Herbal profile ~ Lavender

 Hello my lovelies,

Well I am sneaking in one more Herbal profile into my last day of my week off, especially for you - this time it is the wonderfully scent filled, calming LAVENDER... I will be working with this beautiful plant in the coming week.

BOTANIC NAME ~ Lavendula officinale / L vera

AKA ~ Spike, Elf leaf, Lavender angustifolia, English lavender, French lavender.

GENDER ~ Male (Hot).

ELEMENT ~ Air & Water.

PLANET ~ Mercury.

DEITY ~ Artemis, Hecate, Isis, Freya, Hermes, Quan-Yin, Virgin Mary.

CRYSTAL ~ Moonstone.

NOTED ~  For its sense of calm, it also conjures happiness and can transport the mind to a sunny mediterranean type field all abloom.  Lavender's message is of Loyalty.                                                               

FOLKLORE ~ At one time Lavender was carried with Rosemary to preserve chastity.  Many a young girl's "Hope Chest" had little sachets of Lavender amongst the linens, to keep them fresh until the young lady was married.  Lavender was also used during the War when surgical supplies were scarce, for cleansing and purification.

USES ~ Can be used in baths, bath bombs, oils and salves.  Good for healing of the skin.  It is a relaxant, calming, sleep inducing, antibacterial plant - can be used in tea mixes for pain relief.  Often used to enhance tranquility. Also used as a disinfectant to purify and cleanse areas within the home.

You can also use the flowers in baking - steep the flowers in milk and add it to baked goods.

WITCHCRAFT USES ~ Used for Protection, purification and Love.

Thrown onto a Midsummer fire by Witches as a sacrifice to the ancient Gods.

Lavender is a frequent addition to healing sachets, and especially bath mixtures and added to incense to cause sleep.

Carry the herb to visualise ghosts.

Used in purification sachets, incenses and spell bags.

Used widely to attract men for sexual favours!!!

Can be added to smoke blends to enhance the meditative state.

And YES - I did add a couple of pages to my book:

I even added a little secret panel, which lifts to reveal a pressed lavender plant.

GARDENERS ~ Lavender likes a chalky alkaline soil, so use plenty of dolomite or lime mixed into the soil  - work one or two handfuls into the soil just under the roots as well, plus sprinkle it through the topsoil as well, forking it in slightly.  They also need plenty of water plus good drainage.  Trim the flowers to encourage the plant to get bushy and produce more flowers.  If planting in the soil, just watch out because it can go feral and spread.  

Can be kept in a pot, but will need constant care:

I hope you enjoyed this little deep-dive into the life of Lavender ~ there is still many, many things to learn about this plant, this is just what I have come to learn in a couple of days. 

Thanks for reading and until next time ~ take care of yourselves and those you love ❤️ 🧡 🫶 🥰 

Blessings to you all,

Annette )O( xxx

Herbal Profile - SAGE

 Hello my lovelies,

I hope you are all enjoying this Herbal Profile series this week whilst I am on holidays ~ I hope it gives you an insight into what I have been doing over the past few weeks ~ getting to know herbs and flowers that I have growing in my garden.  This is going to be the last one for the week, as it is a herb that I am working with whilst on holidays.  Today I bring you the wonderfully wise SAGE.

BOTANIC NAME ~ Salvia Officinalis / Salvia spp.

AKA ~ Common Sage, Garden Sage.

GENDER ~ Male (Hot).

PLANET ~ Jupiter & Moon.

DEITY ~ Jupiter, Venus, Artemis, Diana, Huggeia.

CRYSTAL ~ Clear Quartz.

NOTED ~ For its wisdom - hence the saying "wise old sage". Sage is well named coming from the Latin salvere, to save.

Used by Native American Indians in smudging ceremonies.

FOLKLORE ~ The Chinese drank sage tea as often as possible, and their records show how high a value was placed on the health giving properties - 4lb of china tea was exchanged for 1lb of sage by the merchants of the time.

Sage was used in the Middle Ages to treat many maladies including fevers, liver disease and epilepsy.  It was a common belief that sage strengthened one's memory.

USES ~ Sage can be used for any culinary purpose and is usually mixed with Rosemary and Thyme to be put on meats, pies, baked goods etc.  In a tea, it improves digestion, supports cognitive function and helps with anxiety.

