Creating a Garden Sanctuary

A personal outdoor sanctuary is an important part of feeling connected to all of life.
Each of us has been blessed with an innate need to celebrate and glorify life. At a most basic level, we honor the forces that came together to bring us into being by caring for our bodies and our souls. To truly rejoice in existence, we must also learn to cultivate loveliness in those special places that replenish the soul. When we create a garden sanctuary, we are reminded that we are a part of both nature’s essence and something more. An outdoor retreat is a place we can surround ourselves in nature, beauty, and the life force. It is not difficult to create a sanctuary–we should endeavor, however, to create sanctuaries that speak to us as individuals.

Whether we have a yard, a grassy corner, a patio, or a porch at our disposal, our creative potential is infinite. Any of these spaces can become a magnificent garden. When we feel drawn to specific themes such as Zen, angels, paradise, or the ethereal, we should explore them. Décor and furniture crafted from natural materials like wood and stone blend seamlessly into nature. Yet we can also augment the natural world by filling our garden sanctuaries with statues, bells or gongs, or colorful flags. Running water, like that in a created stream or fountain, helps energy flow smoothly. If space is a concern, crystals and mirrors can fulfill the same function. Hidden features like concealed swings and reflecting pools veiled in shadow can surprise and delight. As your garden sanctuary evolves, remember to invite the elemental spirits of nature to assist you in your efforts to create a small pocket of harmony, beauty, and peace in your own backyard. If you have not already felt their presence, sit quietly in your garden and reach out to them. You will feel these earthly guides at your side as you continue to develop your sanctuary.

In the refuge of brilliant color, sweet scents, and stillness you create in your garden, the burdens imposed upon you by a sometimes hectic world will melt away. The splendor and tranquility of what you have brought into being will entrance you, allowing you to forget the constraints of time and space. No matter how large or small your garden sanctuary, the time you spend reveling in its pleasures will refresh your spirit and provide you with innumerable opportunities to celebrate life.

Your First Herb Garden

If you live in an area that gets very hot during the summer months, cover herbs with a layer of mulch to keep them from drying out.

If you’re maintaining them in pots on your deck, opt for containers with their own water reservoirs (or use potting soil that contains water-retaining polymers).

Check the height details for your herbs and plant accordingly with taller herbs behind shorter ones.

Pay attention to the growth habit of your herbs too.

Creeping thyme will grow very differently from standard growth habit thyme, and that will have an impact on how it will act, and react, in the garden.

Your local nursery will stock cultivars that work well in your area.

They may not have all the herbs varieties you’ll find through mail orders or online suppliers, but chances are what you buy will work in your backyard.

Many herbs have standard, miniature, variegated, and creeping varieties. Some will also have cultivars that are more or less vulnerable to frost, heat and specific pests and diseases.

Knowing the planting zone you live in, as well as the spot you have in mind for your herb garden, will help you pick the best rosemary, lavender or sage for your needs if you do decide to buy from a national source.

Herbs like cilantro and dill grow quickly.

Start them early and keep pinching them back when you see flower buds.

Most herbs will stop putting the bulk of their energy into creating new leaves once they flower.

Leaves are typically what you want to cultivate, so delaying flowering is the goal here.

The fast growth spurt some herbs put on when the temps get hotter in summer is called bolting.

Plants shoot up quickly, start to flower, and begin to look scraggly.

Removing the buds and harvesting around a third of the plant will keep herbs viable longer.

HarvestingIt’s a good rule to wait until a plant is at least a few inches tall (this will vary from plant to plant) and a bit bushy before you start harvesting leaves.

Never take more than a quarter or a third of the plant at one time, and wait for at least that much to regrow before taking more.

Some herbs like chives, parsley and tarragon, taste much better fresh.

For these herbs, drying isn’t the best choice. When you’re ready to harvest the bulk of the plant in fall, check the best harvesting method (I have lots of specific info here), and freeze plants that don’t dry well.

You can wash and freeze herbs in freezer bags, or chop them into a bowl of water, stir, and freeze them into ice cubes.

The cubes can then be placed in freezer bags for single-serving portions you can add to soups or stews over the winter months.

Other herbs can come indoors to spend the winter on a sunny windowsill, overwinter in the garden, or produce seeds for next year’s crop and die off naturally (annuals).

There’s no point in growing an herb you don’t like using, but herbs are good for more than just cooking.

Lavender is a natural antibacterial, and it’s a muscle relaxer too.

Flower buds added to your bath can be more relaxing than soft music and candlelight.

Mint is great with lamb, but a soothing mint tea will also settle an upset stomach.

Learn a little about each herb you have in mind before you make your final choices.

That way you won’t miss out on a good candidate and have to wait until next year.

If you’re eyeing those adorable, tiny herb starts at the garden center (in their beguiling little pots), you don’t necessarily have to do a research marathon in order to get them installed successfully in your landscape.

Although there are some exceptions, herbs aren’t persnickety, and they’re pretty grateful for anything you can give them.

Those picturesque photos of herbs spilling out of old tires, discarded leather shoes and abandoned pottery shards aren’t far wrong.

Herbs can grow in spots where many other plants would take a look around, swoon and perish.

Five Helpful Tips for Growing Herbs in Your Backyard

These five tips will help you grow most of the common herb varieties you’re likely to fall in love with.

They’re basic but practical guidelines to get your herbs through the season without mishap.

Sun is important – Many herbs and a majority of garden plants need a reliable source of light for at least six hours a day.

Usually, that means direct outdoor sunlight, but if you want to grow herbs indoors, a windowsill herb garden is imminently doable if you can offer adequate window light or supplement with grow lights if you need to.

Perform this little test, either indoors or out: Wait till the sun is shining in the spot you have in mind, and then extend your arm. If you can’t clearly see your well-defined shadow (and all your fingers), the spot is probably too shady.

Give  them good drainage –

Plants need a healthy root system to survive.

Kill the roots, and you kill the plant.

One of the easiest ways to sabotage your growing efforts is to create a situation where water dwells around a plant’s roots long enough to destroy them.

When that happens, the plant has no way to absorb minerals and moisture and starves to death.

Take a look at your soil to see if it’s the right consistency to absorb moisture and then release it to the water table in short order.

If you can’t get a trowel into your soil or it’s so porous it feels mealy, add quality top soil (or outdoor potting soil) and soil amendments.

If you can’t afford to rework a whole flowerbed to make it drain better, just dig a large hole (around three or four times larger than the plant’s pot), and amend that smaller area.

It’s a cheat, but we all know this isn’t a perfect world.

To learn more about your soil, Give them enough water – Herbs are sturdy little fighters that often come from environs where resources are thin on the ground, literally.

