Sarah Anne Lawless

Sarah Anne Lawless

Sarah Anne Lawless
2010

Sarah Anne Lawless

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 Contents
Wild Monsterberry Mead 1

Quotes from a Witch’s Life 6

The Summer Garden 8

A Witch’s Birthday 14

Witchy Woodcrafts 19

Mountain Magic 24

Alraun Crafting 27

On Circle Casting and the World Tree 33

A Blessed & Fruitful Lunasadh 41

Best Incense Making Day Ever! 43

Sex Magic in Traditional Witchcraft 48

Moonflower 53

The Night Garden 55

Blackthorn Hedgewitch Wand 59

Camping with Coyotes 61

The Witch’s Garden in Bloom 67

This Week I Made… 69

The Witches Visit the Island 72

Rowan Ogham Card 74

Horned God Athame 76

How Does the Witch’s Garden Grow? 81

Horned God Athame Progress 87

Moongazing Hare Skull 90

Walking Between Worlds 93

S.J. Tucker has Left the Building 99

Is Witchcraft Shamanism? 104

Wildcrafting for Witchcraft 108

Aves Salve and a Note on Entheogens 113

Making Outdoor Sigils 119

Nature Magic Ointments 123

The Seer’s Reading List 130

Rootwork & Gardening Magic 138

S.J. Tucker’s Coming to Town! 143

Magically Cleaning House 146

Isobel Gowdie’s Shapeshifting Song 151

Spellwork Boxes 154

Solanum: The Poison Plants of Witchcraft 160

A Beltuinn Greeting 172

A Riddle 174

Traditional Witchcraft Definitions 175

Witchcraft on the Day of Saturn 179

Hagstone & Key Charms 185

Women’s Red Drum Workshop 190

The Witches’ Reel 196

The Mountain Provideth 201

On Shapeshifting 203

The Gods of Man 212

Entheogens & Bark for Incense 214

Animal Spirit Vessels 216

Horned Owl Ogham Box 219

Aves Flying Ointment 222

Altar Spring Cleaning 228

Today was for Gardening & Wildcrafting 230

Darkness is Good For You? 241

Dead Mail 245

What Makes One a Witch? 247

Tea, Tarot, & Wildcrafting 254

Spring Equinox Rootwork 259

The Bright and Dark 263

On Staves 266

Don’t Shoot the Messenger… 277

Butchery Prepared Me for Woodcarving 282

Rowan Ogham Fews and a Barn Owl 285

Rowan – Ogham Card Progress 288

Books of Celtic Shamanism 291

Digging for Roots 294

Divisions of Witchcraft 298

So Begins the Ogham Deck 306

Baba Yaga Will Eat Your Soul 309

New Podcast: New World Witchery 312

Introduction to Animal Familiars 314

New Books & Wildcrafting 322

Magic in the New Year 325

A Crow from the Dark Goddess 328

Sneak Peek at a New Project 332

Handwoven Rowan Crosses 333

Hecate’s Garden 338

Wild Monsterberry Mead

August 25, 2010

MEAD!!! Mead, mead, mead! If you have only ever tasted an

SCAer’s crappy month-old homebrew, don’t let it affect your opinion
of this glorious beverage as you haven’t truly tasted mead. Good
mead is ambrosial, indescribable, divine wine, and I highly
recommend making your own at home. The stuff labelled mead in a
few liquor stores still just isn’t at the same level you can get with
home brew. Five gallons of mead makes about thirty bottles and
usually costs $30 per 5 gallon batch — that’s $1 per bottle! On
average, purchasing a good bottle of mead costs anywhere from

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$20-$60 per bottle. How can you not want to make mead after doing
that math! I’ve found it’s also a very traditional and well received
offering to gods and spirits. They love something you’ve slaved over
making with your own sweat, blood, and tears as well as lots of
love, care, and patience – now that’s a sacrifice. In case I’ve
convinced you, here is a pdf I wrote of instructions for the mead
party members: Basic Mead Making Method

Now on to the mead making! A couple weeks ago my apprentice

and I hiked up the mountain with two pails in search of wild berries.
We picked wild raspberries, thimbleberries, huckleberries, salal
berries, blackberries, rowan berries, and wild Oregon grapes. As the
majority of the berries are said to belong to the Monster Woman of

