Happy Summer Solstice!

Strawberries from our garden

Happy Solstice Everyone! It’s Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, and we’re enjoying warm days and the first garden harvests of the season: strawberries, chives, rhubarb. Other goodies like tomatoes and peppers have been planted and are ready for the hot and sunny days ahead. We like to try some new veggies or herbs each year. This time we’re experimenting with brussel sprouts and collard greens. Yum!

In addition to harvesting and planting, it’s also time to look at how things are growing, consider what might need to be pruned, thinned, or replaced and what just needs a bit of extra attention. Our chives are pretty prolific, but our garden plot is part of a community garden and can’t be expanded, so we’ll most likely be removing and freezing or drying a bunch. We’re considering putting bush beans in that spot, although we may decide to let it rest and replant next season, or hold off a bit and put in a fall kale crop later this summer. There are options.

We hope you enjoy this Solstice and all the blessings and bounties of the season.

Lighting a Fire for Hekate

The nice people over at Avalonia Press have not only released a massive tome with materials contributed by over 50 different writers and artists who are all dedicated to Hekate. It looks like a truly splendid project that just might make the Lady of the Crossroads smile. In addition to the book, the Avalonia people are planning a worldwide rite to honor the Goddess Hekate with sacred fires being lit on the Full Moon this 27th of May. You can learn more about this wonderful event at the Avalonia website or by clicking here. If you do Facebook, you can also learn more at their facebook page here.

As of now, we at Studio Raziel are committing to lighting a special fire for Hekate in conjunction with this worldwide rite.

Be Well,
Studio Raziel

Tracks and Trails

A few days ago, back when it was warm, sunny and unseasonably nice for this time of year in Minnesota, I took a long walk down by the railroad tracks. If ever there were such things as ley-lines, then rail-road tracks would certainly qualify as man-made ones. It was good to walk along the rails and to just let my mind & feet wander along the curving and sloping steel as it stretched onwards and onwards towards both ends of my personal horizon. The rails were old, battered and rusty, but servicable and still very much in-use. As I took photos, I also picked-up trash in one plastic bag as I collected rusty scraps for the scanner in another.

It was a good walk. Quiet. Alone. I found deer tracks in the dried mud beneath an overpass. I found a harshly tumbled bit of blue glass that had become rounded and smoothed from its travels as gravel. A hawk flew overhead in search of rabbits or mice. Red Wing Blackbirds serenaded their potential mates in the small slough on the otherside of the tracks. I walked along, picking up trash, collecting rusty-bits and taking some photos here and there, mostly at random, with no real thought beyond letting the camera see whatever it would and reveal whatever it could.

There are spirits in the concrete and steel that runs through, under, over and all around our landscapes and cities — and that concrete and steel runs out past the urban boundaries and inner-ring counties to the country and the places were trees grow thick like I remember from the good and unspoiled parts of my childhood. The rails whisper their stories in the sunlight and I walk along listening, picking up clues and tokens, as I let them lead me onwards, ever onwards into the bright light and the cool wind, and I remember things that were long forgotten, buried and lost under the accumulated debris of this urban exile. I miss those trees, but more than that I miss the way I felt running through them, barefoot and alone and breathing in the scent of fresh grasses, newly budded sumac, and the unmistakable smells of the marshes waking up to Spring.

I am counting down my days of urban captivity.

Ham and Beans and Cornbread

Family came from out-of-state to visit for Easter and a few days afterward, which was great. (Thanks, Family!) They even brought us an Ossian ham to fix for Easter dinner, which was scrumptious! Definitely pick one of these up if you’re in the area, or order one if you want an extra-special treat.

Cooking is magick at our house and one of our favorite things about fixing a big ham is making ham and beans from the drippings and bone. This time we went all out and made greens and cornbread to go with it. I sent the cornbread recipe home with Family and decided I wanted to share it here as well. Enjoy, and I’ll try to remember to take pictures next time.