One thing they do need consistently, though, is water.

This can be a challenge, but if you plant herbs in a spot you view (or walk by) often, you’re more likely to remember they’re there and give them a revitalizing drink on a regular basis.

Plants don’t eat dirt to get nutrients.

They rely on water to dissolve the minerals they need and then extract the minerals from the moisture around their roots.

The irony here is that too much moisture kills the roots of many plants while too little makes it impossible for them to access nourishment.

Plants will often warn you when they aren’t getting enough water.

They’ll droop, turn yellow or develop brown leaf margins.

Watch for clues and you won’t go wrong.

You can also employ a cheat, like planting water-hungry herbs near downspouts where they’re more likely to get water when they need it — whether you’re being a good host or not.

Watch the heat – In some areas of the country, the heat can be brutal during high summer, and keeping herbs in very hot, arid conditions is challenging.

If a plant’s instructions suggest full sun but you know that you could cook an egg on your patio during hot summer afternoons, choose a spot that gets dappled light — or some welcome afternoon shade.

It’s also a good idea to let seedlings grow to eight inches or thereabouts before you begin harvesting your first crop.

Plants are processing plants for the leaves, flowers or seeds you want from them, but they’re also living things.

When you put their needs first, you insure future bounty

Herb Gardening 

Herbs play well with other plants.

In fact, many of them (like rue, catnip, garlic and marigold) make good companion plants for pest control with vegetables and flowers.

(When you don’t want to use pesticides, companion planting can save you a lot of headaches.)

You may even have a lavender plant (at your garden gate, of course), or a rosemary bush as a privacy screen.

That’s all a little different from having a dedicated herb patch.

Herbs may not be the most beautiful plants around. In fact, some of them can get leggy (that’s a polite term for scraggly), and have unimpressive little flowers that look cheerful but hardly photo-worthy.

Still, there’s something magical about a dedicated herb garden.

 It’s a powerful feeling, knowing you can run out to a central spot in your garden (say next to the back door) and harvest everything you need for a nice soup, stew or salad in less time than it takes to heat a cup of tea in the microwave

.It’s also a pretty nice feeling come harvest time when you realize all that foliage is enough raw material to make herb wreaths, potpourris, herb blends, teas, remedies — and still have enough left over for next year’s seed.

Herbal Gardens smell wonderful, can help repel bugs when used as companion plants (think catnip, garlic, lavender, basil and marigold) and you can cook with them.

Most are also naturally hardy. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Prepare the plot well.

Herbs aren’t very fussy about fertilizer, but they need a plot that drains well. If you have clay soil, either lighten it to a depth of at least eight inches or install .

Raised bed supports or whole raised like the popular square foot gardens, are big these days.

Patio and deck pots work well too.

You can keep five culinary herbs in one large pot and get enough of a harvest to keep you in herbs over much of the winter.

Most herbs come with lots of valuable information about how to grow them successfully.

Where you plant can be important. If an herb needs full sun, that’s not negotiable.

Full sun means six hours or more of bright light a day.

Less, and the plant will never reach its full potential.A plant in the wrong spot will also be stressed — or more vulnerable to disease and insect attack.

If the directions call for keeping a plant in partial shade, that doesn’t mean full sun with a plant in front of the shade plant.

Dappled light is good, but you need to make sure that a shade-loving herb plant is protected from bright light during the hottest part of the day.

Reading and following the directions will give you the best opportunity to keep all your herbs alive and healthy

.A Child’s First Herb Garden

If you’re trying to get children interested in gardening, give them their own child-sized gardening tools.

Tiny gardening tools are becoming more available these days and keep the frustration level down.

Small hands need small implements.

Children love mint varieties like peppermint and spearmint, as well as other plants in the mint family like lemon balm and catnip.

Other favorites are apple mint, chocolate mint and orange mint.

Mints are very hardy, so they can take quite a bit of abuse, too.

Fast-growing herbs like cilantro are great starter herbs as well.

They offer an instant payoff and can be used in a kid-designed summer recipe like tacos pretty easily.

Garden Themes For The Green Witch

A green witch will design her/his garden to what they hope to achieve and the available space they have to do it in. Also, look at your climate and altitude when planning your garden.

You can plant what herbs, flowers, and plants you will use the most, or plants that are specifically associated with the magickal arts. For example, gardenia could be sown for spiritual awareness; rosemary and lily improve willful focus, and so on.

You can also pattern your garden. There are many different symbols, styles, and patterns out there to choose from. An obvious pattern would be a pentagram. Other ideas are runes, hermetic emblems, a symbol honoring your personal god or goddess, even Egyptian hieroglyphs.

There are many different themes that you can use for planting your magickal garden. Here is a list of a few and their descriptions.Fairy Garden:

Work well on a small scale. For a general array of plants, those said to please the Fey you want to attract, include heather, clover, hawthorn, hazel, oak, ash, primrose, roses, straw, strawberries, and thyme. Whatever you plant should be set into a circle, making a beautiful fairy ring! If you want to attract a certain type of fairy, here are some ideas.Water Fairies:make sure to have a bird bath, fountain, or other water source in this garden. Flower and plant choices include: grapes, catnip, chamomile, spearmint, thyme, aster, birch, crocus, daffodil, daisy, foxglove, gardenia, heather, iris, lily, morning glory, mosses, pansy, and willow.Earth Fairies:

Rocks and rich soil help to make this garden. Flora choices include: alfalfa, mushroom, peas, sorrel, vervain, ferns, honeysuckle, ivy, magnolia, oleander, primrose, and tulips.

