Tag: tea ritual

Categories
Recipes Tea wheel of the year

Beltane Flower Moon Tea

The May full moon is the Flower Moon, a time to celebrate the abundance that is now in full bloom. Joyful, playful, and colorful! It is a moon associated with romance, pleasure, and fun.

The Flower Moon resides in the house of Scorpio this year, which brings an intense energy. The desire to see deeper in a time of more lighthearted fun opens the way for soul-searching and truth-seeking. Add to this the presiding sun sign of Taurus, which imbues a need for comfort and attunement to the senses, and you have a recipe for experiencing blissful enlightenment. 

Beltane aligns with the Flower Moon this year! Beltane, or May Day, is the cross-quarter sabbat on the Wheel of the Year when we celebrate the midpoint of spring. It brings a thinning of the veil between our world and the Faerie realm, enchantment, and wonder. 

As the opposite sabbat on the wheel across from Samhain, both have related attributes but from a different angle. We think about protection from the otherworldly (the faerie realm, though, vs the spirit realm) and ancestral connection at Beltane as we do at Samhain. But Beltane is unique in its ties to the approach of summer, fertility, sacred fires, and joyful celebration. 

How can we embody the Flower Moon and Beltane in a cozy, low-key but meaningful modern celebration to mark the occasion?

If you have the accessibility to do so, perhaps gather a bouquet or some potted flowers and light a fire (bonfire, fire pit, candle/s) outdoors at sunset, with a gathering of loved ones if possible, and enjoy animated conversation together. Make wishes on slips of paper or flower petals and offer them to the flames. Sip a special tea for the occasion, of course! (All this can be done solo if needed, and indoors if needed, too. Tailor the simple, cozy ritual to meet you where you are!)

The tea blend for the Beltane Flower Moon relies on the ease and abundance of flowers in season, perfect for capturing the essence of this moon and the sabbat. The flowers not only represent sweetness and fertility, but also divination and deep-rooted feelings. If you have access to the listed flowers in fresh form, by all means use them! And if you don’t have access to any of the flowers in the recipe, you can substitute with (food safe) fresh florals that are local to you if you’d like, or dried flowers, which of course are always a lovely option for herbal teas. 

Beltane Flower Moon in Scorpio Tea

Ingredients:

1 tsp fresh or dried elderflower

1 tsp fresh lilac, violet, or fresh/dried jasmine

1 tsp rose petals

¼ tsp powdered vanilla bean, or ¼ vanilla bean per cup of tea

½ tsp lavender

Lemon slices, if desired

Honey, if desired

Instructions:

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 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.

To make a larger amount for your Beltane gathering, treat the proportions as “parts” and scale up, such as 1 tsp = ½ cup or 1 cup – choosing your scale depending on the number of people you are serving. You can also do this to mix up a large jar of the tea blend, especially if you’re using dried flowers, to enjoy throughout the Beltane season! 

Categories
Recipes Tea

October: Falling Leaves Moon in Aries + Tea Recipe

Though the Falling Leaves Moon or Hunter’s Moon fell on October 17th this year and has technically passed, the full moon’s energy can still be tapped into. Read on to learn more about this month’s full moon and a corresponding tea recipe!

The Ojibwe named the full moon during what we call October the Falling Leaves Moon. We await the “peak” of the vibrant colors knowing the shedding of these leaves marks winter’s approach. As this full moon nears, we may feel Aries’ pull to dive into autumn with an energy as vibrant as the leaves. But the sun sign Libra may temper this drive with a need for balance to conserve our energies for the coming cold.

Brew this tea to mark the Falling Leaves Moon which includes gifts given from trees for both their symbolic and astro-herbalism connections. Hawthorn bolsters the heart, while juniper, cinnamon, and ginger support the Aries fire. Apple and vanilla round things out with sweetness to cool that fire off a bit and bring things back to balance.

Falling Leaves Moon in Aries Tea Materials-

1 tbsp apple pieces, dried 

1 tsp hawthorn leaf

1 tsp juniper berries

½ tsp cinnamon stick pieces

¼ tsp ginger root, dried 

¼ tsp vanilla bean powder or ¼ vanilla bean pod

Method-

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 about 5 minutes. Strain, and serve. Add sweetener of choice to taste, if desired.

If you’d like recipes to mark each month’s full moon, check out the current and upcoming issues of Botanical Anthology where I share these recipes!

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
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