Tag: beltane

Categories
Herbs and Herbalism seasons

Herbs to Love in May

May is such a special month where I live. The “merry merry month of May” lyric comes to mind. It is generally a time of unabashed sunshine, warming breezes, flourishing blossoms, and frenetic energy. The joy of May is infectious and refreshing! Spring is fully awake, and we are energized and full of her spark. 

While the weather from one year to the next varies, and so, too, does the timing of May’s blooms, there are certainly favorite plant allies that I always find myself drawn to during this month. These are a few of them!

Yarrow: white, pinkish, or more yellow—these blossoms that flourish in mid-spring are magical no matter the color. A harmonizing herb that can both cool and warm, staunch and aid flow, it can be used medicinally for a wide variety of things including styptic powder, teas, salves, steams, incense, and more. In folklore, yarrow has quite the long tradition of use in love spells, protective charms, sachets, cleansing and divination preparations, among other uses. Yarrow is on my planting list this year. Plant some near your home for a bit of beauty and protection, and harvest some for a host of beneficial applications!

Lilac: fleeting May magic! Lilac blooms where I live for a short time in early May, so I have to enjoy it quickly! That’s all part of the fun. Lilac sugar, tea, honey, syrup or jelly, skin recipes, and baked-good adornments are some favorite ways to harness its powerful sweetness. I love the longstanding tradition of planting this shrubby plant near doorways—then when it is in bloom, you can access it easily and quickly. Lilac is also said to be a protector of the home. 

Hawthorn: ubiquitous with May, whether they’re blooming on Beltane where you live or not. Hawthorn guards the gates to faerie realms, protects, gladdens the heart, and calms the nerves. I adore a strong cup of hawthorn leaf & flower tea! Just be sure to show the hawthorn tree her due respect: Mother Hawthorn expects to be approached with care, asked permission before you harvest from her branches, and left with an offering near her roots. Also, it is said that you shouldn’t bring hawthorn branches indoors, as it is bad luck. 

Red Clover: this springtime beauty is equal parts medicinal and magical. Wonderfully nutritive, beneficial to the skin and female system, for balance and movement, and more…and also so lovely in salads, honey, sweets, fritters, teas, lemonade, and other special treats. It is also a wonderful ally in soothing skin applications including bath teas, salves, and more! Red clover tends to grow wild and free in many areas, especially meadows, fields, and pastures—so much plenty for the taking! Just be careful to ensure that the place you’re harvesting from is safe—not too near roads or where chemicals are sprayed. 

Honeysuckle: yes, I know it is an invasive non-native species here in the U.S. But it is so very prolific where I live, and it’s not honeysuckle’s fault it was brought here! It has always been a special plant to me, since I was a kid when we had a magical honeysuckle that grew entwined with a blackberry bush at my childhood home. The great thing about honeysuckle is you don’t have to feel bad about foraging it, and don’t have to worry about taking too much! It smells so nice tucked into vases, twisted and twined into wreaths, or enjoyed in teas, cordials, and jellies. 

Catnip: I adore catnip, and it seems to adore me! It reseeds itself in more of my herb pots each year and springs up in late April and May. This rampant herb in my little container garden is not just for cats. A member of the mint family, it is wonderful for calming frazzled nerves and stress in humans and is gentle enough for children. I like to think of catnip as bringing both a dash of calm and a dose of courage, all in one go. It imparts a strong yet gentle resilience. When my plants are ready to begin harvesting, I plan to incorporate catnip into sun teas, lemonade, and popsicles to share with my kiddos!

Which herbs do you find that you favor in May?

Categories
Herbs and Herbalism Tea wheel of the year

Beltane Lilac Tea Meditation

Beltane, also called May Day, marks the cross-quarter between Ostara (the spring equinox) and Litha (the summer solstice). Beltane is a time of heightened romance, carefree joy, ripening fruits, and faerie magic. Take care where you wander on Beltane night as the bonfires burn, lest you stumble into the land of Faerie!

Lilac is, in many parts of the northern hemisphere, ubiquitous with Beltane as its prime blooming period. To celebrate Beltane, harvest some fresh lilac if it is in bloom near you and enjoy a lilac tea meditation ritual. 

