Celebrating – Spring is Coming

Prayers and Meditations. Hermit and Ametrine.

The beginning of a Calendula oil sun infusion! (Calendula is good for healing the skin).

My Brigid Bath Brew: Sea salt, black lava salt, French green clay,  and Calendula flowers.

FINALLY! A stocked apothecary cabinet thanks to Mountain Rose Herbs (mostly).

Kingdom of Me

I felt stupid.

I felt like a failure.

I felt weak.

I felt angry at everything.

I felt like i was letting something down.

I felt like the world was against me.

No, that I was against me.

Then Eric said "Spring will forgive you, baby."

I realized he was right.

I drew the Hermit, alone with his lantern of truth; it is harder to see with just one lantern.

I drew the ten of swords, trying to let everyone else take the blame and reaching out for,

not help but excuses.

I drew strength...not always brute force.

I drew the chariot...victorious and rejoicing. 

The card that was missing from strength and ten of swords was the two of wands...

This is the Me I want to keep, not the dejected and disappointed me.

Long live the Kingdom of Me.

My body is my temple and I am it's priestess.

Fire and Ice

DReAmCAtCHer

Down down down

Spiral down to me my dearest of dreams

Wrap me away to a drifting floating calm

Catch my dreams for me...

Small Update Of the FunTimes

Store found in downtown P-town:  Clarysage wonderful lady and a well stocked little shop on                              Alberta street, Portland OR

A few recipes started and still ShAKING It UP~
Lavender buds in a carrier oil
Calendula flowers in carrier oil
Valerian tincture (ps, better as a tea, it keeps more nutrients)
St. John's Wort tincture (such a pretty color!)
White Willow Tincture (New favorite herb)

Ginger CRAZE
Ginger chews
Ginger syrup: great on just about everything from oatmeal, to steamed carrots to soda water.










Bath salt beauty. It reminds me of painting, when I am feeling frustrated or angry I go into my little room and whip up the perfect salt to make me feel better. I feel greedy and sexy afterwards. A strange sort of healing.

I call this one Pink Gold: It is Pink Himalayan, Black Kai Hawaii salts and lavender buds.
It also has geranium, neroli, lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree. I added some green clay to mine as well as some baking soda. It is like my luxury salts...so soft and fizzy!

                                    ~Right now I am working on a calendula salve for my dry skin~

Drowning Myself, Snuffing Candles, and Clearing Space

Today is day 15 of the January Water Challenge. 15 days of over 80 ounces of water every 24 hours. 15 days with an enormous circle of women coming to see the great benefits of proper hydration. 

I almost drowned. 

Literally. 

We were encouraged to be drinking 80-100 oz. a day, to begin to clear out our bodies and to heal us. 

I took that to heart. Challenge accepted.

Except, what I didn't realize, is that one is not supposed to drink more than 32 oz. of water an hour. I would be in such a rush, a time crunch to complete my challenge, that I would gulp it down glass after glass.

I was having worse headaches than I was when I was under-hydrated. 

Fatigue. Constantly.

I felt water-logged, not to mention I had to pee all the time.

Hyponatremia

Water Intoxication.

Oops.

I dropped my sodium levels to an all-time low, and didn't realize that was what I was doing until curiosity prompted me to Google my symptoms.  I was, in a nutshell, drowning my brain.

As you can imagine, I rushed to the kitchen, downed something rather salty (pizza... I didn't know what else to eat that was readily available), and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade, which has a modest amount of sodium (ooohhhh THAT'S why athletes gulp the stuff down instead of water... right...). The body needs a certain level of sodium to survive. 

Oops...

I started feeling better very soon after. I dropped my daily goal to 85-90 oz., and haven't had a headache (water-related, either way) since. I've also noticed my skin balancing itself out a bit. I have more energy, and I cannot wait to get my diet straightened out a bit to feel full benefits (you know how it is post-holidays). 

