A Very Useful Herb

On my altar right next to the re-rooting rosemary sprig is a bottle of rosemary oil.  It is very likely the most used magickal item in our house.  I use it to anoint my family for protection, I rub it on my husbands temples for clarity of thought while studying and I use it to anoint my own forehead for purification before ritual and divination.  Some days, everyone in the household smells of rosemary.

Additionally, I also use dried rosemary leaves blended in an incense for divination and in spell work. Magickaly, rosemary is touted as being the herb that can be used in place of any other herb, but I have yet to put that to the test.  I prefer to substitute a similar herb when I must.  However, the magickal properties of rosemary are diverse, from protection to clarity of thought to love and even to purification.  Scott Cunningham even suggests burning rosemary to promote healing, which is where things get really interesting.

Burning rosemary, especially when combined with juniper, is effective at killing germs and preventing infections.  Before modern antiseptics, this combination was often burned in hospitals to keep illness from passing between patients.  Magickal and medicinal in one!

Just today, I smudged my home with rosemary grown by my oldest daughter.  We've been fighting a nasty cold for over a week now and everytime I think we've kicked it, things take a turn for the worse.  I knew I needed to do something to stop the cycle, but it is just too chilly to open the house up for a good airing.  So, I smudged and in smudging I tapped into both the magicakal and the medicinal uses of rosemary I don't have any juniper right now.

After lighting my charcoal disk and getting a nice billowy smoke from my dried roseamary, Miss Busy and I walked through the house with the smoking bowl.  As we made our small tour, we chanted,  "Smoke of rosemary, billow and blow.  Smoke of rosemary, germs must go."   Simple magick, but magick that I know works.

From a purely medical standpoint, our steadfast belief in rosemary as a helper in clear thought and concentration is a proven truth.  Rosemary stimulates circulation to the brain and gives us sharper memory and cognition. Because of this stimulation, it is also effective for relieving headaches associated wth stress and will minimize the symptoms of a cold.  For medicinal purposes, rosemary is best ingested raw, but if you can't stomach chewing on a rosemary leaf try a cup of rosemary tea or adding a sprig or two to a pot of soup.

Rosemay is additionally used to treat a vast array of women's issues, heart problems, and sluggish digestion.  It also tastes delicious in a homemade vegetable soup, chopped and sprinkled on top of homemade bread before popping it in the oven, or included in a chi tea blend.  Oh, and oven roasted chicken and potatoes with a sprinkling of fresh rosemary...delicious!

While I realize there is a lot more that I could say about this herb, I will just leave you with a suggestion to keep a few sprigs or a plant on hand for all purposes magickal, medicinal, and culinary. I have in no way exhausted the use of rosemary in this post, so do a bit of reading and find the uses that best suit your individual needs.

Chocolate Mishap

Yesterday, I got it into my head that I was going to make some lotion.  I didn't have any coco butter, so Miss Busy and I dashed into our local health food store to grab some.  Somewhere between greeting the friendly owner, browsing the used book table, and picking up the yeast I had forgotten last week, I grabbed what I needed.  Or at least what I thought I did.  It wasn't until I opened the container to grate some into my already hot oils that I realized I had purchased cocoa butter instead.  As if  I could have missed the smell once I opened it.  Feeling like I was at the point of no return already, I added a tablespoon to my oil mixture hoping that the infused rosemary could cover the aroma of chocolate flavored Lip Smackers. 

No such luck.

My resulting lotion is beautiful, creamy, and absorbs well.  I would be completely happy with it, if it didn't stink.  I am not a big chocolate person to start with and choco/rosemary does absolutely nothing for me except make me grimace every time I open the jar.  Yes, we will be using up this batch of lotion.  I can't stand waste, but I am done with the cocoa butter.  Maybe I'll try it with orange or raspberry in a lip gloss for the maidens.