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Thursday, May 26, 2016

CINNAMON

CINNAMON-
Real Cinnamon Bark/or sticks
If you think you've had cinnamon, there's a very good chance that you've had Cassia instead. You see Cassia actually tastes very much like cinnamon, however it is the cheaper spice or product of
Cinnamon. Sadly the US allows both products in the country, plus they also allow Cassia & Cinnamon to both appear labeled as being Cinnamon in all the stores in the US.
I don't know why they allow this but in my opinion this is very wrong! So when I found this article I thought you all should know the differences between Cinnamon - Cassia so that you can make your own choices between the spices. First you should know the true name of Cinnamon...
[Ceylon Cinnamon-Cinnamonmumverum]
It has many different other names too... It is sometimes called 'Sir Lankan Cinnamon,which is the inner layer of the bark of the Tropical Evergreen Tree related to the Bay.
Cassia Sticks
The Cassia Tree is similar to the Tropical Evergreen Tree as it relative produces bark similar to cinnamon. Although they are not quite the true Bark cinnamon sticks. There are still many varieties that are harvested for consumpition of the Cassia sticks. There are also a host of names for all of these type of Cassia sticks too.
1-C. burmannii-labeled, 'Korintje',Padang or Indonesian Cassia.
2-C. loureiroi-labeled, Saigon Cinnamon, Vietnamese Cassia.
3-Vietnamese Cinnamon-labeled C. Cassia which is labeled 'Chinese Cinnamon'
The trick to telling the true cinnamon Bark/Stick apart from a Cassia Stick is actually not that difficult. This is how you tell the two spices apart.. First Cinnamon is much more fragrance plus it has a much sweet, warm and woodsy smell. Its not a pungent as that of the spice Cassia which has a slightly bittersweet flavor.
As for the difference in appearce in the two- Cinnamon is light brown or tan. Cassia is a darker reddish-brown. Cinnamon bark sticks are sometimes called 'Quills' and usually three-quarters of an inch thick. They have many concentric paper thin rings within the cinnamon bark sticks.
Now the Cassia spice is also rolled into quills, however, the individual layers are noticeably thicker and usually fewer. Cinnamons sweetness and warming qualities makes it a perfect fit for many types of foods. It can be in desserts of all kinds, especially during the winter time, with the use of many fruits. You can use cinnamon sticks to infuse liquids such as milk for puddings and sauces.
Some great examples are-
You can add a pinch of ground Cinnamon to your coffee grounds during the brewing for a hint of flavor or more directly in your cup for a bigger boost make herbal tea with cinnamon sticks or add the sticks to black tea with milk and other spices for a soothing fragrant spiced beverage. You can also sprinkle Cinnamon on your oatmeal for a more tasty breakfast. The smell of cinnamon in the oven warm up cinnamon rolls can be very intoxicating too! Besides puddings, sauces, liquids and desserts you can also use it on your vegetables and meats too. Cinnamon is a very important ingredient in Moroccan tagines stews, Indian curries and potato dishes too.
Cinnamon should smell sweet. If it doesn't toss it.


CASSIA TREE


CINNAMON

CINNAMON TREES

CINNAMON

CINNAMON TREE

Stocks both Cinnamon and ground. The Sticks can last up to a few years and the ground cinnamon will last about six months. Here is a great link for more info.  www.penzeys.com
I hope that you find this to be interesting . love you all my dears your friend always
WENDY






 

