RAVEN HILL BOTANICALS - COME HOME TO THE FOREST PROJECT
https://youtu.be/3KrUfyLyfWc 
We are seeking reliable, responsible, conscientious Down-to-Earth People  (May - End of October) 
Do you have a yurt, dome, tipi, or wall tent (I will consider a small, efficient camper) that you want to put up for the summer and fall in a beautiful place on the edge of the wilderness not too far from the nearest city? Do you have gardening, foraging, simple grounds, and trail maintenance skills? Do you know how to do minor repairs and run a chainsaw? I am seeking holistic, down-to-earth people who would help me with stewardship over this beautiful forested acreage and are interested in foraging, wildcrafting, and organic gardening. Ideally, I'm interested in managing the land using organic principles to improve biodiversity and stewardship of a healthy forest. This position would be ideal for a couple or friends happy to live in their own off-grid accommodations in my meadow, where I have an outhouse, a campfire ring, and a picnic table. Available to people keen to help out part-time during the busy summer months (in partial exchange along with a reduced camping fee) for an enriching life experience and helping with the farmers market, forest maintenance, gardening, and other venues. They would be required to pay a small camping rental fee. The only shower accommodations are in my home at the time. I have a patio where we can share occasional common meals or a place to take a break with a cup of tea. Occasionally, I will have baked goods and organic lunches for a donation. Only one (possibly two) applicant(s) will be chosen for the position. Anyone else will have to register under extended stay HipCamp rules. I require a resume with references and a background check. Only down-to-earth, conscientious, neat, and tidy people who are wholesome and not into drugs or polarizing politics need apply. See Invitation: https://youtu.be/3KrUfyLyfWc 
This is a place of PEACE, LOVE, HARMONY, and LEARNING. For interested applicants, I may extend the offer to caretake/sublease my home for the winter. However, they must know that Montana gets very cold in the winter, and an all-wheel drive is required. That would be negotiable down the road. Contact Evelyn  Brugger at [email protected]

Reflecting on the past year, I must acknowledge the challenges I have faced with my small business in 2023. However, I also recognize the incredible strength and resilience of my customers, who have continued to be the backbone of my business. Your feedback has been instrumental in helping me understand how I can improve your experience with Raven Hill Botanicals. Your insights have guided me in identifying areas for improvement, and I am thus committed to taking meaningful steps to address them. The last three years, beginning in 2020 with the worldwide pandemic, have taught us many things. However, the main lesson for me, after so much loss, has been to find strength and to realize what I have endured is tantamount to climbing Mount Everest and walking a tightrope of trepidation while navigating the uncertain waters of the issues all of us faced as we come out of three years of the pandemic.
 
This year is the tenth anniversary of when I launched Raven Hill Botanicals! There have been ups and downs, and it has remained a small business because I have had the challenge of running a business through the pandemic without much assistance. Nonetheless, I persevere and strive for the standards of excellence that have always marked my way thus far! 

I love what I do, and creating and sharing these fantastic formulas is my life's work, along with energy healing, aromatherapy, wildcrafting, gardening, and sharing the art of Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, the mindful practice of absorbing the calming atmosphere of natural places like the forest in which I live! Last year, I re-launched a program I started in 2003 after my return from Europe called Come Home to the Forest ~Nature gatherings for young and old alike to reconnect with nature and their spirits. To gather around the campfire, not hike, but stroll  and learn to be still and listen to the forest. Join us this summer! Meanwhile, enjoy the gift of the forest, meadows, and garden herbs in each bottle or jar of my skincare and whole body care salves and body butters. I also offer consultations in skincare, aromatherapy, and energy healing. 

Some of us don't want to be tough alpha leaders. 
Some of us just want to write and wander the garden 
and breathe in the sky and nourish and nurture
and quietly create new pathways 
and live our lives as our art. 
To know the earth as poetry.
~Victoria Erickson ~
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November Poem
​November comes 
And November goes, 
With the last red berries 
And the first white snows.
With night coming early, 
And dawn coming late, 
And ice in the bucket 
And frost by the gate.
The fires burn 
And the kettles sing, 
And earth sinks to rest 
Until next spring ..

~ Elizabeth Coatsworth ~

Today is September 14, the New Moon is in Virgo. We enter a new phase of the year as we prepare for Autumn days. I find it hard to believe we are already nearing the end of summer after a phenomenal Summer of Joy! The birds are gathering to take their journey to their Winter habitat. We are harvesting the last of the summer herbs and flowers for our formulas, taking our last walks in the shimmering summer light.  September brings us the Autumnal Equinox Sat, Sep 23, 2023, (12:49 AM Mountain Time). The Autumnal Equinox in September ushers in a change of season. It is observed annually when the sun can be seen directly overhead along the equator. The day marks the end of summer and beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. 

