Parting the Mists

Yesterday, I picked the first daffodils from the yard. Their bright sunny heads are brightening up the altar right now, but they also inspired me to reach for this gorgeous deck. It might not be spring quite yet, but we are getting there!

Have a lovely day,

Thistle

Tulip – Perfection

You are a perfect expression of Universal love.

Meaning: Traditionally, the tulip signifies deep and true love, but it is not necessarily a romantic love. Depending on the culture, they might also represent charity or rebirth. The tulip, with its clean and simple form and variety of bright colors, is a wonderful bloom to represent all of us in our varied, yet similar, forms. We are all deserving of love and must love ourselves first.

History: Tulips might be associated with the Netherlands, but they originally came from Persia and Turkey and were cultivated there more than 1,000 years ago. They were brought to Europe in the 16th century.

Channeled Message: I am in a cavern of light. Beautiful music vibrates from the walls. The Deva looks at me, her eyes piercing my should, searching my heart. I feel a fierceness, a probing. Come, she beckons me. I see fields upon fields of tulips, standing and glistening under the morning sunlight. They take me in. I am inside their stems, inside their “blood” stream. I see the energy of the Earth moving through the. I see the water, the nutrients, the soil, crystal colors, and particles of light moving through them. I see the energy of the Earth under the bulbs; it slowly envelops the bulb and moves into it, moving upward, stretching, bursting forth.

The energy of the Earth and ancient energies creating the tulip – all flowers. This ancient energy moves through all Beings. It’s as if the Earth is breathing itself into the existence through the tulips. Each tulip is like a breath. It dies down a the breath energy returns to the Earth to begin anew. A cycle of regeneration. I am filled with light. I am filled with the light of the Universe. I am weeping, overwhelmed with the love I feel coming forth from the Earth, from Nature, from all existence. I call out, “Who is there?” “We are the One,” they reply. I feel waves of benevolence drifting toward me, beautiful life and light surrounds me.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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Running a bit late, but here we are. Lavender is such a lovely and useful plant.

Lavender – Devotion

Let the healing energy of Mother Earth and her Beings touch your life and bring you wellness.

Guidance: Do you see opportunity where others do not? Trust your intuition. Lavender also represents serenity, grace, and silence – perhaps you need some of that calming lavender energy today. Maybe burn a lavender-scented candle or incense, or if you have actual lavender flowers you could make a sleep pillow with some other helpful, calming herbs.

Traditional Uses: Aromatherapy, insect bites, burns, acne, and headaches. Fresh lavender repels insects. Used for over 2000 years, it’s one of the most powerful remedies in the plant world; especially rich in aromatic molecules called esters, while other molecules give it its bacterial, antiviral, and inflammatory powers.

Channeled Message: I am softly falling backward, gentle and safe. I am landing on a bed of soft lavender. The scent fills my being. I am in a temple in a tub filled with lavender water. I am looking outward to the sea, a hillside filled with lavender flowers from the temple down to the sea. I see medicine being made from the lavender. I see a Roman (?) temple of medicine, of healing. I see the form of a human with outstretched arms and the lavender targeting different parts of the body. The healing energy can enter through the nose, the eyes, the ears, the skin. I see lavender laid out in from of me in lotions, water, oils, dried in bowls. All of this is given to you for healing. Lavender grows in places where other plants cannot grow and transforms the “nothing” into healing energy.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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These dramatic and long-lasting flowers may sometimes be shadowed by the Black Dahlia murder case, but they are anything but deadly. Originally from Mexico and other parts of South America where it grows in valleys, this flower represents inner strength and grace. I’ve been drawn to these flowers in recent years, though I’ve yet to put them in my garden – maybe next year!

Dahlia – Elegance & Dignity

Guidance: Plant flowers that provide a habit for the many. Work in harmony with Nature.

Traditional Uses: Dahlia has been used as a medicine since ancient times. The petals and tubers were used by the Aztecs to treat skin ailments and epilepsy. Prior to the discovery of insulin, in American and Europe in the 20th century, diabetics were often given a substance called Atlantic starch, or diabetic sugar, derived from inulin obtained from Dahlia tubers.

Victorians would gift Dahlias to their partners to signify commitment and enduring love.

Channeled Message: She hands me something small – a pouch, seeds, crystal? She flings her arm outward and as she does a veil lifts. I see and feel the Dahlias;I see birds making their homes inside their protective leaves. I see bees and pollinators busy and feeding, and earwigs too. I see all of the life that the Dahlias sustain. They are part of the ecosystem. I see ancient people – Aztec?- honoring the Dahlias, they are thanking them, praying to them. The Dahlia Beings feel and accept their offerings. They are working together. The Dahlia prolongs the life of the Dahlia species and allows it to spread through trade. There may not be Dahlias if they had not had this early encounter with the temple of flowers during the Aztec time. Our Dahlia today owe their existence to these people.

