Sounds like the rustling of London Plane Trees along the blocks and gentle drizzle on nylon umbrella tops. It sounds like crickets in the garden and kestrels in the oak trees, the resident urban raptors of my neighborhood. It sounds like bees still busy investigating the purple asters now finally blooming.

It tastes like concord grapes fresh from upstate NY and spicy bunches of mustard greens bigger than your tote bag at the farmer’s market. Tastes like pumpkin spice season all over.

It looks like moody brick and questionable liquid on pavement (is that yellow?) and fallen orange leaves on the sidewalks and subway station steps where they’ve floated in from the last rain. Looks like delicate squash and pumpkin displays in the stores and the vibrant coleus that will serenade our planters until the first frost marches up and stops their song.

Alternative medicine and therapies are all the rage in the modern times. There are people that entirely depend on natural medication and effectively defeat major diseases. Right from the common cold to the putting major diseases like cancer into remission, the nature has a solution to all sorts of ailments. This is the reason why crusaders and researchers like Caisey Harlingten choose to study natural ingredients such as plants and fungi that go on to form therapeutic drugs. There are several reasons why natural drugs that are based on plants and fungi work best on the human body. Here is a list of a few of the reasons that are most common:

 Minimal or No Side-Effects: 

It has general been observed that when natural products are used on the human body, the body is more likely to not react adversely to the products as compared to products that are made with synthetic or chemical ingredients. This implies that the human body does not have to go through as many side effects when the therapies used on it are done with natural products. 

Simpler Processing: 

Since synthetic or chemical ingredients are not involved in the making of natural therapies, it is simpler to process the products. However, this does not imply that the product is made easily without any effort. The natural ingredients are carefully planted, grown, nurtured, researched and used appropriately in the making of the final products. 

Safer in the Long Run: 

It is seen that medicines and therapies that are created using natural ingredients are much safer in the long run for the organs in our body. It is possible to opt for natural therapies without worrying about damaging internal organs such as the kidneys, intestines and more, which easily get damaged when put through intensive courses of unnatural medication and therapies. 

Nearly Limitless Resources: 

When you choose to have naturally created medication, it is possible to ensure that you have unlimited resources. The naturally occurring ingredients such as fungi that are developed and delivered by experts like Caisey Harlingten are known to be available in abundance when the right space and conditions are enabled. 

The concept of multiple gods is what slowed me down, actually. At the time in 2004 when I was studying abroad in Ireland I was still a monotheist exploring animism. Early on I was not comfortable with polytheism and I wasn’t yet aware of the philosophies of soft polytheism or even pantheism yet.

In those first couple of years as my outlook on theology evolved, I would go out in nature not to worship her, but Nature was more of a catalyst for me to establish an intermediary connection to Divinity. They were linked and inseparable, and it would be a couple more years before I would learn that I had become a panentheist.

Cleansing is an integral part of witchcraft and many Pagan religions. It is a way to cleans concentrate and protect one’s self, home, workplace or an object, such as jewellery or divination tools.

There are so many ways to cleanse, many more than I will outline here, however these are my personal favourites.

Smoke:

Specifically, the smoke from a sage bundle. Sage is widely known for it’s cleansing and purifying qualities and makes it a go-to for many people when they need to clear a place or object of negativity.

To use sage smoke, simply take your bundle and light the end, the same way you would incense. Ensure the smoke touches anything you want it to and that it moves around the space, while making sure to catch the ashes in a heatproof bowl.

One thing to note about this method is that sage is a STRONG smell! Airing out the place you use it in will be necessary, especially if you share your house or room.

Incense:

Incense cleansing works in a really similar way to sage smoke the difference being that it allows the individual to use incense that corresponds to a particular desire or need of the individual. For example, if someone wants to cleanse a Tarot card deck and ensure it’s clarity they may wish to burn Basil or Cedar incense, both of which are used for such needs.

The method of use is again similar to using sage smoke. Simply light the incense and move the object though the smoke or move the stick itself about the room or place you wish to cleanse.

Salt:

Salt is a universal cleanser and grounder, and a go-to for many practitioners as it is cheap, easy to find and easy to use.

Salt can be used in as simple a way as burying an item in salt and leaving it for however long as you feel (overnight usually feels right for me). Another way to use salt is to dissolve it into water and soak items in it, though this isn’t always ideal as some things, such as the crystal selenite, dissolve in water.

Moonlight:

Moonlight is the most traditional and simplest way to cleanse anything, with the added benefit of being free and constant!

Exposing anything to, preferably direct, moonlight will cleanse it, ridding it of dark or unwanted energies. The next thing to take into account with moonlight cleansing is the phase the moon is in. The full moon is the most powerful lunar phase and when most people will endeavour to use it for cleansing purposes. However, each of the different moon phases hold different purposes and, like different kinds of incense, can be used to imbue items with different and specific energies.