((You can also substitute a different fresh food safe flower that is in season near you, such as dandelion, for this meditation, or even dried flowers like jasmine or lavender if fresh flowers aren’t accessible to you!))

Choose a handful of blossoms that look fresh, not wilted. Leave blossoms attached to the stems, but remove most of the twigs.

Dunk in cold water to rinse off any debris and critters. Pour heated water from your tea kettle over the blossoms in a mug to cover the flowers and allow to steep for about 3 minutes before you begin to sip. No need to remove the flowers if they’re attached to the stems—they shouldn’t float loose.

Grab a journal and pen, and seat yourself in an outdoor spot if possible, or next to an open window if not. Sip the tea and feel the sun/moon/breeze on your face, closing your eyes. 

Notice the flavor of the lilac tea. It should be fragrant, floral, a tad sweet and a bit bitter all at once. Very tannic, it should pucker your tongue a bit and leave a dry mouthfeel. Savor the flavor and aroma as you drink, and think of it as nature’s champagne! Rare, beautiful, elegant, joyful, celebratory. Let the taste uplift you and permeate throughout you. Envision a sweet purple light enveloping you, bringing happiness and beauty from the outside-in, if you like. 

Grab your journal. Write down three things you are happy about, three things you are anticipating, and three ways you’d like to grow. Meditate on these ideas as you finish your tea. Then, compost the spent lilac blossoms. 

As an alternative to using a journal, I’ve made a journal page especially for this meditation that you can print and use! Just click on the file below, print, and use alongside your Beltane Lilac Tea Meditation!

Beltane Lilac Meditation.pdfDownload
Categories
Folklore Herbs and Herbalism plant wonder collective Recipes Tea

Butterfly Pea Faerie Tea

Butterfly Pea Flower is just so very magical! It is astounding how brilliantly blue the flowers can so easily turn the water in a cup of tea. It feels like a bit of faerie magic, for sure!

When I was doing some research for the faerie + plant folklore book I am writing (!!), I came across a type of Eastern European faerie called Er Tütra, which means Morning Mist: the name for a type of weather spirit/faerie. These Morning Mist folk are only visible to human eyes in the form of their namesake natural phenomenon, but they are hard at work to promote the health and growth of crops—an invaluable service to the fauna and humans of the land. 

I made the connection between butterfly pea flower and these Morning Mist faeries because of the folklore surrounding this lovely plant. There are strong ties between butterfly pea flower in Southeast Asian cultures and motherhood and divine feminine symbolism, with a distinct focus on protection and mothering. The Er Tütra certainly perform this caretaking role for the land and crops. What’s more, there are very interesting studies on the use of butterfly pea flower in natural insecticides for crops! Yet another cool connection. 

Here is the recipe for the Butterfly Pea Faerie tea! Embody the springtime Morning Mist with this tea blend and perhaps offer some to the Er Tütra for their aid in your spring garden.

Ingredients

1 part green tea or green rooibos 

1 part meadowsweet

1 part passionflower

1/2 part mint

1/2 part yarrow

1/2 part butterfly pea flower

Directions

To make a single cup of tea, add 1 tablespoon to a tea strainer, eco- friendly tea bag, or French press. Pour 1 to 1 1⁄2 cups hot water over the tea and steep for 3-4 minutes. Add honey or your preferred sweetener to taste, if desired.

To cold-brew this tea blend, add the ingredients to a glass jar or French press, steep overnight in the refrigerator, strain, and serve.

This recipe was shared as a part of Butterfly Pea Flower month at the Plant Wonder Collective! If you’d like to support the work of PWC, please consider joining our Study Circle on Patreon for exclusive recipes, articles, digital downloads and printables for the plant of the month, including this graphic available for print as an apothecary jar sticker. We appreciate you being on this learning journey with us!

For educational purposes only. Not intended for medical advice. Always consult your physician.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you choose to buy something from a link that I share, I will make a small percentage of the sale *at no extra cost to you*.

