We'll begin with Amaranth, especially relevant because it is a zodiac herb for all of you Aquarians celebrating birthdays in late January and early to mid February. 

Amaranth has several folk names including ‘Love Lies Bleeding’! In matters of love, it is most valued for its aid in rapidly healing broken hearts. It also has the capabilities to make you invisible and bullet proof.  Many a jilted lover would find both valuable!

If you are interested in becoming bullet proof, the timing is perfect. You'll need a shovel, a large piece of cloth, preferably white, and a gift to leave as an offering as a thank you for removing the plant. Use your imagination and be certain it is from the heart. The entire amaranth plant is used and must be gathered, root and all, by the light of the full moon. Fold the plant into the cloth and press it against your chest. You are now bullet proof!

Sadly, I'm not able to give you specific directions on using it to become invisible. I was living in Indiana and hadn't started school the first time I was told amaranth could make one invisible. I've  heard and read it many times since, but no one has ever shared the spell with me. Please share if you have the directions!

Hopefully your heart has not been broken and you have been jilted so you may not need to use this one. 
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Over the next few days, in celebration of Valentine's Day, I'll be revisiting some of the herbs associated with love and romance.. When it comes to matters of the heart, there are no limits to the human imagination in pursuing, wooing and attempting to ensure their love will be returned. Some of the uses are romantic and beautiful, elegant and sublime. Some are tender and heart warming. Others border on lunacy!
Herbs can add a sensuous dimension to all aspect of life. Their beauty, aroma, flavors and touch delight. Some are showy and enticing with an distinctive and noticeable fragrance. Others you might walk by, or even step on, and not even notice! Often the greatest gifts are found in herbs you might not immediately notice. Hopefully these little snippets will entice you to learn more about the endless history and legacy of these treasures. 

Our 'Romancing Herb" series begins with the Rose, the Queen of Flowers and the undisputed floral symbol of love. The Society of American Florists predicts that nearly 198 million roses will be sold for Valentine’s Day. There is so much information about roses that one could write a book about their origin, symbolism, legend and lore. So I did! Ode to a Rose is my tribute to this glorious flower. 

The rose is a perfect example of beauty, romance and sensuous living. She is a vision of delight, her petals are velvet, her fragrance is divine and her delicate flavor is sublime. For Valentine's Day, i wish you all the gifts the rose offers - love, friendship, beauty, romance and sensuous pleasures. Happy Valentine's Day!

March 27 – May 1 
Instructor: Mikell Worley
6 weeks
Colors are associated with gender, life - passage ceremonies, seasons, holidays, moods, diseases and health. Colors can increase, or reduce your energy level, blood pressure and appetite. They can inspire passion and loyalty. Ask any sports fan! Each multi-media lecture will feature a rainbow color, its characteristics, and impact on history, culture, fashion, art, music, literature, folklore and more.
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Mikell Worley has explored the impact of color as an artist, through work with adjudicated youth, women in prison, and training sessions for schools, health care providers and state agencies as Director of PA Department of Health State Health Improvement Plan. 

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After years of working with Healthy Communities, SHIP (State Health Improvement Plan through the PA Dept. of Health, and the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), my first thought with addressing the concerns in our area was to see what is already in place and not reinvent the wheel. I wondered if there was a local Healthy Community group and a SHIP locally.  

Healthy Community embraces the broad based concept of health, In addition to access to health care and our traditional perceptions, it includes safe streets, clean air and water, education, skill building to ensure marketable skills, youth mentors, volunteering, transportation. Dr. Peter Benson's 40 Assets for Youth and Colin Powell's America's Promise exemplify these concepts. 

All are asset based. Instead of focusing on the results we don't want which is so typical and defeatist (crime, drug use, disease), these visionaries determined asset based results and moved in a positive direction with remarkable outcomes. 

Fortunately, there is a SHIP in Maryland, called the State Health Improvement Process. The Maryland SHIP has a wealth of information including statistics, newsletters, events and webinars. There are promising and model practices from Healthy Community sites all over the country such as Establishing a More Livable Community through Community Collaboration. 

Sadly, there have been some changes since I was director of local SHIP. Words that enhanced and drove our work, "science based" and "evidence based",  have now been banned by the current administration.

Words have been banned. Let that sink in.

Our local United Way was superlative, and the hub of resources and funding locally. I chaired the youth component. We organized and delivered training throughout the community including youth groups, church groups and school programs using the 40 Assets for Youth. If youth organizations couldn't demonstrate results through evidence, they weren't funded. I wonder how the CDC and SHIPS are monitoring results with these bizarre restrictions. 

It's been years since I was involved. My job as director, in addition to being president of our local America's Promise, and co-chair of the Gandhi-King Peace Coalition  were all consuming. When I  came to Maryland,  my daughter got me this business card holder. 

There have been frustrations with living in my community recently. I won't get into specifics but they are serious, significant and disturbing.. 

When I get stressed and frustrated, I need to return to gratitude. I truly believe we get what we focus on. Lately my thought have been on things I certainly don't want to increase in my life. 

There are a lot of reasons to love my home and community. I have wonderful neighbors who are peace loving with kind hearts. That makes the recent incidents all the more disturbing. The 'magic alley' is only a few steps away. It takes me less than 5 minutes to drive to the Renaissance Institute at Notre Dame University of Maryland for chorus and classes. My back yard is overflowing with rosemary, lavender, thyme, other herbs and vegetables and flowers in the summer months.I am less than 15 minutes away from superlative museums, restaurants, gardens and Camden Yards. Live music is abundant through out the area  seven days a week.

I've been told violence is increasing in communities all across the country. I'm still familiar with places that are safe so I'm not buying into that gloom. I didn't lock my door for over a decade at the cabin and my neighbors from that area still don't. If my house hadn't been flooded, I'd still be there, but I was divinely guided to move heer and for now< i'll make the best of it and focus on all of the blessings. 

. . . off to paint more flowers!

Honey lemon tea can be used alone or with black tea or any combination of herbal teas.

Sterilize wide mouth canning jar or glass container. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound lemons, thoroughly wash, thinly sliced with seeds remove
• 1 pound honey, local is best. It will help with allergies.

Place lemons loosely in jar. Slowly pour in honey, using a knife to pull lemons away from the sides and allow honey to flow  cover entirely. 

Place jar in refrigerator and let marinate for seven days.

To serve, use 2 or 3 Tablespoons per cup or to taste, 

Roses are used in both of the projects below. Rose hips are scented with blue spruce oil in the first, and rose potpourri is used to make the lace rose sachets in the second. Both are wonderful remembrances of time spent in the garden in the summer, collecting rose buds (and rose hips) while ye may!

​Each rose sachet is made with 

• a nine inch circle of lace
• 3 Tablespoons rose potpourri
• 20 inch lengths of satin cord or satin ribbon

Place potpourri in the center of lace circle. Gather the top, keeping edges even. Tis with ribbon.

​The sachets make wonderful Valentine girts.