#tsp corde | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

epersonae · 1 year

Text

The Cooking Project: Yakitori-don

The next card in the stack was a recipe from a friend who I believe lived in Japan for a year. She shared it in Slack, and I wrote it down on a card because free Slack instances have limited history availability. (there will be another recipe later, I think, with a similar origin) I don't know exactly how long ago I wrote it down (2 or 3 years ago, probably), and I've never made it.

Summary: pretty good, would make again with a couple of mods. Unfortunately, there will be a long digression into rice cooking first.

Recipe text, transcribed

Yakitori-don (from Amanda C.)

2-4 chicken breasts 1 c soy sauce 1/2 c sugar 1 tsp garlic salt 1 onion, chopped

all into crock pot on low, 8 hrs [arrow leads to a notes that says try instant for 10 min & quick release] shred chicken, stir back into sauce serve over Nishiki (?) rice

[Nishiki rice, when I looked it up, turns out to be a medium grain white rice similar to Calrose. we'll get to Problems With Rice next]

Things that happen when you move while Trauma, or: Problems With Rice

So my favorite way to make rice, not owning a rice cooker, is with an instant pot. As it happens, I own two of them, because Ryn brought one when they moved out here. Which, I thought: perfect! One for the chicken and one for the rice.

Except, as it turns out, Ryn's rice cooker has a detachable cord. Which was detached at some point presumably in August or September 2021, and is........ SOMEWHERE. Is that somewhere in the box, which is probably in the garage? Is it in another shelf in the kitchen behind a bunch of stuff? Is it in the landfill? I have no idea (yet).

[the Instant Pot that betrayed me]

Which means there was only one instant pot, which is a lot less fun than there was only one bed.

I didn't buy medium grain white rice for this recipe, because I had long grain on hand, and, eh. But that means that my rice is in a container and does not have cooking instructions. So I opened up my trusty copy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which I think I got as a Christmas present like 10 years ago, on the assumption that it would have the usual X rice to Y water for Z time formula that one might find on the back of a bag of rice. Instead, he suggests a method that is "Far easier and more reliable [...] which will work well for any kind of white rice at all" that involves a lot of watching and fiddling with the heat. (which on a gas stove can be quite tricky!) Without getting too deep into it:

I think it might have been cooked properly at the bottom, but the top was almost entirely uncooked. So I started over using his microwave method, which was fine (slightly undercooked) but also got wet starch all over the inside of my microwave. Do not recommend.

tl;dr: If I can't find the power cord for that instant pot, I will probably be buying a rice cooker.

Ok, but how was the chicken?

My one mod in prepping is my standard: I hate the texture of onion, cooked or raw, and at some point I discovered that grating an onion gets the umami of it without the texture. So I did that.

Dumped everything in the instant pot (two chicken breasts, btw), stirred it around a bit, and then set it for ...

Possibly 8 minutes, because I was distracted by all the rice shenanigans, and was just glancing at the card when I set the timer, and uh, may have read the number next to "crock pot" instead of the number next to "instant".

In any case, I did that, set it for 5 minutes before releasing (because that matched the time the microwaved rice needed to sit), and shredded, then let that sit for a little bit while I did a few other things in the kitchen.

[none of the photos I took are particularly good or interesting, tbh]

Final thoughts

It was: fine. I think I just don't really like chicken breast very much; the whole thing definitely needed a fat of some kind to be properly satisfying. But also, it's hard to go wrong with soy sauce and sugar and garlic and onion. I will say that I think cooking the onion raw in liquid made the house smell weird.

It was a decent dinner, made just enough to have leftovers for lunch today. Mostly I wish I'd had some snow peas or something, tho.

I will probably make it again with the following modifications: chicken thighs instead of breast, and either onion powder or saute the onion first for a little better onion flavor (slash less-weird house smell).

If I were being ✨ fancy ✨, I'd reduce the sauce a bit, maybe with a little cornstarch, and I can see where this is probably a big difference between crock pot (which I don't own) and instant pot.

All of that contingent on actually being able to make good rice, though.