Categories
Botanical Anthology

Beltane Floral Incense

This blog post is a little something different: an excerpt from the spring edition of Botanical Anthology!

This plant centered digital publication is packed with seasonal crafts, recipes, foraging tips, articles, & more. Click here to learn more about the digital edition, or click here to check out the print edition.

Carrie Tuttle is an environmental educator, mom, and poet. She has been weaving magic into her home via kitchen and garden witchery for 30 years. She lives in Wyoming with her family, pets, and gardens.

Fires of Beltane Loose Floral Incense

By Carrie Tuttle

Beltane is a glorious celebration of fire. Translated roughly as bright fire, the day falls at the halfway point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. Here we find a day associated with bonfires, feasting, and the fertility of the land beneath our feet. Beltane, or Mayday, is awash with flowers. In Gaelic lands, and in modern Paganism, it is celebrated with a flower wreathed Maypole, floral wreaths for the May Queen and celebrants, as well as decorating homes and sacred places and spaces with spring florals.

For many this is a time of year when spring begins its raucous state of growth; a riot of flowers, lengthening days, and getting our gardens underway. One practice to honor this day, and its connection to fire and growth, is through the crafting of ritual incense. The use of incense is common in ritual and dates back thousands of years to ancient Mesopotamia, where the burning of herbs and resins facilitated sacred communication with the gods. In addition, it is believed that the healing elements of herbs can be transferred through their burning as well, leading many to blend their own healing incense. 

Using a loose incense allows the crafter to use dried flowers and herbs in their whole form, without having to pulverize, mix and add a binder; required in the blending of stick and cone incense. It is a simple and quick way to craft incense, and involves only the herbs and a source of heat, such as a charcoal disc or electric incense burner.

The Beltane incense below was crafted with following herbs for their corresponding symbolism: 

Lavender: love, luck, grace, and connection to ones higher self

Apple or crabapple twigs: beauty, health, fertility, and harmony

Rose: romance, passion, rebirth, renewal

Jasmine : sensuality, positivity, connection to the divine

Mugwort: dreams, protection, self-love, magic

You may also add other herbs from your local environment, or from your gardens, as it enhances your connection to the land, and to your personal practice. Just be sure to look into their properties, as you don’t want to burn anything that could be toxic.

Blending these dried herbs together to burn is its own wild alchemy, because as you blend you put your intentions for this fiery holiday into work. You may imagine the correspondences as you blend each herb, or add your own magical intent. 

Materials

3 tbsp jasmine flower

2 tbsp lavender

2 tbsp mugwort

1 tbsp  roses 

1 tbsp  apple twigs, cut into ½ inch bits

Method

Mix well, place in a jar and label. 

Burn over a charcoal disk or in your outdoor Beltane fire of choice. 

Notes

The batch makes approximately ½ cup  of the incense blend.

Increase the batch size to use in a bonfire or to give as gifts.

Categories
Recipes Tea

Spring Tea Recipe Ebook!

I am so proud to say that I’ve written a recipe ebook! It is available for purchase now in my Etsy shop, HERE.

The Spring Tea Booklet contains 20 tea recipes based on the season, nature, nature-based festivities, folklore, art, cozy aesthetics, and more! It also includes tips on tea-making and sourcing herbs and ingredients.

Lovingly created, written, photographed, and designed by folk herbalist Anna Reisz (me!!), this tea recipe booklet is a cozy and magical way to ground into the season. These recipes are approachable and perfect for anyone, from beginners to experienced tea blenders. Draw on the inspiration in these pages to create teas for self care, parties and special occasions, gifts, and more.

Recipes include:

Spring Full Moons (3 recipes)
Persephone
Ace of Wands
Robin
Cottagecore
Anne Shirley
Element: Air
Spring Equinox
Light Academia
Spring Forest
Intention: Creativity
Spring Zodiac Signs (3 recipes)
Beltane
Brigid
Beatrix Potter
Spring Dreams

I am grateful to anyone who considers taking a peek at this creation that I am proud of and considers purchasing a copy. This cozy herb thing is something I do because I love it, and I am so happy when others think it is pretty cool, too. Your support helps me continue to be able to do this—learning, creating, and sharing.

