiki and my practice. It is as if I have rekindled the excitement I felt about Reiki when I first began my Reiki Journey.

My curiosity about Reiki began with a chance meeting at a bus stop with a stranger, called Ann, who had just taken Reiki one. Later in that week I walked a different way into town and passing an imposing Georgian building, I noticed that it had been transformed into The Energy Centre offering holistic treatments, Chi Kung and meditation classes. I studied Chi Kung with Master Lam Kam Cheun in Lambeth.I thought a local class would be wonderful. So I went inside. I found in the opening week they were offering half price treatments. I decided to give Reiki ago - I was a bit disdainful about "new age" therapies but I booked an appointment and had a treatment. I found it amazing, it was relaxing but it was also if I was taking a huge step forward in my life.

I book more treatments and one day after a treatment I asked Julie about taking a Reiki 1 class. By coincidence the weekend before she had just taken a Reiki 111 class and could now teach Reiki. My question inspired her to overcome her self doubts and arrange a Reiki 1 class, co-lead by Ruth who had been a master for several years. I am so grateful to for that chance encounter with Ann and for the bus that did not turn up. I am grateful for seeing the advert outside the Energy Centre and Julie and Ruth my first Reiki Masters. Reiki has transformed my life. I am grateful to Usui Senei for to the gift of Reiki and for leading me to become a Reiki Teacher.

At the time I begun having Reiki Treatment I was working in an Exclusion Unit with challenge teenagers and even more challenging members of staff! By Friday I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and it took the whole weekend to recover and prepare for the next week. However, after starting Reiki I found I would recover after just practicing Chi Kung and then having a cup of tea. My week nights and weekends became more enjoyably and I was full of energy.

Usui Senei showed us not only a a way to clear ill health in the body he also gave us guidance on our spiritual path with the Reiki Principles. This simple steps built harmony and stability within me. I was taught to say the priciples twice a day, and take to my heart space the one I need most. I can remember stomping up the road to work chanting to myself,

"Just for today I will not be angry."

I did not have a a lot of outward anger, but I could be implusive and as the old saying goes cut off my nose to spite my face. I also used my wit as a weapon, never with children but sometimes with adults.  I had the clever quip which would divert anger a way from me. I imagine the receiver could have been very angry as they smiled. I was also quite defensive and could appear remote. Gradually bit by bit I changed. As the Buddha said,

Having anger for someone

is like picking up hot coals to throw at them.

Who gets burnt first?

I remember loud or strident noise would create a huge flash of anger in me especially if I was settling down to read, listen to music or meditate. But I learnt that if:

If my mind does not go out

to disturb the noise

The noise won't disturb me.

Ajahn Chan

Bringing gratitude into my life has brightened it. When a everyday dilemma seem about to overwhelm me, I see what I have to be grateful for maybe:

This cup og tea of tea in my two hands

mindfulness held perfectly

My mind and and body dwell

In the very here and now.

Thich Nhat Hanh in his wisdom shows me how to recuperate myself and that by being mindful

Just for today I will not worry

I respect and I am grateful for all my teachers and elders.

Thank you Usui Senei and all those in my Reiki Lineage.

More Ramblings about Reiki Shortly. Now I am gong out rambling with Pops, my dog.

With Reiki Blessings

Merry Rambler

   

.

Norway

Bano Rashid, 18, was a Kurdish immigrant from Iraq
murdered
22nd July 2011 Norway
a life full of promise stolen

I have watched with great sorrow the people of Norway grieving for the 8 people killed in the car bombings and the massacre of 69 young people at a youth camp. The country showed restraint and compassion. The people of Norway came together determined to show unity  love and peace.  It  was not the time for answers or blame.


Now as the raw shock and grief passes the questions that the police, the people of Norway, world media, and individuals need to ask about what motivated a young man massacre so many people.  These questions  have also been puzzling me.  How do you begin to travel on such a journey of hate? To try to understand I will start by looking at the influences of my chosen beliefs and how I live my life and then looked at the path the murderer took.


I have chosen to walk a spiritual path that encompasses Reiki, Meditation and Druidry.   This path has change me  in subtle and profound ways.  I am striving to lessen my tendency towards selfishness and work towards developing good qualities.  I feel that as I have journeyed forward on my path I have become more open to people, to my  community and the world we live in   My choice is made with careful thought and deliberation.   

People who go down the path of the politics of hate must  also make the choice to enter a dark and closed world where people become dehumanised, collateral and expendable.  The man who committed the terrible atrocity in Norway made a deliberate choice to follow the reasoning and beliefs of the right extremists.  His planning and execution of the bombing and killing of the young people on Utoeya Island was meticulous and detailed.  His actions were carried out with cold, calm brutality.

Eight years  ago, apparently, the man grew increasingly angered by the way Norway was becoming a multicultural society. He felt his national identity was being eroded by immigrants and Muslims.  He began connecting with groups who where on the far right.  He gradually grew more and more alienated from his society.  He dropped out of right of centre political groups and becoming isolated except for the doctrines of the far right extremist groups.  These Neo-nazi groups have exchange the  hatred of the Jews for Islam.  They blame and targeted Islam and immigrants as the cause of a breakdown of society’s mores and national identity.  Islam is seen as the enemy to be eradicated.  This has been a common theme among the growing nationalist parties  in Europe and the  right wing press. This man learnt to believed that;

“What most people still do not understand is that the ongoing Islamicisation of Europe cannot be stopped before one gets to grip with the political doctrine which makes it possible,"  

BBC News.

So his target became set not on migrants, or Islam but the “real” enemy the government itself  - the left of centre Labour Party and young people who were activist in, or members of the party.  After placing a bomb by the Government building he travelled to a second target on Utoeya Island were the young people who were mostly labour party supporters were  holidaying at a summer camp.  He saw the killings as:

"atrocious but necessary"

He believed "The 22^nd of July 2011 would  kick start the revolution" against soft" government, immigration and Islam.

This man walked a long lonely path He must have passed down a tunnel of darkness and hatred to emerge that day to set about the deliberately killing of so many people.  The car bomb by a Government building distracted the police and security forces, while he reached his second target where he murdered, wounded and terrified young teenagers and staff trying to protect them.  Seventy Seven People's  lives were stolen, who knows what gifts and benefits each had to bring to Norway's Society and to our World.  Who knows what their death means to their family and friends.  

What of the killer?  Is he insane?   His lawyer does not think so, nor do I feel he is mad.  There maybe factors that influenced his choice, and no doubt they will emerge in time.  However, what he did was evil. It was his choice, he walked down his path into the bowels of darkness, hatred and murder.


 I won’t write this man’s name, as a name is something that society gives us  through our parents.  He has stepped outside Society and therefore, he  has lost his name. He is not a victim nor a hero of the Far Right, he is a mass murderer, a lost soul.   We can hope that one day he will find again his humanity and be helped to retrieve his soul. 

May Reiki bring healing and peace 

With Reiki blessing
Mary B