Be Autumn colours

 

As the Autumn equinox approaches, the temperatures have dropped. Now we're experiencing chilly nights and foggy days with a frosty nip outside. It's getting darker. So best keep warm by more than just sticking on heater, fixing a fireplace or hot water bottles. Using various colours and decorations inside can make someone feel more uplifted and comfortable. Indoor plants for Autumn, as the vibrant colours reflect the season's natural foliage change. Leaves of different orange, red, brown and golden hues are beautiful, and the same colours of clothes, indoors, food and cosmetics gives a sense of cosiness. Apart from looking like Autumn, it's healthy to feel Autumn and this means staying warm inside.

Lady's slipper orchids are speckled and reddish flowers. Having these about your home and office, whether real or fake, can give a pleasant Autumn grace. Other plants include Vriesea orange, fiery coloured Crotons, burgundy Calathea, deep magenta Begonia, Snake Plant, colourful Widows-thrill flowers and Philodendron that seems okay with the darkness.

For edible Autumn healing herbs, try to consume sage, mint, thyme, dill, oregano, ginger, parsley, rosemary, basil, bay, horseradish, star anise, garlic and lemon balm. They can be cooked, or brewed. Then there are the Autumn fruits and vegetables, including apples, figs, pears, grapes, nuts, blackberries, redcurrants, carrots, fennel, tomatoes, aubergine, onions, tomatoes, plums, potatoes, turnips, peppers, lettuce, sweetcorn, beetroot, beans, mushrooms, parsnips, pumpkin, radish, broccoli, shallots, suede, leeks, kale, cauliflower and celery. 

My favourite Autumn fragrances: Pumpkin spice, vanilla and ginger.

Warm Autumn gems: Fire opal, citrine, carnelian. emeralds, sapphires, garnets, topaz, rubies, tourmaline and amber. 

Storm Valkyrie   

Social anxiety

Social anxiety is a severe form of shyness and it's much worse. It's crippling of a person's confidence. It can also ruin relationships and cause further misery. Other people don't understand when someone suffers this mental illness, but they judge them as "weird". People with social anxiety are told not to worry about it as everything they fear is imaginary. Well that is easy to say but hard for the sufferer to believe it. They need to be given healing.

There is much more help and advice on social anxiety now than there ever was years ago. People recommend CBT, or cognitive behavioural therapy, which are techniques and ways of dealing with social anxiety. There are lots of self help books and videos on CBT. Other forms of help is talking therapy, counselling and relaxation. Seeking advice on the internet can also work wonders because there are tons of helpful replies on internet forums, communities and groups. 

Social anxiety could get worse and may cause other illnesses, including depression, avoidance personality disorder and agoraphobia. Find someone to talk to. Get proper guidance and treatment. Believe in yourself as a good person and remind yourself that you're not alone. Speak to your GP, tutor, family member, friend and/or counsellor.  Tell them how social anxiety is making you feel. Getting words out in the open is another way of communicating about your social anxiety. 

Jack and the beanstalk

 

Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairy tale that comes from ancient times. It was written down through the ages and became the story we know today because of the many retellings. It was in 1734 within the publication Round About our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments by J. Roberts, with "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 4th edition. Author Benjamin Tabart wrote "History of Jack and the Beanstalk" in 1807 but this version is still too dark. Soon it was retold in a 1845 book called Home Treasury by Henry Cole a.k.a. Felix Summerly. The pleasant story that became loved by children was in the book English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs who published it in 1890 who gave it a moral twist. 

It's Jacobs' version of Jack and the Beanstalk we know now.  It's much friendlier and comes across as a fantasy adventure tale of a hero seeking to right his wrongs, who started off as naiive and ended up on an epic voyage. He locates magical objects and takes them from the owner, who was a nasty giant that ate humans. Included in the stolen goods was a pretty harp, a big bag of coins and a hen that laid golden eggs. His purpose taking them was to help his poor sick mother. The giant chased after Jack on the tall beanstalk. Giant was catching up with him fast as Jack was loaded with heavy goods. Still Jack finally made it to the bottom, quickly took an axe and chopped down the beanstalk, sending the giant plummeting to his death. A very tense moment of the story. 

