Wicked Review

On the 6th, Nick and I went to see the touring performance of Wicked. The show was amazing. I have never seen a performance as magnificent as that before, it was truly wonderful. The actors were great (the woman who played Elphaba joined the touring cast straight from broadway), the costumes were amazing, and the story was beautiful.

As far as stories about witches go, this one was pretty good. The main theme of it was whether people are born wicked, or become wicked. Witchcraft itself was never portrayed negatively. Elphaba's spells turned out different from what she intended sometimes, and she sometimes could not control her powers. The former is particularly true when it comes to real witchcraft. It's so important to really think a spell through, as I'm sure most of you know, or things could turn out differently from what you wanted.

Overall, I will give this play an extremely positive review. It was truly amazing. I would strongly recommend it to witches, musical theatre lovers, and anyone else, really.

Blessed Be,
Eirwen

Shameless Promotion.

I just wanted to take a moment to plug my other blog here, I don't think I have before. My other blog is called Bonbon de Sucre, it's a Gothic Lolita and historical fashion blog. I don't know if you know what Gothic Lolita is, but to briefly describe it; Gothic Lolita is a style of fashion that originated in japan. The idea is to dress sort of doll-like, a younger, innocent sort of look. It is heavily influenced by Rococo and Victorian fashion (which I also love). Think Alice in Wonderland meets Marie Antoinette meets Fairy tales. Here are a couple of pics:

 

These are some examples of Sweet, Gothic, and Classic Lolita, three of the main styles. Although Gothic Lolita shares a name with Vladimir Nabikov's novel, Lolita, they are not related. They way I understand it, the name Lolita was adopted by the Japanese when gothic Lolita first started, refering to a precocious young girl. It is not fetish, or meant to attract older men. It is simply a fashion style, for girls (and sometimes guys) who love the romantic, fairy tale look. 

I also talk about historical fashion on my blog, as well as costuming (I'm going to post about the costumes from Wicked next), as well as crafts. I do lots of craft projects, and I usually post them there. The latest one I did was Victorian Silhouttes. 

Check it out if you are interested in interesting fashions, or old-fashioned crafts. Thanks for bearing with me and my shameless promotion!

-Eirwen

Wicked!

I'm going to see the musical Wicked this weekend, with my wonderful boyfriend, Nick. I am really looking forward to it. I got the tickets for Christmas from Nick's parents. My parents even pitched in to the evening by getting us a fancy hotel room!

I'm going to post a review after I get back. I'm always interested in how witches are portrayed in pop culture and the media, so this will be fun.

I'm not one of those people who gets all up in arms about movies like The Craft (which is actually one of my favorite movies), or shows like Charmed (a guilty pleasure of mine). I don't get easily offended by that type of thing. I do get offended if something talks about "evil wiccans" or portrays real life witches in a negative light, e.g. on the Mentalist. There was an episode of that show where a "wiccan" priestess performed a so called "killing spell" on the victim. Wiccans were portrayed as flaky weirdos who were practicing witchcraft for attention or to rebel against something. That I did not like.

So, my review of Wicked is coming soon!

Blessed Be,
Eirwen

Blessed Imbolg/Camdlemas/Brigid's Day!!!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a very blessed Imbolg. I just wanted to drop a line to wish everyone well, and share some Imbolg info.

Imbolg or Candlemas is also called Brigid's Day by many people, in honor of the Celtic Goddess/ Catholic Saint. She is the matron of fire, smith-craft, healing, and poetry. She is also associated with childbirth. She is called Bride by some, and rules engagements, marriages, and handfastings.
You can honor her with prayer, offerings of white flowers, or making Brigid's crosses. You can make one by taking two equal length twigs, pieces of wood, or even Popsicle sticks, and forming an equal armed cross. Glue them together, and tie silver and white ribbons all around the middle.
The Domestic Witch has some interesting info about Imbolg on her blog. Her post cheered me up when I read something she said about weather:

"An old British rhyme tells us that “if Candlemas Day be bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year”. Actually, all of the cross-quarter days can be used as inverse weather predictors, whereas the quarter days are used as direct weather predictors."