WITCHCRAFT USES ~ Sage is used for Protection, Purification, Wisdom, Longevity & Health, and Prosperity.

Add to healing and prosperity sachets, incenses and amulets.

Sage is used to cleanse a magical space via burning the herb.

It is used to ease grief from the loss of a loved one.

Burn a black candle that has been dressed with sage essential oil for cleansing negative energies from your home.

White Sage was the most common sage used by Witches for these purposes, but due to the unethical over harvesting of white sage, it has now become very hard to get and very expensive.  I have had mine for years and use it sparingly (see picture to the right) I find normal garden sage is just as powerful.

Yes - I did another entry into my little book too...

(My writing is not getting any neater LOL)

GARDENERS ~ Sage needs an alkaline soil, so put plenty of dolomite into the soil and throughout the topsoil when planting.  Sage loves hot sun and dryness so it will give you a sturdy little bush in no time.  She doesn't like wet feet - so make sure drainage is excellent.  She can be a bit like a spoilt child at times and can turn up toes overnight without any apparent reason if the weather or the soil condition is not to her liking.  Talk to her gently, whisper how lovely she is, keep an eye on her needs, and she will love you back.

So this ends my week of blogs on Herbal Profiles.  I will be doing more as I do them, just not all in one week hahaha.... I hope you have enjoyed this brief interlude into the flowers and herbs in my garden and what they are used for.

Until next time, please take care (especially as we are in the Silly Season...),

Blessings to you all.

Annette )O( xxx

Herbal Profile ~ YARROW

 Hello again for the fourth time this week (can you tell I am on holidays???).  

Today I am bringing you another herbal profile - this is another plant that I have growing in my garden, and I am currently drying - it is YARROW.

BOTANIC NAME ~ Achillea millefolium

AKA ~ Herbal Militaris, The Soldier's herb, Seven year's love, sanguinary, thousand seal, woundwort, stench weed, ladies mantle, milfoil, field hops and many, many more..

GENDER ~ Female (cold).

ELEMENT ~ Water.

PLANET ~ Mars & Venus.

DEITY ~ Achilles, Venus, Quan-Yin.

CRYSTAL ~ Bloodstone.

NOTED ~ For its healing properties both internally and externally.  It is a herb of peace and friendship.

FOLKLORE ~ It was used on battlefields during times of war and conflict to stop wounds from bleeding out.  The Druids used yarrow stems to divine the weather for each coming season, and according to the ancient writings, they were more accurate than those of our satellite pictures today. Used by Chiron the Centaur to cure the heel wound of Achilles

USES ~ Internally it has a calming affect and can also increase perspiration.  Yarrow tea can be taken to relieve all bodily weaknesses caused by infectious diseases like colds and flu, or any other prolonged debilitating illness, it is often mixed with other herbs to speed up its work.  Externally it is an antiseptic and speeds up wound healing.  Can be used in oils and salves for a healing balm.  Great for men who cut themselves shaving - just go out to the herb garden, grab some Yarrow leaf and press it firmly against the spot - the bleeding will stop.

WITCHCRAFT USES ~ It is used in workings for Healing, Courage, Friendship, Psychic abilities, Hex breaking, Love, Clairvoyance, Exorcism and keeping negative energies at bay.

Used in Love sachets and marriage charms.

If worn as an amulet it will ward off negativity.

A tea of Yarrow drunk before divination will enhance one's powers of perception.

Can be added to incense blends to keep evil at bay.

FOR GARDENERS ~ it is a great thing to mix Yarrow and Comfrey into your compost bin to speed up the compost activation.  All you need is a few leaves chopped up and mixed in to your compost.  Yarrow will also enhance the flavour, strength and health of any other herb gown near it (but beware - it spreads like the mint family does, so be careful where you put it in your garden).  I have a white variety (as seen in these pictures) growing by my Sage and WOW - that sage (& Yarrow) is potent..  I would love to find the pink or red variety to grow as well - but I haven't seen any for sale yet.

YES - I did another entry into my little book of Mischief,

even has a little secret addition:

Yarrow pressed onto the page from my garden..