#food as play #I also had a weird intense emotion reaction to it maybe not turning out related to some personal trauma history #which was helpful (!) in uncovering more thoughts about why getting back to cooking is hard #so already I've learned something!

12 notes · View notes

thewhizzyhead · 2 years

Text

also i find it really cool how kevan brighting aka the dude who plays the narrator in the stanley parable is quite interactive with the fanbase in contributing to their own works based off the stanley parable. like, he literally lent his voice to a short film inspired by TSP alongside other videos he starred in. that's really really cool

#also i wanna give him all the awards in the world for his performance in the game like he gave the narrator so much depth #in how expressive he is #and the effort too LIKE HE BASICALLY VOICED THE ENTIRE GAME AGAIN FOR ALL OF THE BUCKET ENDINGS WOAH KUDOS TO HIS VOCAL CORDS #anyways yea i am in a stanley parable mood atm and i am having fun #tomorrow's mood will probably be portal so um stay tuned for that #the stanley parable #tsp narrator #kevan brighting

106 notes · View notes

hellofastudysession · 2 years

Text

[I.D.: Drawing of the mannequin that's Stanley's wife (TSP), who's smiling big and cheerful at the camera and standing in its kitchen. She has cartoonish freckles, no arms, no hair, and no eyes. A cord twines around her in loops and curls, leading to a phone seized above her with a floating hand, and a plug in the wall that's about to be delicately unplugged by another hand.

More of her hands are in the background, doing things like adjusting a bucket's tie, carrying a tray of fresh bread, and pressing the microwave's button. The cords, the phone, the plug, and Stanley's wife's freckles and cheeks are all bright neon shades of green and yellow, contrasting the dull olive-brown background, which makes a house-shaped silhouette. End I.D.]

hi, stanley!

#stanley's wife wednesday stanley's wife wednesday!#personal #described #the stanley parable #stanley its your fucking wife

34 notes · View notes

sysig · 5 years

Photo

It’s him.......lad...........

#My art #The Stanley Parable #TSP #Bruises #Feel free to ask for more tags - pretty much anything that can happen to his left hand does #Woah actual shading and eyes?? What's that about #Still chibi because I love chibi uwu #I've talked a little about Sinister before but I don't think I've talked fully about him over on this blog #He was inspired by a TSP dream! Ain't that neato #Might reblog those posts over here or Soul at some point lol they are still cute #Basically his deal is - that thing on his left arm? It's like a plastic wire/cord thingy that gives Narra control over that arm #Only that arm and he can only move it within the bounds of his body it won't like dislocate his shoulder #I mean it could if Narra made him grab something suddenly and it jerked out of place but generally it can only go to the end of his reach #It can also make him close his fingers and the like but other than that it's just his arm lol #And it's pretty banged up because Narra can't feel any of the pain he inflicts - it's not his arm after all! - so he just keeps smacking it #He has touched the fire in the baby game room more than once lol #Stanley does not take kindly to it lol he's very fed up with Narra's shit #It's also a little tight so it cuts off his circulation pretty regularly

8 notes · View notes

morgandria · 2 years

Text

A bit of honey.

I’m late, but this is my #HaggingOut for July on the theme of Honey. It’s more a collection of things regarding bees and some recipes, since I didn’t have any active honey-based projects in July.

I love bees. I always have. I think of bees as a symbol of plenty and fertility, and a sign that a place is thriving. You can’t have a healthy land and a hearty harvest without the work of bees. Like most mammals I dislike getting stung, but it’s rare, and I’m rather content to let them buzz around me so long as we’re not pissing each other off.

Every summer I have a companion spirit that moves with me, who arrives in May and leaves by Canadian Thanksgiving. Grackle is a common guest. Last summer it was Garden Spider. I’ve had Frog, Toad, Snail, Spider, Garter Snake and Dragonfly. But most often it’s Bee, usually in the guise of a bumblebee.