Categories
Recipes

Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins

Happy Beltane! As mentioned in my previous post, this day marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and summer solstice. It traditionally involves a sweet, floral baked good, so I decided to create a new recipe!

I based this recipe on one from another website, but changed it up with herbs and spices; my version became Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins. Since lavender honey cakes are pretty traditional for Beltane, this is sort of a twist on that idea. My kids helped me bake these, and they really loved eating them, too!

Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins

PREP 10 min | COOK 20 min | TOTAL 30 min

Ingredients:

•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

•3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for muffin tops

•1/4 teaspoon salt

•2 teaspoons baking powder

•1/2 to 1 tablespoon dried lavender, to taste

•1/4 teaspoon finely ground cardamom powder

•1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

•1 large egg

•1/3 – 1/2 cup milk, dairy or oat

•1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•6 to 8 ounces fresh or frozen blueberries (about 1 cup)

Directions:

Prep—

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 8-10 paper liners, depending on your preferred muffin size.

Batter—

• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lavender, and cardamom in a large bowl.

• Add oil to a glass measuring cup that holds at least 1 cup. Add the egg, then fill the jug to the 1-cup line with milk (1/3 to 1/2 cup milk). Add vanilla and whisk to combine.

• Add milk mixture to the bowl with dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine. Do not over-mix. (The muffin batter will be fairly thick. Fold in the blueberries.

Bake—

• Fill the muffin cups with batter. (If making big-topped muffins, the batter will come to the tops of the paper liners). Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin.

• Bake muffins 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are no longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with crumbs, not wet batter. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Categories
wheel of the year

Celebrate Beltane!

Beltane is coming! For those who don’t know, Beltane is sometimes known as May Day, which is observed on May 1st. It marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice on the wheel of the year. Beltane is associated with flowers, abundance, fertility, bonfires, maypoles, gardening, trees, honey cakes, fruit, feasting, love, and the approach of summer. Sounds fun, no?

There are all sorts of ways to celebrate Beltane from a hygge herbologist approach! Below are a few of my favorite ideas. I’m sharing them in a maximalist / minimalist format in case you’re like me and tend to talk yourself out of things that you were excited about, but that end up sounding energy-draining when the time nears. That way you won’t be bummed with yourself for mixing the idea altogether. (That’s my approach, anyway!)

Max: Light a Bonfire / Min: Just burn a candle or incense

Bonfires are a very traditional part on Beltane, going back to the Celts. Your backyard fire pit would make the perfect Beltane bonfire. Or, if you are an apartment dweller or just not feeling the fire pit thing, light a floral candle or few to brighten the occasion!

Max: Bake honey + floral cookies or cakes / Min: Just make honey + floral fruit salad

Lavender or rose and citrus zest make perfect compliments to a honey cake or shortbread. Try one of the recipes from my Pinterest board! Or, if fruit salad is more your speed, go with a combo like berries, apples, and peaches, with honey, citrus zest, and herbs (fresh mint or lemon balm are excellent choices).

Max: Plant something new / Min: Just plan out your soon-to-be garden

I am planning to plant a couple of hardy herbs in containers as part of Beltane weekend (it’s still within the frost window here so I’m not doing everything yet). Whether or not that actually happens, though, I am definitely going to take some time to sketch out plans for the rest of my container garden. Use that Beltane creative energy to your advantage!

Max OR Min: Make Beltane tea

Minimalist or maximalist, herbal tea can be a tradition and ritual that makes for a special and fun way to mark each sabbat. I am sharing my recipe for a Beltane herbal tea blend, or you can create your own!

Beltane Tea recipe:

1 part Elderflower || 2 parts Chamomile 2 parts Lemon balm || 1 part Mint 1 part Green Rooibos (optional; could also replace with loose leaf green tea)

Note—steep with just-boiled water up to 10-15 minutes unless you add green tea, in which case you’ll want a little cooler water and shorter steep time, probably about 3-4 minutes max.


How are you planning to celebrate Beltane? Or do you have another seasonal celebration to mark the halfway point between spring and summer?