Yoga is starting to become a regularity again, thank goodness. I'm determined to get back into swimming shape. Okay, maybe not PEAK swim season (that requires a lot of time that I should devote to having a social life... for the sake of sanity), but close. I want some more tone and endurance, and upper arm strength.

In fact that is part of the reasoning for my word of intention: Candle.


A candle is consistent as it burns. It, to me, represents a sort of underestimated strength and courage. A light in the darkness. A warmth. I want to be more warm, friendly, inviting. I seem to put off a "fuck off" sort of vibe, and I want to change that. I'm a rather private person, in person. It takes no small amount of courage for me to automatically be warm and open, especially to other females (go figure... I can get along with guys no problem). But this also goes as far as getting into shape, for me. As long as I keep the candle of motivation going, I'm good. I can reach my goals. But lately, I've been snuffing the candle. Snuffing that light that is me. It is my intent, this year, to keep that candle going.



“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – The Buddha


I like that last part, that happiness isn't diminished by sharing... Perhaps I should learn to share more. Spread my light. That's what this year is about though, self-discovery and change.


This week, we in AC (Apothecary Circle) are intent on Clearing Space.


Basically, we're doing some early spring cleaning.


Out with the old, in with the new. 

My beast is my bedroom.

I've been living in this apartment for almost 7 months now and I still have not unpacked a few boxes. I KNOW that they are full of crap I don't really care about and haven't cared to go through. So there they sit, a constant reminder my sloth. Tut tut. It shall not do any longer.


I'm forging my sacred space too. I have a little corner table and chair (aside from my desk/drafting table, that is for work and art) that I've designated for my "church," if you will. It's where I keep things important to me. Certain books, dried roses, a few pictures. We all create spaces like this in our homes, conscious or not. It could be your bookcase, or your entertainment center, or even your nightstand. The things you value most tend to remain localized. But of course, I know there are exceptions. :) But this is my little corner to be with the devine, with God. A place to read and to pray and to ponder. At least, that is the working plan.




Much love to all of you who come into the place. AND if you are interested in joining our circle, there is time in March for you to do so! Click here for the listing by Laura Emily at Good Earth Living.



Sat nam.

- Rain

Always with you

Rosalie is.
Always with me.

Reach

So we have come a bit in the class already and drinking water is a more difficult chore than first imagined. Drinking enough isn't the difficulty. I drink about eighty six ounces with out trying. The hard part is making it a habit, remembering to drink. So I put an alarm on my phone. its been working lately.
Yay water. Also I learned that a strew cup is easier. Heh heh heh.

A Word of Intent

My Word of Intention, a themed New Year' s resolution, if you will. A word to help me reach my goals for the year, and for my life. What's yours?

The Sparking of the Fire

Welcome to our home here at Rain and a Rose! Cold outside, isn't it? Well we hope you have found some warmth through these early winter months!

I suppose we should explain our purpose here, should you, fair reader, choose to follow our adventures. My dearest sister and I are embarking on a year-long course in home apothecary! Now, an "apothecary," in days of old, especially in England and Ireland, was a druggist, a pharmacist of sorts (they were the guys in creepy bird beak masks during the black plague, if I'm not mistaken, but that was then!!). Nowadays, we rather liken it to one who deals in home remedies, natural medicines, herbalism, holistic goods, etc., to heal our common ailments.

In a world saturated with simple ailments given pill answers, where chemicals dominate our health care along with its rising costs, we wanted to learn an alternative way. By no means do we wish to replace doctors or pharmacists. These good people do wonders for those who need care, and we would never say no to going if it was needed. But simple things, such as headaches or cramps. Do we truly need pills for these things? We want to have an alternative answer for the simple things. 

In comes Laura Emily, founder of the Apothecary Circle and Good Earth Living. Through her class, we intend to explore and create, change and grow. If you'd like to follow along, we welcome you. I am Rain, and my sister is Rose. We'll keep the fire on should you choose to stop by.