Yarrow has to be one of my favourites in the garden, not only is it handy to have, but it looks pretty with its feathery leaves and stems of flowers in the spring and summer.

So there you have it - a run down on the wonderful YARROW.

Join me next time when I will be looking into another herb from my witches garden.

Until then, take care of yourself and those you love,

Blessings to you all.

Annette )O( xxx

Witchcraft Series ~ Altar Cloths, and how to make your own!!!

Hello my little Henbanes,

Today I have uploaded a video regarding making your own Altar cloths instead of buying ready made/printed ones from your metaphysical stores for an exuberant price.

It's very easy - honestly, if I can do it - you can!!

So all you little witches who would love an Altar cloth and don't know where to start - check this out!!

Catch you all next time & many blessings to you!!

Annette )O( xxx

BELTANE in Australia 2025....

Bealtaine Blessings to all my Witches, Wizards, Ghouls, Goblins and Fae Folk in the Southern Hemisphere...(even though this year it is actually on the 8th November - but I am getting in early hahaha!!)..

I know I had a rant about it being called Bealtaine in Australia seeing that is the Celtic word for MAY - and it's November.... but I have caved in under the pressure and am still calling it Bealtaine..

Bealtaine/Beltane/Beltaine is celebrating Spring's arrival with modern and traditional rituals.

Feasts, Fires and Abundance encapsulates the energy of this season - even though due to fire restrictions in Australia, we cannot have our bonfires to celebrate (like they do in the Northern Hemisphere).  

Here are a few ways we in Australia can celebrate:

Handfasting - a time to celebrate commitments and partnerships (or renew them).

Candle Leaping - instead of bonfire leaping - place a lit candle in a cauldron and leap over it for good luck, fertility and purification.

Incense Leaping - same thing with the cauldron, put a bunch of herbs relating to your intention - like purification or cleansing, releasing negative energies etc., light it so it smokes. Jump over the smoke and envision the smoke cleansing, purifying or whatever your intention was, and releasing it to the universe.

Cleansing Rituals - cleaning your home with herbal/floral imbued water (ie., chamomile brewed in water) to cleanse your home of any negative energies.

Altar Cleansing - cleanse your altar for the season and add spring colours like red, yellow, orange, gold and green. Add in herbs, flowers and candles, plus any Deities that you honour at this time.

Rituals - Perform a ritual to honour the power of female energy through meditation and affirmation.

Kitchen Witchery - bake a cake or make a feast for family and friends (or invited guests).

Nature - be in nature and give thanks to the land spirits for all that you have, take time, breathe and be enveloped by the sights, sounds and smells of nature. Give an offering to the land spirits as a way of saying thanks for your abundance.

So whatever you are doing, whichever day (1st or 8th November) you may be celebrating, may you have a Blessed time....

ALSO: Samhain Blessings to all our Northern Hemisphere folk too.

                                                        AND Happy Halloween to all!!       

Blessings to you all,

Annette )O(

Witchcraft Series ~ Making a Poppet....

Hello My Beautiful Witches, Goblins and Ghouls,

I hope you are all keeping well...

Today I share a wee glimpse of me making my poppet on the YouTube Channel (See below):

I know it is not a very in-depth look at the Poppet, but if I went into the history of them it would have turned into an epic hour long video - and honestly, I don't have that much time these days to do epic videos!!  Plus I don't feel comfortable in doing videos yet - I know, it's been a year of doing them - you would think I would be used to it by now... BUT NO!!  I am such a shy person it takes a great effort for me to get in front of them camera, plus I always stuff up the voice overs - just a confidence issue I guess!!

I see so many beautiful channels on YouTube with lovely witches sharing their content so confidently and their aesthetics are perfect - I am just not that type of a witch hahaha - mine is more blunders and chaotic with moments of forgetfulness........but that is who I am!!

So for a mere 4'ish minutes, I bring you my making of my Poppet...

I hope you enjoy it!

Until Next Time ~ Many Blessings to you all....

Annette )O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden Vlog # 19 - First week of Winter

Hello my little Winter Wonders,

It has been the first week of Winter - according to the Gregorian (Christian) Calendar - and my goodness, did it come in cold all of a sudden or what!!

We had to put heaters on and break out the long sleeves, sweaters and jackets this week - plus put the electric blankets on!!

