Gargoyle...

I was at one of those $2 bargain basement type shops looking for candles when i met him. Now Im not usually your garden ornament type o gal but this particular gargoyle caught my eye, he has such a nice face, despite the fangs and protruding tongue. So for six bucks I bought him home. Im tempted to have him inside cos he's so cool but his energy is definitely garden orientated, so for now he's under a lilly pilly tree amidst the straplike leaves of grasses.

Gargoyles are traditionally functionality merged with imagination. When we see them on church rofftops they generally have a hollow inside that channels water away from the mortar of the stonework hence preventing its erosion over time. Usually the water comes out of the creatures  mouth but I did see one gargoyle who was mooning the world and the water came out his arse.

It has been said they were used to scare common folk into church showing that such beings couldnt get inside churches but I have a feeling that pagan stonemasons were having fun with it whatever their officially stated purpose. Their creatures hark back to gods and godesses of old such as the sheela ne gig figures, the depiction of a woman with an exaggerated vulva perhaps a fertility goddess or simply a lustfull hag.

Spring altar...

The night before last was the new moon, the perfect time to plant seeds and reassess what you are wanting to create in your life as the moon waxes towards full once more. I used a piece of the hand made paper my granma Alice left me, to write a list on. She made paper from nigh on every kind of plant material she could get her hands on, this was a piece embedded with petals and was lovely to use. I had wanted to use an atmospheric feather quill to write it, and so tried to make one from an eagles feather, but it made my writing splattery rather than calligraphic, so in the end I simply dipped a wooden shish kebab stick into the ink and wrote, which worked.

I set up a spring altar and have been picking fresh flowers for it, as I try to connect with the spirit of Brigid, as the spring maiden. After the strong connection I felt to Cailleach Bhur, the croney winter goddess,  Ive found it hard to let her go and connect to more of a youthfull maiden energy. I love the growth in the garden, its busting its seams and Ive been harvesting greens almost daily, but I have been feeling disconnected from the maiden at this time said to belong to her...

Some say Cailleach and Brigid fight it out at winters end, or that Cailleach either turns to stone, or morphs form becoming Brigid. Im sticking to the latter theory, but the years wheel turns either way. In a journey i was shown the aspects of enthusiasm, innovation and passion of the maiden, she creates the forms and focus for her time. The outward manifestations of a muse Brigid is sometimes depicted with a crown of inspirational flame emerging from her head.

Maybe Ive just been doing too much crochet and missing Alice.... 

Snake visitations continue...

This mama was easily 3 metres long, seriously big. The neighbours called the local snake expert. He said just to leave her be, that she'll not only keep down rats n mice, but brown snakes aswell, which are far more aggressive and gnarly. So i looked her up in my snakey book and diamond pythons mostly live in trees, sometimes crossing the ground between. Its breeding season for these babies and this one could lay some 40 eggs to hatch. Looks like nomadcat and I will just have to get used to diamond pythons being around! They are definitely shy and avoid humans where possible. Except when in ones bedroom!! Reckon I'll be closing the doors at night from now on....

Im pretty sure these guys are living in the jungle that exists between our shed and the neighbours garage, its undisturbed territory and shall remain so.

They truley are amazing creatures, mesmerising motion and markings. Australia is known by some Tribal Elders as 'Snake island' in reference to the Rainbow serpent of Dreamtime creation stories. Because it sheds its skin the snake has long been a symbol of death and rebirth. Symbolised also by the ouroborus, an ancient image of a snake swallowing its own tail and in the double snakes on a sword used by medicine as a symbol for healing. Transfiguration and the shedding of the old for healing and to make space for the new are snakes calling card. Perfect for spring time cleaning out of cobwebs, refocusing intention on new tangents and recreating old projects in new ways....

Mr Toad....

This morning when I got up i was greeted by this fine gentleman, who'd hopped into  a bucket and couldnt un-hop out. He is a 'cane toad' ( Bufo marinus) so named because he was introduced into Queensland to get rid of the 'cane beetle'. The thing is hes quite the tadpole breeder, can live in any habitat ranging from suburbia to sand dunes, is highly venomous with few predators and lives for about twenty years, hence the cure has done more damage than the symptom. That'll teach us to mess with nature, again. 

The word amphibian comes from two word "amphi" meaning double and "bios" life. Amphibians divide their lives between land and water, beginning as tadpoles and then usually spending the second half of their lives more on land, a characteristic that reflects an ability to metamorphosise and shapeshift.

Toads have featured strongly in fairytales, mythology and are well known as a potential witches familiar. With their warty exteriors they speak of beauty beyond the surface, buried treasure even, and all it takes is a kiss. Yes i did think about it, for half a second, until i realised itd probably just result in a reeeaaally bad trip.

Many would say i should have squished Mr Toad, and I acknowledge that cane toads have devastating effects on places like Kakadu national park, but when it comes down to it, who's the most devastating creature of all?

The one holding the camera.....

candle gazing...

Snake blessing....

Last night I decided enough was enough, its time to give my altars (in our bedroom) a good cleaning and sorting. Ive been neglectfull of my practices. I swept, burned incense and wrapped items for other times of the year and sorted them into a stash of wooden boxes. It was exciting, kind of like opening a present in reverse as I imagined rediscovering things at a later date.