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the Woods in local Native lore, I think the name “Wild Monsterberry
Mead” has a perfect ring to it. We left an offering of a handful of the
berries at the dirt crossroad on the mountain and then headed home
to make mead from our colourful harvest. Once home, we heated
up some wild Dandelion honey mixed with a little water on the stove
until hot, but not boiling and poured it over the berries. Yes, that’s
right, we didn’t wash the berries! What good is a wild mead without
some bugs and dirt in it? We added a black tea bag and a little
lemon juice and then set to work crushing the berries in our hands
to help speed along the fermentation. Lastly, we added the yeast.
The bucket of berry deliciousness sat in my dining room for about
two weeks with a heavy dish cloth covering it to keep out fruit flies
and dust. I stirred it every day to add oxygen which is good for the
yeast at this point.

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Before and After the Explosion

Last night, my apprentice came over for her weekly lesson and we
strained and racked the mead with more Dandelion honey into a
sanitized carboy and then put it back in the dining room to ferment.
We went on to sanitizing wine bottles to rack two already finished
mead flavours into the bottles, but a quick look back at the newly
racked carboy told us it was going to blow! So we moved it back into
the kitchen and even though I cleaned it before going to bed, it still
exploded during the night. It’s normal though. It happens when the
yeast is very happy getting it on with the honey and just a little too
over excited about it. I just wiped up the mess, cleaned the airlock
and hope it doesn’t ejaculate berry juice all over my linoleum and
fridge again. At least it wasn’t the carpet… After the minor mess we
went on to bottling two Loki meads – which is just slang for “happy
accident” mead made from the combined leftovers when racking
multiple mead batches. One was a blend of Salmonberry and plain
methlegin meads and the second was a mix of last Autumn’s

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“Pomegranate-Raspberry” and “Apple Spice” meads. The first one
is delicious, but the second is ambrosial. My two gallons of
Ginger-Lime and one gallon of Huckleberry mead should be ready
to bottle soon as well. My wine rack is starting to look nice and full
again… most excellent, yes…

Newly bottled “Loki” meads

My mead rack with six different varieties

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Quotes from a Witch’s Life

August 24, 2010

Said I:

“You know you’re travelling out of body when you have to travel
back in order to wake up.”

“True magical power comes from living in harmony with nature and
yourself .”

“Eclecticism is Syncretism without context.”

“Witches just aren’t what they used to be. Whatever happened to

sacrificing a goat, bathing in its blood, and then having an orgy
afterward?”

Said the crazy old man sitting next to me on the bus:

“Everything is his: the animals, the plants, the trees, me and you.
Nothing is ours – not even our bodies or hands – they’re all his and
he can take it all away at anytime if he wants. Your body is just on
loan, a temporary rental. But it will be okay. You and I and those of
his blood will avoid all the trouble coming. It won’t affect us, don’t
you worry…”

Said the Jehovah’s Witness at my front door:

“I just wanted to drop by today to make sure you’re using the right
name when addressing God. If you read these quotes here in the

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Bible you’ll see it says there are many gods so you have to say the
right name in your invocations to make sure you get Jehovah and
not the wrong god.”

Said my anthropology teacher:

“Unlike animals, humans have the capability to learn continuously

for their entire lives. The quest, the initiation, is never-ending as
there is always more to learn. The saddest people I’ve ever met are
those who have decided not to learn anymore.”

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The Summer Garden

August 23, 2010

White Nightshade – solanum douglasi

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There has been some drama in the summer garden consisting of
the near death of the henbane plants, the death and astonishing
rebirth of the potatoes, mysterious baby tomato plants growing
beneath the fennel, the decline of the bittersweet nightshade and
the rise of the black… The main downside of a container garden on
a hot sunny terrace is that containers require a lot of water and I
can’t just hose them or sprinkle them as there is no water hose near
my terrace. So I water them with a one gallon watering can at dusk
and if it was a really hot day I mist the leaves at night with a spray
bottle. The plants still get sunburned due to almost 12 hours of
sunlight, so I’m thinking of building an awning for shade next year to
protect the more delicate plants and trees.

