Three NEW Teas!

 Three NEW Teas!

     Just in time for my blog post to go LIVE on Samhain Sirens today I'd like to introduce you to some NEW members of the Blackthorn Hoodoo Blends Family!

Happy Birthday Amy FREE Limited Edition Teas!

We'd like to celebrate the birth of our proprietor Miss Amy Blackthorn with you choice of TWO limited edition birthday tea blends.

For the next week you'll be able to buy one of these limited edition teas, either Vanilla Panna cotta or our sexy Chocolate Cinnamon Torte.

Vanilla: Panna cotta Cake tea:  Vanilla Honeybush base and Cinnamon black Ceylon make for smoother blend of sweet and spicy.

Chocolate: Chocolate Cinnamon Torte tea:  Chocolate Chai and cinnamon black Ceylon make for a festive delight for the senses!


Free Deluxe sample with any purchase until Friday Sept 5th.  Just put Chocolate or Vanilla in the comments area.  Any purchase over $40 and you'll receive the Birthday Cake slice (Tin) of your choice.


http://blackthornhoodooblends.com/collections/frontpage/products/happy-birthday-amy-vanilla-cake

http://blackthornhoodooblends.com/products/happy-birthday-amy-chocolate-torte

Adam and Eve's Affair

This torrid affair in black tea blend is perfect for all matters of love, faithful partnership and attraction. 

http://blackthornhoodooblends.com/products/adam-and-eve-tea

Ingredients:
4 tsp Adam and Eve tea
6 ounces gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 cup sugar
5 dashes orange bitters
Orange and/or lemon twists, for garnish

Directions:
Place a saucepan over medium heat, add 3 cups water and sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 2 cups, about 10 minutes. Strain the syrup into a glass measuring cup; if you have less than 2 cups syrup, add hot water. Add the tea and steep, about 3 minutes. Gently strain the tea and cool the syrup to room temperature. Combine the syrup, gin, vermouth and bitters in a large cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously, about 20 seconds, then pour into a pitcher filled with ice. Garnish with orange and/or lemon twists.

My-Tea New Moon (Non alcoholic Mocktail)

For a MIGHTY start to your New Moon cycle, try this non alcoholic beverage. 

http://blackthornhoodooblends.com/products/my-tea-tea

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Total Time: 8 minutes

Yield: 1 

Drink Ingredients: 

1 tbsp My-Tea spice tea (unbrewed)

2 cups apple cider

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Add Tea to Cider in sauce pan. Gently heat apple cider on medium heat. Add Agave to sweeten and lemon juice to taste. Enjoy! 

Fiery Wall of Protection Chai Cocktail

Fiery Wall of Protection Chai Cocktail

This is a spicy, cozy cocktail that goes great in front of the fire pit in the back yard on a nice chilly spring night.

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 7 minutes
Yield: 1 Cocktail

Ingredients:
2 ounces Baileys Original Irish Cream
3 ounces brewed Fiery Wall of Protection chai tea (if you haven't gotten yours yet you can find it here. http://blackthornhoodooblends.com/collections/frontpage/products/fiery-wall-of-protection
Raw brown sugar
Cinnamon stick (optional)

Preparation:
Brew 3 oz of Fiery Wall of Protection to desired strength. I'm using my favorite mug from Dancing Pig Pots. https://www.etsy.com/shop/dancingpigpots

Add 2 teaspoons of raw brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Fill a coffee mug with chai tea and Baileys Original Irish Cream. Stir with cinnamon stick.  Enjoy!

Sweet Rosemary Syrup -- Lattes and Steamers await!

      Recently a friend posted a photo of her homemade latte on FB. I don't even drink coffee and this concoction looked divine.  It was inspired by the utter delicious magic of Talula's Table, Rosemary Latte, in Kennett.  I'd always adored the flavor of Rosemary as a savory flavor, but had never thought of it as a sweet flavor.  The same friend had a recent dinner party.  I honestly can't remember if it was during an Ostara bonfire or just a nice dinner one weeknight.  Nonetheless, after dinner, coffee talk started.  "You have to try this," Laura said to the guests.  As I mentioned, I don't do coffee so I was just enjoying the chatter of the evening.  Laura had different plans.  Knowing how much I adore rosemary Laura suggested a rosemary steamer instead of a Latte.  I'm down!

     It was heaven in a mug.  Heaven.  I quickly asked Laura how she had made such amazing treats in her kitchen and I was hooked.  Laura had used rosemary teabags, but I didn't find them in the stores I looked, and frankly wasn't thrilled about rosemary I couldn't see or smell beforehand.  I just grabbed the herb pack seen above from my local produce section.

     I grabbed four healthy sized sprigs of rosemary and threw them in my tea infuser (below) and filled it with three cups of boiling water.  I let it sit over night to steep, though with rosemary being woody, I could have sped the process by boiling the rosemary with the water and making a decoction.