August brought us 8/8–Lion’s Gate and the message of August was - The Roar of the Lion! On that beautiful day on the 8th August 2023 we began a new spiral cycle of Time and Space. The past falls away and we activate the NOW moment. Aligning with our Holographic Light Body we focus on what we dream and desire for the next cycle. Have a magical and miraculous days as you focus on LOVE, PEACE, HARMONY and GRATITUDE. The Roar of the Lion will power our transit through the Lions Gate. 
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The New Moon in Virgo provides us with an opportunity to detoxify ourselves of any thoughts or beliefs that we are not worthy or not good enough. Let this New Moon in Virgo help you feel good enough. Good enough for your dreams. Good enough to share your talent. It is not always easy to toot our own horn, but I invite you to share your amazingness to the world.  Here are a couple of my major accomplishments for the Summer:
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1. My Limited Edition Wild Rose Skincare Collection was a hit; in fact it sold out in a week. I will try to make one more batch before the Fall Equinox. What went into the amazing handcrafted Wild Rose Day Creme? - Read More in my August Blog:  What Makes Our Wild Rose Day Creme so Special what-makes-our-wild-rose-day-creme-so-special.html

2. Balm of Gilead Healing Salve with Copaiba Essential oil
The herbal compound behind this formula starts with our Signature Herbal Healing Salve Formula blended with Balm of Gilead and Copaiba Essential oil: Infusion of organically grown, garden-fresh Comfrey Leaf, Flower & Root, Common Garden Plantain & Organic Goldenseal Root, Wild Geranium, Red Clover blossoms, Wildcrafted Yarrow in a base of Organic Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balm of Gilead Oil, with Organic Coconut & Golden Jojoba Sweet Almond, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter and Montana Bees Wax with doTERRA's Copaiba Essential Oil.

3. 4 oz Heavenly Body Butters are back in Stock Choose from Blue Lotus, Pure Joy!, Euphoria, Cheer Up, Unscented and more... also we have 8 oz Pure Joy for a limited time.

4. We are gearing up to make our Goat Milk Soaps...coming soon with beautiful new soap forms! 

What makes our ​Wild Rose Day Crème so special?
We handcraft our skincare using organic and wildcrafted ingredients that promise beautiful, glowing skin. We do this using our 3-step ~ Pure, Wild, Beautiful, process. But more than this, we infuse love and healing energy into our crèmes with Flower Essences.

THE SECRET FOR RADIANCE: THE ART OF FLOWER ESSENCE HEALING
When we are out gathering the wild rose petals, some of the petals are floated in pure spring water in a FLOWER ESSENCE bowl out in the field where I meditate and infuse the water with healing wild rose energy.  We also use doTERRA Bulgarian Rose Essential Oil which is known to help to soothe irritated skin and calm inflamed blemishes. It is an excellent choice for those looking for a natural way to improve their skin. This oil is also known to minimize the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, and age spots. It can also help to even out skin tone and texture.
 
THE ENERGETIC ENERGIES OF THE WILD ROSE ESSENCE 
What is a flower essence? 
Since the beginning of time, flowers and plants have been used as medicine.  Energy healing and holistic methods are growing in popularity as many people are feeling a need to explore different areas of health and wellness and moving away from traditional medicine.

What is Rose flower essence good for? 
Rose is a floral companion that addresses grief, loss in vitality/energy and a lack of spirit for life, by renewing and nourishing the heart. The Wild Rose essence can bring forth a renewed interest and zest for life. Indications for using Wild Rose: For those who accept a mind-numbing daily routine and have no interest or joy in life. For those who seem entirely apathetic and do not care what happens to them in life.

Wild Rose will assist you with: restoring hope, inspiring health and vitality, and feeling joyful again. This lovely essence will aid in addressing lack of motivation and feelings of despair and hopelessness. Such hopelessness can manifest in the physical form where illness can take root and also manifest in the form of chronic lethargy. Wild Rose inspires an inner well to begin to bubble again restoring one's faith. Once the mind and body begin being restored, the heart opens and what follows suit is a joyful attitude toward life and living. Let Wild Rose Essence help you feel how life is a beloved opportunity for growth, connection and vitality. Imagine this...by soothing and caring for skin, you can open your Heart Chakra to a kind and loving embrace of joy in your life, and holding a higher consciousness of love.