I have made many lovely pieces of jewelry featuring bees over the years, a few of which I’ve kept with me:

And there’s a few that have moved on, but still remain favorites. I made a ritual cord that had bee charms for the tassel ends, and a full set of Aset regalia for a fellow covener’s first time as the vessel in an Invocation ritual that featured bees. I cannot think of things Kemetic without thinking of “They of Sedge and Bee”.

My grandparents always had buckwheat honey, which is strong and dark and thick, and that’s where my palate has stayed. I like most honey, but buckwheat honey from the fields around me sings to me. I buy my own honey from a local farm at the farmer’s market who really work hard to nurture the local native landscape. They also sell a huge bucket of their regular honey that let me bake and Craft with it to my heart’s content for quite a while.

I’m going to share two recipes, and then toddle off:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/09/majestic-and-moist-honey-cake/

Smitten Kitchen’s Honey Cake is hands down the best recipe I’ve tried. I stud mine heavily with nuts, more than they call for, but it’s equally as good without. I’m sure with some finangling it can be made suitable for various diets (although not vegan). I heartily recommend that you use 1tsp. of baking powder, though, and not 1 tbsp!

And I’ll share a simple Honey and Oat salt scrub recipe for the bath - it leaves the skin glowing and smells amazing.

Honey and Oat Sugar Scrub

2 c. Sugar

1 c. honey

1/2 c. oats

2 tsp. vanilla extract or 5 drops vanilla oil

That’s it from me for #haggingout! See you again soon, hags.

#haggingout #bees #honey #recipes #jewelry #shiny object fixation #witchcraft #hagging out

33 notes · View notes

notpup200 · 2 years

Note

pup do you have any tsp stanley or narrator headcanons answer quickly (or dont it doesnt matter)

Oh hello! Sorry, it wont be quick bc I just woke up.

Let's see, headcanons huh?

Well, some of these may not be headcanons? Sorry if they aren't:

- Mute Stanley, for one. I know, its basic of a hc, but it's good okay- (points to the Not Stanley ending)(points to the entire game)

- Narrator wears glasses! He reads a lot in the story, plus it's very easy to imagine him adjusting his glasses during that one bit in the matentice tunnel.

- Trans Stanley. Enough said.

- Autistic Narrator. I just enjoy this one. Hehe. (More or less because he states in the Serious Room ending, that he has a hard time reading human emotions. Like hrgrgrg me too.)

- the idea that the Narrator is just a shadow on the wall that follows Stanley. This one is neat to me, because during some parts of the story, the Narrator seemingly can't leave Stanley? Not sure why that is, so the idea that he's attached to Stanley somewhat is fun to imagine.

- In Zending, Narrator can mimic the glowing lights of the colors during it.

- Stanley is either married still, or divorced. (Seeing as Narrator is the concept of divorce.)

- 432 is mostly glitched out, and I imagine they left the office space somehow, and ended up in the files / code of the Parable. (Gaster moment)

- Curator definitely has her hair in a bun, and glasses with those little hanging cord things also.

- Mariella works in the same building Stanley does! Biggest headcanon for me, I feel. I think it makes sense? Plus, I dunno. I think it's fun to imagine Mariella having her own Parable. Perhaps it's the business meeting, when all of a sudden, her co-workers seemingly vanish.

- adding onto the Mariella Parable thing, we see Stanley's model walk past a window in an Easter egg, which is odd, because shouldn't we see a different model? Just saying, I think that Easter egg is meant for Mariella's Parable, but somehow ended up in Stanley's.

- Narrator, while seemingly omnipresent, doesnt know everything in the Parable. (Escape Pod Ending, Confusion Ending, etc etc) So I like to imagine hes just some nerd in a booth, who pretended to make TSP. Just some guy! A stage guy, if you will.

- Narrator is a Theatre nerd. He so obviously is. Theatre kid. (Points) nerd.

Yeah that's all I got for now.

If I can recall anymore, or add on anymore, maybe I'll rb this and add on to it.

Anyways, enjoy that, I guess?

