banishing – Melusina The Green Witch

Wild Garlic and Wild Garlic Soup Recipe

It’s that time of year when you’ll start seeing (and smelling!) wild garlic popping up in shady and damp woodlands, fields and hedgerows throughout Britain, Ireland and Europe.

If you don’t know what it looks like, it has tiny white flowers and bright green leaves, but it can be quite scarce.

It is commonplace in ancient woods, where it creates a carpet of star shaped white blossoms, instead of the blue flooring of bluebells.

MAGICKAL PROPERTIES

In Witchcraft, wild garlic can be used just like regular garlic and is primarily used for protection, banishing and warding.

It can offer protection from break-ins when kept around the house or utilised in wards. It can also ward against nightmares, if used in sleep charms, and is useful for banishing negativity and unwelcome spirits. By this token, you could probably also use wild garlic to get rid of unwanted mindsets, habits, emotions, etc. Finally, it can protect the user from gossip and psychic attacks, and it can be used in wards of almost any purpose.

Garlic has strong associations with Hecate and the ancient Greeks would place garlic at cross roads as an offering to her.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Wild garlic is useful in treating bronchitis, allergies and asthma, by helping to open the lungs and ease breathing. It is also a healthy antioxidant and has antimicrobial properties. Additionally, it can aid in preventing clots by thinning blood and therefore should be used in moderation, due to these properties.

It can also help to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels and it’s juice can be applied directly, or in a poultice, to burns.

Please take care, when picking wild garlic, to only remove the leaves. Don’t pull too hard, or you can pull the bulb straight out too, which has the potential to spoil next years crop and contribute to it’s scarcity. As with all foraging, take only what you need and treat the site with care, so you can enjoy it again next year!

Also, don’t pick anything from the side of the road, as there is too much pollution there from cars, or where people regularly walk their dogs, as no one wants pee or poop in their food!!

WILD GARLIC SOUP RECIPE

You’ll need the following ingredients:

• 40 g butter (or veggie/vegan alternative);

• 1 medium onion (chopped);

• 3 medium potatoes (peeled and diced);

• 1.5 ltr vegetable stock;

• 300 g wild garlic leaves (washed and patted dry);

• 100 ml double cream (or veggie/vegan alternative); and

• Salt and pepper.

Method:

Melt the butter over a medium heat, add the onions and saute until soft.

Add the vegetable stock and potatoes to the pan and simmer gently until the potatoes are fully cooked.

Add the wild garlic to the pan and allow to wilt for a couple of minutes.

Use a jug or hand blender (please be careful, as it’ll be boiling hot!) to blend the soup until you have a smooth and silky consistency.

Stir through the cream, season to taste and serve.

Serve with crusty bread.

Recipe Source: “wild garlic soup – Lost in Food” https://lostinfood.co.uk/wild-garlic-soup-a-mini-mid-week-adventure/

The Void….

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post on here! Mundane life got in the way, so sorry about that! Here’s a short post I’ve been thinking of writing for a while to get me back in the swing of posting more regularly.

When we cleanse or banish something, it leaves a void, or an empty space, where we have removed any negativity, bad feelings, bad habits or even harmful spirits or entities.

However, hardly anyone realises this or even talks about it like it’s an actual thing. This in itself can be dangerous or perilous, as you run the risk of that void filling up again with something negative or untoward, or you find yourself slipping back into those bad habits or letting the negativity creep back in.

This is likely to happen, unless you actively do something or create something full of love and positivity to take the place of what you have cleared or banished.

Therefore, once you’ve undertaken your spell, ritual, spiritual activity or other workings, you should find something to fill that void space with something that is positive, happy or full of light.

Some ways to go about this would be to light some incense that makes you feel happy, relaxed and loved, like jasmine or rose, or even spray some Florida Water around your space.

Or, you could run yourself a ritual bath to unwind in, with salts and oils, even flower petals and sliced citrus fruits, to help you to cleanse your body and soul and, in turn, allow your positive vibes to fill up that void space.

You can even do something as simple as make yourself a tasty fruit or herbal tea, sweetened with honey or agave syrup, which may help you to raise your vibrations within your space and fill that void with light so nothing dark can creep in again.

March 2021: Waning Moon Phase

We all know that Witches love the moon and harnessing the power of each moon phase can amplify your workings and make for some amazing results!

Even if you don’t identify as a Witch, most humans feel a great connection to our Earth’s natural satellite.

Considering the moon controls the tides, and up to 60 percent of the adult human body is water, it makes sense that the various stages of the moon affect us in some way. Just ask a Police Officer what their shift is like on a full moon!

Some people mistakenly think that you need to wait for a Full Moon to harness the moon’s energy. The good news is, that all the moon’s phases can be used to give your work that little something extra. But remember, as a Witch, it is you that is the one in charge. Your focus and intent are the catalyst for everything you do, but it never hurts to equip yourself with magickal lunar knowledge and learn how to harness the energy of each moon phase.

To find out what each phase of the moon is at any one time, you can use a variety of lunar websites or moon tracking apps. I use the app ‘Moon’.

As you can see from the screenshot above. the moon is currently in it’s Waning Phase.

The Waning Moon is the time period where the moon is getting darker again, moving from a Full Moon back to a New Moon.

This Waning Moon phase is great for banishing work or for cutting cords with a past lover, toxic friendships or unfulfilling jobs.

However, you don’t always need to banish a person from your life entirely, as some of the most effective banishing work you can do are spells to rid yourself of feelings for someone you know is bad for you, any insecurities you may have or self-doubt about yourself or your abilities.

You can use the Waning Moon phase to make a list of all your fears and insecurities and dispose of it, either by burying it (I would only do this if you wrote insecurities down on something biodegradable, such as a bay leaf, so as not to contribute to littering), burning it (but please be careful and practice proper fire safety precautions) or even flushing it down the toilet (again, please only use material that can safely be flushed)!!

As we move towards the New Moon, through the Waning Moon Phases, it is a great time to start working on a New You!!