Today I’m sharing two herbal tea blends to enjoy for Yule // the Winter Solstice!
The Yule Tea blend is a sweet and festive spiced sip, full of immune-boosting ingredients that taste lovely. The combo of orange and spices is traditional for the season, in part because of those properties and in part because of associations with protection, divination, prosperity, and luck derived from them.
The Winter Solstice Tea tastes decadent like a holiday cake, but without the heartburn or feeling of overindulgence! With soothing herbs that promote digestion, relieve pain, and aid in circulation, it’s like a sweet, warm hug. And chamomile represents the sun that returns brighter each day after the solstice; juniper is a powerful talisman of winter protection, cleansing, and luck; and the other botanicals have ties to healing, love, and luck, too.
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 ½ cups hot water over the tea and steep for 3-5 minutes. Add honey or maple syrup to taste, if desired.
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*.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien have been my very favorite books since I first read them as a teenager, and I have always felt a very strong connection to hobbits: simple folk who prefer the comforts of home, well-stocked larders and bookshelves, and the joy of silly fun with family and friends, yet who can be prevailed upon to draw deeply from a well of courage and wit to save the world on occasion. If any fictional folk represents me, it’s the hobbit-folk.
So the publication anniversary of The Hobbit (my birthday, 9/21) and the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins (9/22) alongside the beginning of fall are all something I like to mark wrapped up into one special span of a couple days. I might read bits of The Hobbit to my own halflings, or we might watch the 1970s Rankin Bass animated film of The Hobbit (wonderfully nostalgic and kid friendly).
We may enjoy a hobbit-y teatime, too, with fresh baked goods and hobbit-inspired tea from the recipe I created. It combines smoky lapsang souchong tea for that famous pipe-leaf all hobbits love, hops to represent the tankards of ale they heartily imbibe, reishi mushrooms foraged right from the woods surrounding the shire, and other flavorful herbs and spices.
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 5 minutes. Add honey or other sweetener, if desired.
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*.
Mabon is almost here! Otherwise known as the Autumn Equinox, this sabbat marks the official beginning of fall, the second harvest festival, one of the two points in the year when day and night are equal, the height of preparations for the dark part of the year, and a day of thanksgiving and gratitude.
Depending on the year, my birthday falls right before or sometimes on Mabon (9/21), so it always feels *extra* special to me. I can always be counted on to make a bit of a fuss to celebrate the equinox! I suppose I may love fall so much because I’m a Mabon baby, but I think this most cozy, crisp, and magical time of the year would be my favorite regardless of my birthday.
My favorite flavor of autumn is…no, not pumpkin spice…but apple! And spiced apple, which is nearly the same as pumpkin spice, but with a different vehicle. I love pumpkin, don’t get me wrong—but apple will always be the flavor of September to me. So I am brewing up a simple and delicious batch of spiced apple cider for my family to enjoy this Mabon weekend.
In this recipe, apples are combined with vitamin C rich oranges and beneficial, warming, digestion-promoting, immune-boosting spices. This drink offers a cozy, warming, festive sip with many benefits!
Here is the recipe:
Materials—
½ to 1 gallon of fresh apple cider
2-3 apples, sliced
1-2 oranges, sliced
1 small to medium knob of fresh ginger, sliced, or 2 tsp dried ginger
To make a hot spiced cider, fill a large stock pot or slow cooker with the fresh apple cider, sliced apples and oranges, sliced ginger if using fresh, and cinnamon sticks. Place the rest of the spices in a cheesecloth bag or large eco friendly paper tea bag and add to the pot. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, and serve warm.
If the autumn equinox is still quite warm where you live, you can make this as a cold drink instead! Place all the ingredients in a pitcher in the refrigerator overnight. Try mixing it with sparkling apple cider, ginger beer, ginger ale, or Prosecco for a fizzy twist!
What are you doing to mark Mabon / the autumn solstice this year?
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*.
It may not be pumpkin spice time yet (Says who? It’s always pumpkin spice time to me!) but apples are ripening and it’s a great time to whip up some apple crisp. I am gathering with friends this evening, so I made a chai apple crisp that is gluten-free for one of my friends’ dietary needs.
You can’t fault me for rushing Autumn if I’m using chai spices! And anyway, there are so many benefits to chai spices. Medicinally they’re immunity boosting, digestion aiding, circulation stimulating, and so much more—check out THIS blog post for more on that. Chai spices also help soothe, relax, and even help with sleep. And symbolically / spiritually, many of these warming spices are said to bring prosperity, protection, joy, and divinatory insight. Plus, they’re just cozy and tasty! Perfect for a gathering with friends paired with tart Granny Smith apples.
Here is the recipe!
Gluten-Free Chai Apple Crisp—
Ingredients
For the filling—
8-10 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced or chopped
2 Tbsp gluten-free flour blend
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp pumpkin spice mix (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves) or ¼ tsp of each
1/4 – 1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the crumble—
1 cup gluten-free old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 stick of butter of choice, cold, cubed
Method
Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and set aside.
Prepare apples and put in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, flour, and spices and stir to coat; add vanilla extract and stir again. Scoop this mixture into your greased baking dish.
In the same mixing bowl if you’d like, mix the oats, flour, spices, and salt well. (If you’d like to ease back on the spices, omit them from the crumble.) Add the brown sugar and butter and cut in with a pastry blender or fork until pebbly consistency is reached. Sprinkle over the apple filling evenly.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes; cool before serving.
Notes
Serves 6-8
Substitute in your favorite chai spices and play around with the amounts to your preference!
Would also be amazing with walnuts in the crumble topping.
This recipe could easily be adapted to be non gluten free with conventional flour.
Are you a big fan of apple crisp? And do you think August is too soon for it? Let me know in the comments!
