The Adoring Crow Garden’s First Flower Buds

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Spring Flower Pressing

Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, Flowers

Flowers and leaves after pressing from the Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).

Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, Stem and leaves.
Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica
Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, and Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) leaf.

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in my backyard

I am wild harvesting to formulate small batch hand poured intention candles. These are Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) flower petals. It is a very tall tree and these were ground collected. The tulip tree is in the magnolia family and is also known as the Tulip Poplar or the canoe tree.There are two species, the Asian and the North American. The North American variety reaches 58 m (192 feet) in height.The tulip tree is rivaled in height in eastern forests only by the white pine, loblolly pine, and eastern hemlock. The flowers are 3-10cm in diameter and form after 15 years in age. Its wood has been used traditionally for furniture, and cabinetry and is only slightly rot resistant and not used in shipbuilding, but rather small crafts. Native Americans used the large trunks to create dugout canoes due to it’s fine grain.

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) this particular tree is infested with bittersweet which I am in the process of removing.

Traditionally, the inner bark was used as a tonic medicine, and the highly astringent leaves were applied topically for fever, sprains, bruises and rheumatic swellings. It has also been used to overcome a long illness and stimulates the appetite and improves digestion. It has been used as a Native American heart remedy and after a stroke. The root bark induces sweating. Some herbalists use for autoimmune diseases.

Ground harvested Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) petals

The tulip tree has been known spiritually as a flower essence to overcome low self esteem, bring spiritual nourishment, and a reconnection with your spiritual nature. To connect to a plants spirit you approach it with an open heart. You ask the plant spirits if they would be willing to teach you. And you wait. Trees move in a different time awareness than we do. You visit again and follow your inner calling, it may be small, an inner knowing or where you feel called, an image, a melody. Plant spirits may talk to you in a way only you understand and usually not in words. Thank the spirits for listening and leave offerings of tobacco, or milk and honey.I have been helping the Tulp trees in my backyard that are covered in bittersweet invasive vine.

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) upclose of flower from wiki commons

Working with Rosemary

Blessed Beltane! My Rosemary bloomed today! Rosemary is my Grandmothers name so this plant has a special place in my heart.Magical AttributesRosemary is male in nature and ruled by Leo, the element fire and the sun (or Moon, depending who you ask)
It’s sacred to Hebe, Aphrodite and the Virgin Mary.
Rosemary can be used in spells for fidelity and remembrance as well as to dispel jealousy.
Rosemary is useful for ritual baths, and for making sacred herbal water for ritual cleansing, blessing and purification. Bathing in rosemary will enhance your memory and will make you more memorable to those you meet throughout the day.
Use rosemary in spells to enhance memory, including those spells for success in school. Also use for spells to retain youth and burn as incense when you are meditating or doing dream work to remember your past lives.
Place rosemary under your pillow to help you to remember your dreams and to keep away nightmares and other unwanted nighttime visitations.
Rosemary may be used in handfasting ceremonies in a variety of ways. It can be carried or worn by the bride and/or groom to symbolize love and loyalty and it may also be gifted to guests for the same purpose. If a bride and groom plant a rosemary plant together on their wedding day, they can watch it as it grows to divine the family’s fortune.
If you haven’t chosen a mate yet and have several to think about, name a pot for each one and plant rosemary in each pot. The one that grows the fastest and strongest is your best choice. If you don’t have any options, make a poppet of yourself and stuff it with rosemary to attract a lover to you. You can also do this to attract healing energy.
Burn rosemary and juniper together to aid with healing, and to fumigate a home where there has been a long illness to drive out the negativity associated with disease. It can also be burned with sage to fumigate a ritual area or to drive negativity away from any space, object or person.Wear Rosemary oil on those occasions that you want to make a lasting impression. -source witchipedia
May your summer be filled with blooms of health and joy.
#rosemary #magicalplants #witchesofinstagram #witches #paganartist

Transformation & Crow

cropped-the-adoring-crow-bcir
Crow from Anguish, a painting by August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck

Hi Everyone!