I feel it's going to be a very cold Winter this year - cold enough for snow??? We will see...

So here is my first Video for Winter...

What is happening in your neck of the woods at the moment?  Are you in Winter or Summer?

What is happening in your garden?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video.

Have a great week ahead,

Take care,

Annette )O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden & Witchery - Garden Vlog # 18 26 31st May 2025

Hi my Little Lovelies,

Wow - what a week it has been.  Not the best week to end my holidays on, but there you go:

As I say in the video, I don't know when I will be able to do another garden video due to work - but we will see, you never know!!

I hope you enjoy it my lovelies - ALSO there is a herbal remedy one up as well if you want to take a look at that one - all to do with Four Thieves Vinegar...

Have a great week and I will catch you next time!!

Blessings to you all,

Annette )O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden & Witchery - Garden Vlog # 17 (20th 24th May)

Hello Everyone,

Just following through with another gardening video for my third week of my holidays - it can be viewed here on my YouTube Channel:

Don't forget to like and subscribe as this really helps my channel grow, and just like a garden, I am planting the seeds in hope that the internet gods will be kind to me and grow my channel into a flourishing community of like minded individuals who cherish Mother Earth in ALL her glory.

So tell your gardening or witchy friends about my channel, hell - tell your neighbour, your grocer or even your pool guy hahaha..... just kidding, I really do want to grow this channel so I can keep making videos - my channel isn't monetised, I am not in it for that - it's just to show you all what I do in my garden and witchcraft practice, plus my herbal remedies, my sewing and crochet projects and any other things that I can come up with along the way - it's a Journey, and I hope you will come along with me on it!!

Anyway, I have one more week of holidays left and if I do not win x lotto, I will have to go back to work on the 2nd June.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.

Blessings,

Annette )O( xxx

Witch Vlog # 7 - Samhain (Southern Hemisphere)

Hello my Magickal Unicorns,

It is coming up to Samhain this week (April 30th - May 1st), so I decided to do an Altar cleaning and repurposing it for the Samhain "End of Summer" season.

I do not talk in this one as I have a toothache/sore gum infection at the moment - which is giving me the heebie-jeebies I can tell you.  I am doing everything I can to get rid of it, but it will take time because I don't use "normal" pharmaceutical medicines, I use herbal remedies - which takes a bit longer but is more acceptable for my body.

Anyway - enough of me griping about my gob!!

I hope you enjoy the video 😁

As always,

Blessings to you all

)O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden - Vlog # 14 - Easter

Hello my lovelies,

HAPPY EASTER if you are celebrating..

I have another Garden Vlog Catch-up thingy video on my YouTube channel...

I hope you will enjoy it!!

Catch you next week,

Annette )O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden & Witchery - Garden Vlog # 13 - GARDEN TOUR April 2025

Hello my Lovelies,

It's that time again for another Garden Tour video - what is happening in my gardens in April 2025.

I hope you enjoy it...

I have something a bit special coming up next week with herbal remedies that I make for my health - so I will be showing you what I do to make them.

Have a wonderful week!!

Blessings,

Annette )O( xxx

Witch Vlog # 6 My Mabon/Autumn Equinox Weekend.

Hello My Magickal Unicorns,

Better late than never - I have uploaded my Mabon/Autumn Equinox video to my YouTube Channel - I hope you enjoy it...    

Many Blessings to you all in the Southern Hemisphere, for the Autumnal Season.

Annette )O( xxx

Autumn in South Australia 2025

Hello my little Magickal Unicorns, 

Well here it is the 15th of March and we are supposed to be in Autumn now. 

Mabon is upon us next Friday (21st - is usually when I celebrate), and nobody has told the weather that it is no longer summer. 

We have 39 degrees Celsius today, so I am sitting in my witchy room under the fan - trying desperately to keep cool. I'm not a fan of the heat. I used to be when I was younger - pre going through menopause. But now I love the cooler months (still not liking the heart of winter when it is too cold hahaha).

Spring is my ultimate favourite season - when everything starts to burst forward with life. Secondly is Autumn (if one should ever get an Autumn that is) then I guess I would have to then take Winter over Summer. 