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

CENTAURS

Centaurs-
Good Morning my dears, And welcome to my humble blog. Today we are going into the Magick World  of the Centaurs. The Centaurs lived in a region called Pelion in Magnesia, a coastal region in Central Greece. They can be either female or male.They have a head, torso and arms of either a man or woman & the body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are very large in size. However, the Male Centaur is much larger than the female Centaur. As I have said earlier the Magick Centaur are part human part horse beings. First I thought I would give you a bit of history of the Centaur, then I will go into the myth's of the Magical Creature of the Greeks. Centaurs are said to be the children of Ixion and Nephele. The tale kinda goes like this...Ixion fell in love with Queen Hera, and tried to rape her, but she reported his to her husband the King Zeus, who decided to test his wife's testimony to him. For this purpose, the God Zeus made a Cloud resembling the Queen Hera. Zeus laid the Cloud that look like like Hera beside Ixion to see what he would do. So when Ixion awaken seeing Hera beside him and then started to go around the kingdom boasting that he had enjoyed the company overnight of the Queen Hera. This of course didn't sit well, with the all powerful Zeus who bound Ixion to a large wheel, on which he is whirled into the winds by Zeus. The cloud, that Zeus made of Hera that lay beside his wife and queen gave birth to the Centaurs when Zeus consorted with the Magnesian Mares, the Centaurs were born. However, Diodorus said at the time that the Centaurus were the sons of Apolo and Stilbe, daughter of the River God Peneus. The Thessalian river flows from the foot of Mount Pindus and Creusa. There is another version or saying about the CENTAURS thus we are 'Like the Mother below, the Father above'. There are others that say the Centaur was born directly from the Cloud that Zeus created. From that tale in Greek times, there is also Greek
Mythology where it is said that the Centaurs had one father known with the name Ixion, who was one of Ares sons. Ixion killed the father of his wife, but Zeus took pity on him and forgave his acts after some time. However, in order to do so, as I had said above Zeus had to test him. As a result of the test he failed as he tried to seduce the Queen Hera and mating many others in the Kingdom of Gods. Resulting in the making of many of his Children that they Called Centaurs. Others say that the Centaurus mated with the Magnesian Mares. One never really knows, how these amazing creatures came about so many Centuries ago.
Centaurs-
Good or Bad Reputations in
Greek History-
It would be a huge mistake if I didn't go into the history of the Centaurs. You see not all centaurs were good in the day of the Greeks. Some of them were very bad others were very good. The Good Centaurs that were actually pretty famous in the Greek Mythology and History. These Centaurs aimed to find harmony in Nature. The first on of these Centaurs was Cheion, who was a scholar who loved harmony in nature, learned many things about medicine within nature, the arts, philosophy and the liberal Arts too. Cheion also learned about disciplines and the sciences that were usually irrelevant with the Centaurs.
The First and most Beloved
Centaur Cheion
However Cheion was very different than most Centaurs. He was mostly know as the tutor of the God Apollo. Also as a advisor to many people and deities such as Peleus was Cheion whom he also advised t marry the Goddess Thetis. Although the Goddess was resisting the wedding at first, she decided to marry Peleus and gave birth to the Hero Achilles.
The Second Known Good Centaur
was Pholos-
Pholos happened to be a friend of Heracles. Pholos allowed
Heracles to stay with him and gave him a grand feast in his fancy cave. In this cave Heracles asked for wine and the best food; And of course Pholos opened his Jars of his Best wine for his friend Heracles, however the two friends had no idea they were being watch by hundreds of jealous drunk wild Centaurs who wanted all that Pholos was giving to the God Heracles. Besides they could smell the wine and food being that they were have beast. So when the Centaurs though the timing was just right about a hundred of them attacked the two friends inside the cave, where they were just sitting and realizing, enjoying their company and the fine feast and good wine. Also celebrating their friendship with each
The beloved Cheiron at the
Gods Kingdom asking to died
other. The battle was ferocious and many of the centaurs and humans men were either killed or injured. On of the main Centaurs that was seriously hurt was their beloved Cheiron. He was so badly wounded that he wished to die even though he was immortal. It was a very sad day in the Kingdom of the Gods - Prometheus Heard the cries of the Beloved Cheiron and then offered him to die and gave him his immortality. Indeed the Centaur did died laving Prometheus being eternally alive. A gif that shows the kindness of Cheiron soul even at his death bed, surrounded by people that loved him dearly. There were only a few images to pick from the death of Cheiron however, I hope I pick the the most graces one I could find, for the most special and kindle Centaur of all time.
Now as for the Second known Good Centaur named Pholos. I am sorry wasn't able to find any photos, drawings, painting of any kind in the Greek Mythology. I don't really understand that but there wasn't much written about him either so who is to say what is the truth about this Centaur named Pholos. All that I do know about this Centaur Pholo is and what he is most famous for is the Centauromachy, which means to the Centaurs of the bad nature. So I guess he wasn't the most kindle of sort of Centaur like that of our honor Cheiron - I am guessing? You see they or Pholos and his Centaurs had grand wars against the Lapiths. This is not a Good quality in my opoion, its more of a bad one. It would seem that the Centaur Pholos and others in his group attempted to Carry off the Hippodamia& and the rest of the Laith besides the Wars between the Lapiths& the
Centaurs. The Centaurs with the Bad reputation, were said to be extremely heavy drinkers of wine and were usually depicted as beasts. Probably because they were so unpredictable and wild. Some of the Centaurs would often be so drunk& violent, they would eat raw flesh while drinking too much wine. These Creature also had a very bad reputations in Greece as being extremely violent towards women and other people but mostly women both human and their own. It is said that there were numerous myths and stories about centaurs violating women in the Greek mythology. One of these tales  refers to a Centaur by the name of Nesus who tried to rape Heracles wife Deianeira.
However, Deianeira, not only managed to defend herself from the Nesus Centaur but she was also able to kill the centaur too! In the last moments before his death, Nessus tried to excuse himself and gave the wife Deianerira a love drug that she used to seduce her husband Heracles. However, one should never trust a Centaur that is trying to rape you from a God son. The love drug was actually poison a very strong and painful one. Heracles had suffered so terribly from this poison that he decided to throw himself into the flames to die rather than to suffer the agony. of the effects of the poison. [note I really don't know what happened after that if what was the end of our beloved hero Heracles.] As for more history on the Centaurs, they were thought to carry bows & arrows and had very short tempers. I don't know if this was with both male and female of just the male after drinking to much. Also most Centaurs are said to be Good. And work against Evil. Its just a few fallen ones that fall between the cracks . So there you have the history of the Centaurs both good/bad. At the end of this post I will put a few of the images that I did find which I hope you all will enjoy. 
























