The Goddess Tree Grows *BROOM

[Gwendolyn]

From Roots to Leaves, Branches to Bark
The Goddess Tree Grows

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BROOM
Cytisus Scoparius

Physician's Strength

12th month of Celtic Tree calendar, October 28 - November 24
12th letter of the Ogham alphabet - nGetal

nGetal is a tree-letter of well-being and healing.
It counsels you to tend to the health of your mind, body, and spirit,
and reminds you of the need to foster your vitality through rites of cleansing and renewal.

Planet: The Moon
Element: Water
Symbolism: Royalty, cleansing, healing, psychic protection, astral travel
Stone: Opal
Color: Blue
Bird: Geese, kingfisher
Deity: Mercury, Morpheus, Bacchus
Sabbat: Samhain
Folk Names: Scotch Broom

Medicinal properties: All parts of the broom have medicinal value. Traditionally it was used to treat ailments that resulted from excessive revelry. The green tips of the flowering branches were used as a mild diuretic. A concoction made from the young branches or seeds can cause vomiting. The sparteine found in Broom is now used for heart and circulatory disorders. Other preparations from Broom can help with gout, sciatica, joint pain, malaria, fever, kidney stones. Oil from the stems can relieve toothache and clear the skin of parasites. Ashes of broom were used to treat dropsy. The main medicinal ingredient in Broom is sparteine. When consumed in large doses it can cause excitability and hallucinations. This has been speculated as the reason Broom is associated with witches flying around on brooms.
Magickal properties: Broom is used in spells for purification and protection. Sweep your ritual areas with this herb to purify and protect. It was rumored to be helpful with poltergeists. Throw Broom in the air to raise the winds. And burn Broom, burying the ashes, to calm the winds. The strong smell of Broom can tame wild horses and dogs. Stuff a generous helping of this herb into a cloth bag and place it under your pillow to get rid of nightmares. Add it to flying recipes to gain the sight for psychic visions. It can be substituted for furze (gorse) at the Spring Equinox.


Entering the time of dormancy...

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Broom produces vanilla-scented flowers from late spring to early summer.

Original photography - www.morning-earth.org

Mythologically, the broom's yellow flowers link it to the sun, and particularly to the solar hero Balan.


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I Am Bone Tired

I am bone-tired from traveling that hard last mile with you.
The blasted holes and smoking stumps along the way
have drained the sun from me.
So heavy, so heavy - the weight of tears, this burden of love.
Yet were you to ask, my heart would leap
and drop all trophies to walk with you again.
How flimsy is weariness when balanced against
One more glimpse, one sound, one touch of you?

Come back! There are still more words to find,
more heart to open.
My conceit decrees that it is not Your Time
Listen - I will say when - and it is not now!
And who am I to decide your date? I will tell you.
I am the one who washed your feet,
wiped your sweat, smelled your fear,
And still held on. I am the one who loved beyond pain,
through exhaustion,
past stench, beyond doubt.

Yet if the sands of time in both worlds were poured out for me
Could I stop your coach from its homeward journey
or ease the wrenching of your death?
When the sun is gone I look inside for illumination
At the dark of moon a question forms slowly -
For whom do I mourn?
You - now whole and free, dancing in the light;
Or me - wandering my hard last mile
without your frail arm to guide me?

~Lyrion ApTower HPS 1998, and We’Moon’09

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Gwendolyn's brooms


Broom was often used in the construction of traditional style Witches' 'besom' brooms. These brooms are magickal tools used in cleaning out negative energy and debris of our psychic and physical lives.

There are two versions of the origin of the belief that the witches' besom (broom) was used for flying. The first claims that flying on the broom is a myth that arose from witnessing pagans jumping up and down in a field to encourage crops to grow. Someone mistakenly thought they were trying to fly. The second version claims that a broom handle was rubbed with hallucinogenic ointments and "ridden" skyclad so that the substance would quickly enter the bloodstream and bring about flight, or out-of-body experiences.

Brooms should be stored upside down in the house to honor the goddess.

At the end of the hand fasting rite, the couple jumps the broom to bless their union with fertility. The broom handle represents the male and the bristles represent the female.

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Monday November 2, 2009 - Full Moon in Taurus
Monday November 9, 2009 - Waning Half Moon in Leo
Monday November 16, 2009 - New Moon in Scorpio
Tuesday November 24, 2009 - Waxing Half Moon in Pisces

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Before hops, Broom was added to flavor and enhance the intoxicating effects of Beer.

Flowering broom tips are gathered in spring to use later, fresh or dried.

Both the seeds and the flowers are soluble in water and alcohol.

Be aware though, if you plant Broom.... it will quickly multiply.

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Two brooms were hanging in the closet and after a while they got to know each other so well, they decided to get married.
One broom was, of course, the bride broom, the other the groom broom.
The bride broom looked very beautiful in her white dress. The groom broom was handsome and suave in his tuxedo. The wedding was lovely.
After the wedding, at the wedding dinner, the bride-broom leaned over and said to the groom-broom, "I think I am going to have a little whisk broom!!!"
"IMPOSSIBLE !!" said the groom broom. "WE HAVEN'T EVEN SWEPT TOGETHER!"
(Sounds to me like she's been "sweeping" around)

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Pray Peace

This letter is a labor of love, from Gwendolyn
Permission to share freely, please in its entirety, with links and credits
Feel free to contact me: [e-mail]

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from Moon Bee Acres

There is a branch for you to sit upon with a beautiful view.
Climb up into her arms, and stay for a spell.
Feel her roots, her bark, her branches, her leaves.
She is shade, shelter, a home, a hide-away.
She is an escape.
She rocks you to sleep in your hammock.
She holds up your birdfeeder, your wind chimes, and your decorations.
She embraces anyone who loves to climb.
In the spring she offers life, and in the fall she gives her own.
She does not judge.
She just is.

Gwendolyn
thegoddesstree.com

http://thegoddesstree.com/MotherNature/Broom.htm

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