"The whiskey you bought me, I was afraid to unscrew it, the Gypsy woman told me it was embalming fluid. You got a Black Cat Bone and a Buzzard Feather, a John the Conquer Root and they're all tied together" --CONJURED by Wynnonie Harris.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Borage

How Does Your Garden Grow?
borage: Medicinal, magickal & magnificent



The season of Spring is well set upon us and the benediction of gentle rains sweep across the landscape, crystalline beads of water dripping from the green leaves as they unfurl to welcome the new season. This is the ideal time to replan your herb garden, prune any wayward branches or plants, pluck out the weeds and bid them adieu before introducing new herb-babies to the rest of the green, luscious family abundant in new blooms and sprouting. The first which has propagated into a lovely field of cornflower blue is my Borago Officinalis or commonly known as Borage, Bee Bread, Bugloss, Herb of Gladness, Langue de Boeuf, Lesan El Tour, Lisan Selvi, Star Flowers and Burrage. An annual plant with bristly stems, the leaves oval or slightly oblong-lanced shaped which the basal varieties forming rosettes on the stem and branches. An exciting time for oil production because I have long been awaiting the seeds to make my Borage Seed Oil which has been a recipe long in the family for all sorts of purposes from the medicinal and the magickal. An additive to red wine to gladden the heart, the seeds powered and sprinkled upon the crimson surface, encouraging joy and merriment, intoxicating to the senses and promotes laughter; popular in old Rom Gypsy wine recipes. Not only was the wine associated to cause merriment but also to prevent gout, arthritis, dermatitis and a medical aid against fever and toxins within the blood along with improving milk flow of lactating mothers and nurses. A pulp made with the leaves and stalks may be used to reduce swelling and bruises, along with a tonic made from the same to work as a disinfectant to cuts, abrasions and sores to stop infection from spreading.