These are echinacea tincture, garlic oil, and st. johns tincture brewing.

 

My herb hutch.  Granted, filled with purchased, dried, herbs at the moment.  No wild crafted yet.  You would not believe the stress I have over my herbs and the weather.  Definitely not as much as for my family, and furry babies, but still I have definitely formed a sort of relationship with my herbs.

The Older I get

It has gotten to the point that I no longer feel "safe" unless all the things that I feel I need are in bags and ready to move at the blink of an eye.  It's a terrible feeling.  Dread.  I won't be able to get all the things I need and the things I treasure out safely.  There's too much.  What about dog food?  Cat food?  We are so lucky to live in a time and a place where being able to have pets is a luxury.  Some folks around the world feed their "pets" with food from their own mouths.  And some of us feel the need to put clothes on our pets.  What a difference location can make.

Badger

I don't remember exact date, but it was during autumn 2010.  I had gone to a site, a ning site, for witches.  There was a post about how to help you find your animal totem.  There was a music video of drums to help you relax and concentrate on your totem.  I was very skeptical.

I sat, closed my eyes and listened to the drums and a vision same through the dark fog of my mind.  In a forest, a small knoll, "OH!".  A small animal peeked around the knoll at me, she was quick about it...was that a badger??  She sniffed the air, barely visible around the knoll and slowly she came around front of it to look me over.  My heart felt the warmth of love and I almost cried.

	BADGER

	Cunning badger of the forest, Guide me to wisdom, truth and light. All injustices against me, Wipe clean the slate and set them right.
Aggressiveness, Reliance, Self-Expression The power of the Badger totem is its aggressiveness and the willingness to fight for what it wants. This aggression can also be turned to healing - for Badger is the keeper of Earth's healing herbs.  Badger people are quick to express their feelings without concern for the consequences. They are often healers who have the courage to use unconventional methods. Badger has the ability to persist to find a cure. Badger people are often leaders and bosses, the one who will get the job done. If you have a Badger as a totem, you will likely be solitary but comfortable being alone. You are comfortable in your own skin and very self-reliant. Badger anger can get your out of apathy, but be careful not to cut yourself (or others) to ribbons. Badger is a powerful totem when used properly.

I was standing outside smoking a cigarette, thinking about my forest.  Day dreaming of laying on the forest floor letting her take of my energy to use as she will when a snake, blackish colored with gold undertones came.  She slithered up my body to set on my chest and look into my face, she kissed me, slithered lovingly around my neck, for a second I tensed, otherwise I think she would've made comfortable there, but instead she slithered down my right arm to coil around my forearm and she melded into a tattoo there.  This was my daydream, and the following is what I found out about a snake totem.

SNAKE
	Wisdom, Healing, Initiation The symbol of eternity
This a powerful totem -- it is the symbol of transformation and healing. The Snake is wisdom expressed through healing. It is a protector and guardian totem, along with its sister totems, the Dragon and the Serpent. If a snake totem has come into your life, your creative forces are awakening. Your intuition will sharpen and be more accurate. Snake energy is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness, and the ability to experience anything willingly and without resistance. It is the knowledge that all things are equal in creation. It also signals a transition in your life. New opportunities and/or changes. Snake is fire medicine, the medicine of transmutation. On a material level, it is vitality; on an emotional level, it is ambition and dreams; on a mental level, it is intellect and power; on a spiritual level (the highest level),

                                     it is wisdom, understanding and wholeness.

Snake magic is heavy magic. 
Become the Magician and transmute the energy and accept the power of the fire.

The Snake is one of the symbols of Thoth.