Name Origins: Many believe that Dahlia was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, whose last name means “valley” in Swedish. The exact origin of the name, however, cannot be proven.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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Hydrangea – Gratitude

It is no accident that you are here now, at this time. You are a part of the unfolding. You are loved, you matter, you are important.

Meaning: Look for messages in small ways. A butterfly suddenly appearing, a feather floating down from the sky or on your path, a dragonfly hovering near you, the sudden scan of roses, of flowers. You are loved. The Earth and the world of spirit are here too support you. You need only ask.

Channeled Message: Your energies, thoughts, and feelings are real things. They can bring love, harmony, healing, and peace to the world or they can bring despair and hopelessness. You are far more powerful than you think or can even imagine. There are those of you in despair because you do not understand how vitally important you are to the fabric of being. It is no accident act you are here now, at this time. You are part of the unfolding. Some of you who are struggling mentally and emotionally. You matter – you are important. Reach out to your loved ones, or if you cannot, reach out to plants. Sit under a tree and pour your heartache out to the tree or plant being. Your thoughts will be heard and healing will be sent to you.

Traditional Uses: The root and rhizome are traditionally used to make medicine. Check with an herbalist for more information.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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Sorry to be posting so late today, but we went out early to pick blueberries at a farm in the area. It will be in the upper 90s today, so it was important to get there early! We’ve got about 10 pounds of berries to start making jam and desserts with, but we sometimes need to go back for a bit more.

Today’s card takes up the baton for Monday’s card (California poppy) with the idea of bringing joy into your life. There’s a lot of stress in the world right now, and many are struggling with increased prices. In times like these, we need to learn to embrace simple joys and remember that we don’t have to spend a lot to be happy. Joy isn’t tied to vacations and retail therapy, though our society tries to tell us that it is.

Blessings!

Thistle

Clarkia – Delight

You are a powerful creator. You can harness the energy that surrounds you to manifest the life you want. Allow joy and delight to lead the way.

Guidance: Are there ways you are blocking joy and love from your life? Once you clear these blocks you clear the path for great joy. Take a moment as you move through your day – really stop – and look around you. Feel joyful. Be truly grateful for all of the abundance you have in your life.

Channeled Message: Showered by sparkling light – a fairy, a light being suddenly stops in front of me – a spark of giggling light. I feel joy. Joy to be alive, to feel the sunlight and the breeze, joy to be flowering and reaching upward, growing, feeling the life force of the Earth running through my veins. I feel the life pulse of the planet, the Universe, vibrating through me. I am the Clarkia. It has always been this way, the Earth, the Universal energy of love and harmony moving through all beings of the Earth plane. As above, so below. A mirroring of energy. Humans have the potential to live this way again – to allow joy and happiness to lead the way. Be totally present to the magnificent energy of the Universe floating through you. You are a powerful creator who can harness the energy that surrounds you to manifest the life you want. You must trust that the Universe has your back.

Origins and Meanings: Named in honor of Captain William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Meaning: your conversation delights me.

Traditional Uses: Foliage and flowers used for green and gold natural dyes. Seeds are edible. The flowers are hermaphrodite (male and female).

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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The Earth and its abundance is immortal and everlasting – tying those traits to us. How does what we take in and give out affect the world? Do you share or do you hoard your abundance and energy? Is your approach to it balanced? I find this card gives me more questions than answers, but sometimes that’s how it rolls.

Blessings,

Thistle

Globe Amaranth – Immortality

The Earth provides and shelters. The Earth and all the Devas and Spirit Beings watch and work with you. You live in an abundant and fertile Universe.

Guidance: Abundance surrounds you – open your eyes and heart to see.

Channeled Message: I hear sounds like dry things rubbing against each other in the breeze. Orange light. Orange ball of light, burning bright. Crackling. Rustling. Polka dot field of orange, white, purple, and blue as far as I can see. I am standing in a sea of Gomphrena. They make me feel so happy! Such delight. They brush up against me as I walk through them. My hands are outstretched and I am touching them softly as I pass through them. The Sun is so warm on me. Such happiness. I am floating above the field. It stretches for miles and miles and weaves through the mountains and over hillsides. It is the energy of the Earth spreading over the face of the planet. It is the energy of the Earth spreading over the face of the planet. The energy of the Earth runs through them, through their blood and ancestry as surely as it does through me, through all flowers, all trees, the water, all the animals, insects, birds. and fish. We are all the same. We are all Earth’s children. We are family. We are relations.

Name Origins: From the Latin name for a kind of amaranth and globosa meaning round or spherical.

Traditional Meaning: Immortality or Everlasting which references the flowers which can be dried.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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Today, we are back to this lovely new deck that is so perfect for spring and summer! Grape Hyacinth greets us with a dose of confidence to overcome fears.