Air Fairies:Include a gathering of feathers or wind chimes in this garden. Choices for plants include: beans, mulberry, parsley, lemon grass, marjoram, mint, savory, sage, clover, dandelion, lavender, meadowsweet, pansy, and violet.Fire Fairies:Try to include some kind of solar imagery in this garden, perhaps a pot that features a sun in splendor. Choices for greenery include: chives, squash, sloe, basil, dill, garlic, lovage, rosemary, cactus, carnation, hawthorn, juniper, marigold, poppy, snapdragon, sunflowers, and thistle.Meditation Garden:Pattern for this would be like a Mandela, or other peace symbol. You can create this one two different ways. One way would be to use plants and flowers that visually, spiritually, and aromatically motivate or deepen your meditative state. Examples of this kind of flora are: hyacinth, magnolia, lavender, and gardenia, or any others that are you personal favorites. The second way to create this garden would be to make a Zen rock garden. This type is usually made of sand and various sized stones with only a few plants mingling in as the energy flow dictates. These kind are low maintenance, but remember that you can make designs in the sand to resemble ripples, symbols, etc.Dye Garden:If you’re interested in making your homemade dyes for your magickal wardrobe, grow things like dock (black), marigold (yellow and orange), broom (green), wode (indigo/blue), saffron (yellow), madder (yellow-green), zinnia (greenish-grey), and safflower (red).Aromatherapy Garden:This can be done two ways also. First you can create it as a sacred space where the energy of the aromatics lifts your spirits. If you do this, you want flowers and herbs geared towards your own personal needs. The second way would be to plant those herbs and flowers that you would use regularly in making your magickal oils, perfumes, incenses, and potpourris.Goddess/God Garden:For those that follow a specific deity, you can also dedicate your magickal garden to them. Place statues of them in the garden, preferably in the center. Around the statue or other form of resemblance of your deity, plant the herbs and flowers that are sacred to them. This is a good way to help you stay connected to your chosen deity as well as honor them.Moon Garden:A garden is a very different place under the enchantment of the moon. The moon is the mistress of magick, and the ancient rules of gardening fall mostly under her divine sway. The pale, ethereal scents and sounds of a moon garden give a quiet meditative bliss. These gardens unveil their beauty only at night. Flowers to include in a moon garden are: datura, nicotiana, jasmine, gardenia, camellias, white lilies, and pale poppies. These bloom at night and add pale lunar mystery throughout your garden.Sun Garden:A garden of this nature would have plants that represent the Sun and its life giving power. Plants to include in this garden are: sunflowers, marigolds, chrysanthemums, and heliotrope (this one is poisonous and should not be ingested, but planted in the garden, it banishes evil spirits and gloom).Water Garden:Water in a garden is the blood life—without it, you have a desert. Water spirits love to play in a garden that welcomes them. Water gardens bring emotional release, relaxation, meditative joy, deep psychic power, and loving healing. A spring or well is the most powerful water magick in a garden. Nymphs live in springs and wells form special gateways into the other world. If a small creek runs through your garden or if you are living near a pond, the watery powers that gently sweep physically and energetically through your garden are gentle and revitalizing. They take ill or dark energies into their watery embrace and replace them with calm and ease. If none of these watery energy sources are in your garden, then a small fountain, birdbath, or artificial fishpond is recommended. (Remember that certain fish, like koi (carp), are said to bring money.) This water source will be the “feeling heart” of your garden and should be kept up with clean vital water. Your water spot will be a great healing center for emotional and physical problems. Some plants to include in a water garden are: lemon balm, burdock, Solomon’s seal, cress, lotus, asters, water hyacinths, irises, willow trees, and birch trees.Fire Garden:Fire can also be honored in your garden theme. This would represent the Sun (another garden theme already mentioned) that is the basic energy of all living things. You can sow plants that honor Fire and that protect oneself from unwanted fire energy. Energy and power are needed for growth. A representation of Fire can be a fire pit, a lamp, a simple outdoor lantern, or a stone lantern (these are used in Asian gardens to balance the elemental feng-shui—to provide a balance of fire energy with the graceful water spot). Some plants that ward off fire are: St. John’s Wort, snapdragons, mistletoe, and the larch tree. Other plants, trees, and herbs to sow in your Fire Garden are: alder, ash, rowan, pine, oak, hawthorn, carnations, anemones, marigolds, yucca, fireweed, sunflowers, basil, bay, rosemary, peppermint, mullein, garlic, goldenseal, dill, and fennel.Love Garden:Flowers are the most powerful love magick, just ask anyone who courts a lady or the lady that is adored. Who would not want to have a garden that drew love to them. Flowers to include in a Love Garden are: roses (of course!), periwinkle, honeysuckle, columbine, pansies, daffodils, violets, lavender, bachelor’s buttons (for men), peppermint, marjoram, Lovage, ginseng, yarrow, rosemary, catnip, and basil. Some trees you can include are: almond, birch, beech, hawthorn, linden, myrtle, maple, and juniper.Healing Garden:Plants are, of course, the origin of almost all healing medicines. The garden in ancient times (and even today) functioned as Mother Nature’s pharmacy as well as her pantry. Millions of healing plants exist and still more are being found each day. Yet healing has always been an art that has focused on more than just the physical; the energies of the garden also promote healing of the spirit, the heart, and the mind as well as the body. Of course, simply sitting or lying in the garden will help heal you. Prepare a light herbal tea, inhale the perfume from a healing flower or herb, and let Mother Nature fill you with her healing touch. Here are some herbs and plants to include in a Healing Garden: St. John’s Wort, lemon balm, burdock, fennel, garlic, mullein, horehound, peppermint, red carnations, honeysuckle, white carnations, red geraniums, gardenias, rowan tree, ash tree, birch tree, and oak tree.As you can see, there is no limit as to how you can create your garden! There are Lucky Gardens, Ghostly Gardens, Money Gardens, Friendly Gardens, and more

Garden of Compassion

In this garden, you place a separate candle for each person who has asked you for magickal help. You use large candles for ongoing work, such as for someone with cancer or a heart condition, or for a child with special needs. You use smaller candles for people who are experiencing temporary challenges such as failed relationships, lost jobs, illnesses, or crossed conditions. Tea lights are good for single wish me-luck lightings, for someone who has a court date, a job interview, or an exam, for example. Candle colors for this garden can relate to each issue, such as white for protection or uncrossing, blue for hope or truth, green for healing or acceptance, brown for balance or grounding, pink for love or happiness, and so on. You might instead choose a candle because it reminds you, in some way, of the person for whom you charge it to work magick. The garden might also contain charms of compassion such as a jade plant, a rose quartz heart, or an image of Kwan Yin, Lady of Compassion. Lotus and sandalwood incense are appropriate choices to burn with the candles. When activating this garden, focus on sending energy to each person as you light his or her candle. To prevent depletion, make sure that when you raise power for this, you gather it from sunlight, storms, moonlight, trees, wind, or other natural sources instead of using your personal power

Hedgewitches Spellwork: The Gardening Tools of Belief

In a recent A & E Biography interview, I was asked what constitutes a “spell.” I wasn’t surprised at the question, because those who have never cast a spell find the process alluring but
(thanks to the negative programming of some religious sects) frightening. Personally, I find
spells fascinating, and I’ve been working them for over twenty years! Spells are nothing more
than tools to focus the mind and support your beliefs in a positive way, to bring your desires
to fruition through the means of quantum physics (energy manipulation). Spellwork focuses
the mind on a specific subject in a specific way, many times using an activity (such as burning
a candle) to bring the two parts of your belief (conscious and subconscious) into alignment.
Words and tools are used together to poise your mind at its most capable point of manifestation. When you cast a spell, you are throwing out your energy net through words and actions
to bring something to you, whether that something is a new car or inner harmony. Choos-
ing your words and your tools carefully and succinctly becomes very important, because it is
not the universe you have to convince that you deserve whatever it is you want, it is yoursel£
Therefore, the tools and words of a spell are mental garden stepping stones that should:
(a) pull in divine energy through positive, uplifting thought and behavior,
and
(b) align your conscious and subconscious beliefs.
If the spell does not do both of these things for you, your desire will not manifest.