It's grey and rainy today, with snow still all over the ground from this weekend. Snow is beautiful of course, and I honor, respect, and love all of the seasons, but I don't always *like* winter. I'll tell you, I'm a spring and summer gal, and I am looking forward to warm weather, hiking, drinking sweet tea, making my own sundresses, and blossoming plants. Ah, it sounds so good already...

But I digress. So check out The Domestic Witch. It's a really great blog, she has some great ideas.

Also, if you are interested, check out my other blog, Bonbon de Sucre. It is my blog for fashion and crafting. I am into Gothic and Lolita fashion, historical fashion, haute couture, Hime Gyaru fashion, Mori/Natural-kei, Fairy-kei, and whatever other fashion stuff I like(my tastes are obviously very ecclectic). I stopped Bonbon for a while, and have recently started it back up, with a sort of new mission.
I don't know if any of you will be interested in this, but I am also going to talk about crafting, as well as posting tutorials, for things like sewing, embroidery, crocheting, jewelry making, and Victorian/other historical crafts. So for all of you crafty witches, you might want to check it out.

Well I'm off for now. I'm going to go light one candle for each thing I want to manifest in the coming year, and meditate on it for a while.

I hope you have a very Happy Imbolg, and Blessed Be!
-Eirwen

A Good Cuppa Tea

I love tea. It can help you wake up in the morning or relax and fall asleep at night. Herbal teas can help with all kinds of things, medicinal and magical. Afternoon tea can be a great way to relax, socialize with friends, or just serve as an afternoon pick-me-up.
Afternoon tea started because the Duchess of Bedford, who was one of Queen Victoria's handmaidens, liked to have tea and finger food in the afternoon. This caught on, and soon afternoon tea became a traditional British custom. I am enchanted with the idea of afternoon tea. I wish that here in the US it would catch on, and afternoon tea would become a regular activity. I settle for taking tea whenever I can.
Here in the south, tea is a very different experience than British afternoon tea. We drink orange pekoe, ice cold, and very sweet. Sweet tea is delicious. It makes me think of home and summer, and lazy country days.
Herbal teas are great for lots of things. They can help fight colds, stomach aches, and many other health problems. They can also be used as a type of kitchen witch's potion. Teas for love, psychic awareness, protection, and health can all be made and used easily.
Below are recipes for British milk tea, southern sweet tea, as well as a few herbal tea recipes and their uses. I will also list some store bought teas that I like.

British Milk Tea:

First, you need a teapot, some milk (not cream), and a good black tea (loose or in bags).

I like Twinings Lady Gray tea. It's a black tea with a hint of bergamot, orange, and lemon. Traditional Earl Gray is also good, which is black tea with bergamot. English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast teas are also good for this.

Heat the water until completely boiling. If you are using a kettle, you will know when the kettle starts to whistle. Pour the water into the teapot right away, over the tea. Let it steep for a minute or so, and then add a bit of milk directly into the teapot, until it is a creamy tan color. Be careful not to add too much milk, or you will dilute the tea too much. Serve hot, with sugar as desired.

Southern Sweet Tea

You will need three or four family sized tea bags (Luzianne, Lipton, or whatever brand you like), a pinch of baking soda, and about 2 cups of sugar. You can use more or less sugar, depending on how sweet you want it.

Boil about four cups of water. When it is steaming hot, pour it into a gallon pitcher and add the tea bags. Add a small pinch of baking soda (this takes out some of the bitterness). Let it steep for about 15 minutes. Take out the tea bags. Add the sugar, and stir it in completely. The water should still be warm enough for it to kind of melt. Fill the rest of the pitcher with cold water. Put it in the refrigerator and cool. Serve cold, over ice. Add some lemon wedges, or sprigs of mint if you like.

Herbal Tea

There are so many kinds of herbal tea. You can serve them hot or cold, sweet or unsweet. I'm going to list some herbs that are good in teas, and their purposes:


Rose (Rose petals with black or green tea are a good aphrodisiac)
Damiana (also an aphrodisiac)
Ginger (for love)
Licorice (love)
Chamomile (sleep/meditation)
Peppermint (sleep/healing/purification)
Blackberry (healing)
Echinacia (strengthening spells)

There are many others that I don't have the time or space to list.