The first odd thing that happened was that my Druids Plant Oracle deck (which Im on my l plates with) somehow leapt out of a set of drawers, and every last card was on the ground spread nicely about. Perhaps my cat somehow pulled it off. She has been a little odd today, I told myself, meditating cautiously on a mouse (or so I thought) under the bed. But saw it as a push along to get to know the deck either way.

So merrily I kept packing. Then went into the kitchen to give my cauldron a bath. When I came back there gliding across my spring altar was a python. Amazing creature, just a baby with fresh skin but still a good metre n a bit long! Ive been here 3 months or so and never seen her before. She moved slowly exploring crevices, and gliding between statues and stones.

I gotta tell you she gave me a fright at first, but its highly likely it was a two way street. There was no aggression and once Id worked out she was not a venomous snake, and got over my fear, to watch the way she moved was awesome. Literally climbing up brick walls with the muscles in her underbelly. No wonder they are sacred to so many cultures, she was mesmerising especially in candlelight.

So Nomadcat and I slept in the study with the door shut to let her find her way outside in peace. She was trying to get out the window but the security grill was stopping her. This morning she seems to have left the building, but what a generous blessing of our refreshed altars!

growing herbs, magical....

Ive got a bit more serious about wanting to grow herbs. My usual technique has been to sprinkle numerous seeds into potting mix (fancy) in a pot or directly into the ground, add water and wait. Ive had some success but buying specially selected seeds does make one rather protective.My volunteering stint at the herb nursery gave me some insight into how they grow them from seed with funky results. They use a special 'seedling raising' mix, that is finer and lighter, and generally plant one seed in each tubestock type pot.,which then stay 'protected' in a greenhouse till they sprout and get a bit bigger. Then they are repotted into a bigger pot with a bulkier soil containing slow release fertilisers ( like osmocote) and are gradually 'hardened off' , which translates to getting them tough enough for the big wide world by gradual exposure to natural light and conditions.

Herbs are trixier than vegies, often the seeds are smaller and they may need extra treatments to break their dormancy, which is an added challenge. My usual techniques have had low gernination results so Ive bought a commercial seed raising mix, and am recycling trays and pots that Ive bought babies in, with just one or two seeds per cell, or pot. Ive discovered with my Henbane, Belladonna and Echinacea augustifolia that they naturally sprout after snowmelt, and the best way I can duplicate this by popping em in the fridge for a spell. A wise gardener recommended putting them in a jar of water, changing the water daily and doing it for two weeks. Guess what? IVE GOT 2 SPROUTLETS OF HENBANE!! They are meant to be tougher than some but still its tres excitement for this experimenter.You can bet baby photos will follow...


The other adjustment I made is to stop using a watering can and shift down a gear to a mister bottle which doesnt disturb wee developing rootsystems,but is enough to keep them moist. 'Dampening off' can happen when they are too wet, interfering with germination and it seems so far that a gentle misting helps filter out this problem too. Although Im yet to have success with tiny seeds like Pennyroyal or those precious Lobelia inflata seeds, my adaptations may give me some confidence to try again. Motherhood is a steep learning curve.....

Animal medicine...

"When the kunkis (tame elephants) are sick, the mahouts take them to the forest where the elephants pick the herbs or plants they need. Somehow they're able to prescribe their own medicine."
                      Dinesh Choudhury, Indian elephant hunter 2000

"The secrets of Nature are known to all wild creatures and on these they thrive."
                       Juliette de baricli Levy

Since ancient times, we have learned about potential plant medicines by observing wild animals. In records through to the modern day we watch and wonder as Juliette did.

"When i see my Afghan hounds in my gardens, or in the fields, or along the river-sides or sea-shores of the many lands where we have been together, I am always amazed at the way they have selected medicinal plants, shrubs and tress, and know where to find them an dhow to use them. By use. i mean the amount eaten to serve its purpose. Mostly their uses is as a laxative or to promote vomiting, and they know exactly how much to achieve one or the other effect."
                                             
I have watched my cat choose one type of grass over the other, tending towards soft weedy grasses rather than the drier native grasses, eating them and then vomiting. Whether because she has a funny belly or a stubborn furball Im unsure, but it is definitely a concious action to me.One related to her not feeling well or more importantly trying to heal better.

Scientists have previously thought such observations romanticised, however as sciences rigidity of old is being blown apart by discoveries and work in the field, 'zoopharmacognosy' is now a recognised area of research into the behavioural practices of animals to stay healthy. Also including the eating of soil to gain minerals missing in the diet, old bones to gain calcium and clay to counter, and bind, dietry toxins by animals.

When preparing their nests, male European starlings weave fresh green herbs in amongst them. In north America they preferentially choose wild carrot ( Daucus carota), yarrow (Achillea millefolia), elm-leaved and rough goldenrod (Soldaigo sp.) and fleabane ( Erigeron sp.) even when they are not the most common plants close by. Hows that for specific! Interestingly enough old herbals refer to wild carrot as 'bird's nest root' which suggests this plant has been used in nesting for some time. The common denominator with these plants is they smell, are aromatic. When researchers removed the fresh plants from nests, the amount of mites in the chicks rose. More specifically, chicks in nests containing wild carrot had higher haemoglobin levels, suggesting they were losing less to mites. Not only that but the plants chosen are effective against Streptococcus and Staphylococcus bacteria. Some serious fumigation going down there. In addition to this the plants starlings choose are commonly used by herbalists for skin problems such as excma, ulcers and sores. Thus they may also help with the symptoms of parasitic infestation.


So it seems the animals were simply ahead of the research.....