The flower for July is orchid.
Orchids have a reputation as being hard to grow, difficult to take care of and maintain. They’re not, once you understand their needs.
We are a lot like orchids in that way. A lot of us may feel high-maintenance or worry that it’s much too hard to take care of ourselves the way we need.
We need to have the courage of the orchid to demand that our needs be met.
In the craft, orchids are most often used for love spells. I’m a huge fan of casting love spells on myself. To help clear obstacles in my path to loving myself fully. Sometimes, to have courage to be our authentic selves, it has to come from that self-love. That willingness to choose our own well-being over what someone else wants from us.
An easy, delightful way to cast a love spell on yourself using orchids is a ritual bath. Clean your tub before your bath, make sure you rinse it well to get rid of any leftover cleaning products. Set up candles around your bathing space, of soft light sources. Fill the bath with water, add two cups of milk, and sprinkle orchid petals over the bath. Trail the bath mixture over your skin with intention.
Start with your hands. Your arms. Run your fingers all over all the skin you can reach and find something about that part of you that you like. Your hands, because they help others up instead of pushing them down, your legs, because they move you to where you want to be… If you have parts of your body you don’t like, pay extra attention to them. Find something that this part of your body does for you that’s beneficial. Speak these things aloud.
When you’re done with your bath, look in the mirror and repeat this month’s intention. “Courage is the act of doing regardless of fear. I embrace fear to unleash to show my true self.”
Come back and share how this made you feel and what changes you were able to implement because of it.