Some good medicinal herbal teas are:

Echinacia (colds/flu/coughs)
Chamomile (insomnia)
Peppermint (stomachaches)
Ginger (stomachaches)


I found this recipes while I was googling, and I wanted to share it, it sounds really yummy:

Lemon Balm tea for Midsummer/Litha ( http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lithacooking/r/LemonBalmTea.htm )

2 Cups lemon balm leaves, fresh
Honey or other sweetener
Water

Preparation:

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil, and add the leaves. Reduce heat and allow to steep for about 15 minutes. Strain leaves out, and then add honey or other sweetener to taste. If the tea is too strong, add a bit of water to thin it out. Pour into an ice-filled pitcher and serve. You may want to add a sprig of mint for garnish.

Some Teas I like:

Herbal:

Sleepytime (Celestial Seasonings)
Chamomile (any brand)
Peppermint (any brand)
Moroccan Mint (Numi Tea)

Green:

Jasmine Green (Numi Tea)
Gunpowder Green (Numi Tea)
Decaf Honey Chamomile (Celestial Seasonings)

Black:

Earl Gray (Twinings)
Lady Gray (Twinings)
English Breakfast (Twinings)
Irish Breakfast (Twinings)
Chai Spice (any brand)

Red:

Luminous Lemon Rooibos (Zhena's Gypsy Tea)


White:

Pure White (Twinings)


One last note:

Black, Green, White, and Red tea are all very good (at least I like them all.) Green tea in particular is very healthy, and full of anti-oxidants. Tea can be good for your health and well-being, as well as being a tasty treat. Try drinking a cup of tea before or after meditation, ritual, or spellwork.

Blessed Be,
Eirwen

Sources:

http://www.spiritualworld.co.za/herbs/magicalusesofherbs.htm
http://www.erasofelegance.com/etiquette/tea.html
http://lolita-charm.blogspot.com/2008/08/art-of-western-tea-ceremony.html
http://www.grits.com/tea.htm
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lithacooking/r/LemonBalmTea.htm
http://www.celestialseasonings.com/
http://www.twiningsusa.com/
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/numitea/home.d2w/report
http://www.gypsytea.com/

Quick Update: Pound for Pound Challenge

This is a really cool thing, and it's unrelated, but I really want to post it here. It's called the Pound for Pound Challenge. For every pound you pledge to loose, they donate 14 cents (enough to buy a pound of food) to Feeding America, a hunger awareness charity that donates food to your local food bank. I pledged to loose 50 pounds (which will put me at 186, which is still a lot). So, check it out if you are interested!



I really want to be healthier. The whole body, mind, spirit connection is so important, and I know that if I loose some weight I'll feel better.

Once In a Blue Moon...

Hello everyone, and Blessed Be! So, I haven't posted in months, I realize that. I just finished my last semester at community college, and I have my Associate in Arts degree! Yay! So, I was really busy finishing up my last semester, and I got distracted away from my blog, but I really want to get back to it. So, I thought tonight would be a good night to post something. It's a Blue Moon tonight, the second full moon in a month. It's interesting that it falls on not only the eve of a new year, but the eve of a new decade.
I'm not doing any ritual work tonight, just spending time with loved ones. This could be a good night for ritual work though. Be careful however, because Mercury is in retrograde right now. So if you do any spellwork in the next few weeks, make sure that your intent is very clear, so that nothing gets all confused. Mercury rules communication and travel, so clarity and safety are important right now.
Recently, I bought a copy of the Tao Te Ching, and I am very interested in it. I've decided to start studying it. The book is split into numbered passages, which are very short. Each week, until I'm finished, I'm going to read, study, and meditate on one passage from the Tao Te Ching. My intent is to learn from it, and hopefully understand how to apply some Taoist wisdom to my path of Hedgecraft and Natural/Kitchen/Green Witchery.
I will try to post every week about my ideas and meditations, and if anyone wants to read and study along with me, that would be great! If you are interested in doing an online Tao Te Ching for pagans/witches study group, please contact me at eirwenmoon@yahoo.com

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Blessed Be,
Eirwen