     Because I had left the infusion over night, I boiled 2 cups of infusion to bring it to a boil.  I added two cups of sugar to a pyrex bowl.  Once the rosemary infusion was boiling I added it to the sugar to stirring vigorously to make a syrup. I did have to add a teeny bit of infusion to bring it to an even 4 cups of syrup.  I then added a splash of homemade vanilla syrup because vanilla is awesome in just about everything.  

     Once I finished my syrup I couldn't wait to try it, so I heated a mug full of milk slowly on the stove, poured it into my mug and topped it with fresh Rosemary Vanilla Syrup.  Heavenly.  Now I can enjoy whenever I want.  My husband is thrilled because now I'm drinking milk. Everyone wins.

     My fabulous mug is a favorite from Dancing Pig Pottery that says, "Gruntled Minion".  Thanks to my friend Laura for the inspiration for this blog.

      

Updated Tea Flavors

Presented in a 6 fl oz tin.  Roughly 14 cups of tea depending on preparation strength.

-Van Van Tea: The most popular Hoodoo oil in a Tea form.  Lemongrass tea removes Obstacles with just a hint of cinnamon and caffeine. Defeat Mercury Retrograde! Purification.  Banishing.  Ritual Preparation. 

-Fiery Wall of Protection: Surround yourself with this caffeinated, protective fire. Reading the 23rd Psalm over your tea, optional.  This cinnamon and ginger blend helps fill in the gaps in your defenses.  

-Come to Me: This spicy milk and honey flavored tea is a love drawing blend to bring the right lover your way.  Just a hint of cinnamon flavor means it is good with or without sugar and the rooibos base means no caffeine. 

-Peaceful Home: This comforting, caffeine free blend of vanilla, lavender and peppermint will help you focus on the path you need to get your house in order.  Bring peace back into your home with this comforting blend.  It’s your favorite cardigan with a hint of lavender. 

-Helping Hand: Feeling hit from all sides?  Get a leg up with this caffeine free blend.  Energetically promote healing, calm and boost your luck too! Soft mint and vanilla lifts you over the hurdles life brings your way. 

-Meditation: This fulfilling, herbal blend of herbs will  get you to the right state of mind.  Calm a racing mind and unwind.

-The All Seeing Eye: Boost your intuition with nutty flavors of wisdom and higher self.  Caffeine free blend turns your third eye into a magnifying glass.

-Gossip Stop: Others using their words against you? This Lemony fresh blend includes slippery elm to let their words pass you by and Burdock will keep their mud from sticking to your good name. It’s caffeine free too!

-Crown of Success: You deserve Success!  All your hard work is paying off with this soft and spicy blend of citrus and delicate florals will have you in the right frame of mind to get out of your own way and a bit of caffeine to help you achieve your goals. (Color Purple and Gold)

-Adam and Eve: This sultry black tea blend is perfect for all matters of love, faithful partnership and attraction.  This mildly caffeinated blend has enough vibrancy to keep you and your special someone up until the job is done! 

-Florida Water Tea: This blend of Clove, Orange and a hint of lavender will leave you energetically cleansed, lightly caffeinated and ready to take on the world!  Great with or without sugar!

-Triple Fast Luck: This light mint and vanilla blend paves the way and cinnamon brings your good luck on in a hurry.  Lightly caffeinated and great for a gentle morning ritual, brings good luck all day.   

-Holy Spirit: A lightly floral and green tea base with a soft, soul quenching taste.  Cleanse your space and yourself with this blessing tea.

-My-Tea Tea:  This mighty blend boosts inner strength with an empowering (and caffeinated) blend of Chai, cinnamon, ginger and lemongrass.  Instead of leaping tall buildings with a single bound, you’ll be picking them up to walk under them.  


http://blackthornhoodooblends.com

Of Green and Glass: After the 101 phase

Of Green and Glass:

Where Down to Earth Solutions and a Glass Edge Meet

By Goewin GreenWitch

Dear Goewin,

            I feel like I’m drowning.  I go to the bookstore and all I see are Wicca 101 books!  I’ve read most of them and own about half.  I get it already.  Earth is green, Air in the East, think before you cast a spell.  Where are the books for the “next step”?  I think I’m interested in Green Magic, but how do I know what’s good and what’s crap?  Seeing as you use GreenWitch as your last name, I figured I could ask you.    How do I know if this is really for me if I can’t find the right books?

-Next Not New

Dear Next,

            It’s okay, it’s not just you.  I’m pretty sure many people have a bone to pick with the publishing industry.  Authors get paid squat, and publishing companies can only produce what has already sold.  This is especially true when you are talking about a “specialty” topic like a non-mainstream religion.  They need to publish books on advanced topics, but they have to concentrate on what sells to make money.  Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism are a small enough minority, and when you factor the number of newbies versus the number of experienced practitioners of any given form or Tradition, the seekers are going to outnumber us at any given point.  Is it fair?  No, but I never promised things would be fair, just correct.