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Black Nightshade

Black Lace Elder

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The Elder root cutting finally burst to life with more and more new
branches. It’s becoming prolific and gaining size fast! Maybe it will
produce berries sooner than I’d hoped! I’ve always wanted to make
a cough syrup and of course mead with Elderberries. My Daturas
are also prolific – they won’t stop blooming! I’ve heard some people
have trouble getting theirs to bloom, but mine seems to be quite
happy. It’s even producing a few large spikey fruits I’ll be able to
harvest seeds from.

Blooming Moonflowers

I already harvested a large amount of my catnip so I let the rest to

flower and I’m so glad I did because it turns out wild bumble and
honey bees love catnip flowers. It is so enchanting to step onto my
sunny terrace with my morning tea to the sight and sound of little
bees buzzing around my garden. One morning I even found a dead
wild honey bee underneath the henbane right next to a dead white
spider. I considered them a gift and preserved them both for magic.

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My container garden is turning into a mini ecosystem for the first
time thank to the variety of plants. The aphids eat my plants and the
lady bugs and spiders eat the aphids. There are even bugs in the
soil now – it’s a good thing! Next year I will grow more food plants
now that I know I can rely on pollinators and I will also introduce
more trees to attract birds.

Stargazer Lilies

I love Stargazers, they are one of my favourite lilies from back when
I worked at a florist. The scent is so lady like and feminine. I never
thought I could grow them, but a friend gave me a potted lily last
year and not knowing what to do with it after the blooms died, I
planted it. It took me by surprise to see those huge pink flowers in
my garden one morning as I had forgotten it was a Stargazer! My
Devil’s Club is also doing surprisingly well considering they hate to
be transplanted and handled by humans. It was a gift from my
apprentice and her witchy boyfriend. It’s still in the container they

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brought it in as I’m waiting for the weather to cool before
transplanting it to the garden at the front of the house so the change
doesn’t shock it. To have Devil’s Club at my front door and not have
to trek deep in the mountains to visit it is certainly something! What
witch can resist a plant also called the Devil’s Walking Stick?

Devil’s Club aka Devil’s Walking Stick

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A Witch’s Birthday

August 22, 2010

It was my birthday recently (hence the slowness around these parts)

and I was well-spoiled by friends and family. How old am I? Well a
lady never tells her age, and I’ve been told I’m a lady, so it will have
to remain a mystery. I was spoiled with wildcrafting books and a
large granite mortar and pestle by my man Mojo who took me out
for a witchy day about town to Banyen Books, Aphrodite’s Cafe, and
then off to a movie. It was indescribably delightful to spend a whole

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day out with my sexy man.

The day after my birthday I spent with my apprentice as it was her

birthday. We spent the entire day exploring Granville Island with the
leisure we’d always wanted to, but never had the time for. We made
our own breakfast from the market of fresh croissants, fresh figs,

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local goat cheese, wild boar proscuitto, and duck proscuitto (yes,
duck proscuitto!!). Can you say foodgasm? We were still hungry so
we wrapped the wild boar proscuitto around the fresh figs and
chunks of well-aged gouda – that seriously went beyond a
foodgasm to the realm of something divine. We visited our favourite
shops and artisans and then stopped for a beer tasting at the
Granville Island Brewery. Six different flavours isn’t hedonistic at
all…

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Other wonders and curios found their way into the mail box or were
delivered by hand just in time for the celebration – the lovely new
issue of Hex Magazine, a copy of Pan’s Labyrinth, a bottle of Liquor
Strega for Diana, a whole Raven’s wing, a 1920s book of Polish

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fairy tales from my parents, and a copy of . I received a lot of
birthday wishes and phone calls from family out east. It was a great
birthday this year thanks to the wonderful people I am surrounded
by – so thank you all so very much!!