Planting by the Moon

To make moon planting really simple, when the moon is a new moon, this is not the time to plant anything.

However, just after you see the first crescent you can start planting as this is when there is a surge of energy through the plants and the sap begins to rise through the stems.

The best zodiac signs to plant during the first quarter is when the moon is in a water sign, such as Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.

When the moon is waxing towards the first quarter, that is when the light of the moon is increasing from a new to a full moon, this is the time to plant leafy crops, cereals, grains and other crops and flowers that produce growth above the ground.

You can start to sow seeds, transplant seedlings and graft plants when the moon is waxing.

When the moon is in the first quarter and is moving towards a full moon you can also plant ground crops that have inside seeds such as tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers etc.

It is also the time to plant annuals and flowers that you want to produce showy and fragrant flowers such as roses.

The last two days of the first quarter, just before the full moon is considered an ideal time for grafting fruit trees.

Again the best zodiac signs for sowing and planting your moon garden are during the first quarter when the moon is in a water sign, such as Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.

When the moon is a full moon all plants are at their peak.

However, over the next two weeks as the moon loses its light it also loses its energy and the moon is waning to the third quarter.

This is the time to harvest your crops, your herbs, especially medicinal herbs which will be more potent if picked at this time, mushrooms, grapes and of course it is the time to prune.

This is the time to plant crops and flowers that produce growth below the ground such as root crops, tubers and bulbs and for flowers, your biennials and perennials, and the perennials can be divided now too.

Therefore it is time to plant onions, potatoes, carrots, swedes, turnips, beets, parsnips and radishes.

It is also the time to plant trees, fruit trees and saplings towards the end of the waning period and any spraying of fruit trees should be done during this period of the moon phase.

You can also plant strawberries and their runners out now and if you have any vegetables or fruit that will have to be stored for a long period of time, such as apples, potatoes, pumpkins etc. if you pick them now they won’t rot as quickly.

During the last or fourth quarter this is a barren phase for moon gardening where it more prudent to do some tidying up in your garden, pull the weeds, see to the compost heap, spread the manure and turn over the beds.

Now wait for the first crescent of the new moon to plant new seeds.

Garden of Ambition

In this garden you use a separate candle for each of your
goals. A Garden of Ambition that is focused on work might,
for example, include candles for a raise, a promotion,
recognition, better assignments, and so on. If the garden
also included personal goals, there might also be a candle
for being more organized, one for getting into shape, one for
keeping on budget, or whatever your individual goals might
be.
Purple, silver, and dark green, for ambition, are appropriate
candle colors for this garden; so are red for advancement
and orange for success. Ogun is a god who helps with
achieving goals. His colors of black, dark blue, light green,
and red are also appropriate for the candles in this garden.
Appropriate charms for a Garden of Ambition include
eight bay leaves or traditional offerings to Ogun, such as
hot peppers, small bags of salt, and palm fronds. His
customary altar furnishings of an iron cauldron and small
metal objects, such as chains, wires, nails, and miniature
tools, could also be incorporated in the garden.
Focus on moving forward when you activate this garden
and on your action plan for reaching each goal. It would be
unreasonable to only rely on magick, so also try to take a
concrete step, however small it might be, toward each goal
each day.

Garden of Thanksgiving

Count your blessings, and notice that your cup is at least
half full. What are you thankful for? In this garden you
include a candle for each of your blessings. Each person’s
garden will be unique, but your blessings might include
things such as good health, your family, your friends, your
career, and the roof over your head. Items that relate to your
blessings, such as pictures of friends or family members, are
appropriate additions to this garden.
To whom will you be giving thanks? Images of a matron
goddess or patron god are also appropriate for this garden,
as are more general images such as those of the Lord and
the Lady. You might instead incorporate images of gods and
goddesses who have specific dominion over your blessings.
If you are
giving thanks to the Universe rather than to deities, images
of stars, planets, or constellations would be good charms for
your garden.
You can double the magick of your Garden of
Thanksgiving by focusing on maintaining your blessings, as
well as on giving thanks for them, when you activate your
garden.

The Urban Herb Garden

The Window Box

Even the city apartment dweller has room for herbs.

Take clutter off the kitchen windowsill and replace it with an attractive planter, filled with fresh, growing herbs.

The following herbs and small plants are attractive and easy to grow, and are the staples of
most love spells.

Window Box for Love and Attraction

Basil, Violets, Parsley ,Rose, Tarragon,
Cardamom, Thyme, Rosemary ,Yarrow ,Lemon balm,
Dill ,Endive ,Daisy ,Dulse ,Bleeding
heart.

The Patio, Balcony, or Porch Planter

Terra cotta strawberry pots are ideal for the urban gardener.

When they are grouped together in varying sizes, they make an attractive addition to any balcony or porch.

The main portion of the planter, located in the center, is usually filled with tall and bushy herbs, and the side pockets usually hold small or trailing plants.

The following herbs and plants thrive in strawberry pots and make welcome additions to attraction and prosperity spells.

HERB MAGICK

Herb Protection Pouch

Use this spell to protect your property or a loved one you may feel is in danger. Items needed.

One black candle, one small stone from a cemetery, black cloth pouch filled with a pinch of each of the following herbs and plants:

Vervain,
Wormwood,
Thyme,
Oak bark,
Spanish moss,

Window Box for Attraction and Posterity

Marigolds ,Marjoram, Green bean, Goldenrod, Dill,
Fenugreek, Woodruff ,Tomatoes, Irish moss, Poppy,
Alfalfa ,Cinquefoil, Clover

The Magick Of Flowers

Anemone: Healing and protection.

Aster: Love, patience, healing, variety, peace.

Baby’s Breath: Innocence, happiness, love, pureness of heart. Peace and unity.

Bachelor’s Button: Celibacy, attracting love.

Birds of Paradise: Increases spiritual awareness and intuition, boosts metaphysical abilities. Intuition, insight, and protection.

Bleeding Hearts: Love, positivity, divination.

Bluebell: Strength, luck, constancy, truth, attracts faeries.

Buttercup: Happiness, love, prosperity, healing.

Cactus: Chastity, protection, strength, and banishing.

Camellia: Prosperity and gratitude. Brings riches and luxury.

Carnation: Protection, strength, and healing. Enhances magickal powers, balance, creativity, and energy.

