Despite the name, this realm isn't only about plants. The physical structures of the land also belong in this realm; rivers, oceans, mountains, meadows.. as do the seasons, the tides... The sun, moon and stars belong here too. This realm is largely concerned with the passage of time. Some things in this realm appear unchanging but everything, even the mountains, is affected by time and always changing. Time can appear to be moving in cycles here, plants move through the seasons in somewhat predictable ways, flowering, going to seed, dying and then returning in the spring, and yet time is always moving forward.

Perhaps the deepest mystery of this realm is the theory of 'spacetime'.. that although we're bound to the moment we're occupying, all other moments exist simultaneously at some point along the continuum. Again, I'll come back to this idea later when I talk about my spellwork.

The beings that I meet in this realm are land spirits, plant spirits, divas and of course the fae. Its corresponding 'otherworld' is Faery or the 'lower-world', where the old tales tell us time runs differently, with some people going there for a day only to return to this world and 100 years have past, or spend years there and only minutes have passed here.

Work within this realm largely takes on the form of interacting with nature. It's my volunteering, my curiosity about what grows locally and how it can be used magically and medicinally. It is also my seasonal celebrations and lunar rituals.


House Cleansing

My monthly house cleansing also falls under the floral realm as I use it to mark the end of one month and the start of another. Once I've finished cleaning, with the windows and doors open, I tap the threshold 3 times, thank the previous month for its gifts and lessons, and welcome the new month in.


The Pow Burn

The Pow Burn is an important aspect of my work here too. I see all bodies of water and the hydro-cycle as the blood, bile and sweat of the planet.

There is a stone seat near a bridge that crosses the Pow Burn where she surfaces in the park and I like to sit there when the park is quiet. I ask the Pow Burn for inspiration as she brings forth wisdom from the depth of the earth as she bursts briefly into the light of day. A lot of the concepts I've been blogging about were formed with the help of the Pow Burn's inspiration.

I also use water from the Pow Burn when blessing items and I mixed some into the water I used when I did the 9-waves ritual.


The Mother's Milk

This brings me nicely then, to one of my favourite rituals. I do this ritual after spells, and on esbats and sabbats, but I can also do the ritual on its own, just for the sake of it.

It is based on another ritual by Francesca de Grandis and in fact, the ritual was part of a two-part ritual that began with 'Kissed by a Distant Star' that I mentioned in part one, although it has taken on a different meaning and significance for me than was originally intended.

Francesca uses actual milk for the ritual, but it is particularly in substituting the milk for regular water that this ritual has such power for me.

The ritual is done while holding and then drinking from, a cup of water. It begins with what sounds like a series of instructions, but at that point, you don't carry out the instructions. So while holding the cup I will recite;

'What is in the cup? In the cup is the Lady's milk. Drink from the cup. drinking half the milk. What is in the milk? In the Lady's milk is my soul. Drain the cup, drinking in your soul.'

I don't do the actions, but instead try to really think about the importance of water, and how this 'mother's milk' nurtures me and all life on this blue planet. I then follow the recitation with the actions, but this time saying just 'in the cup is the Lady's milk' and 'in the Lady's milk is my soul' before each long sip (the cup is downed in 2 long sips).

Once the cup is empty, I say;

'May I continue to drink from the Mother's milk daily. While every breath I take is imperfect, every breath I take is both good and divine.'

The original ritual had more words, but this is the ritual as I perform it.

Well, that's it for the floral realm but the post is too long if I try to combine it with the rest of my post, so I'll write about the faunal realm and my method for working magic, in part 3.