Coming Up Roses

Hi and Merry Meet,
One of the things I wanted to work harder on this year was using more herbs in my practice.

I've got a few books on the subject, but I haven't put in too much effort recently. Tonight as part of my full moon esbat I gathered roses to dry the petals. I only gathered my red roses since they are blooming in abundance right now.

I took three blooms altogether from two different bushes. Last year I pruned them back something fearsome. This year they are rewarding me with a bounty of blooms. The smell is amazing.

After asking the plant's blessing and cutting them free I made a gift of egg shells to the plants. I read someplace that roses love egg shells so I saved the shells from my dinner preparations.

The picture  is my altar filled with drying rose petals. My goddess stature is watching over them.

Once they are dry, I plan to put them in a glass jar and label them with the date. It is a small step to workung more with herbs, but it is still a step. I have a lot of learning to do with herbs, but I want to start with things in my garden and things I already use. Once I can do that, then I might be ready to branch out. I want to take it slow and learn to use what I have around me and available to me.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Open Esbat

Hi and Merry Meet,
Tonight was the open full moon ritual that I was so excited to attend. After many phone calls to the shop to make sure that I had all the info that I needed I went.

I went early due to a few things. 1.) I am very OCD about being on time. 2.) the parking lot is very small and I wanted a space. 3.) I get nervous attending new things and so see 1. again.

It was a very small group and they all know each other really well. That's okay, because they were very welcoming! The High Priestess went though the whole ritual for me so that I'd know what to expect when we got to it.

Tonight was about gifts. What gift of myself can I give to the Goddess? We each chose a word that we meditated on. The word I chose was "grace". I took it to mean that I need more grace in my speech. I am quick to say and slow to think. I need to be slower in speech and quicker in my thinking. This is something that I can work on over the course of the next month.

I had a wonderful time and I would love to go back. It was a nice group of people and I felt good about asking when I didn't know something. I am also learning to ask for help or clarity when I need it.
Blessed be,
Autumn