Sacred Herbs for Samhain

The Sacred Herbs for Samhain that I am using this year are Rosemary, Mugwort, Wormwood and Rowan. As part of the celebrations I am making a Parshell Cross (a Samhain Cross) and will be preparing a feast. After carving a turnip I will add the turnip flesh to a hearty vegetable stew; make an Apple Pie and my favourite of all, Colcannon made with our own potatoes and our own kale. All recipes are below. If you would like to know more about how I celebrate Samhain, consider joining me for the Samhain Festival on the Wise Woman Way training. This is a transpersonal course connecting us with the plants and Irish goddesses for healing and self development. More details here - I also teach an Introduction to Herbal Medicine which is a six months long, self-paced course. The course includes growing and working with plants and creating remedies. More information here - The Weed Handbooks are my two books that introduce you to the wild medicinal plants that can be found almost everywhere in the world. Regarded by many as unwanted, they are some of the most medicinal plants we could have. Thanks to Lol Hardiman for the lovely music and the filming and editing. You can hear more of Lol’s music here on youtube - @lolhardiman5247 and you can also find him at his website For our Samhain celebrations I will be making a Jack O’Lantern by hollowing out a turnip and adding the flesh to a hearty, veggie stew. To make the stew, saute the onions and garlic, add diced turnip, carrots, parsnips and pour in some home made stock. After 15 minutes of simmering, add the potatoes and some herbs such as Thyme, Sage, Rosemary, salt and pepper. Alternatively put the stew mix into a pastry and make a pie, serve with Colcannon. To make the Colcannon, boil enough potatoes for everyone and when they are ready, drain, dry and mash with milk and butter until soft and creamy. While the potatoes are boiling, slice some kale and boil until tender, then drain. Add the kale to the mashed potato and mix well. Serve with knobs of butter on top of the potatoes when you serve the pie. You could make gravy for this if you wish. We follow this with Apple and Blackberry pie. With this menu, I am using the abundance of the root vegetables and the apple harvest with hedgerow fruits. I was lucky enough to receive the red silken thread from Rita van der Kant-Klomp, author of the book “Ardeche Immortelle“ - more information at Follow us on instagram - If you would like to donate to the children in Palestine here is a link Thanks for watching! xx
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