Have a Joyous Yule!

It's the Winter Solstice today. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time that the wheel of the year turns and we move toward the light. In honor of that, I often do a Yule log. I tie my wishes for the coming year to the log before I light it to offer them up to the universe. I pull some Tarot cards tonight and contemplate which chapters of my life should be closed and which should be opened.

Do you have a Yule tradition that you enjoy? Any recipes, like mulled cider or favorite wreaths? For me, Yule has usually been a fairly solitary holiday, but I'm looking forward to expanding my traditions. I'm thinking orange pomanders? I've never made those, but oranges always remind me of the sun.

Colette Baron-Reid's Wisdom of the Oracle Cards

Have you ever had a card deck follow you around? Well, this one has. Last week, I ran across it twice online among friends, and figured that I should pick it up quickly before it whomped me over the head a third time. Once was a general reading, and the other was a specific reading. I got the same card in each. So...it became mine. It arrived this morning, and it's really, really lovely. I have a couple of Colette Baron-Reid's other oracle decks, and this did not disappoint!

The art is whimsical, glowy, with a really lovely quality of light. The cards don't follow a traditional Tarot structure, but follow the lead of many oracle decks in which each card represents a self-contained idea. The deck feels gentle and positive. I decided to draw a card to start my morning, and this is the one I got: Treasure Island!

Well, hello, turtle! Hello, jackpot! According to the guidebook, this card is all about the manifestation of positive thinking and faith in abundance. The guidebook is really neat - there are interpretations of the cards for general purposes, relationships, prosperity, and protection concerns.

I think this will be my new morning ritual - drawing a card to start the day and leaving it on my desk. Do you have any card rituals that you use to get your day going?

Essential Oil Bath Fizzies

I love bath fizzies. But they're expensive, and I'm very, very cheap. I've been trying to figure out a way to make them, and I think I've succeeded. The recipe I ultimately used included ingredients I had around the house, which is the best way to do hedgewitching on a budget!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup salt (I had Epsom handy, but I think you could also use Himalayan or sea salt)
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 2 tablespoons of fractionated coconut oil (I think you could also use grapeseed or almond)
• Around fifteen drops of essential oil, depending on your tolerance for the scent
• Soap or food coloring

Gear needed:

• Large bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cupcake molds or tin
• Tablespoon

I mixed the baking soda, salt, citric acid, and coconut oil together in a large bowl until clumps started to form. I added the essential oil and soap coloring in last. I used soap coloring, because I have some that I've been trying to use up FOREVER. For essential oil, I used ylang ylang and lemon with a couple drops of jasmine, because I wanted something sunny and cheerful.

I mixed thoroughly, then spooned the mixture into my silicone baking cups. I packed the mixture in tight with the back of a tablespoon. Warning: do not fill your cupcake molds up to the brim! This mixture expands, and you'll have an unholy mess on your hands in a few hours that looks like it came from Mount Vesuvius. I learned this the hard way. You can see in the picture how my acceptable batch still has a lot of expansion bubbles on the surface.

Instead, pack your cupcake molds about half to two-thirds full. Put the molds to dry in a place they won't be disturbed for a day and ta-da! Bath fizzies!