Studio Raziel Cornbread
This will make two #5 cast iron skillet’s worth, depending on how thick you like your cornbread. If you want less, just halve the dry ingredients, but keep the full egg. You can make it in a larger skillet, if that’s what you have. Be sure to watch your cooking time and monitor for doneness. I also mix up my baking powder fresh each time (2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda), so that’s how it’s listed in the recipe.

1 and 1/2 cups cornmeal (try the bulk section of your co-op for different local varieties)
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 egg
water or milk

Pre-heat oven and cast iron skillets to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in egg. Stir in enough water or milk (or combination if you prefer) to bring dry ingredients to a batter consistency. When oven and skillets are hot carefully remove the skillets from the oven and butter the insides of the skillets. It works better to do this now with a pat of butter and a butter knife, rather than trying to do it with the cold skillets. Pour the batter into the skillets, filling each skillet no more than half full. You can do less, if you like the crunchy bits of the cornbread better than the flaky inside. You may need a third skillet, though. You can also do this rotationally if you only have one cast iron skillet.

Put the filled skillets back in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and cornbread has pulled away from the sides of the skillet slightly. Cool for 5 minutes in the skillet, then cut and serve or flip cornbread out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before storing.

You can also add 1 or 2 tablespoons of honey to the batter if you like your cornbread sweet.

Have Fun!

Chaotique is Hot!

I’ve been reviewing the sales numbers for our Zazzle stores and Chaotique is in the lead! Chaostar 60 has been especially popular.

Thanks to all of you who have purchased our Zazzle products, from Chaotique or any of our other stores. If you haven’t yet had a chance to visit Chaotique, please check it out and let us know what you think!

Catching Up

Hello Everyone and Happy Ostara!

It definitely feels like spring is here. Even though the ice isn’t out yet, the ducks and geese are back, robins are singing in the morning, and the snowplow mountains are now snowplow molehills. Pretty soon it’ll be Gardening Time!

The sap is also running, so we took the opportunity to stretch our creative wings a bit and took a dogwood branch basketmaking class recently. It was tons of fun and something we’ll definitely continue. Practice, practice.

We’ve released some new stuff over at Zazzle. They’re now offering men’s PRO-Keds (YEAY!) in high and low-top and we’ve created some for you at DoodlePoop, Sabbatique, and Chaotique, with more to come.

Let us know what you think of the new shoes, and how Spring is going for you.

We would like to thank The Witches Digest for the opportunity to provide the cover and some internal artwork for their Imbolc 2010 issue. This is an excellent publication and the folks there have been wonderful to work with. Please let us know what you think of the artwork and be sure to pay The Witches Digest a visit!

The Quiet Times

We are fortunate to live near a couple of small bodies of water. They attract redwing blackbirds in the very early spring, usually a great blue heron and an egret as things warm up and the mud thaws, releasing all the little turtles and frogs, and ducks and geese in abundance throughout the summer and fall.

Right now though all is quiet. Resting. Waiting. Preparing. As we have been for the year ahead.

For the last couple of mornings there has been beautiful hoarfrost on all the trees, bushes, and dried reeds at the water’s edge. The calm, cool air, the white hoarfrost, and the white snow created a sacred silent space that infused me with peace and purpose. Not all things are ready for release yet, but they are growing, gestating, migrating to be in the right place at the right time. We are building, and we look forward to sharing our creations and discoveries with you throughout the year.

Enjoy the quiet times.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We’re very much looking forward to a happy and prosperous 2010 and wish you all the same! For all you astrologers out there we have some nice upcoming aspects (Jupiter’s moving into Pisces in January, Mars goes direct in March) that will bring some excellent forward momentum to us all.

We also wanted to let you know that Zazzle’s running a 20.10% off sale on binders, t-shirts, and mugs through January 5. We’ve posted some new products just for the sale and we’ll have more new designs and products for 2010 coming in the next week or so. You can find our Zazzle stores through our nexi at www.zazzle.com/srnexus*, www.zazzle.com/dpnexus*, or www.zazzle.com/netherwerksnexus*.

As always, please let us know if you have a favorite image of ours that you’d like to see on a specific product and we’ll do our best to help you out.

Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Studio Raziel