I am *just* beginning to teach myself the art of candle making! It is not terribly difficult, but there is definitely a knack to it and little things to learn through the process. I am no expert yet, but I am quickly learning some of the finer points!
I have decided to use a combo of beeswax and coconut oil for my candle base for the time being, and I scent my candles with essential oils. The scent is more subtle than that from my favorite store-bought candles, but it’s lovely and natural, healthier, and much more magical and special to make them myself. All the cozy and loving intention is poured into each one with the wax.
For those who are also interested in candle making but aren’t sure where to start, here is a little list of the basic supplies I decided to begin with:
This batch of beeswax candles combines the scents of coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, lemon, blood orange, and balsam copaiba essential oils. (The coffee oil is a separate one from Simply Earth; the rest are in a pumpkin spice oil blend from Plant Therapy.)
Aside from providing a cozy, delicious scent perfect for this time of year, these botanicals are grounding, balancing, energizing, and represent love, luck, and healing. I’ve topped each candle with coffee beans, star anise, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves.
Here are the instructions for how I made this batch of candles—it makes 6 four-ounce candles.
(A couple notes: I am still experimenting with the essential oil amounts. You could definitely use more than I did here for a stronger scent—up to 200 drops! But I went conservative here for lightly scented candles. Also, be very careful topping candles with cinnamon, and make sure it isn’t too near the wick! It can spark if it catches the flame just right.)
I plan to keep a couple of these and share the love by gifting the rest this holiday season! And I hope to make more with different scent profiles and additions soon—I’ll share those here or on Instagram when I do.
Have you ever tried your hand at candle making? Is it something you’re interested in trying?
Since tea is my preferred vehicle for herbalism and ritual, I thought today I’d touch on my favorite type of tea during autumn: CHAI. It is full of benefits befitting the season: digestive, circulation-stimulating, warming, anti-inflammatory, immunity-boosting, and so many more. And chai is extremely grounding, protective, and COZY.
So I’m going to touch on a few of my favorite chai botanicals, digging in with a bit of research and preparation ideas.
Origins
I of course have to begin with the origins of chai. Even if what we think of as the “traditional fall spices” that are included in chai go way back, neither the spices nor chai have Western origins. Masala chai hails from India, a centuries-old traditional and health tonic drink. While recipes can vary widely, the main basis includes black tea and warming spices (the words masala chai literally mean “spiced tea”). The Western world recognized the benefits and amazing taste of chai spices long ago and has adopted and adapted them in many ways (which connects to a long and complicated history of colonialism we won’t get into here today). But regardless, chai and its related spices come to us thanks to their ancient origins in India.
There are so many non-traditional and revised spins on chai out there, either to incorporate different flavor profiles or to address varying health concerns. Milk and black pepper are common and traditional ingredients which helps to make the nutrients more bioavailable, but I sometimes enjoy chai without milk or with plant milk. Some versions include berries, fruits, or different herb or tea bases. My favorite base ingredient isn’t even tea—it’s rooibos! But in general, the essential components combine to aid digestion, immunity, and more, making chai a boon to holistic health.
Components
I’ve recently done some research on the specific benefits of some of my favorite chai spices! Read on for a brief run-through of each:
Cinnamon – This warming, drying, pungent bark has anti-microbial, analgesic, antioxidant, and many other qualities and helps with digestion, cramping, regulating blood sugar, soothing sore throats and colds, and more. Folk tradition also holds to other benefits including protection, purification, energizing, healing, love, and prosperity.
Ginger – Another warming, drying botanical. Ginger is a healing powerhouse! It aids in everything from circulation, inflammation, digestion, pain, cramps, cold and flu, sore throats, nausea, heart health, energy, and many more. It is an energizing and synergy-boosting herb, in both health and folk tradition aspects.
Nutmeg – I had no idea of this until recently, but nutmeg is great for stress, anxiety, and insomnia. This pungent, warming, drying spice is also antispasmodic and anti-microbial, along with many other properties. It is also believed to aid in happiness, love, overall health, and psychic abilities, if that’s your thing.
Cloves – Cloves are great for your teeth and breath! They’re also known to be antiviral, antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, analgesic, anesthetic, and expectorant. Whew! These fragrant little powerhouses aid digestion, colds and flu, arthritis, pain, headaches, and spasms. Cloves are thought to offer protection, purification, general healing, and mental aid.
Other common chai ingredients include cardamom, allspice, anise, fennel, black tea, and peppercorns. Flavor or health variations can include turmeric, rose, mint, fruit like apple or orange, astragalus, echinacea, reishi…it goes on and on. Don’t be afraid to put your own spin on your chai recipes!
Preparation
Due to the hardy nature of the seeds, roots, barks, and such that make up chai, it’s often suggested to make a decoction with the herbs before combining with the tea component, rather than an infusion. A decoction is simple, though: just boil the ingredients on the stovetop for an extended period (it depends on how concentrated you’re going for, but it can be as little as 15-20 minutes), strain, and add to your brewed black or rooibos tea (if you’re not making a strictly herbal chai). Then top with plant or dairy milk if you like! A decoction tends to turn out more concentrated than a simple tea infusion, so that’s why you often add additional liquid to the mix after decocting. How much liquid you add depends on how long you simmer your decoction.
All that said, though, I often don’t have time to make a decoction and need a quicker cuppa! When this is the case, I grind the spices well with my mortar and pestle (you can use a coffee grinder, too) and steep for longer than I normally would with a simple tea infusion—as much as 10 or 12 minutes.
I could go on and on about chai—I feel like I already have in this post—but I think I’ll stop here for now! Are you a fan of chai? What ingredients do you like to incorporate? Which of the basic chai components is your favorite?
The Herbology Faerie 