Hello November and WTF?!

Welp, I wrote about grief in September. Then I wrote about grief in October. And would you look at that?! It's November and the main tone of the world right now is grief. (I know many people think it's anger, and I wouldn't disagree. However, I feel that the bigger tone is grief....we just find anger easier....at least if you are male...because let's face it, we don't raise our little boys to have permission to feel grief.....but we fully give permission for them to feel anger.). Women, on the other hand, well grief is ok, just not too much of it because then you just become dreadful and nobody likes a dreadful lady. But anger......nope....we don't really let our little girls experience that much, lest they grow up and become difficult women (gasp! oh heavens! They just might take over the world and then what?!....Newsflash.....women never wanted to take over the world.). Well I'll tell you....had we allowed our boys to experience grief and allowed our women to experience anger and we had invited everyone to the table, we would probably have a heck of a lot less people dying in wars and mass shootings, and all of the other horrific ways that people die from the whips that don't know how to express or even feel healthy anger or grief.

And hello...it's November. Sorry about all of that. It's the place many of us are at, and I feel it is incredibly important to acknowledge it. When we share our feelings around grief, truly share them, we give ourselves and others permission to feel them. And something else happens that is kind of beautiful. There is a connection through the heart and that helps to carry us through these very challenging and very wild times....together.

In connection.

Aside from that all, (and there's never really "aside" but rather an "also") my November is in that interesting liminal space that all November's seem to be. The veils are still thin and the earth is going back to sleep. And soon it will be winter, the season of hibernation, which really is one that I love. There is a coziness and a comfort to it, and something that feels safe. I am a bit of a hermit, so it really does resonate with me and I feel that it is during the winter that I find myself thriving. I have already transitioned my work space and created my cozy winter nook from where I will conduct my distance sessions, do my bi-weekly shows on YouTube, host weekly classes at the Otherworld Well Hedge School from, put together monthly packages for my Patrons, and sit at my computer with the roaring fire (ok its an electric fireplace, but still does the job and looks pretty!) and write articles, ramblings, and musings. This is my cave complete with sparkling lights (because everything is better with sparkling lights) and it makes me feel safe, probably because it is the place I can most often just be myself without any worry of other's expectations. (although Im caring less and less about those expectations these days.)

So even amongst all of the grief and anger and insanity of the world right now, I can come into my little cozy cave and hibernate and find peace, if even just for a little bit.

Do you have a special place that brings you that coziness?

Do you have a place where you feel safe and secure?

Autumn Essences

Every so often I am called (which is the name I give to the thing that means I suddenly got the urge to do something that didn't seem to come from me, but from elsewhere......although that is subjective and who really knows and if we are ALL, well then I suppose it did come from me).......to make some essences. This year it was in late September, just a few days after the Equinox. It was an average day and about mid day, I suddenly went "I need to go and make essences at the cemetery behind my house." I collected four jars, because for some reason I knew there were four essences to make, but did not yet know which ones they would be. I gathered my water and off I went with my son to explore what would step forward. We were a few feet into the cemetery, when in the close distance, I saw white movement amongst the trees. I froze. Ghosts already? It's not even October yet! Then I noticed they were deer, several of them, who went springing off towards the back of the cemetery. I then walked towards the gate which was in the direction that the deer had went, and knew this would be the first essence. A crossroads essence at the old iron gate. I the ritual I do before laying out an essence and listened to see if the energies around were in agreement that it was ok for me to do so. (And being at the cemetery gate, it's an agreement that probably involves a great deal of energies.). I felt it was ok, so laid out the essence to be created. I then looked just beyond the gate where there was, what I call "the kin tree". This is a very old pine that used to be two pines, and one is just a stump now about 3 feet tall. In the middle of that stump grows a birch tree, that is certainly younger than the pine, but far beyond a sapling. Right at the union of the two trees, there was a red squirrel that looked at me and jump off the stump and scurried across the grass. I knew this was the second essence. I also knew that the animals were guiding me. After laying out this essence, I walked deeper into the cemetery. I was now in the older part of it, but not the oldest part. The oldest part has a bit of an unnerving vibe to it and I feel I have yet to connect with this part and whatever energy it is that stands guard over it. It's in the back right corner and isn't a place that I venture, but on look from a distance. Crows suddenly sprung about near the place I had seen the fungus commonly called Dead Man's Fingers. (I have a special relationship with crows that has been developing over the past year and a half and is something I don't quite understand yet. I think they are guiding me towards stepping into elder, but I can't be quite sure yet.) I knew that this would be the third essence. It is springing forth from an old grave from a soldier who fought in World War 2. It's quite an unnerving site when you come upon it. I approached, asked permission from both the fungus and the inhabitant of the grave and once it felt ok, I proceeded. I then noticed a bunch of turkeys just beyond the grand old birch tree in the photos above. I call this the "Child's Birch". The reason for this is that upon first meeting this tree, it showed me vision upon vision of children from all sorts of time periods. I knew this tree carried these memories and it is a soft and nurturing tree. It feels feminine, although not necessarily motherly, more like a great aunt, but one can never quite tell because I don't think trees care much about those things. I also know that this tree carries this energy because I had taken my son and stepson to visit and talk with the trees in the cemetery the previous summer and both of them also got visions or feelings related to children (and I hadn't yet told them mine). I do not question these types of things, and I certainly don't question when they connect in such a way across numerous people's experiences. So I made the essence after I was granted permission...which from this tree felt very gentle like "of course you can, I was hoping you would ask."