Have a lovely day,

Thistle

Grape Hyacinth – Power & Confidence

Destroy the dragon that pursues you and steals your confidence. You can make it disappear with one thought of love and connection.

Meaning: Fears begin as small thoughts lurking in the garden of your mind. They move through your memories and worry at the ones that have wounded you. You are love. You only have to slay the dragon that purses trying to convince you that you are not a sacred being. Slay the dragon that is haunting you.

Channeled Message: In the garden – in a Muscari forest. I see movement. A lizard? Scales like the Muscari petals – a dragon! It’s a tiny dragon. The Deva of the Muscari has taken this form to easily move amongst the flowers, along the ground surveying each of the plants as it tends them. I sit and wait. The dragon approaches me and sits across from me. It begins to grow – it is sudden huge. It towers over me. I am starting to feel a bit frightened. Now is the time to remember my power – don’t let this dragon rule me.

Name Origins and Traditional Meanings: From the Greek word for musk, moschos, due to the fragrance of some of the species. The Grape Hyacinth is not a Hyacinth. Traditional Meaning: Power, Confidence.

Traditional Uses: For quite a long time, these flowers were in use in Italy for dyeing purposes, only falling out of favor around WWII.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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Good day! Running a bit behind this morning as our little black kitty, MoJo, hurt his tail and had to be dropped off at the vet. But now that we are here, this is another lovely card from the Alchemy Flower Oracle deck.

This card indicates a return to happiness – but something people need to remember is that our happiness is not a result of others but of us choosing to look at things in a brighter light. There is always good and bad going on – so look for the good (and when the bad simply must be addressed, perhaps use John Lewis’ adage: Get in Good Trouble).

Lily of the Valley – Return to Happiness

The unseen magical work of Spirit is waiting to help you.

Guidance: Plant flowers, plant love, plant ideas, and know that the unseen world of magic and spirit is waiting to aid you.

Channeled Message: Snow on the ground, melting. It’s spring time. I can see, I can hear. Wait, I hear bells, soft tinkling and giggling. There are clusters of Lily of the Valley growing in this forest. They are filled with white light energy. Each patch glows, lighting the forest floor. I hear giggling. A small fairy materializes: her wings are studded with small gems: they look like little ice chips or snowflakes. She was the Lily and somehow turned into a fairy? She smiles shyly and giggles again, “We work with you unseen as we tend our gardens. Your planting and tending gardens bring more magic into the world. We work in harmony with you and all beings. Many of you have forgotten us. We are still here, waiting to work with you to bring healing to the Earth. You have only to begin tending gardens and know that we will be with you. All of the magical world, the unseen world of spirit, is waiting to help. You only have to ask. We can heal together.“

Name Origins and Traditional Meanings: From the Latin world convallis, meaning valley. The genus was formerly placed in the lily family (Liliaceae), hence the common name Lily of the Valley. Tradition meaning is a return to happiness.

Traditional Uses: the flowers of the plan are used to make perfumes. All parts of this plant are poisonous, including the small red berries.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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Good day! Yesterday was a lovely one relaxing in the morning with my sweetheart and then indulging in a Beltaine tea part in the afternoon with the ladies in my Hearth group. It was a lovely day here, which isn’t always the case on the first of May!

Something I tucked into the basket of tea party items was a deck I was gifted by a dear friend as an early birthday gift, the gorgeous Alchemy Flower Oracle. It was the perfect addition to a Beltaine celebration, and I look forward to exploring it further. Keep an eye out for a review of the deck in a week or two.

For today, the deck us definitely in sync with how a lot of folks feel about springtime, so read on to learn more.

Daffodil – New Beginnings

It’s time to rejoice for there is a new spring waiting. A time of joy, of happiness, and new dreams blossoming.

Guidance: When you see a bunch of daffodils, remember that you are also part of Earth and Nature’s joy. You’re not separate. You are closely related. Your feelings of joy are reciprocated by the daffodils and all flowers and beings.

Channeled Message: She turns around. I thought from a distance that she was maybe a nun, but I see as she turns that she wears a daffodil as a headpiece – or is it part of her being? The daffodil is like a nun’s habit. Oh, what bountiful energy! Bright, happy springtime! Her purpose is to bring feelings of great joy and happiness to people. She is the harbinger of spring. The announced. The clarion. The Daffodil fields are talking to each other. I see them communicating – tiny sparks passing from one to the other. They are the Earth springing forth in pure joy. They are the first flowers for the bees and pollinators. I see fields and fields of daffodils stretching as far as my eye can see. I can feel the Earth vibrating, humming. It is time to awaken. It is time to celebrate that you are alive. It is time to honor your calling.

Alchemy Flower Oracle by Ingrid Koivukangas

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