Articles — 2016

Bayberry is a shrub in the Myrtle family, also known as Wax Myrtle. It is native to North America and was harvested by Choctaws, Mohegans, and also by white settlers as early as the 1600s. Every part of the Bayberry plant serves some medicinal, magickal, or household purpose. Wax extracted from the berries was used to make soap and candles in place of animal tallow. The leaves are aromatic (similar to the unrelated kitchen herb Bay), and the roots can be harvested and dried for use as a natural antibiotic. It is also unrelated to Chinese Bayberry, an Asian species...

Native to the Mediterranean, Rosemary is an aromatic evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves. Its vertical branches proliferate in sunny climates, growing larger and woodier with age. Rosemary’s piney, medicinal fragrance brightens the flavor of roasted meat, soups, and breads. Magickal Uses of Rosemary Rosemary is one of the most important Old World magickal herbs. There is an enormous amount of Rosemary folklore. It has been used for cleansing and purifying incenses since ancient times. It was associated with Aphrodite/Venus (Rosemary's name means “dew of the sea” in Latin). Later, it became linked to the Virgin Mary, who is said to...

Once upon a time, there was a witchy little girl with some big dreams about what the future would hold. Like many, I began my Pagan practice as a young teen. I was stirred by tantalizing contact with Nature, the Ancient Ones, and the Unseen. I couldn’t wait to learn everything I could about magick, to break away and begin my life as a real grown-up Pagan. But I didn’t know any actual Pagans—not at first, anyway. I was too shy to share my experiences with others, or to ask for books on occultism. As a result, almost everything I...

Greetings from your favorite Faery Pagan online boutique! The weather's finally getting cooler here in Texas. We're moving into Samhain season--or, in some traditions, the end of the Pagan year. It feels like a good time to take a minute and update you all on what Grove and Grotto has been up to in 2016: Online Store I've made a lot of small but constructive changes to the online store. Taking new photos, fleshing out product descriptions, updating checkout and navigation, and writing regular blog articles. The goal is to make the site as easy to use as possible for...

Gold may be the most prized of earthly materials, but the magickal gleam of silver puts it (traditionally) in second place. Silver was one of the first metals known to the ancients—the Bible mentions riches of gold and silver. Silver deposits are found in nature, but (unlike gold) rarely in a pure state. Over the centuries, miners and crafters learned to take this dark grey rock and turn it into tools and ornaments of luminous beauty. Its Latin name, argentum, comes from the Sanskrit, arj-una (“light”). Just as gold is linked to the vibrant hue of the Sun, the gentler...