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Witchy Woodcrafts

August 20, 2010

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Horned Dandelion Alraun with Coffin and Burial Shroud

The Dandelion root was dug up as is in human form at a three way

crossroad during the new moon. It was then lightly carved with a
ritual knife to exaggerate its feminine features and transplanted
above the burial of a crow for three weeks. IThen it was unsurfaced
at the dark of the moon and allowed to cure and dry. The wooden
coffin is pyrographed with the chthonic Dandelion spirit of the root
on the lid and on the bottom is a spider with a Dandlelion root. The
interior is painted vivid vermilion red and the whole box has been
sealed with varnish. The alraun is wrapped in a completely
handquilted red linen burial shroud.

The reason for a coffin and shroud for an alraun is its chthonic
nature – an alraun root is a connection to the underworld and the
spirits of the dead. The coffin mimics the darkness of the earth
which is the root’s natural environment. When the root is awakened,
it becomes tied to the spirits of the dead (or one in particular) and
can whisper advice, knowledge, or foreknowledge of the future.
Dandelion is traditionally sacred to Hecate and is used in magic for
calling spirits or sending messages to them. It is an excellent choice

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for an alraun. To learn more about alrauns see the article on Alraun
Crafting. Now in a private collection

Cimaruta Pentagram

This original cimaruta design by the Witch of Forest Grove has been
pyrographed onto beautiful Pine wood – which reflects the
cimaruta’s purpose of protection. The Rue cimaruta contains a
serpent, moon, toad, skeleton key, bird, and vervain flower. The
pyrographed background and the white foreground have been
painted with black and white eco-friendly wood stains and the entire
piece was finished with raw linseed oil and my handcrafted wood
balm. This piece could easily be hung over a front door for
protection or placed on an altar devoted to Diana or Hecate. Now in

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a private collection

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Elder Greenman & Skull Memento Mori Bead

This rosary bead is handcarved from ethically wildcrafted Elder

wood. It has been finished with raw linseed oil and my handcrafted
wood balm for preservation. The more it is handled, the more
beautiful and healthy the wood will become. One side is a
Greenman of Elder and on the other side is carved a skull. This
memento mori bead is a symbol of the Earth’s eternal cycle of life,
death, and rebirth. Now in a private collection

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Mountain Magic

August 14, 2010

I saw two wild hares, a large black bear, a kingfisher, stellar jays,
ravens, fish of all sizes, small red squirrels, dancing dragonflies, and
a large female hummingbird who flew right up to me and sweetie’s
faces for a minute as if to say hello (or possibly to warn of the deer
flies who ate us alive a few moments later…). I found a collection of
berries believed to be the food of local forest spirits: Twinberry (aka
raven’s food or monster’s food), the three-striped berries of False
Solomon’s Seal used for magic, a blue “wolfberry” from the Queen’s
Cup lily, two ripening choke cherries, and one Baneberry. There
was also plenty of Devil’s Club full of poisonous berries covered in
spider webs.

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I carved Elder wood and he caught up on Pagan podcasts and a
little ancient literature. One evening we sat by Birkenhead Lake long
after all the other people and their dogs left and noticed how all the

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flies and mosquitoes gathered around the surface of the lake and
how the fish took advantage of this jumping to the surface to eat the
insects with the dragonflies following close behind. Then the osprey
and kingfishers took also advantage and caught and ate the fish.

And then it was time to go home.

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Alraun Crafting

August 05, 2010

Horned Dandelion Alraun

An alraun is a herbal root found in human form, or carved to be, and

used as a magical talisman. The most famous of such roots being
Mandrake, but many other roots have been used in history as well
including bryony, dandelion, thistle, as well as tree roots. Don’t snub
humbler roots than Mandrake (whose reputation was significantly
blown up by medieval herbalists to charge a large sum). Did you
know the oft-hated dandelion belongs to the dark goddess Hecate
and has powers of divination and summoning spirits?

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In Germanic folklore, it was the local village wise woman who
created alrauns. The word alraun itself is derived from “rune” which
is an old Germanic and Celtic term for mystery, magic, and secrets
(1). In 1700s Germany there were witches who called themselves
Alrune believing it was the name of a goddess of the crossroads (3).
Once an alraun is made it belongs solely to the maker or the
receiver and is not to be seen by any other soul. It was once
common in both Pagan and early Christian times for alrauns to be
passed on within families at the owner’s time of death. The alraun
was considered the protector of the family. Alrauns, being made
from chthonic roots, provide a link to the ancestors and deities of
the underworld. They act as confidantes, advisers, seers, as well as
familiar spirits. Alrauns are called upon for love, fertility, help during
childbirth, divination, good health, prophecy, protection, as well as
cursing and harm.