Love you all my dearest Friends & Followers
Your friend always
WENDY







Sunday, May 22, 2016

BASILISK

Basilisk-
Good afternoon my dears, as promised I an much different post. I have a Magick Critters today
And this one is about the Basilisk which I remember very much in my favorite books Harry Potter books. I don't know if any of you out there are fans of the 8 book series but the Basilisk did play a part in one of the books.
The Basilisk has appeared in various forms throughout history. This Mythology & Magical Creature has also been In many different forms too! I have known the Basilisk only as the enormous snake that can turn anyone to stone if one see the Basilisk through a mirror. However it is also very deadly too! If you happen to look into its eyes you will died or if his craws get into your skin the poison will kill you in moments too. In this post I will try to write a little bit about each various form that the Basilisk has been throughout history + I will try to find images of the different various too. The Basilisk has appeared in various forms throughout ancient history many times over. 1-It got its start as a small crowed snake that had the ability to kill with its lethal poison and evil gaze. The poison was said to be so lethal, it left a wide trail of venom in its wake. 2-Lather in the medieval times, travelers would described the Basilisk as a much larger, fire breathing creature, with a terrifying roar. 3-The description of this Magick creature kept changing with the ages even further, creating a Rooster-with a serpents tail and occasionally dragon wings.[this show similarities with the cockatrice, however there is one difference that make them two very different creatures - The Basilisk is said to be hatched from the egg of a rooster, then incubated by a toad, while the birthing process of the Cockatrice is vica versa to the Basilisk - A toad's egg hatched by a rooster Hmm makes since Eh???????????
4-Another type of the Basilisk has been make up as part lizard, with a roosters head, the tail of a serpent and eight chicken legs. This one lead to its looks in the popular culture making it a even large as time went on, six or eight - legged lizard armed with a petrifying gaze too!
The tales about the basilisk and the mirror really do exist, however it can be slayed by other various methods. It is also vulnerable to the Cockcrow of a Rooster. This belief lead to travelers carrying roosters for self protection. It is said that the basilisk can be stopped by the odor of a weasel. Interesting I thought myself. They say that villagers will throw a weasel in a pit that is near
dying vegetation. This is in hope that they will get rid of the beast -Basilisk-. The weasel itself usually kills the basilisk on its own as well by urinating on the beast, but this almost always leads to the death of the weasel too!
More Facts about the Basilisk-
I found it very interesting that the Magical Creature basilisk can only be a male, never a female. It might be for reasons of its receptacle of venom and destructive qualities - also that it is so evil that it cannot gaze animals to death it turns to plants, withering them anywhere it goes. This could be the reason that it is a male and that it can only be a male. However, being a educated woman I know that there is a lot of evil in this world. Sadly there is many of women out there that are probably just as evil as the Creature the Basilisk as there are men. I don't think when he was created decades ago that 'they ever would come across some of the women in the modern world that would be just as evil.
They also said the Basilisk is believed to be the most poisonous creature ever lived, there are tales where the basilisk was killed by a spear from horse-back, but sadly the poison flowed upward and killed both the man and the horse too! Its presence is so tainting that not only herbs will die of its terrible breath, but stones will shatter as well. The basilisk's venom is so strong, that upon drinking from a well, that was once polluted from it centuries ago, it still will bring death to anyone that drinks from it.
Now as for the Healing powers of the Phoenix tears to save one if  were to have the poison of a
basilisk like that of the stories in Harry Potter? Well, I do love the stories however, as the truth to the
Phoenix tears and to that part of the story. I had a look and sadly I couldn't find anything but Harry
Potter stuff. So a warning that part might not be true. The only way to find out truly is to as J.R. Rowling or a historian that knows a lot about the subject. The reason is that the phoenix only lived in Arabia or occasionally Heliopolis. Although if you would like to do your own search, I would love to hear from you if you get any info on the subject.





Well, I hope that you enjoy the Post on the Basilisk
Love you all my dearsest Friends and followers
Your Wendy




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