Summer Solstice Incense with White Sage Flowers and Rare Resins

Sunday 22nd December

One of my white sages is flowering, right outside my kitchen window. This is a very warm spot and she opened her very first flowers on the full moon after spring equinox. 2 of her tall stems are now in full flower.

This White Sage and the others in the garden have told me she wants her flowers, buds, resinous stems and tiny leaves to be in a Summer Solstice incense.

Together we will grind our herbs and rare resins in our mortar and pestles to create our own incense celebrating the Summer Solstice.

We celebrate the sun and the longest day of the year and the sun is at its zenith on Saturday 21st December.

Workshop date is Sunday 22nd December
9am to 11am
Arrive at 8.45am so we can start on time and ready for the acknowledgement of country at 9am

$50 at Nevedya Cafe in Upwey
6 spots available

White Sage flowers are truly beautiful. They range from white to very, very pale blue, pink or mauve. They grow out of a long flowering stem as tall as me and taller!

They are so long that the plant can break near the base. The weight of more than a metre of profuse flowers can be heavy, especially in the rain. She has resinous leaves and flower buds on her flowering stems.

My White Sage garden grows all over the path, so much so that I need to support and tie them up. One plant in particular likes to spread her joy with buds and blooms joyously waving in the breeze.

Each plant has its own growth pattern, some flower profusely, some grow leafy stems. Some are more outgoing while others are more demure. I love them all. I care for 6 white sage plants, an honour indeed.

I will be harvesting and drying a just a few of the larger stems some once they start flowering for making this summer solstice incense.

When I do this my hands get covered in sticky and spectacular smelling resin. I take only a few stems as the bees absolutely love White Sage, the latin name being Salvia apiana. I love the flowers too. The stems will dry slowly in the house and should be ready for our summer solstice incense creating workshop in December at Nevedya in Upwey. I will pick fresh flowers on the day to bring their beautiful energy in even more.

This is an outward time of year. Summer Solstice is a great time to take stock of our year since winter solstice, what has grown; what has fallen away. We give gratitude for abundance and acknowledge our losses. We send prayers of peace to loved ones and the world.

We can keep our incence on our alar until we are ready for this ritual - preferably that night (If you can't do the exact solstice, the week immediately afterward is good too).

We will create our incense from a variety of botanicals - herbs, resins and woods - and cocreate a sacred blend to sit on the altar ready for celebrating.

I will bring special herbs and rare resins from my home apothecary. We can have a smell of all of them before we make our blend. We will weave our magic together.
This beautiful workshop is $50 in a small class of 6 participants
All materials are supplied and you take some of our incense home plus a gift sized vial.

PRE ORDER EXTRA OPTIONS

Extra option 1: Create gift vials $10 each. These need to be pre ordered so we make enough incense!! Text Tamara on 0407457707 for details.