What makes our skincare different? 
PURE. WILD. BEAUTIFUL!
STEP 1: SELECT
We carefully select organic and wildcrafted ingredients—including herbs and plant extracts to meet the highest standards of quality and effectiveness for your skin and body. We carefully audit our sources to ensure that they continue to meet our standards of purity and sustainability.

STEP 2: INFUSE We then infuse selected herbs into aloe vera and into skin nutritive oils for at least one month at room temperature. Occasionally on low heat (never over 95°). These infusions are used as a potent base for all our products. Wildcrafted herbs cannot be labeled organic, but they are in essence the most organically grown ingredients we use.  Additionally, if we use water in our products, we use natural spring water directly from the source, which also cannot be labeled organic.

STEP 3: CRAFT We add additional, selected natural plant extracts, high antioxidant plant and seed oils, skin supporting nutrients and aromatherapy (Pure therapeutic grade essential oils) to make the most active and effective natural products available. Additionally, we package these products with intention using high quality glass and sustainable materials.

​Our exquisite Wild Rose Day Crème is formulated with select botanical extracts that we infuse right here at Raven Hill Botanicals including red clover and calendula blossoms from our botanical garden, wild rose petals from the surrounding mountain meadows infused in organic jojoba oil. Each botanical makes its own unique contribution to healing; however, used in combination the synergy goes beyond what each one delivers on its own.This light formulation supports the skin’s natural oil and moisture production. Dry skin is revitalized and radiance is restored. Wild Rose Crème is strengthening and revitalizing for all skin types. Anti-inflammatory, healing and toning, this light day skin care crème leaves the skin silky and soft. Having a healthy-looking, glowing complexion is absolutely within reach through our 40’s and beyond. Reviewing your skincare routine is a good place to start. Knowing which ingredients are effective for helping mature skin look as healthy and beautiful as possible. Wild Rose Petals are the perfect place to start in healing mature skin, along with quality oils, butters and, of course, Bulgarian Rose Essential Oil. 

See our Ingredients list: 
Organic Aloe Vera, Wild Rose Essence Water, Rose Hydrosol, Vitamin E oil, Argan Oil, Wild Rose Petals infused in Organic Jojoba oil; Comfrey, Calendula, Chamomile & Red Clover Blossoms infused in Organic Almond oil, Organic Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Organic Nicaraguan Coconut Oil, Montana Bees Wax, Bulgarian Rose Essential Oil.

LUXLIFE: Tell Us about yourself and how you got started in your business. 
I started Raven Hill Botanicals with my Signature Herbal Healing Salves & Balms and began making soaps, lotions, and eventually facial skincare and body care. Over the years, I have carefully developed each formula in my repertoire with my customers in mind. My brochure states: Raven Hill Botanicals is a cottage industry born out of the need to lead an existential life in nature, surrounded by beauty and nature's bounty. It was also born out of the need to know what was going into my body and skincare products, and I assumed others might feel the same. We make quality skincare made in small batches like we have done from the beginning. 
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What makes your company unique?
My company's products are handcrafted with the freshest and purest ingredients and Love! The formulas are unique! The oils alone are known for their amazing healing, conditioning, and anti-aging properties to revitalize the skin. Add to that the botanical extracts, and most importantly, the exquisite and rare healing essential oils, and you have excellent nature skincare. Our products feel so different--so alive with a distinct energetic vibration! 

What's your most prominent service or product?
My customer's favorites are the skincare lines~the SIRIUS and LUMINOUS skincare, and the body care~ Aromatherapy Nourishing Whole Body Lotions & Body Butters, which constitute the bulk of my online orders. Each formula starts with carefully selected organic and wildcrafted ingredients~including  herbs and plant extracts, to ensure they continue to meet our standards of purity and sustainability. I use organic ingredients and pure therapeutic-grade essential oils.  However, since I started with the Herbal Healing Salves, Lip Balms, and the Goat Milk Soaps, they are still favorites, especially over the holidays and in the smaller shops in Montana that carry my products. Before the pandemic, I even had a contract with Missoula International Airport Gift Shop.

What is your typical clientele?
My clientele has changed over the last four years, especially when I fine-tuned my facial skincare lines. Now, my skincare and body care lines have taken center stage, along with my proprietary essential oil blends. 