I find the heat of Summer drains the energy out of me - most days all I can do outside is water my gardens.... and then.... collapse!!! For me, it is easier to keep warm than it is to keep cool - yes we can put the air-conditioner on, but that dries the air out and causes breathing difficulties (though it is nice at night when it is still in the high 20's and you need to sleep). 

Just a quick catch-up - So this year - 2025 - is there any signs of Autumn yet? 

Yes there are - even though most of my garden is still quite green (other than the plants that have died in the extreme heat we have had), some of the leaves are starting to turn yellow. The trees are a bit confused though as they are starting to bud!! 

We have not had any rain for 4 months now, so I lost a lot of plants even though I have watered sometimes twice a day to keep them alive. 

Some of my produce I grew this year was disappointing - small and bitter. And everything in my top garden beds just turned up toes and died there maybe something wrong with the soil up there, so I am going to do some testing and amending of soil, plus put in some green manure to grow over winter - just so those beds will be ready for Spring planting. 

My greenhouse is still WAY TOO HOT to start any seeds off yet - it's going to be late planting this year.  

On Sunday there will be another Gloomy's Garden Vlog coming out with a little tour of my garden and all its issues.... I hope you enjoy a sneak peak into my garden world. 

PLUS - hopefully, if all the stars align, I will have a witchcraft video out for you the very next weekend to do with Mabon...

My Autumn Altar 2025

Until then - I am just about to go and process my pomegranates (which we harvested a couple of weeks ago and had so many that we have fed 6 families with them), so I can make some apple & pomegranate jam.  Plus I am hoping to save some of the peels to dry them out for tea making purposes.

I hope all is well wherever you are.

Have a blessed week ahead, thanks for catching up with me today!! 

Annette )O( xxx

Witch Vlog # 5 - Altar Cleansing Spray & Altar Cloths

Greetings Everyone, I hope you are all keeping well, I have just uploaded another Witch Vlog to my YouTube channel for those of you who are interested in Altar Cleansing Spray and finding out about my Altar cloths - enjoy!!

Gloomy's Garden - Vlog 11 - End of Summer Catch-up

Hi Everyone,

Just another Gloomy's Garden Vlog for end of summer...

I hope you enjoy it!!

Witch Vlog #4 The Un-Boxing of The Healthy Witch Oracle Deck.

Hi My Lovelies,

Here is my latest video - it's an oracle deck unboxing.

I hope you like it. Take care and many blessings!!
Annette

Witch Vlog # 3 Lughnasadh Weekend - No speaking

Just a little video about my Lughnasadh weekend - this is a non verbal video, so all you have playing is my hubby's music whilst I put little subtitles on here and there.
I hope you enjoy it...
Blessings to you all, Annette )O( xxx

Witch Vlog # 2 Lughnasadh - now available on YouTube

New Year - New Moon - New Beginning - First blog of 2025!!!

 Greetings and Salutations All & A Happy New Year!!

I bet a few of you have hangovers today hahaha - a few parties and few too many drinks later!

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

We spent our New Year's Eve at home, nothing special really - I managed to clean out my Greenhouse of all plants and give it a good sweep through.  We then sat under the gazebo and Paul wrote a couple of new guitar tracks, so we listened to him and sang along whilst I was repotting a fern and ripping up cardboard/paper for composting.  Caetlyn was doing her knitting (swearing a lot because she miss counted or dropped a stitch... hahaha) and Mavis the dog was just following anyone around to see if she could help or sleeping under the table!

Later in the day we just had a normal meal, watched a bit of telly and then played scrabble until it was time to wish each other a HAPPY NEW YEAR.  We did consume a lot of sweets and biscuits/cookies though - which we con't normally do as we have reduced our sugar and salt intake over 2024 quite substantially, so when we have a burst of sugar like this, it does disrupt our bodily patterns somewhat!

As it was also the New Moon, a time to start something new, a fresh beginning as it is the start of the new moon cycle.  I did light my huge candle and some incense to welcome in the new year - however, I don't really get excited about it because our (witchy) new year isn't until Samhain on 1st May.

This year in the Chinese Horoscope it is the year of the Wood Snake (which means it's Paul's year this year). That doesn't come into effect until 29th January 2025.