7 notes · View notes

jbird-the-manwich · 4 years

Text

Warding and Protection During Spirit Flight

This Post is for and dedicated to @ivycrownedwitch, who generously commissioned me for research by way of donation to the CvltSqvad Fundraiser, to gather together spells or talismans on warding, and protection during spirit flight. NGL, This was a bit of a tricky ask, and I honestly wasn’t sure where to start to find historical examples 😅 However, the search was not entirely fruitless at least from an operative witchcraft angle, and I found a few solid examples, and enough related information that anyone interested should be able to build out a warding method from a variety of materials for a variety of use cases.

In The Viridarium Umbris, Daniel Schulke lists a variety of plants that could be allied to suit the purpose with a little ingenuity:

Of further interest to the topic of protection while outside the body, are these sections of Roger J Hornes Folk Witchcraft: A Guide To Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner::

“Mallow is often prepared as an unguent and applied to the body in order to protect against harm and cushion the wearer from metaphorical “barbs” he or she may experience.”

“[...] Simple talisman is made of rowan berries, pierced and dried, then strung on a red thread. Over it, the following charm is spoken to awaken its protective qualities:

Rowan Berry and red thread,

Bring all evil to its sped.”

“[..] charm of defense and blessing was used against “elf-shot” a kind of attack from the spirit world that could be performed by faeries or by witches during spirit-flight.

I charge thee against arrowshot,

against doorshot, against wombshot,

against eyeshot, against tongueshot,

against livershot, against lungshot,

against heartshot, all the most.

In our Lady’s name, I pray it.”

In Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways, Author Gemma Gary Provides the following: This recipe, apparently intended to be employed as a sprinkling powder:

“To raise a protective boundary in preparation for potentially dangerous, harmful, or unfamiliar situations and in cases of suspected ill-wishing:

Clove Oil - 5 drops

Dragons Blood - 2 tsp

Fern - 3 tsp

Frankincense - 1 tsp

Holly - 1 tsp

Horehound - 1 tsp

Juniper - 1 tsp

Mint oil - 3 tsp

Mullein - 1 1/2 tsp,

Pine needles - 1 tsp,

Alum 1 - 1 1/2 tsp

As well as the following charm:

“An old iron key, tied to a red cord that passes through a hag stone, is another charm that employs the holed stone to bestow otherworldy protection upon the home and all who dwell within it, whilst also making use of the potent protective qualities of iron”

In The Black Toad, The same author provides these examples of protective warding talismans, which could likely be put to good use for the purpose*:

The following paper talisman found in the Black Toad is an interesting example of talismanic magic, and several variations of this seal exist, a version also appears in Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft:

Within The Galdabrok, (Flowers translation) are found a number of talismans for similar ends, which could also be leveraged specifically for the purpose of astral travel:

The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells By Judika Isles is likely my least favorite texts to source, but does list the following:

“ROLOR Square

This magic square allegedly enables you to fly like a crow. Write the following onto parchment, preferably using Raven’s Feather Ink [Typo?]

R O L O R

O B U F O

L U A U L

O F U B O

R O L O R

Pin this paper to your chest. Close your eyes, relax, and see whether you fly.”

The same text recommends an incense for spirit flight, originally authored by Dion Fortune:

“Benzoin Dittany of Crete Sandalwood Vanilla bean Grind all the dried ingredients into a fine powder, burn on lit charcoal [..]”

As well as another incense, composed of Mugwort and Dittany of Crete, also employed as a powder, and recommends petition of the Goddess Artemis:

“Dittany of Crete and Mugwort, two herbs closely associated with Artemis, offer assistance with accomplishing astral projection, and protection during the journey.”

Burn the Herbs as incense to accompany your journey

fill a pillow with the combined herbs

Simultaneously appeal to Artemis for assistance with your goal”

And recommends maintaining Air Potatoes (Dioscorea bulbifera) on your property to prevent uninvited witches from reaching your home through spirit flight.

Again, thanks to @ivycrownedwitch for commissioning me for research by way of donation to the Cvltsqvad Fundraiser for Sloth!

If you would like me to dig up some spells in a similar vein from these and similar texts, please read the pinned post on my blog and make a donation to our fundraiser!