If you were to highlight one aspect of Raven Hill Botanicals as 'Award Winning' what would it be?
My 'Award Winners' will surely be the SIRIUS and LUMINOUS Skincare Collections, as well as the Aromatherapy Body Butters and Nourishing Lotions. Take a look at the ingredients list for the integrity of each of the products. Each botanical makes its own unique contribution to healing; however, used in combination the synergy goes beyond what each one delivers on its own. Having a healthy-looking, glowing complexion is absolutely within reach through our 40’s and beyond. Reviewing one's skincare routine is a good place to start. Knowing which ingredients are effective for helping mature skin look as healthy and beautiful as possible. SIRIUS Skincare Collection

What makes you stand out above your competitors? 
WILDCRAFTED, ORGANIC SKIN CARE 
Age-Defying Skincare made with wildcrafted and organic ingredients that nourish your skin to give you a healthy glow. We all want to feel beautiful and fresh! We offer natural, worry-free formulas that give actual results! Our Organic Botanical Aromatherapy Body & Skin Care products are handcrafted with the freshest and purest ingredients with the highest integrity! 
Have you had any major product developments or launches in the past 12 months?
In the last twelve months, I brought back an earlier skincare line that was for all skin types, but younger complexions.
The LUMINOUS Skincare Collection
Equal. Even. Balanced. That’s what Luminous Equalizer Facial Serum/ Day Crème Duo delivers – an equal benefit for many skin types: sensitive, mature, oily, and combination – soothes and nourishes the skin, helping it to recover from daily exposure to the elements. 
We also offer a special Wild Rose Day Crème as a special. It is so exquisite that I only make it in small batches once or twice a year because of the cost of producing it. We use only organic ingredients and pure therapeutic grade Bulgarian Essential Oil in this formula. 

​The video below is the revised edition of the photographic Story of the Forest at Rainbow's End, now known as Raven Hill Botanicals. It's an anthology shown through photos of my life on the mountain and the changes we have gone through with the forest. In 2008, the pine beetle infestation devastated the forests of my mountain home near Potomac, Montana. In 2009, I had to have the top of my land clear-cut to save the remaining trees. We worked on forest thinning and restoration three times because of deforestation and destruction. Where once there was a forest is now an open meadow. This year I purchased a tipi which I intend to put out in the meadow to start a new Sacred Circle of Healing after 15 years. Friends, neighbors, campers, and people of the Healing Circles will gather this summer for Forest Bathing, Song-Dance-Drumming Circles, and learning how to sit and/or dance in peace with the flowers, trees, grasses, and other humans and animals who grace this beautiful land. Calling forth our collective energies in re-forming ceremonial gathering places where people of all colors and creeds are welcome to join our Sacred Circle to celebrate each other and all Nature Spirits that dwell here and help us grow to love, care, and nurture one another. Please come and join us. I am putting the call out to healers of all genres and people to help me organize a collective Heaven-on-Earth approach - crystal healers, reiki healers, dancers, musicians, drummers, herbalists, flower & gem essence practitioners, as well as people interested in participating in coming together to help heal the earth. This will be family friendly and children of all ages are welcome. Contact Evelyn through our website: www.ravenhillbotanicals.com (Contact Us) or through our business page Raven Hill Botanicals on FaceBook.  [email protected] 

It has been a long and brutal winter here in Montana and it is spilling over into springtime. In fact, day after day, we have had cold temperatures and and snowstorms. In fact, we had another snowstorm today, even though it has already melted off. Many of us are wondering if we will ever experience the springtime blossoms. Meanwhile, I am observing spring through the myriad of birds either returning or stopping by on their migration, or those who call Raven Hill Botanicals home all year long, like our raven families and, of course, the wild turkeys! 

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves." ~ Chief Seattle 1854 

American Indian Tribes gave names to each of the full moons to keep track of the passing year. The names are associated with the entire month until the next full moon occurs. Since a lunar month averages 29 days, the dates of the moons change from year to year.

Full Wolf Moon (Great Spirit Moon)
January 6, 2023 (6:08 p.m. EST)In January (or the first full Moon after the winter solstice), it’s easy to picture packs of wolves howling at the Moon outside the villages in Europe and North America, as the winter’s rigors deprived the animals of food.

Full Snow Moon (Sucker Fish Moon)
February 5, 2023 (1:29 p.m. EST)The second full Moon of the year. The winter is still alive and well and the snow covers everything. The Ojibwe named this Moon after the sucker fish, an important resource for their winter survival.

Full Worm Moon (Hard Crust on the Snow Moon)
March 7, 2023 (7:40 a.m. EST)As the temperatures begin to rise, the snow melts and the earth softens and becomes mud. Worms begin to crawl in the ground, heralding the return of birds, which will feed on them. Also called the Sap Moon, because it’s the time to tap the maples for their sap.

