Herbs from the TAL garden. Used to make bath teas, incense, oil extractions, and hydrosols.
A Poem for Memorial Day 2011:
“So I Was a Coffin” by Gerardo Mena
—For Corporal Kyle Powell, died in my arms, 04 November 2006
They said you are a spear. So I was a spear.
I walked around Iraq upright and tall, but the wind blew and I began to lean.
I leaned into a man, who leaned into a child, who leaned into a city. I walked
back to them and neatly presented a city of bodies packaged in rows.
They said no. You are a bad spear.
They said you are a flag. So I was a flag.
I climbed to the highest building, in the city that had no bodies, and I smiled
and waved as hard as I could. I waved too hard and I caught fire and I burned
down the city, but it had no bodies. They said no. You are a bad flag.
They said you are a bandage. So I was a bandage.
I jumped on Kyle’s chest and wrapped my lace arms together around his torso and
pressed my head to his ribcage and listened to his heartbeat. Then I was full, so
I let go and wrung myself out.
And I jumped on Kyle’s chest and wrapped my lace arms together around his torso
and pressed my head to his ribcage and listened to his heartbeat. Then I was full, so
I let go and wrung myself out.
And I jumped on Kyle’s chest and wrapped my lace arms together around his torso
and pressed my head to his ribcage but there was no heartbeat. They said no. You
are a bad bandage.
They said you are a coffin. So I was.
I found a man. They said he died bravely, or he will. I encompassed him
in my finished wood, and I shut my lid around us. As they lowered us
into the ground he made no sound because he had no eyes
and could not cry. As I buried us in dirt we held our breaths together
and they said, yes. You are a good coffin.
Link via Rude Pundit.
Vis consili expers
Mole ruit sua.
Strength without wisdom falls by its own weight.
Mother inexhaustible and incorruptible, creatures, born the first, engendered by thyself and by thyself conceived, issue of thyself alone and seeking joy within thyself, Astarte! Oh! Perpetually fertilized, virgin and nurse of all that is, chaste and lascivious, pure and revelling, ineffable, nocturnal, sweet, breather of fire, foam of the sea! Thou who accordest grace in secret, thou who unitest, thou who lovest, thou who seizest with furious desire the multiplied races of savage beasts and couplest the sexes in the wood. Oh, irresistible Astarte! hear me, take me, possess me, oh, Moon! and thirteen times each year draw from my womb the sweet libation of my blood!
Greetings, daughter of Zeus
Who holds the aegis,
Now, and in another song,
I will remember you.
Hail Isis, glorious Goddess,
Day is done
and the night is come,
the sun is set
and the stars emerge.
This is the Evening Rite,
the rite to end
the day of light.
Let your instrument sound
hailing You with all homage,
Isis, glorious Goddess.
To the candlewick the fire I raise on the altar set to You,
Isis, glorious Goddess,
And the nightime incense rises, sweetly mixed,
to put me in the mind of perceiving You,
Isis, glorious Goddess
Who rises behind me like a flame of gold
and brushes my back with deft wings.
I make open the nape of my neck to You.
Let Your portal welcome You,
O Isis, Great and glorious Goddess.
Up my hands rise and hold the curved bow of exaltation,
And rise once more to the sharp angle of invocation.
Come, oh great and glorious Goddess,
Come in the fullness of force and love,
let Your garment for a moment clothe You,
O Isis, Goddess great and glorious.
BENEVOLENT TRIPLE CONJUNCTION
May 11th, 2011 saw the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury in the 24th degree of Aries. Both the Greater and Lesser Benefics joined forces with the Winge’d Messenger in a helpful conspiracy to renew our faith in ourselves and each other. Our experience of this alignment was filtered through a pragmatic moon in Virgo, making it all the more possible to intuitively know what must be done if we are to bring about necessary positive change.
A celestial weather pattern like this is – if consciously directed – uniquely supportive of growth beyond those conditions in our lives that have become outmoded and stale. It was a singular moment in time during which Mercury guided the very same conversations held months ago so that they might yield far superior results, now. (So much for the definition of insanity.) Through Aries, we felt the amplified primal impulse to take decisive and effective action. It was a galvanizing current in which Venus propelled relationships forward and buoyed our tired spirits. Jupiter’s expansive energy cleared a path for new momentum in our career endeavors. But, it was all pure potential. The choices and actions were left to each of us. The same as it is with electricity, in the absence of a lamp there is no light. Without human participation, even a great moment like this can pass entirely unheeded.
We have the wisdom and good fortune to familiarize ourselves with planetary cycles in order to skillfully navigate each transient energy as it arrives. We also have the means by which to hold onto that energy if we so choose, even after an alignment has passed. We thereby recapture what would otherwise have been a missed opportunity. Beth’s blend for the Benevolent Triple Conjunction is created with impeccable astrological precision on an immeasurably auspicious day. Just as one might hold an electrical charge in a battery, she has – quite literally – kept time in a bottle.
— Forest Cobalt
This liquid talisman was created on May 11, 2011 during the conjunction of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in Aries. The oil unites the energies of the two Benefics with Mercury, resulting in an oil of movement, adaptability, expansion, optimism, creativity, confidence, attraction, and inspiration. It holds the qualities of positive fearlessness, expansive courage, and helps to bolster the spirit so barriers that we have erected for ourselves in the past can finally be overcome.
Through this liquid talisman, your possibilities are limitless, and reality is yours to create.