#cultsquad #fundraiser #spirit flight #traditional witchcraft #warding

817 notes · View notes

crystalherbalist · 4 years

Text

banishment tea 🕯🗡

to banish unwanted energy, advances, conflict, or just about anything else.

water

cinnamon sticks

blackberries

ginger (don’t peel it)

chili powder

black tea

honey

black peppercorn

boil 2 cups of water, add 2 sticks of cinnamon, ~1/2 in nub of ginger, 1 tsp black tea, 3 blackberries, 3 black peppercorns, 2 tsp honey, dip the pad of your index finger into chili powder and rub it off with your thumb into the pot, steep 3-5 min.

optional;

charging with a black candle and/or crystals

new moon water

tie a red cord on your mug handle to further enhance the spells effects

ideal at night or in a dark space

as you can probably tell this might not be a flavour profile everyone will love, but its potent as hell and gets the job done, and the taste is not nearly as offensive as you might think, i actually really love it personally!

574 notes · View notes

annesnevilles · 4 years

Text

i watched the second episode of tsp and i’m really glad my mom is cutting the cord on our cable so i won’t be tempted to waste my time on this ridiculous show again.

#the spanish princess #kat speaks

13 notes · View notes

ihatejess · 4 years

Text

Blessed Beltane!

Beltane April 30th - May 1st

Sunset to Sunset.

Beltane honours Life. It represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer. Earth energies are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility and at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the potential becomes conception. On May Eve the sexuality of life and the earth is at its peak. Abundant fertility, on all levels, is the central theme. The Maiden goddess has reached her fullness. She is the manifestation of growth and renewal, Flora, the Goddess of Spring, the May Queen, the May Bride. The Young Oak King, as Jack-In-The-Green, as the Green Man, falls in love with her and wins her hand. The union is consummated and the May Queen becomes pregnant. Together the May Queen and the May King are symbols of the Sacred Marriage (or Heiros Gamos), the union of Earth and Sky, and this union has merrily been re-enacted by humans throughout the centuries. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action. And have some fun.....

Traditions of Beltane

Beltane is a Fire Festival. The word 'Beltane' originates from the Celtic God 'Bel', meaning 'the bright one' and the Gaelic word 'teine' meaning fire. Together they make 'Bright Fire', or 'Goodly Fire' and traditionally bonfires were lit to honour the Sun and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun's light to nurture the emerging future harvest and protect the community. Bel had to be won over through human effort. Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltane. "This was the Tein-eigen, the need fire. People jumped the fire to purify, cleanse and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. At the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Teineigen to start their fires anew." (From Sacred Celebrations by Glennie Kindred) Green Man - Beltane

Handfasting

As Beltane is the Great Wedding of the Goddess and the God, it is a popular time for pagan weddings or Handfastings, a traditional betrothal for 'a year and a day' after which the couple would either choose to stay together or part without recrimination. Today, the length of commitment is a matter of choice for the couple, and can often be for life. Handfasting ceremonies are often unique to the couple, but include common elements, most importantly the exchange of vows and rings (or a token of their choice). The act of handfasting always involves tying the hands Handfasting ('tying the knot') of the two people involved, in a figure of eight, at some point in the ceremony and later unbinding. This is done with a red cord or ribbon. Tying the hands together symbolises that the two people have come together and the untying means that they remain together of their own free will.

Another common element is 'jumping the broomstick' - this goes back to a time when two people who could not afford a church ceremony, or want one, would be accepted in the community as a married couple if they literally jumped over a broom laid on the floor. The broom marked a 'threshold', moving from an old life to a new one.

Mead and cakes are often shared in communion as part of the ceremony. Mead is known as the Brew of the Divine, made from honey which is appropriate for a love ceremony (and is the oldest alcoholic drink known to humankind).

Going A-Maying

Handfasting or not, both young and old went A-Maying... Couples spent the night in the woods and fields, made love and brought back armfuls of the first May or haw thorn blossoms to decorate their homes and barns. Hawthorn was never brought into the home except at Beltane - at other times it was considered unlucky. Young women gathered the dew to wash their faces, made Flower Crowns and May Baskets to give as gifts. Everyone was free to enact the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God, and there was an accepted tradition of Beltane babies arriving nine months later...