Full Pink Moon (Maple Sap Boiling Moon)
April 6, 2023 (12:35 a.m. EDT)Attributed to the growth and blossom of the moss pink. Other names for this season make reference to flowers, eggs, fish, and the return of spring.

Full Flower Moon (Budding Moon)
May 5, 2023 (1:34 p.m. EDT)In May, spring is typically in full force, and various Moon names recognize the budding and blooming of flowers. Other names for this Moon make reference to the period when corn should be planted.

Full Strawberry Moon
June 3, 2023 (11:42 p.m. EDT)Strawberries are ripe and ready to be picked. The Ojibwe and many other tribes use the same name for this Moon. This month promises a feast on easy food provided by Mother Nature.

Full Buck Moon (Mid-summer Moon)
July 3, 2023 (7:39 a.m. EDT)Buck’s antlers are growing at full force during this Moon. Also called Thunder Moon because thunderstorms are common during this time of the year.

Full Sturgeon Moon (Ricing Moon)
August 1, 2023 (2:32 p.m. EDT)The sturgeon fish catch will peak during this moon. For the Ojibwe, this Moon marked the season to harvest wild rice, an activity with cultural and ritual importance.

Blue Moon
August 30, 2023 (9:36 p.m. EDT)In a year with 13 full Moons, one of them is dubbed a blue Moon. See below for more on two ways to define blue Moons, but note that this particular full Moon is "blue" by either definition. (While this name is not Native American, it is included here for completeness.)

Full Corn Moon (Leaves Changing Color Moon)
September 29, 2023 (5:58 a.m. EDT)Also called Harvest of Fruit Moon, this is the Moon nearest to the autumnal equinox and can happen in October or September. At this time of the year, the fall crops are ready to be harvested.

Full Hunter’s Moon (Falling Leaves Moon)
October 28, 2023 (12:24 p.m. EDT)This is the best time of the year for hunting. The game is fat after a summer of eating and fattening for the winter. Many trees have lost their leaves and the fields are free of the crops that might have served as a hideout for prey. Also, it’s the right time to start storing food and furs for the winter.

Full Beaver Moon (Freezing Moon)
November 27, 2023 (5:16 a.m. EDT)This month’s Moon makes reference to the right moment to hunt beavers for their furs for the winter.
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Full Cold Moon (Little Spirits Moon)
December 26, 2023 (8:33 p.m. EDT)In December, the cold returns and the closes the cycle. The long nights bring back the snow and it’s time to gather by the fire.

​The gift of light we thankfully take
But not shall it be alone for our sake
The more we give light
The one to the other
It shines and it spreads and it glows still further
Until every spark by friends set aflame
Until every heart with Joy to proclaim
In the depths of our souls a shining sun glows. 

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Solstices are especially notable, as they mark the longest and shortest days of the year. In essence, they signify how life on Earth changes in connection to the Sun and how our seasons shape our world. When a solstice occurs, the Sun reaches its absolute highest or lowest point relative to our celestial equator.
What Does Yuletide Celebrate?

Beginning with the Winter Solstice celebration, Yuletide kicks off with a celebration of the lengthening amount of sunlight that we welcome as we move away from the day with the least “daytime” during the year. Indeed, nearly every celebration has origins invoking the rebirth of the sun or the sun god in some way. This is also referred to as Mother’s Night, honoring the Mother Goddess (& the coming of spring) along with the protective female ancestors who watch over us.

Yuletide concludes with the celebration on the Twelfth Night, which often coincides with the modern New Year celebration—full of revelry, food, and drink. The Twelfth Night is also associated with the burning of the greens for good luck. This is not directly attributable to pagan culture or Yuletide, but seems to be linked more to Christian Epiphany. (However, I liked the timing of this so much that I adopted it as part of the pagan culture’s Twelfth Night in my Circle of Nine series.) Modern pagans often have a Yule tree as part of their celebration, although it is noted that pre-Christian pagans would likely not have done so. Instead, they would have only cut boughs of evergreens for decoration within their homes. These may have been left up until Imbolc at the beginning of February when they would have been removed and possibly burnt.

Other traditions that were initially part of the pagan or pre-Christian festival of Yule have come to be part of the Christmas tradition, including the use of holly and ivy and mistletoe as decorations, the burning of the Yule log, and gift giving, which was an important part of the Roman Saturnalia festival. And, of course, songs were sung in celebration at the time of the winter solstice and throughout Yuletide.

Here’s a Yuletide Carol to wish you a Blessed Holiday Season – whichever way you celebrate this special time of year!