FSU Pagan Student Association

spiritscraft:

Free Today: Kindle Self Study for Seekers of Wicca. This is a guide for people preparing to join a coven and train in Wicca.

herbalwellness:

WHY MAKE TINCTURES-

Tinctures are some of the most magical herbal medicines, and very easy to make. Soaking the herbs in strong alcohol for a few weeks brings out the herbal properties in full force. The shaking everyday helps to break down the cell walls and draw them out. Tinctures are basically really really strong teas. Instead of drinking a quart a day, you can take a dropperful three to six times a day instead. But they taste a whole lot worse. You can make them with alcohol, apple cider vinegar, or veggie glycerin (I will be talking about alcohol, but that is just a preference. They last almost indefinitely this way while they others expire sooner). DO NOT GIVE AN ALCOHOLIC AN ALCOHOL-BASED TINCTURE! It is a small amount, but it still heavily affects them. 

Another reason why to make/take tinctures is since they are in an alcohol (or other base that is not water) it takes only about 5 minutes for the medicine to get into the bloodstream and start taking effect. tea takes about half an hour.

There are two methods, the Simpliers and the more precise one. The precise one tries to recreate the tincture the same way every time, and I think takes away the individuality of each time. But some people prefere that. Simpliers is a whole lot easier and involves no math.

You can make them with just one herb, or with multiple.

HOW TO MAKE AN HERBAL TINCTURE-

YOU WILL NEED:

• Herbs. Any amount will do, you really don’t need much unless you are doing a large batch as presents or something. Since they are so powerful, and you use so little at a time, they usually last awhile unless you are on a regimin.
• Alcohol. You want a 100 proof brandy or vodka. Don;t get flavored, that’s stupid. Trust me it will not make them taste better.
• A wide-mouthed glass jar with a tight-fitting lid
• A small bottle with a dropper. Not totally necessary, but the normal way they are sold and administered. A 1/8 teaspoon is about the equivalent for dosage if you cannot get one.
• Optional- a stone or some other small special memento to put on top. Doesn’t really do much unless you believe in crystals holding energy and healing, which I somewhat do, but this is what I was taught.

HOW TO:

1. Put the herbs in the jar. They do not need to fill it my any means.
2. Pour in alcohol, stop when it is about an inch or two above the herbs. Sometimes they float and this can be a little harder to tell, but if you have an eye for how much herb was in there before you added the alcohol you can guess.
3. Put the lid on, leave in a cool dark spot OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT for 4-6 weeks
4. Shake vigorously everyday. Several times a day if you want. Dance with it. Think good thoughts.This energy you put into it now will be returned to your body (or whoever you give some to) when you use it. Herbal medicine is a relationship: Treat the herbs well and they will treat you the same back.
5. When the time is up, strain and bottle. Take with love.

cannibalcoalition:

stormswaneforsaken:

cannibalcoalition:

damag3dr0s3:

cannibalcoalition:

I hate when that happens, which is why I usually don’t speak up when the question is ‘is this appropriative’ or ‘is ___ a closed practice.’ Unless I know for damn certain and can cite sources on one argument or another, or have a personal testimony that I can go by, I’m just… I can’t really speak on another culture’s behalf.

And while a friend of mine said that he was going to start ‘experimenting with’ Voudou/Houdou over the summer, I gave him a leery side-eye. Because I was quite under the impression that there’s an awful lot of culture there that really needs to be taken into consideration. But I still don’t know if that quantifies closed or open.

I have read about it some mostly because I like to read about everything I can. There is a lot of culture to voodoo. I’d be happy to try look through the books I have if you need an answer about something

Mostly the question appears to be whether or not it is a closed practice, and whether it would be appropriate to post photos/articles involving it. But the issue here is that we’re having trouble finding a source that isn’t conflicting. We would need to see if we can find someone who is actively a part of the practice to tell us what is and what is not appropriate to post. Not that I don’t believe you, just… part of the problem is that written sources aren’t always reliable in this situation.

Speaking as someone with some small experience in Cadomble/Santeria (my phone won’t let me do the appropriate accent marks) I doubt you even know anything that would be inappropriate to share publicly. It *is* a closed, initiatiatic tradition and if you aren’t an initiate you basically have nothing that isn’t ok to be public about.

I’d strongly recommend not saying anything you didn’t hear directly from the mouth of a legitimate initiated priest/ess, though. Misinformation on these traditions is rampant and only getting moreso with commercialism and identity politics and so on.

I personally find images of people who have been mounted and photos of bembes to be inappropriate as people almost never provide context and if they do it is easily stripped and the image exotified. I don’t remember being told that by anyone who has been crowned, so that’s just my two cents, not an imperative statement.

If you aren’t in a relationship with a reputable, non commercialized house you really ought to leave well enough alone. If you’re interested, find a contact and exercise your discretion in the process. These traditions are impossible to practice alone and as a rule the only way to learn is direct person to person contact with someone (or a group of someones)you spend time with in the flesh. Like tantric traditions you’re flat out not capable of really learning without face to face contact with a member of a lineage, and you will probably have to learn at least one other language in the process. You can be adopted into a house and learn that way, you can spend large amount of time around initiates, but there is no long distance substitute. I’ve been friends with multiple initiates for a decade and I am in no way qualified to teach others, though I will happily tell you good and bad ways to learn from qualified teachers and the bare inkling of knowledge I have myself is all entry level so I can share it with the understanding I am still essentially an outsider.

If its a text about ATR and it’s in English, the information is almost certainly wrong or woefully incomplete. Initiates do not write anything but the most basic information down and it’s almost always going to be in Kreyol/Spanish/Portuguese if it’s a reliable source.

More info on the Voudou debate. Thank you.

(Source: p1kachu)

withouteverlookingback:

#nala loves her new bandana! #fsu #gonoles!

This is relevant because cats.