Thinking of 2025 - I do hope that this year will be a better year than the previous 3 years, which have been a bit rough - and even though I do not make resolutions (as I am always disappointed in myself when they all fall apart), there are a few things (goals perhaps?) I would like to do:

1. Keep trying to get fitter and healthier - as I am getting older I need to make sure that I maintain my flexibility and fitness levels so that I don't end up on the "Medication Merry-go-Round".  I believe that Mother Nature has provided us with all the help we need in the forms of herbs and food for medicine.  I have created a spreadsheet for the next 6 months with every detail I need to form an opinion on patterns (good or bad) so that I can tweak my fitness progress:

Front Page of my Fitness Plan

I have included things like exercise, rest, daily health assessments, supplements taken, fortnightly weight and monthly body measurements.  With this information I should be able to see what progress I am making, and if I am not making progress, I should be able to see where I am failing with all the collected information.  I also have a page for NOTES after each month and on there - well it's like a journal - I put my feelings on certain days so I can see if there are any cycles or patterns there.

It should be all very interesting!!

2.  I would like to progress my YouTube channel by varying the content on there, hoping I will get more followers (but if I don't, ah well C'est Lavie), I will still have fun documenting my journey in life...

My YouTube Banner
Annette McLean's YouTube

So if you want to see more videos on Gloomy's Garden, or on my witchcraft practice, herbal remedies, book reviews, Q&A's and Tea & Chat videos, hop along on the bad foot to my channel and press subscribe, and ring the bell so you are notified of when I upload.  It would be greatly appreciated!!

3.  I would like to learn how to make my own soap - from scratch - right now I have done the melt and pour soap, and I am about to embark on the reusing the old soap bits that usually get thrown away - to make soap bars... but I would really love to learn how to make pure soap from scratch, using the oils I have infused with herbs and flowers from my garden.  I am a bit wary about the Lye though - I have heard that can be quite a thing to get used to!!

Melt & Pour Lavender Soap

I thought that the soap and pour ones were very easy to do and with the soap colours, they looked quite pretty (plus I did put some Lavender blossoms and oil in the mix as well).  For my first try I was quite pleased with them - I  did some flowers and some stars - it was a gift for a friend (along with a load of other witchy items) that was moving interstate.

4.  I want to repaint and redecorate my witchy room come office.... I want to make it feel more mystical and magickal, full of beautiful things that make me feel peaceful and joyful.

My messy work desk and Altar

My witchy cupboards and a load of mess

My bookshelves filled with odds & sods (mess)

However, if I don't get to these things this year - there is always a next, I am not going to be putting undue pressure on myself just to prove a point. 

To do my room I will probably have a month off in either April or May so that I can take my time and get it how I want it.

Isn't it lovely to have a new year, a fresh start?  To get rid of ALL the negative aspects out of your life (as much as possible - unless you live in a cottage deep in the heart of a wild forest somewhere, where nobody visits and you have no media to drag you down, just nature) and just breathe a sigh of relief, knowing YOU are in FULL control of what happens in your life - sure, those around you or situations can influence that and how you react, but at the end of the day - YOU are the one who makes the decisions for YOU!!

Take control of that aspect this year - say NO more to things that you don't want to do - even at the risk of upsetting someone you love or the boss at work!

This year is a time of YOU

Now you might think that this is self-centred... and maybe it is to a point, but we have all been living under a man made stress for so long despite our mental and physical health.  Self Care is NOT self-centred, it is hard to be everything to everyone if your health is on the brink of crumbling around you.... To be strong, you NEED to concentrate on getting YOU right FIRST.  That is why NO is going to be the word of 2025....

If you don't want to go to a party and you would rather stay home in your PJ's with your cat/dog, watching something on TV or reading a book - then say NO.

If you don't want to take on more responsibility at work, tell them that you don't have the capacity to do that - say NO.

If you have a gut feeling that something isn't right and you don't want to proceed - then NO!!

It just amounts to prioritising YOU first.

Anyway, enough of me ranting - I'm off to spend some time in nature (my back garden), so have a lovely first day of January 2025 - get some rest, eat well, spend some time in nature and breathe in all that goodness, and I will catch you in the next blog or vlog on YouTube.

Blessings to you all )O( xxx