Magic for Reproductive Rights

So. There’s this. Motion M-312. It was debated in the house of commons today. I’m horrified that this is even up for debate. Merciful Life.

So I’ve been protesting on parliament hill, and I’ve been writing my MP and I’ve signed at least two petitions, and I’m tweeting under #NoDebate and blogging up a storm and generally getting the word around.

But there are multiple fronts to work on here. So. Magically speaking:

If you’re my kind of kitchen witch:

Black poppyseeds can be used to sow confusion amongst your enemies and adversaries
Calendula petals promote legal victories
Slippery Elm bark protects against false testimony and accusations
Fennel seeds ward off police (hang a small bag of them discreetly inside your doorframe, or carry them on you, under your clothes)
Ash (I’m not sure if this means “rowan” or “soot”) helps to promote justice
Bloodstone promotes truth and success
Pine promotes victory and strength

Hawthorn, red yarn, and copper are a powerful protection mix (much like rowan, amber, and red thread)

Rubberbands are for cooperation, organization, and resourcefulness

Rosemary is great for protection and for successfully driving out Bad Stuff

~*~

A couple of deities you might try getting in touch with:

Ida-Ten, a Japanese god of legal victory (among other things), protects people against religious persecution.

Maat, an Egyptian goddess of truth, fairness and justice who offers protection against deceit and manipulation.

Artemis, a Greek goddess whose specialties include midwifery and women’s bodily autonomy

Skadi, a Norse goddess who presides over justice, vengeance, and righteous anger (and Winter)

~*~

And there are my thoughts on that. (They won’t be the last).

Birch Leaf Tea

So. While I’m on the subject of local trees coming into bloom, I figured I’d make a note of this stuff. See, way the hell back in August, I did a post about Birch trees. This is something of a follow-up. If “Lady of the Woods” talked about the symbolism of the birch tree, this post is about the medicinal properties of the leaves.

Birch Leaf tea — as in an infusion/tisane of steeped birch leaves — is good for the following:
Breaking up small kidney stones
Blood-thining (like willow bark?)
Relieving bladder and kidney infections
Relieving (mild) insomnia
Breaks down uric acid (which causes gout)
High in Vitamin C

May also ease joint pain (arthritis and rheumatism)
May also help deal with gingivitis(??)

Birch leaves can also be tossed in the bath – or (easier, requires fewer leaves) steeped as an astringent – to help clear up skin problems like eczema and acne
May also help to heal bruises and abraisions (when you mince up the leaves and make a poultice out of them)

~*~

How to prepare:
0.5 tbsp DRIED birch leaves in 1C boiling water
Steep for 15 minutes
Drink (up to four times a day)

OR

5-6 fresh YOUNG (small) birch leaves in 1C boiling water
Steep for 10 minutes
Drink (up to four times a day)

Why “young” leaves? Because the bigger/older they get, the more bitter they are.
NOTE: Birch tea is a diuretic — which means you need to up your water intake to prevent dehydration if you’re drinking a heap fo birch tea.

Where my information came from: Dig Herbs and Anita Karlson‘s blog. With some help from an online conversion table. 🙂

Hawthorn Tree…

Last night I walked home at dusk. The moon was a bowshot crescent in the dome of the sky, moving slowly westward.
The weather these last few days has been, for the most part, cold. Not terrible, by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely on the chilly end of things.
I don’t actually know what’s “seasonally normal” for these part, temperature-wise (although Monday’s snow is not all that unusual).

I think it’s neat how the leaves know. They don’t turn grey-brown and drop off in early spring the way they do in autumn, even with similar temperature fluxutations. I gather – though I can’t remember where I learned this – that a lot of plant growth has to do with daylight hours more than it has to do with temperature. (So the buds didn’t burst into leaf back in late March because, even though it was hot like July, we were hovering around the Equinox and it just wasn’t time yet).

Over at Adventures in Animism, Heather is talking about how Beltane is sometimes calculated according to when the Hawthorn trees bloom. Aparently they went blossom-wild around the 22nd of April in her part of the world.

Around here, they are sidling up to flowering and giving it the side-eye like “Yeah… I could do that…”. The serviceberries and black plums are already blooming. The (crab) apples and sour cherries are about where the hawthorns are at, and the lilacs aren’t far behind them. The magnolias, on the other hand, are all, like, “Girl, I am so far beyond blooming, you don’t even know. This showy stuff is just hanging around after the party”.

Hawthorn Corespondences:
Protection
Insight
Creativity
Self Confidence
Patience
Purification

Also good for:
Concealment spells, weather work, chastity, virility (if you’re a dude who wants kids), banishing the malicious, fishing(??), happiness, and fairy-related magic.

Since I went and snagged a hawthorn thorn (about 2″ long and wickedly, gorgeously sharp) off a local tree the other day – for the art project – my Plan is to work the thorn into the red yarn, along with a wodge of other ingredients, and then tie it somewhere suitable. Possibly near somewhere symbolic of women’s rights and protections.

Cheers,
Meliad the Birch Maiden