Cherry Blossom: Femininity, love, strength.

Chrysanthemum: Protection, mental health, and warding off evil spirits.

Crocus: Love and visions.

Cyclamen: Fertility, protection, happiness and lust.

Daffodil: Love, fertility, and luck. Keeps negative energy away.

Dahlia: Dignity, elegance, and positivity.

Daisy: Luck, love, innocence, purity, faith and lust.

Foxglove: Protection, vision, and immortality. Attracts faeries and assists with communication between worlds.

Gardenia: Love, peace, healing and spirituality. Promotes peace, repels strife, and protects from outside influences. Attracts love and friendship.

Geranium: Fertility, health, love and protection. Helps to overcome negative thoughts & attitudes. Lifts spirits and balances mind and body.

Gladiolus: Strength, faithfulness, and healing. Attracts love.

Goldenrod: Money and divination.

Heather: Protection, luck, immortality. Brings rain and increases physical beauty. Protects against violent crimes.

Hibiscus: Attracts love, lust divination, and dreams.

Honeysuckle: Money, love, protection, and binding. Assists psychic and mental powers. Draws money, success, and quick abundance. Aids persuasiveness and confidence and sharpens intuition.

Hyacinth: Love, happiness, and protection. Promotes peace of mind and peaceful sleep. Attracts love, luck, and good fortune. Guards against nightmares.

Hydrangea: Fidelity, binding, and hex-breaking. Draws love and brings back a lover.

Iris: Attracts wisdom, courage, hope, and faith. Good for purification, blessings, and consecrations.

Jasmine: Love, sensuality, divination, meditation, sleep, and prophetic dreams. Draws spiritual love and attracts a soul mate. Draw wealth and money. Promotes new, innovative ideas.

Lady’s Slipper: Protection against hexes, curses and the evil eye.

Lavender: Love, protection, sleep, longevity, purification, happiness, peace. Helps to heal from depression. Attracts love and harmony. When used with rosemary, can represent chastity.

Lilac: Exorcism, banishing, and protection. Wisdom, memory, good luck and spiritual aid. Attracts beauty and love.

Lily: Fertility, renewal, rebirth, marriage, happiness, purity, protection, and prosperity. Breaks love spells.

Lily of the Valley: Soothes, calms, draws peace and tranquility, and repels negativity. Assists in empowering happiness and mental powers. Use in magickal workings to stop harassment.

Lotus: Lock opening and protection. Love, psychic opening, and spiritual growth. Aids in psychic abilities and meditation.

Magnolia: Love, fidelity, health, beauty, loyalty, and peace. Calms anxieties, promotes marital harmony, and assists in overcoming addictions & obsessive behavior.

Marigold: Draws respect and luck in legal matters. Protects and promotes prophetic dreams, psychic powers, passion, and creativity. Attracts love, possibly a soulmate, and enhances relationships.

Morning Glory: Binding, banishing, and promoting attraction or affection.

Orchid: Concentration, focus, love, and will power. Strengthens memory.

Pansy: Love, divination related to love and relationships, and rain magick.

Peony: Protection from hexes and jinxes, banishing, and exorcism. Brings good luck, good fortune, prosperity, and business success. Attracts faeries and promotes happy marriage.

Poinsettia: Represents purity, celebration, and Christmas.

Poppy: Fertility, money, love, luck, sleep, invisibility, and abundance.

Rhododendron: Peace and strength.

Rose: Love, healing, luck, and protection. Aids psychic powers and divination. Promotes close friendships, domestic peace/happiness, and lasting relationships.

Snapdragon: Protection, exorcism, and purification.

Sunflower: Energy, protection, power, wisdom, and wishes; fertility, health, and money magick.

Sweet Pea: Friendship, courage, strength. Attracts friends and draws the loyalty and affection of others.

Tulip: Love, prosperity, happiness, dreams, and protection.

Violet: Love, lust, wishes, luck, healing, peace, and sleep. Calms the nerves, draws prophetic dreams and visions, stimulates creativity, and promotes peace and tranquility. Protection from all evil.

Wisteria: Raises vibrations and promotes psychic opening. Helps to overcome obstacles and draws prosperity.

Yarrow: Courage, love, protection, and healing. Aids divination and psychic powers. Draws love, banishes negativity, wards off fear, and promotes courage, confidence, and psychic opening. Brings happy marriage and strengthens relationships.

Ylang Ylang: Increases sexual attraction and persuasiveness. Draws peace and love. Aids faerie magick. Promotes calm, peaceful relaxation and relieves anxiety and depression.

Zinnia: Love, lust, strength, and affection.

Evening Garden

An Evening Garden should face West, where it bids farewell
to the Sun each night. In it you place candles for things that
you want to end or go away, such as problems, hardships,
illnesses, stresses, bad habits, negative patterns, toxic
relationships, and so on. You also include candles for things
that are ending, such as phases, relationships, situations, or
life stages, to encourage their satisfactory completion.
Black, dark blue, dark plum, and dark gray are appropriate
candle colors for this garden. Sprigs of rosemary and images
of deities who have dominion over the sunset, such as Baal,
the Hesperides, Janus, Nephthys, Sekhmet, and the Zorya,
are also appropriate additions. This garden should be
activated in the evenings.

