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Arts & Entertainment:

Real witches cry foul at portrayal on “True Blood” (Reuters) - Critics of bloody violence and excessive sex on TV have long had HBO’s vampire drama “True Blood” in their cross hairs, but now the popular series has another group of wary citizens – witches, real ones.

The series’ fourth season has focused on Marnie Stonebrook (Fiona Shaw), a seemingly harmless medium and leader of a Wiccan group who becomes the physical conduit for Antonia, a long dead witch who is hellbent on vengeance against vampires who persecuted and burned her at the stake.

Garlic

(Allium Sativum)

Garlic has been valued for its healing properties and ability to increase the body’s strength and energy, and is said to help prevent heart disease, stroke and hypertension. The essential oils in garlic have strong, antibiotic, anti-fungal and antiviral properties. The medicinal benefits make a delicious seasoning for so many foods, just add chopped raw garlic to cooked meats, poultry and vegetables or use it in salads. Crushed garlic in oil is excellent for a dressing or pickle whole garlic cloves for a condiment. Garlic in salve form helps ease neuralgia, joint pain, sprains, corns and other skin afflictions.

Garden Pasta

Photo by Pabo76

Prep time: 21 minutes
cooking time 11 to 12 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 16 ounces fusili pasta

• 1 cup each sliced yellow squash and zucchini

• 1 cup each julienne red bell pepper and chopped green bell pepper

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 3/4 cup chopped green onions

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

• 1 small tomato, peeled, crushed

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Lady’s Mantle

Botanical Name: Alchemilla Vulgaris

Folk Names: Bear’s Foot, Leontopodium, Lion’s Hook, Nine Hooks, Stellaria

Photo by amortize

Folklore: The dew gathered from the leaves, (which is said to be a key ingredient in several alchemical formulas) was used as a beauty lotion. Lady’s Mantle’s first association with the worship is that of the Earth Mother, but as Christianity spread, (like many pagan symbols) it was absorbed and eventually became associated with the Virgin Mary.

Belladonna

Botanical Name: Atropa Belladonna or Atropa Bella-Donna

Belladonna (also called Deadly Nightshade or Devil’s Berries) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Solanaceae family. Native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, the foliage and berries are extremely toxic. The toxins are tropane alkaloids, containing scopolamine and hyoscyamine, which cause delirium and hallucinations.

Belladonna has a history of use in medicine, cosmetics, and poison. It was used as an anesthetic before the Middle Ages. The ancient Romans used it as a poison on arrow tips. Both the wife of Emperor Augustus and the wife of Claudius used it to murder contemporaries. The name “Bella-Don means “beautiful woman” in Italian, and the genus name “atropa” comes from Atropos, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology.

Maryland Crab Cakes

Photo by dinemag

Prep time: 15 minutes + chilling
Cooking time: 6 to 8 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 celery stalk (1/2 cup chopped)

• 1 green onion (1/4 cup chopped)

• 1 pound fresh backfin crab-meat, cartilage removed

• 10 saltine crackers (2 inches each), crushed to 1/2 cup crumbs

• 1 large egg

• 3 tablespoons tartar sauce

• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

• Lemon slices, to garnish

Preparation:

• Finely chop celery and green onion. (set aside) Combine crab-meat, cracker crumbs, celery and onion in a medium bowl. (set aside)

Kava-Kava

Botanical Name: Piper Methysticum

Folk Names: Intoxicating Pepper, Ava, Ava Pepper, Ava Root, Awa Root

Photo by wallyg

Piper methysticum, means “intoxicating pepper.” It is a mild hypnotic, used traditionally in Polynesia for ceremonial purposes. Young people with strong teeth would chew the tough roots, it was then strained and added to water or coconut oil.

The tonic was drunk at peace ceremonies and other ritual occasions to welcome visiting dignitaries. It was not only used for ceremonial consumption, but also to relax social barriers and enhance social cohesion. Kava-Kava was used as an Offering to deities, it was taken to enhance visions or to increase the power when a priest wished to identify the spiritual cause of an illness.

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Lughnasadh!

My Lughnasadh corn doll. (Instructions below)

Next time you’re having corn for dinner, keep your husks. Be sure to dry them in the sun for one to three days. If you’re using dried-out husks, soak them for a couple of hours to soften. (There is no special preparation if using fresh husks).

Materials:

• Corn husks (Available in grocery store)

• Scissors

Happy Friday!

I’m looking forward to making this for Lughnasadh. I’ve never made it before, but it looks pretty easy. If you get the chance to make it, let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!

Molasses Brown Bread

Photo by avlxyz

Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 50 to 55 minutes
Servings: about 16

Ingredients:

• 1 cup  flour

• 1 cup graham or rye flour

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

In case you missed anything, here are highlights from this past week. I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Highlights!

Who Are We? By Stacy Evans

We can be anyone we want to be, more so because Wicca can encompass anything. We are everyone. We are kind and loving. We can be mean, because we are only human. We are not better than anyone else, but we are equal to everyone else.