#deityoffering

I made some journals. The large grey one I made out of a hardcover sketch journal I got on super sale ($2) at Michael's a good while back, and decorated with scrapbook paper. It gets the honor of becoming my tarot book. The red one is actually two composition books I fused together to give me separate sections, and I applied chipboard to transform it to a hardcover book, along with scrapbook paper also. It gets the honor of becoming my grimoire.

I'm a little overwhelmed about starting these but I'm excited as well. Not only will they be a wonderful reference tool for myself but my biggest goal with them is to have something of substance to pass down to my son when he's older, should he be interested in pursuing the path of magic.

I also made up a bunch of sage cleansing bundles! Not sure what I'm going to do with them all yet. But they're just so pretty!

I've only used what I had available, aside from the roses I bought. But there's bay & rosemary, mint and bay, Douglas Fir and bay, mint and orange, as a couple examples.

This orange and cinnamon one is my favorite though, I think it turned out beautifully!

I also made this prayer style candle for Apollo! Its just an image I printed off of Google, so apologies I do not know the artist. But it turned out so perfectly and has really added that extra something I didn't even know I was missing.

It's helped me to feel like I can connect much better!

I hope this can inspire some of you with ideas of some things to do yourself! I am super pleased with the way everything turned out and I've quite enjoyed making them.

Hello again!

Do your deities like honey offerings? Do you like honey in your tea? Do you like to use honey in your spells? How about taking it to the next level with infused honey!

I have heard oranges (and even other citrus) are associated with Sun Deities. I know my deity loves oranges. So I made some yummy orange infused honey for Him (and also in my tea, which I often share with Him :)) that I'd like to share with you!

Remember that orange we peeled for the dried orange peels? Well if you didn't eat it right away then let's use it here!

First you need an orange (again, I used Blood Orange here. If you saw a previous post of mine where I was asked to get a large bag of Blood Oranges for Apollo, then you'll know I have a lot of them to use up!)

Then you're going to smash up the oranges! If you have a mortar and pestle, wonderful! I just used the bottom of a glass bottle.

Smash until you have a nice pulpy slurry of orange mush.

Next measure out your honey. I used a little more than a cup here. (Make yourself a cup of tea too, because you deserve it!)

*I used a brand called Lady Bee I got from Walmart. It's SO good. Its Wildflower and has such an amazing floral taste! But please use any honey you love!

Poor the honey into a small pot

Use a spatula or spoon to scrape it all out! You want every drop of the delicious golden liquid!

Then pour your smashed orange slurry in too.

Now bring this to a low simmer. It might take a few minutes but it will get there. Be patient.

*Do not walk away! Once it starts to simmer it will bubble over quickly if you're not careful!

Let it simmer for a few minutes, once it looks like this ^, remove it from the heat and either leave it in the pot or transfer it to a bowl to cool. Be very careful! It's extremely hot!

Once it's cooled enough to handle, you will need your bowl of orange honey, a mesh strainer, and other bowl for transfering.

Pour your orange honey mixture into the sieve and squish and press as much liquid as you can out of the orange mash.

Now, you can either discard the sweet honied oranges or save them to use on something else. I'm sure they'd be great baked in a cake or cookies, or on ice cream, or on yogurt (which is what I saved mine for)!

Once the honey has finished cooling completely, transfer to an airtight jar.

*I'll be completely honest, I think I used too many orange slices. It was still a tad bit liquidy after fully cooling. But I am okay with this, because it's absolutely delicious and will still work just as well for offerings and tea!

I mean, just look at that gorgeous color!

I have one more recipe for you I will make another post on.

Happy Honey Infusing!

Alright! So we already did dried orange peels

And orange infused honey

Now maybe your deities like sweet/honey offerings, but they also love a nice hot kick of heat?

Maybe you love to add a hot/sweet zing to your foods?

I imagine you could even use this in magical workings as well if you know how to apply it!

So allow me to present to you Spicy Infused Honey!

I used Ghost Peppers for this. My boyfriend's boss occasionally gives me a bag of Ghost Peppers with the condition I share what I make. He loves to see what creations I come up with.