Herbs for Your Spring Garden

Try these herbs for spring planting. Spring herbs can be some of the most satisfying plants in the garden. They typically germinate quickly or leaf out fast from their winter dormancy. They are also some of the signature flavors of our favorite warm season foods.If you live where it starts to warm up fast in spring, it pays to get a few of them started indoors and then out into the garden as soon as you’re sure frosty conditions are a thing of the past . . . for a few months anyway.10. Cilantro. This tasty little herb looks delicate growing in the garden and is a signature flavor in many South of the border and Asian dishes. It’s very easy to start from seed. If you’d like to try your hand at making salsa, stir-fry vegetables or fish tacos, having some cilantro growing by your back door is a great beginning. Quick to bolt, start this one early and keep pinching back the blooms to increase your harvest of leaves.9. Chives. One of my personal favorites, chives don’t demand much and come back year after year. I’m in Zone 5 right now and don’t give them much attention, but the same patch has been supplying me winter and summer for years. Just keep them watered, give them some afternoon shade in super-hot locations and watch them go.8. Parsley. I like using parsley in cooking. It adds color, some flavor and makes me feel a little virtuous for all the nice nutrients it contributes to prepared dishes. It’s also a go-to garnish when you’re in a hurry. I grow it from seed, but there’s a trick to getting parsley to germinate. Soak seeds in very hot water (not boiling) and let them rest in the water for two or three days before planting. If you can plant four or five parsley seedlings, they’ll keep you supplied for the season. Next year your plants will set seed for a whole new generation.7. Basil. Up in plenty of time to serve with those homegrown tomatoes you’re laboring over in the vegetable patch, basil really delivers fresh flavor and a Mediterranean ambience that’s effortless. Whether you’re using it in your own fresh pasta sauce, blending it into pesto or serving it on bruschetta, basil is a very nice herb to experiment with when you want to expand your culinary horizons.6. Thyme. This must have herb is as useful in the garden as it is in your spice rack. It has tiny leaves that are delicious in sauces of all kinds. It’s available as a shrubby plant and also as a ground cover. You can find silver, lemon, lime, variegated and other tasty/pretty varieties. Most need similar growing conditions, but keep them separate so they don’t cross-pollinate.5. Marjoram. Oregano’s mild cousin, marjoram has a delicate flavor that’s made for hot summer evenings. Use it in your chicken dishes, with lamb and as a flavoring for salad dressing. If you’d like to try making your own sausage, marjoram is a perfect herb for that little project too.4. Mint. What can you say about an herb that rewards you every time you brush past it? It smells wonderful in the garden, makes a nice addition to casual bouquets and is an absolute essential for mojitos and mint juleps. If you love lamb dishes you probably have some mint growing in your yard already.3. Oregano. You can employ oregano in lots of dishes where you use basil. It’s also a basic flavoring ingredient in moussaka, an eggplant dish. If you’re planning on starting some eggplant over in the veggie patch, add some oregano to your garden for good measure. I love it with clams and as a flavor enhancer for prepared pizza sauce.2. Lemon balm. Great in fruit dishes and wonderful in hot or cold tea, lemon balm has an amazing aroma that you have to experience for yourself.1. Dill. If you enjoy fish, do yourself a favor and grow your own fresh dill. It tastes more robust than anything you can get dried, and it’s very easy to grow. It bolts quickly in hot weather, though, so consider successive plantings.

Magick Garden

Witches have been growing herbs for centuries, so they have amassed a wealth of procedures for effective magical gardening. Sometimes these make more sense than a pile of gardening books.When the seedlings are well-established, other uninvited plants will probably poke through the ground. Let some of these grow provided that they don’t crowd your herbs, for many will be useful in magic.There are specific pruning rules. All pruning should be carried out in the decrease of the Moon. Hedges (such as the hawthorn, which at one time every Witch had in her garden) should always be trimmed from East to West, which follows the course of the Sun. Prune trees in a clock-wise direction as you walk around them.Thistles can be a bit of a bother in the garden. If you cut them after Midsummer two will grow for every one you cut. Be sure to cut them well before June 21 unless you want a lot of thistles.You may wish to share your herbs with friends.

.Once a month after the herbs are fully grown, on the night of the Full Moon if possible, walk out to the garden and draw a circle in the dirt around each plant, using your knife. Make sure that the ends of the circle meet. Draw clockwise. This helps to seal the powers inside the leaves and roots.Then, too, go out at night when the herbs are rejuvenating and basking in the Moon’s light and talk to them. Never neglect this, for it creates a bond between you, a merging of your energy and the plant’s energy. If your neighbors overhear your nocturnal conversations, don’t worry. Many people talk to their plants today and many psychiatrists believe that it is excellent therapy.One last note: to ensure that the destructive insect population is kept down, have a large frog or toad in the garden. Dub it with a good ‘toadish’ name, like Gick or Trog, and talk to it whenever you walk in the garden. Give it a mate, and plenty of water, and it should stay.

Morning Garden

A Morning Garden should face East, where it greets the
rising Sun each day. In it you place candles for things that
you want to help grow, such as plans, projects, children,
gardens, and businesses. You also include candles for
things that are beginning, such as healing, artistic
endeavors, enlightenment, new friendship, and new love, to
encourage their growth and success. Yellow and rose-pink
candles are appropriate for this garden. Good charms for it
include bells, gongs, and conch shells.
Images of deities who have dominion over the dawn and
auspicious beginnings, such as Aurora, Aya, Bast, Eos, Isis,
Janus, Ushas, or the Zorya, are also appropriate additions.
This garden should be activated in the morning