Maypole

The Maypole is a popular and familiar image of May Day and Beltane. A phallic pole, often made from birch, was inserted into the Earth representing the potency of the God. The ring of flowers at the top of the Maypole represents the fertile Goddess. Its many coloured ribbons and the ensuing weaving dance symbolise the spiral of Life and the union of the Goddess and God, the union between Earth and Sky.

The colours of Beltane are green, red and white/silver. Green represents growth, abundance and fertility. Red represents strength, vitality, passion and vibrancy. White represents cleansing and clearing and the power to disperse negativity.

Nana Violet's Egg Charm For Beltane.

Think carefully what you wish for! The general rule of thumb is a brown egg for wishes involving animals and white for wishes involving people and plants, for example healing a sick animal, person or plant. Eggs with white shells are difficult to come by now as chickens are generally given feed which produces the desired brown shell, but in recent years some of the supermarkets are making white eggs available at this time of year so they are worth looking out for.

1. Blow the egg. Using a fat needle, pierce a hole in both ends of the egg, making one hole larger than the other. Using the needle pierce the egg yolk gently and swirl it around to break up the yolk. Place a small drinking straw in one end and gently blow through the other hole to help gravity do its work.

2. Paint Your Egg Talisman. When your egg has thoroughly dried out place it on top of a little mound of blue tack to hold it in place and you are ready to go! Choose a symbol to represent your wish - a heart for love, coin for prosperity, a candle for wisdom, whatever is meaningful for you. Or you can paint the whole egg in a corresponding colour - red for love, green for prosperity, purple for wisdom and so on. Another way to do it is to stick rose petals on for love, or feathers for fertility - again it is what is meaningful to you that is important.

3. When it is ready find a suitable place for it and prepare for it for hanging by threading a thin thread (embroidery thread, thin wool) through the two holes and secure it with a large knot, a bead, or even a matchstick at the bottom to hold it steady.

4. Clear your mind and focus on your desire for abundance/fruitfulness and its place in your life:

'Little charm made of shell as I hang you here may all be well. May all things grow. May all things flow. Blessings for the turning of the Wheel."

Use these words or any others that you are comfortable with - remember this is all about your intention.

Egg charm donated by our Counter Enchantress from her own family traditions.

Making a Wish Box Charm

Beltane is a good time for bringing hopes, dreams and aspirations to life, and here is a truly beautiful charm to help you bring these into manifestation.

You will need:

A small shallow cardboard box. Shoe boxes are good. Rose petals Sunflower seeds and/or poppy seeds Paper A piece of willow bark or piece of willow, an acorn or oak leaf Something that represents your wish (see below)

Take a piece of paper and write your wish on it while visualizing your wish coming to life and growing. You can do this alone, with friends, or as a family. If you want to, decorate the lid of the box, with a triple moon, pentacle, heart, or any symbol of your choice. Poke a few holes in the lid - this will help your wish/plants, to grow. Take your box and sprinkle some earth into it. Put in your paper wishes, wish symbol (see below), and seeds/bark/acorn. Cover with another layer of earth. Mix the rose petals with the seeds and scatter them on top. Cover with a final layer of earth and place the lid on top, leaving enough of the rose petal/seed mixture to scatter on top of the box when you are planting it.

Planting Your Wish Box

The best time for planting your Wish Box is just after a fresh cleansing rainfall as this gives you a bright new start, but if the season is dry just give the earth a good watering the night before. Dig a hole two inches deeper than your wish box and lower it into the earth carefully while concentrating on your chosen wish, visualizing it coming to fruition. Imagine your wish growing with the flowers reaching skyward. As you cover the box with earth say:

"Dream that lies within the earth awaken now. Hope that sleeps awaken now. The stars await as so do I. Grow true, grow strong, toward the sky."

If you don't have a garden you can make a mini wish pot that can live on a window ledge and it works just as well. Just replace the box with a terracotta pot - one wish and one symbol per pot following exactly the same instructions as above. Remember that wishes are only to be used for positive motives.