The essences sat for a few hours and I went back to collect them. I fixed them with brandy and bottled them up. After a short time, I decided to work with them. And holy cow are they potent and powerful. The Crossroad Gate essence stirred highly disturbing and cathartic dreams. I often use essences at night before bed with intentional dreaming and find this way works very well for me. The Kin Tree Essence was next and that too brought intense dreams, although. not disturbing. These were powerful dreams in which I could see certain connections around people in my life and just how these connections might fit into the grander spectrum of things. Of course, I "forgot" most of it by the next day, but the essence still lingers. The most fascinating one was the Child Tree essence. I used it and shortly after laying down going to bed, I found that I was immediately thinking of past experiences in my history that put me right back in time in moments of miscarriages and an abortion that I had chosen when I was quite young. I suddenly was overcome with this these disturbing emotions that were somewhere between fear, shame, guilt, and acceptance. I had not expected this and it threw me for a loop. I wept just a little bit and then tried to shake them off because it just didn't feel like a. place I wanted to go. Well, as dreams would have it, this is exactly the places it took me. I realized that even though I had thought I had processed this, there were still pieces remaining. I am unsure of what those might be mentally, but I know that the essence will continue to guide me. I have not used it again.

And I have not yet explored the Dead Man's Fingers essence yet. That one makes me a bit nervous, although I know that there will be a time that it does call to me.

I am only called to make essences ever so often, and when I do there are bigger reasons that I can fathom and they always bring exactly what is needed.

Forget the Pumpkin Spice, Bring on the Chai

I am not a fan of the pumpkin spice stuff. It just doesn't taste good to me. AND I LOVE....absolutely LOVE Chai! I brew it almost daily beginning in October through the whole winter...which in Maine can sometimes go until April. It brings the warmth that is needed to nourish the body and keep things circulating and flowing, if congestion sets in as it can do in the winter it helps to break that up, it keeps our digestive fires brewing as they should be doing, and well, it just tastes darn delicious.

I really don't follow a recipe for chai. I have been making it for so long that it is usually a pinch of that and a dash of this and a sprinkle of this thing right here, toss in some black tea, simmer a bit, add in milk and a sweetener and drink to my heart's content (which is usually about a mug and a half, because my kiddos love chai too and it is a moment in our day when we all come together. I also love hearing them hollering up the stairs "Mom made chai!" "The Chai is ready! Come and get it!")

Here's a little bit of guidance to go on for those that may be less familiar with making this wonderful beverage.

4 cups of water in a pot
1 teaspoon of cinnamon bark chips
1 teaspoon of ginger root
1/2 teaspoon of cardamon seeds
1/4 teaspoon of black or white pepper
1/8 teaspoon (or less) of cloves
black loose tea (Assam, orange pekoe, darjeeling, etc.) sugar or honey

milk or other non-dairy creamer

Add water to pot on stove. Add all herbs and tea.

Bring to a boil. Lower and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add sweetener (if using). Add milk.
Strain and Serve.

Quick Chai

For a quicker brew chai tea, use powdered herbs in about 1/2 of the amounts listed above. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Sweeten. Add milk.
Strain & Serve.

Optional Additions
anise, star anise, cayenne, vanilla bean pieces

Alchemy for The People YouTube Show

I have really been enjoying my new bi-weekly show on the FCP02 YouTube channel where I talk about a topic of importance and then highlight an herb at each episode. I invite you to attend these live events, where you can ask questions........and for those that cannot attend live, the events are all recorded and available to view when it works for you. You can view all events on this new page that I have created on my website. Each past event is linked to its episode and the new events will be linked as they are set up.

November and December's show subjects are shown below.

The next show is on Tuesday, November 7 at 4:30pm EST and is on the subject "Lyme & Co Demystified". You can catch the live here.

I encourage anyone with specific questions they would like answered, to email them to me beforehand and I will do my best to include them.

Program Beginning It's 3rd Year Soon!

As many of you know, I run a program with my dear friend and wise woman Kelly Keyser-Millar of Mortar & Pestle Herbal called 2 Uncommon Witches. We used to call it a mentorship program. Now in our third year of running it, we have realized that it is far more. This is a healing program (but we didn't want to call it that because it sounds rather cliche' and we are unique dammit! ). And it really is that. It is a program where participants are supported by both Kelly and I in an intimate relationship where they bring whatever needs they have to the table. We meet them where they are at. We then offer our experiences and tools and wisdom (we each have 25 years in this field....so thats a heck of a lot of wisdom!) to help them move to where they would like to be. As anyone knows, healing is hard, messy, and not always fun....and it helps to have incredible, passionate support along the way. This is what Kelly and I provide through our program. And in this scenario 2 heads and hearts are so much more supportive than one.

We will begin taking applications on November 13 for the first session of our third year, which begins in February. If you would like to learn more please visit our website and put in an application on November 13.

Space is limited.

Now booking sessions for the end of November and the month of December.

Please visit my booking ap or reach out to me via email to sagemoonalchemy@gmail.com to schedule.

Additionally, I have 3 Flower Essence Partnership spaces currently open. If you are interested, please connect with me to reserve your space.

Quick Link Reference

For educational and entertainment purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not replace information or advice from your health care professionals.