Flower Names and Their Meanings

If you want to express your deep feelings to someone special in your life, in a thoughtful and unique way, check out the list of flower names given below, and find out what message you can devise using the special language of flowers.A
Acacia Hidden love, Beauty in withdrawal
Ambrosia Love requited
Amaryllis Pride
Aster Symbolizing love, Delicacy
Anemone A love that is diminishing, Vanishing hopes
Almond Blossom Symbolizing hope, Delicacy, Sweetness
Apple Blossom Good fortune, Harbinger of better things, A strong liking
Arum Intense feeling of love
Arbutus I love only thee
Azalea A symbol of womanhood in China, Passion, Fragility, Take care
B
Baby’s Breath Purity of heart, Innocence
Begonia Be cautious, A fanciful mind
Bachelor Button Celibacy, The blessedness of being single
Balsam Fervent love
Balm Compassion, Empathy
Bittersweet Truth, Loyalty
Bird of Paradise Given by a woman to a man to symbolize faithfulness
Bluebell Gratitude, Constancy, Humility
Buttercup Riches, Childishness
Black Bryony Be my support
C
Caladium Immense delight and joy
Camellia Perfection, Gratitude
Carnation (Red) Aching heart, Admiration
Christmas Rose Allay my disquiet
Chrysanthemum Joy, Optimism, Perfection
Crocus Good cheer, Happiness, Do not treat me badly
Cyclamen Good-Bye, Resignation
Clover (Four-leaf) Will you be mine?
Clover (White) Think of me
Clematis Ingenuity, Artifice
Cornflower Refinement, Delicacy
D
Daffodil The sun is bright when I am with you, Respect, Sunshine, Unrequited love, Regard
Dahlia Elegance and Dignity, Forever thine
Daisy Beauty, Innocence, I will never tell, Loyal love, Purity
Day-Lily (Yellow) Coquetry
Dandelion Love’s oracle, Happiness, Faithfulness
Date-Plum Resistance
Delphinium Fun, Big-hearted
Dog Rose Pleasure and Pain
Dogwood Am I indifferent to you?
Dragon Root Ardor
E
Edelweiss Noble purity, Courage, Daring
Endine Frugality
Elderflower Symbolizing Zeal
Eglantine Poetry
Everlasting (Immortal Flowers) Never ending memory, Unfading remembrance
Euphorbia Persistence
Eupatorium Delay
Epigaea Budding
Eucalyptus Protection
F
Forget-Me-Not As its name suggests – Forget me not, Memories, True love
Forsythia Expectation, Anticipation
Fuchsia Good taste
Fern Fascination
Filbert Reconciliation
Flax Symbol of domesticity
Flora’s Bell Without pretentiousness
Flowering Reed Confide in heaven
G
Gladiolus Strength of character, Love at first sight, Generosity
Gardenia Secret love, You are lovely
Galax Encouragement
Geranium Folly, Stupidity
Gerbera You are the sunshine of my life
Gloxinia Love at first sight
Goldenrod Be cautious
Goats-Rue Reason
Goosefoot Insult
Globe Amaranth Unfading Love
H
Heliotrope Devotion
Hibiscus Delicate beauty, Consumed by love
Holly Am I forgotten, Domestic happiness, Defense, Domestic Happiness
Hollyhock Fruitfulness
Honeyflower Secret love, Sweetness of disposition, Sweet, Affection
Honeysuckle Bond of love
Honeysuckle (Coral) I Love You
Hyacinth Flower dedicated to Apollo, Rashness
Hyacinth (Yellow) Jealousy
I
Iris Wisdom and Valor, Faith, Promise in love, Hope
Iris (German) Flame
Iris (Yellow) Passion
Ivy Affection, Friendship, Fidelity, Wedded love
Ivy (Sprig of white tendrils) Affection, Anxious to please
Indian Cress Resignation
Ipomen Scarlet Embrace
Indian Cane Rendezvous
Ipomoea (Morning Glory) I attach myself to you, Affection
J
Jasmine (Indian) Love, Attachment
Jasmine (Yellow) Elegance, Grace, Modesty
Jasmine (Spanish) Sensuality
Japonica Symbol of love, Sincerity
Jerusalem Oak Your love is reciprocated
Jonquil Sympathy, Desire, Affection returned, Love me, Affection Returned
Juniper Chastity, Eternity
K
King’s Spear Regret
Kennedia Intellectual beauty
L
Laburnum Blackness
Lady’s Slipper Capricious beauty, Win me
Lucerne Life
Larkspur Lightness, An open heart, Levity
Larkspur (White) Happy-go-lucky, Joyful
Larkspur (Purple) Sweet disposition
Lantana Rigor
Lily Purity of heart, Majesty and Honor
Lemon Blossom I promise to be true, Fidelity in love
Lilac Pride,
Beauty
Lily of the Valley Humility, Happiness, Tears of the Virgin Mary, Sweetness
Lotus Forgetful of the past, Estranged love
Laurel Glory
Lavender Devotion, Love
M
Marjoram Happiness, Joy
Madder Calumny
Magnolia Perseverance, Nobility
Marigold Sorrow, Jealousy, Caress, Pretty love, Affection, Sacred, Affection
Maidenhair Discretion
Manchineel Betrayal
Mimosa – Secret Love
Mugwort Happiness
Mulberry Prudence
Mallow Sweetness, Delicate beauty
Mandrake Scarcity
Myrtle Hebrew emblem of Marriage, Love
Maple Reserve
N
Nasturtium Victory in Battle, Conquest
Narcissus (White) Selfishness
Narcissus Stay as sweet as you are, Formality
Nightshade Truth
Nettle Cruelty
Nosegay Gallantry
O
Orchid (Cattleya) Mature charm
Orchid Symbol of many children in China, Refinement, Beauty, Love
Orange Blossom Eternal Love, Innocence, Marriage and Fruitfulness
Oak Hospitality
Osmunda Revere
Ophrys Spider Dexterity
Ophrys Fly Mistake
Olive Peace
Oleander Caution
Orange-Tree Generosity
Orange (Milkweed) Deceit
P
Phlox Harmony, A good partnership
Passion-Flower Belief
Peppermint Warmth of feeling, Cordiality
Periwinkle Sweet remembrance
Poppy (General) Imagination, Oblivion, Eternal sleep
Primrose (Evening) Inconstancy
Petunia Your presence soothes me, Anger, Resentment, Anger
Pansy Merriment, Thoughtful reflection
Peach Blossom I am your captive
Q
Quaking Grass A symbol of agitation
Queen Anne’s Lace Fantasy
R
Rose (Red) Passion, Love
Rose (White) Purity, Virginity
Rose (Yellow) Infidelity, Jealousy
Rose (Coral) Desire
Rose (Pink) Grace and Sweetness, Secret love, Perfect happiness, Secret Love
Rose (Dark pink) Thankfulness
Rose (Pale pink) Joy, Grace
Rosebud (Red) Pure and Lovely
Rosemary Remembrance
Rhododendron I am dangerous, Danger, Beware
S
Sunflower (Tall) Pride, False riches
Sunflower (Dwarf) Adoration
Snowdrop Consolation, Hope
Sage Great respect, Wisdom, Female fidelity
Snapdragon Strength, Gracious lady
Satin-Flower Sincerity
Spider Flower Elope with me
Sweet-William Gallantry, Grant me one smile
Sweet Pea Thank you for a lovely time, Blissful pleasure, Departure, Good-by
Star of Bethlehem Reconciliation, Atonement
T
Tulip (General) Fame, Perfect lover, Flower Emblem of Holland
Tulip (Yellow) Hopeless love, There’s sunshine in your smile
Tulip (Variegated) Beautiful eyes
Tulip (Red) Declaration of love, Believe me
Thornapple I dreamed of thee
Tuberose Dangerous pleasures
Teasel Misanthropy
Trumpet Flower Separation
V
Valerian Accommodating disposition
Verbena Sensibility, Pray for me
Violet Modesty
Violet (White) Let´s take a chance
Violet (Blue) Love, Faithfulness, Watchfulness
Virgin’s-Bower Artifice
Venus Flytrap Caught at Last
Viscaria Will you dance with me?
Veronica Fidelity
Vervain Enchantment
W
Water Lily Purity of heart
Water Lily (Yellow) Growing indifference
Water Lily (White) Eloquence
Wallflower Lasting beauty, Fidelity, Faithful in adversity
Wisteria Welcome
Windflower Sincerity, Love, Abandonment
Witch Hazel A spell
Wild Rose-Tree Poetical person
Wood-Sorrel Joy
Whortleberry Treachery
X
Xeranthemum Cheerful in adversity
Y
Yarrow Healing, Health
Yew Sadness
Z
Zinnia Thoughts of absent friends
Zinnia (Yellow) Daily remembrance
Zinnia (Magenta) Lasting Affection
Zinnia (White) GoodnessSome of you may even want to understand the symbolism of each flower to be able to get a tattoo representing the symbolism. Whatever the reason, this list should help you find out what each flower means, and use its symbolism to express exactly how you feel.

Hedgewitch: What’s Growing in Your Belief Garden?