You can absolutely use any peppers you have or favor. Just consider how you like their flavor.

So first collect your peppers and wash them.

*Please always wear gloves when handling hot peppers! You do not want that pepper juice getting into any cuts or cracks you may have on your hands! Also do not touch your face/eyes/mouth with your hands while handling peppers and be sure to thoroughly clean your counter when you're done!

The amount of peppers you use is completely up to you and your tastes. If you aren't big on spicy, use less. If you love a good kick in the face, use more!

*I started with 12 as I was going to make a large batch of honey initially, but changed my mind and cut it down to about 7.

Now trim the ends off your peppers, cut them in half and remove any seeds/ribs.

*again, this part is personal preference. If you know you like things really hot, feel free to leave the seeds. However, if you're unsure, just know leaving the seeds in will make it even hotter!

Now that you have your peppers prepared, measure your honey (and again, make yourself a cup of tea, because you deserve it!)

And add it to a small pot. Again, use a spatula or spoon to get as much of it out as you can!

*I used regular honey this time, instead of the wildflower I used for the orange honey. But again, please use your favorite honey!

Add your chopped peppers to the honey.

Now, allow the mixture to come to a slow simmer. It may take a few minutes, but it will get there. Be patient.

*Do not walk away from it! Once it starts to simmer it can bubble over very quickly!

Allow it to simmer for a few minutes, carefully watching it. Once it looks like this, you can remove it and either leave it in the pot or transfer it to a bowl to allow it to cool. Be careful, it's extremely hot!

Next you will need your bowl of pepper honey, a mesh strainer, and another bowl to transfer it into.

Pour your honey mixture into the sieve and press and mash it to get as much liquid out as you can.

You can either discard the honied peppers, or save them to use elsewhere. I image they would be a great addition to roasts or vegetables!

Once the separated honey has cooled completely, transfer it to an airtight jar.

This one, unlike the orange honey, should retain its thick, honey-like consistency since you didn't add any liquid.

Now you can use your spicy honey as an offering to your deities that like spicy and sweet! Also, you could add it to your meals for a nice kick! Even in your tea if you're feeling adventurous! Or in your spell jars if your work calls for it!

I hope you can find great uses out of what I've shared with you! I had fun making them!

I wanted to share with you some things I made the last couple of days that I think would make great offerings for your deities, or be great ingredients in your magical workings, or even delicious for mundane uses!

So with that, first I want to share dried orange peels!

Orange- attracts abundance and happiness through love and marriage. I think citrus are like little physical balls of sunshine, they add brightness to anything you add them to!

What you're going to do first is peel an orange (can be any oranges. I used a blood orange here, but regular oranges and clementines would work too). You want to get as much of the white stuff off as possible. I tried to use my potato peeler, but ended up just using my fingernails. Be careful though, I don't want anyone breaking their nails or anything.

So once you have that all cleaned you're going to lay them out on the pan to bake them. I sliced a few of the bigger ones but left some whole because I really liked the organic shape.

Pop them in your oven at 200F (I don't have an actual oven, just a toaster/convection oven, so that will work just fine if that's what you have), everyone's ovens are different, but in my oven they were ready in about an hour, but it also tends to cook things incredibly quickly. I'd recommend starting with 45 minutes to an hour and checking them every 15 minutes after that until they get close to being done.

When they look like this:

They're ready! They should be firm and crispy to the touch and they'll curl as they dry. If they're at all flexible, there's still moisture and they need a bit longer.

Now with this you could use them as decoration I suppose! Or grind them into a fine powder. This is my plan but alas I can't afford a mortar and pestle (tragic, I know) so I will save them until I can. Use the dust or whole strips in your spells/potions/jars/elixirs, or even in cooking, treats, and drinks!

I have a crystal elixir bottle that I added the orange peels to for an extra magical boost while I drink. :)

*this method should also work with lemons and grapefruit and any other citrus fruits!

I have other recipes I will share but I'm going to make another post!