After much contemplation I have decided that the name Sparrow Made Co no longer fits with my creations, self or purpose. I have a much deeper connection with Spirit now and in that reflection I feel I have shed my former self/selves many times. I will now be devoting my creations to my practice. My practice refers to my connection with Spirit, Nature, and the intention we put forth when connected deeply to a moral compass of love. Crow has been with me for a long time and in her honor I have named my Creative home, The Adoring Crow.

Throughout time the Crow, and their family member the Raven, has been seen as either an ally or a negative omen. I do not see the crow as a negative omen because it is one of the Spirits that can fly freely from the land of the living to the land of the dead unscathed. It is associated with wisdom, intelligence, watchfulness, magic, mysticism, and past-life connections. They hold large roles in mythology. Black is the color of creation, it is the womb out of which the new is born. It is also the color of Night, black night gives birth to new day. Though the crow is a diurnal, or daytime creature, it reminds us that magic and creation are very much alive during the day. Due to its color crow played a very large part in medieval alchemy. Crow represents the “nigredo,” or the initial state of substance, unformed but full of potential.

In Roman mythology Raven and Crow used to be white, a white crow watched over Apollo’s pregnant lover at Delphos, but when the crow brought Apollo bad news, he turned the crow black. The crows association to watchfulness is still with us today. They always have a sentinel posted and build their nests high in the treetops to watch for predators. They also warn other animals when danger is near, such as hunters looking for deer.

This ability for warning is its second most noticeable characteristic, its voice. The crow is actually considered a songbird due to the shape of its voicebox. The crow has its own language, they caw in many different ways with each caw having its own meaning. We can all learn the language of the crows. The cawing of the crow reminds us that magic and creation are cawing out to us everyday. They can also serve as a warning or alarm.

Male crows sing lovely tunes to their mates and preen their feathers to be as handsome as possible. The pair build their nests together and they do not soil their nests, even the younglings keep the nests clean. A reminder to us to keep our spaces clean both energetically and physically.

Throughout time the crow has woven itself into our mythology. Their stories can connect us to the ancient past. They have appeared in Roman, Chinese (a three legged crow was worshiped as a symbol of solitude), Athapaskan Indians of Alaska (A crow in the form of Raven was the creator of the world), The Celts (the crow was associated with creation, In the Bible, the prophet Elijah was fed by Ravens and crows while hiding in the wilderness, The Norse ( The God Odin had two Ravens who were is messengers, Huginn and Muninn), and many more.

Odin_hrafnar
Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin‘s shoulders in an illustration from an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript.

Wherever there are crows or ravens, there is magic. They are symbols of creation and spiritual strength, and remind us to look for chances to create and manifest the magic in life. They are messengers calling to us, teaching us about creation and the magic that is alive within ourselves and the World available to us everyday.

Join me as a walk this path of creation and magic in my new home, The Adoring Crow. My main Spirit Guide is a Crow. Her name is Rain and she is a great teacher, protector, and guide. We can work with any animal energy in our spiritual practice and daily lives. I will be writing more about these workings in the future.

Blessings to you and yours,

Angel

Prasiolite Wrapped Ring

Prasiolite wrapped in silver. .
“Prasiolite (also known as green amethyst), is a heat-treated form of amethyst. Because it closely related to both amethyst and citrine, it acts as a bridge between the solar plexus chakra (seat of the will), the heart chakra, and the third eye and crown chakras.

If you are dedicated to pursuing a spiritual life, you may have found that you are far more able to be loving in a theoretical way while on the meditation cushion than to act loving when someone cuts you off in traffic.
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Prasiolite can help bridge this disconnect and translate your spiritual growth into real life peace & connection by activating the heart as the leader of both your thoughts and actions.
Prasiolite also facilitates a stronger connection to nature. If you want to be an advocate for the environment, but you would rather lead with wisdom and heart rather than pure “warrior energy”, prasiolite is an ideal ally.
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Ultimately prasiolite helps to awaken the heart to its rightful place as the center of your human experience and enables your “heart vision”: being able to see through human flaws and failings to the perfection of the Spirit within each person. This is the deep compassion of sages.

#metalsmith #metalwork #metalart #metalworking #metalworker #metalsmith #pagan #wiccanjewelry #paganjewelry #greenwitch #witchesofinstagram #witches #greenamethyst #prasiolite