In a physical garden, you need to test the soil to ensure the chemical balance is right for
what you wish to produce. Indeed, you can buy all manner of kits and products to determine the integrity of what you’ve got in that physical garden of yours. Your mental garden
also requires specific elements for harmonious balance; the problem is you can’t buy them
(although we often try)-you gotta make this mix yourself. Just as in a real garden, where you
have to dig nice and deep to see what kind of soil you’ve got down there, so, too, will you have
to be willing to test your mental soil, which consists of the totality of your beliefs. Only when
you understand the fullness (or lack thereof) of your own beliefs can you plant anything and
expect it to grow. Only by testing the contents of what’s hidden in your brain can you determine what fertilizer you’ll need for a bumper crop of a full and harmonious lifestyle.
Before we begin, I’m going to tell you straight up: this isn’t easy. We have so many thoughts
zooming around in our heads at any given time it can be hard to follow a single thread,
especially if your subconscious mind wishes to pull that fast bait-and-switch. I think this
thought about my past-whoops! I’m having tuna tonight. Wait. Where did that come from?
Your subconscious mind will volley the strange and bizarre to center court just to keep you
off-guard and away from ferreting out the boogie-bird that resides in the recesses of your
deepest troubles. Then, too, it might be that rabbit … therefore, a concerted effort on your part

is required if you truly want to accomplish the good riddance of your woes and create better
days ahead.
Let’s take a few general examples to help you on your way. First, meet Marissa: age twentyseven; career okay; health general; attractive (she’s got great eyes and knockout legs)-and
she has a history of broken romances that would prove enough fodder for at least two fulltime romance writers (without the happy endings). She goes to the gym and buys expensive
makeup. Yet the love fairy has completely forgotten Marissa exists. For the purposes of this
example, the main question we are always going to ask is: what did your parents say to you
about love, relationships, and marriage when you were growing up? Or what did your primary
caregiver say to you about these things, and what comments did they always make when the
subject arose? Here is Marissa’s reply:
“My father died when I was ten. My mother constantly talked about how he abandoned
us. She would say, ‘Good men never live long,’ or ‘There aren’t any good men around like your
dad.’ Even her offhand comments were negative when discussing any male (family or friends)
in almost any situation, from politics to spirituality, let alone a serious relationship. To her, the
day my dad passed away, all good men abandoned the planet and ascended into heaven-the
biblical rapture, only for males. I’ve said repeatedly to myself that her beliefs are her own, but
now, thinking about it, I realize that I absorbed those very same beliefs subconsciously and
have been sabotaging my own relationships. You know, this is my life, not hers! My mother
was not a bad parent-she treated me extremely well and loved me very much-but I realize
now that I’ve been living her fears.”
Let’s move on to Harvey, fifty years old, general health with a few nasty bouts of this or
that over the years, particularly during a financial crisis, a product of the Great Depression
babies. “I grew up listening to how my grandfather and grandmother lost everything except
their home during the Depression; about how my father was ignored and treated badly by
his siblings; about how rotten the government is and how they (politicians) hurt and cheat
people. How our family name screams that we’ll always be lower middle class-that there was
:10 bright and glorious future for people like us. You know, come to think of it, I never heard
L:-clling nice-nothing about love, or caring, or sticking up for each other. Just the same old
=.l? In fact, my father is eighty-nine, and I’m still listening to the same garbage. He doesn’t
_ -ingle story (and he has a ton) that doesn’t end on a depressive note. A Yank with a
broken pickup, a dead dog, and a deceased wife. You know, I was doing really well for a while,
and then I let my father move in with us. I just realized that the moment that happened, his
beliefs brought our whole family down and kept us trapped for twenty-five years because we
subconsciously believed his repeated negative comments about life and personal finances. As a
parent, we treated him with respect and didn’t argue. Don’t get me wrong, the man had golden
credit and still does to this day, yet I allowed his acid thoughts to almost completely destroy
my career. I expected what he predicted about how I would be treated, and that’s exactly what
I got. They aren’t my beliefs anymore!”
Julia, age thirty, has repeated health problems. Married, one child. Both she and her husband are overweight. Both have a terrific sense of humor. “My grandmother raised me. She
was all about God smiting the sinner, especially when it came to health problems of congregational members-always said God made you sick to teach you a lesson, even for the
most minor infraction. We used to make jokes about God doing overtime in our parish, and
how with Him around, who needed the devil to blame your troubles on? Growing up, I truly
thought she was just being loony. She was skinny as a rail and always this side of sickly, trying
every wacky cure by a compendium of snake oil salesmen; but, you know, now I’m wondering
how much of her insecurity, terror, and fear I absorbed as a kid, because she repeatedly told
me that I was lazy, and that God made lazy people fat as they grew older as a punishment for
not doing a hard day’s work. I’m a writer by trade, working at a desk for a newspaper, and even
though I work long hours, my job isn’t physically exhausting. Like, I’m not out in the fields
or anything, and I’m not up at dawn canning, baking bread, or washing laundry by
hand. I suddenly realized I’ve been living her terror and fear. Not anymore!”
In these three examples, we followed the issue to the source, and it wasn’t
easy for Marissa, Harvey, or Julia to go back there. They had to sit and
think about the question for a while, and in one case (Harvey) it took him
several days to work through all the negative programming he heard as a
child. Every time he thought of another comment his father used to make
(and evidently still does), his mind would flip to something else-from what
time he needed to pick up his son to trouble with a new insurance company
dropping the insurance on his house. The light finally dawned on Harvey when
he drove his father to a doctor’s appointment and once again sat through the
23
same string of worldly complaints. Finally, light bulb: Harvey deftly switched the subject and
from then on endeavored to keep changing the subject every time his father began to work
through the same verbal scenario and depressive soap-opera yarns. Harvey also discovered
that some of his father’s newer negative ideas were actually coming from a klatch of seniors
that had lunch at the same establishment as Harvey’s father (all Depression-era babies). Then
Harvey started looking at the unsolicited mail his father was receiving, shocked to discover
that many of the advertisements were targeting Depression-era mentality seniors, focusing on
their fear to solicit money and sell products. Harvey made the comment, “What you create in
your mind, you bring into your life. Sadly, my father is living proof”
Granted, going back in time and dragging original fears out into the light of day isn’t going
to solve all your problems. However, now that you know where the negative programming
may have come from, you can adjust how you think and in what you choose to believe, as well
as reprogram what you are saying to (and around) your own kids (should you have any). With
your conscious and subconscious minds now in agreement, there is nothing you can’t accomplish. Take this exercise further and pay close attention to what you are listening to on the
news, what you are reading, even the conversations you hear at work. Weed out what you don’t
believe and let the boogie-birds stay where they belong. With a fresh look at the universe, all
you have to do is …
Believe!