 So, how do you know if a book is right for you?  Just because a book calls itself “everything you could ever want to know”, doesn’t mean it is.  Progressing past “101” to individual paths, practices and traditions is just natural.  Some great Authors of Green Magic themed books are Ann Murphy–Hiscock,  Judika Illes (Judika doesn’t get billed as “green magic” but she has a fantastic connection with plants and their uses, Ellen Dugan (who also happens to be a Master Gardener, by the way),  Scott Cunningham, Lexa Rosean, and Poppy Palin also have several books on Herb uses, in spell work.

Keep in mind, that no matter how much you read, nothing will take the place of real world experience.  Jump online and see if there are any shops around you, check out some Open circles!  If you’re out in the middle of nowhere, there are plenty of correspondence courses for things you can learn from home.  Susun Weed offers correspondence courses as do many other famous, ‘green’ authors.  I would however caution you against joining ‘online schools’ because there is no real way of checking credentials, much of that information is available in books.  You need to be able to see what you’re paying for.

            I know it can be hard to find the next step in your faith and your practice, but please don’t let this frustration take you away from your true purpose.  Besides, let’s face it.  If you can be pulled away from a religion by one bump in the road, it must not really be for you.

Of Green and Glass: Dealing with Loss

Of Green and Glass:

Where Down to Earth Solutions and a Glass Edge Meet

By Goewin GreenWitch

Dear Goewin,

            It’s Samhain, and I’m conflicted.  I have always adored this holiday, and have since I was a child.  It was always more than the candy, and the chance to be someone else for the night.  I truly believed, even as a child that the Spirits I saw during my daily life were more easily understood at “Hallowe’en”. 

            My conflict comes from the series of events from the last year.  You see, my brother died this past spring, and it’s not clear as to whether his death was accidental or a suicide.  The police say there were drugs in his system and he stumbled onto the train tracks in his back yard.  Since no one knows for sure if it was an accident or not, it’s causing a lot of problems in our family. 

            My other brother makes things worse, by announcing that because he is recently “saved” he believes that our brother is burning in hell for having committed suicide.  Apparently he found Jesus last month in jail and that makes him an expert. 

            I’d love to celebrate Samhain and Honor him as I would any of my beloved dead, but I don’t feel his is “really” dead.  I’ve seen him, his spirit, a few months after his death, not in passing but for extended periods.  He asked me to tell our father that he was okay.  My dad has just now started to seem like his old self and I don’t want to hurt him further by mentioning it.

Do I know if he committed suicide?  No. I was too mad at my brother for dying to speak to him when he appeared to me. So all I know is that he says he’s okay.  Obviously (to me) if he can pop in to say he’s okay, then he’s not burning in hell.  Some might say that this was just my imagination brought on by grief, but I really believe it was him. 

            I feel bad that I wouldn’t talk to him when he showed up so unexpectedly, and he hasn’t come back.  How do I go about my Samhain plans feeling like I’ve abandoned my brother when he needed me?  I can’t tell my father he’s okay.  My mother and other family members have seen ghosts and communicated with them, so I know he would believe me, but I don’t want to remind him of his pain, either.  Do I mourn a suicide victim, or just the victim of an accident?

-Sad at Samhain

           

Dear Sad,

            That’s an awful lot to process for one person.  Any one part of that is enough to upset someone, and for you to be dealing with it at once can be hard.  I know you got dealt a crap hand in all of this, but you’re going to have to figure out a way to deal.  Life isn’t always fair, but I can tell you are a tough cookie, and you’ll do fine.  Let’s take this piece by piece. 

            Your brother’s death is a hard enough problem to deal with by itself.  It’s hard to have closure when you know the how of his death, but not the why.  I know it’s hard to talk about; suicide is almost as much a taboo in the Pagan community as it is in the mundane. 

Not many people know that there is a Goddess just for suicide victims.  Ixtab is a Mayan Goddess, who is believed to carry the souls of suicide victims in her heart to Paradise.  I’m sure if suicide were involved, she carried your brother in her heart to a place where he could rest and deal with what happened before moving on. 

I know you want to honor your brother’s memory by letting your father know he is okay, but I think the time for this is down the way, after he has had time to overcome his grief at his loss.  

With the common belief in reincarnation and the Summerland as a part of Wiccan and some Pagan beliefs it’s common to hear that victims of suicide weren’t capable of dealing with the lessons they chose for this lifetime and that they’ll need to repeat them in the next.  Whether or not he was an accident victim or not, I firmly believe that his coming to you to let you know he was okay was the important part. 

            Your brother’s assertions about heaven and hell come from his desire to exert some control over his loss and his own feelings.  Even though it is hurtful to you to hear him say these things, it’s merely his way of dealing.  It doesn’t make it right, but I hope that helps you understand where he’s coming from. 

            Samhain is the perfect time to let him know that you love him and miss him.  You can set up a special ancestral altar, and give photos of him prominence. Talk to him as if he were standing in front of you.  I’m sure wherever he is, he will hear you.  Don’t muddy your celebration with feelings of guilt.  You responded as many people would.  Samhain is the time to celebrate the times you enjoyed with your loved ones, not to concentrate on their death.  On this day he is not an accident victim, or a suicide victim, he’s your brother.