Suggested Symbols For Your Wish Box:

Love & Marriage - gingerbread New Job - copper coin Abundance - silver coin Difficult Task - glove Hearth & Home - thimble Seeking the Truth - sprig of rosemary Health, Healing, Renewed Strength - blue & green ribbon entwined Happiness, Good Luck - cinnamon stick Seeking Knowledge - apple To Find A Lost Item - feather Protection - key (an old iron key is best if you have one)

Charm donated by our Counter Enchantress from her own family traditions.

Beltane Bread As Only Debs Knows How

You will need: 3 mugs of strong white flour 500 mls of buttermilk 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 3 tbs clear honey 3 tbs golden syrup 1 pack dried strawberries 3 drops vanilla essence 1 small beaten egg for glazing soft brown sugar for sprinkling

Place the strawberries and flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, blended golden syrup, honey and vanilla essence together with a wooden spoon - or your hands if that is better. As you mix, feel the pulsing vibrant Beltane energy and let it run through your hands and out through your fingertips. And as you mix, say:

'As we light the Beltane flame, I make this bread in Love's sweet name. Two halves together bound as one, Beltane's dance has now begun!'

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat it into a circle. With a sharp knife lightly score the bread into two halves to represent The Lord and Lady. Glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake in a moderate oven for about 20-25 minutes. When the bread is cooled break it into two halves along the score mark. Repeat the words of the charm and tie with purple ribbon. Purple represents the union of red (love in all its forms) and blue (unity and harmony). Enjoy. Brightest Blessings.

Things To Do

Whatever you do, remember this is the Great Wedding! Dress in your best, especially in green, and wear a flower crown.

Stay out all night, gathering the green, watch the sunrise and make love. Wash your face in the morning dew.

Conceive a new project, grasp that idea, and get on with it.

Dress your home and/or altar with greenery - especially with hawthorn, rowan and birch branches. Ask permission from the tree before you take anything.

Dress a tree. This is the perfect time to go out and celebrate a tree. Especially a hawthorn, rowan or birch - but the tree spirit will welcome you attention whichever kind of tree it is. Sit with it, talk to it, dance around it (maypole), honour the tree and its fertility. Hang ribbons from its branches, each ribbon represents a wish or prayer.

Flowers, flowers and more flowers. This is the festival of Flora. Make a flower crown to wear - the daisy chain in the simplest of all. Make a traditional flower basket. fill it with Beltane greenery and all the flowers and herbs you can find. Think about, and honour, their magical and healing properties while you do so. Give it someone you love.

Make some Hawthorn Brandy. You will need a bottle of brandy and at least one cup of hawthorn flowers, plus a little sugar to taste. Mix the ingredients together and leave away from direct light, for at least two weeks. Shake occasionally. Strain, bottle and enjoy. Hawthorn is renowned as a tonic for the heart.

Trees of Beltane

Hawthorn

Hawthorn is a deeply magical tree and is one of the three trees at the heart of the Celtic Tree Alphabet, the Faery Triad, 'by Oak, Ash and Thorn'. Traditionally Beltane began when the Hawthorn, the May, blossomed. It is the tree of sexuality and fertility and is the classic flower to decorate a Maypole with. It was both worn and used to decorate the home at Beltane.

Birch

Birch is regarded as a feminine tree and Deities associated with Birch are mostly love and fertility goddesses. It is one of the first trees to show its leaf in Spring. Eostre/Ostara, the Celtic goddess of Spring was celebrated in festivities and dancing around and through the birch tree between the Spring Equinox and Beltane. Birch twigs were traditionally used to make besoms (a new broom sweeps clean). Maypoles were often made from birch and birch wreaths were given as lover's gifts.

Rowan

A tree of protection and healing. Branches of Rowan were placed as protection over the doors of houses and barns at Beltane to protect from increased Faery activity as they woke from their winter slumber. Sprigs were worn for protection also. Rowan berries have a tiny five-pointed star on the bottom reminiscent of the pentagram. Colours of Beltane

10 notes · View notes