There's much more symbolism involved. First, Jack was sent to the market to sell a cow because his mother was sick and they could not afford medicines. Keeping the cow would've been more practical as she could provide milk for them and prevent hunger. They wanted coin for meds although nice Jack was "conned" into giving the cow away in exchange of "magic beans". His mother was furious. She flung the beans out of the window and as soon as they all landed these were sown right away. Quickly there grew a very tall beanstalk reaching up into the sky. Jack climbed up it and he reached a strange land among clouds with a huge castle. 

It's believed this story is originally an ancient tale called "The Boy Who Stole Ogre's Treasure". There's also a parallel with an 18th century story "Jack the Giant Killer". That particular tale was loosely based on older versions, set during the mists of Arthurian legendary Dark Ages. This story of a warrior Jack is violent and not at all for kids. This became popularised because of a 1962 fantasy film "Jack the Giant Killer" with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. There's also much similarities with the Norse legend of Thor and the giants in the Eddas. Thor was often fighting off giants and keeping them away. Such beautiful narratives play in the psyche. 

For more info read this page on Wikipedia: Jack the Giant Killer and The History of Jack the giant killer at Once Upon an Algorithm. Read about the 10 symbols from Jack and the Beanstalk page at Wizzley.    

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The sleeping beauty flower

 The fairy tale of "The Sleeping Beauty" is a well known loved story about a curse. At the very beginning it centres on the baby princess with a celebration. Fairies are gathered to bring gifts to the princess, and all is a happy joyous moment. Then a dark presence of a sinister fairy who put a curse on the princess and entire kingdom. As this happened, the distressed king made sure to burn every single spinning wheel to prevent the curse happening. Many years passed. The princess grew to be a very beautiful young woman, and it was then on her birthday that she explored an unknown tower while playing hide and seek.  

 The story is adventurous and magical. The princess is named Aurora in the Disney film animation. She's also named Briar Rose in earlier book form. This is the very plant that she represent. The Sleeping Beauty is also a tale of romance. Her name in the Grimm Brothers version of the story is Briar Rose, very apt and enchanting.

The briar rose is a pretty flower belonging to the hedge plant variety, which can become prickly and dense growing into walls. This is the same plant that shrouded the entire castle, protecting and hiding the sleeping princess. A prince ventured there and was so determined to locate her. Before him, many brave men tried and failed, as the sharp thorns of briar roses killed them. The prince was able to chop away at the briar hedge wall, and found an opening. Briar roses grow pink flowers and berries called red hips. The leaves are perfumed of apple scent.  This is a tale of rebirth, immortality and growing.  

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Cinderella flowers

 Of all the most famous plants featured in the story of Cinderella is the pumpkin. That round orange funny vegetable of the squash family, popping up all over the field patch where it grows in abundance. Pumpkin flowers are yellow and star shaped. They appear along the vines of pumpkins and can be eaten. There are different varieties and they've been given names such as "Cinderella Pumpkins", the typical big orange pumpkins that resemble the magic pumpkin coach in the Cinderella story. These are also called "Winter Squash". For exciting Cinderella pumpkin recipes then visit Specialty Produce.

Pumpkins are all associated with many Autumn, Harvest Festival, Halloween and Thanksgiving. In Cinderella story, the fairy godmother turned the pumpkin into a gorgeous stagecoach. There' plenty of magic and nurturing of the fairy godmother. The pumpkin itself, a vegetable that can grow many in a good season, delivers Cinderella to the ball. 

The original story of "Cinderella" was written by Charles Perrault in 1697. In the original version, not the modern version today, the most essential plant was a hazel tree. Cinderella's father once gave her a hazel twig, that she buried in soil at her mother's grave. The twig became a tree, and Cinderella spoke to it. She felt comfort with the hazel tree that was a connection to her mother's grave. The hazel tree represents the spirit of her mother, who continues to nurture and protect her. She was the original fairy godmother.

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