#henbane

INKFLORESCENCE 09 - Henbane.

The henbane has a lot of meanigs and folklore surounding them, growing where death is nearby.

Also, this one is of my favourite witch plants and is really poisonous. ✨

Original for sale! if you have any questions feel free to write me an e-mail o send a DM. I will happy to answer your doubts.

This week we had again another “hottest day of the year”. Since June, most of Europe experiences a near ceaseless heat and drought period. These hot days of summer are also referred to as “Dog Days” (Hundstage) and this year they live up to their name.

The Greek called them kynádes hēmérai, Romans adopted it, calling them dies caniculares. Historically the period began with the heliacal rising of the dog star Sirius (actually a star system) in the Northern Hemisphere, which Greek and Roman astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck, while to the Polynesians in the Southern Hemisphere the star marked winter and was an important reference for their navigation around the Pacific Ocean.

For my “Dog Days” incense I took inspiration from the paralyzing and deadly weather phenomenon.

The formula has been updated, with field eryngo (Eryngium campestre) being added to the baneful blend. In German language this type of thistle is also referred to as “Unruh” and “Elend” and the occurrence of clusters of broken off stems, similar to spiky tumbleweed carried forth by the wind, are named “Steppenhexen”. This stingy plant is almost impossible to touch or harvest without hurting yourself. Yet, and despite the heat and drought, it is frequented by dozens of bumblebees and other pollinators.

Beside obvious herbal references to the the dog/wolf totem, such as wolfsbane and mandrake, the incense contains also black and white henbane, which have been used in prophecy, baneful spells but also for rain magic. I burnt a good amount of it on this day, both to cleanse and bless a dog skull I found at the flea market, as well as to call for rain and cooling. It may have been simply good timing, but rain came the following morning.

I am often asked about side effects and dangers of burning venific incense blends – I can only speak for myself, I did not notice anything, apart from feeling more focused and empowered. I also sensed a relaxing effect on myself. A slight dizziness I attest to the burning sun and heat, not to the herbs.

Luckily, the worst heat seems to be over now and I look forward to enjoying the end of summer and working on art.

It is with great difficulty that I make this post. I had intended to take a year’s sabbatical from posting here on Skeptical Occultist as the past year has been rather an imposing figure on my health and life. But the situation is such that I must clarify what has been happening in my absence.

In late 2020, having anticipated the events of Brexit making things complicated with my then recent retirement from London to a small village in Portugal, I placed a flurry of printing orders with my longstanding UK printer. The printer was unfortunately beset with staff issues related to the ongoing Covid plague but promised to get things printed and off before the end of the year.

The printings did get done, but the timing wasn’t good enough. Having departed the UK they got stuck in a purgatory of shipping created by the closing of borders to all ground shipments and thus were held too long to make it to Portugal before the deadline of Brexit.

At that point, sometime in early 2021, the shipments went missing. According to our shipper they were all in the hands of Portuguese customs, although for many months customs claimed they did not have them. After a Kafkaesque mountain of paperwork, confusing phone calls and emails, we were informed that customs did in fact have the boxes of books and were “processing” them. We were told we would receive letters stating the import taxes due and that with those letters we could claim our shipments.

Those letters never arrived. Months of arguing with customs officials began to affect my health, and while I won’t go into the details I have been considerably overwhelmed with the situation as it has unfolded this past year.

Finally I hired a Portuguese lawyer who, after making some inquires herself, declared that a lengthy legal battle would cost much more than the cost of reprinting the volumes. It seems that courts in Portugal take many years to deal with even simple legal matters.

I retired to Portugal out of a love for the landscape that had developed over my years of field research here. Knowing that my pension would not sustain me in London, my partner and I decided that a small Portuguese village we now call home would suit us well in our age. We do love it here, but the postal and customs systems of this country are a crime racket on par with the mob.

I am not in a place where I have the financial means to cover these losses and have been in a mental funk for months trying to find a way to sort out things as the letters from our readers continue to politely inquire what has happened. We owe a huge thanks and appreciation for the patience of our readers over this past year.

A friend who helps us in design and publishing has suggested that we try to crowd source the funding to get Alkahest Press back on track. They have set up a Go Fund Me page where those who have the means and wish to help us get through this difficult impasse can donate. We are extremely sorry for the delays and want nothing more than to know our volumes are in the hands of the readers who have ordered them.

If you are inclined to help please visit the fundraising page. Any amount of help is much appreciated by this grumpy old wizard.

-Eldred

Visit the Gofundme page at - http://gofundme.com/f/help-eldred-wormwood-alkahest-press

After some consultation among our readers and in honor of the late feral sorcerer David Blank, whose birthday would have been today and to whom Wyrdwood is dedicated, we are pleased to announce a very limited second print run of my work Wyrdwood: Essays Toward an Understanding of the FolkwitchviaAlkahest Press.

This second printing is identical to the first and limited to just 50 copies, for those who had missed out the first time around some years ago.

Get your copy from Alkahest Press.