How to Make an Alraun

You will need:

• A digging stick or gardening gloves

• A libation or offering

• A sharp ritual knife

• A wand, staff, or a sigil powder

It is best to craft an alraun in winter or spring as that is the best time

for transplanting without shocking the plant. To make a plant root

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alraun, seek out your intended plant after the new moon and draw a
circle around it in the dirt with your finger, wand, or with a sigil
powder. Let the plant know you are a witch and make your intent for
it to come across strongly so it readily agrees. Then carefully dig up
the whole plant without breaking any of the roots or bruising any
leaves. If there are any separate root offshoots, carefully break
them off and leave them behind leaving a live plant in place of the
one you took. If not, leave a suitable offering. Some plants prefer
whisky, wine, or mead while others may simply prefer water or a
physical object. Pour the libation or bury the offering in the hole
you’ve made without looking and walk away without looking back.

Fresh Dandelion Roots

You can either take the live plant home or take it to where you will
be transplanting it. If your root doesn’t already have a human shape
to it, carve it into the opposite sex of yourself with your ritual knife. It
can also be carved into a hermaphrodite. Be careful not to remove

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any of the small roots at this time and don’t over carve the root or
you will kill it. A rough semblance is good enough. Now it is time to
transplant. It is best to plant an alraun near a crossroad, but if this
isn’t possible your garden or a pot will do (2). Water the plant after
transplanting and leave it be for three weeks to a month or more. If
the original leaves die, do not despair, it is because all its energy is
going back to the root to heal from your carving – the root is still
alive and growing. Once a week, before you dig it up again, feed it
either a mixture of milk and honey or milk and a drop of your own
blood if you will be keeping it for yourself.

On the next dark moon, dig up your root, and again leave an
offering behind in the hole without looking. Now you can take your
root home and wash it. Remove any excess hairs or growths that
distort its human shape. Loosely wrap it in a cloth of natural fibre
inside a paper bag and leave this somewhere warm and dry. In a
month you should have a perfectly dried alraun. Wrap it in black,
red, or white linen, wool, or silk and place it in a small box. The cloth
is its funeral shroud and the box its coffin. Hide the alraun away in a
dark place until you call upon it. When you do, offer it milk and
honey, or wine, or blood depending on your purpose. Treat the
alraun as a beloved child or family member. Speak to it sweetly. It is
incredibly dangerous to throw one away or sell an alraun for less
than you bought it for. It is a sentient familiar spirit and not a curio to
be tossed aside. The alraun has the power to bless or curse its
owner so think carefully on your intent before making one.

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Alraun Coffin Interior & Shroud

Alraun Coffin Pyrographed with Dandelions

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References & Resources:

1. Houghton Mifflin Canadian Dictionary of the English Language.

Markham, Ontario: Houghton Mifflin Canada Ltd, 1980.

2. Huson, Paul. Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for

Witches, Warlocks, and Covens. New York: G.P. Putnam’s
Sons, 1970.

3. Pennick, Nigel. Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition.

Leicestershire, UK: Thoth Publications, 2002.

4. Thompson, C.J.S. The Mystic Mandrake. New York, University

Books, 1968.

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On Circle Casting and the World Tree

August 04, 2010

Whether you call it circle casting, treading the mill, or the compass
round, the intention of this practice is to create a ritually purified
space to open a protected doorway between worlds so that the
ritualist(s) can commune with the deities or spirits from the other
realms. The circle casting method, as it is done today in Wicca, is
based on that of the Golden Dawn and also the Key of Solomon.
“Circles” have been used for magic long before Wicca, but not using
the Wiccan method of invoking the four elements and the extra
element of spirit by drawing invoking pentagrams with an athame.
Despite its younger age, this Wiccan method is very effective and a

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good standard practice for ritualists and magicians whether they are
influenced by Gerald Gardner, Paul Huson, or itself. Good
resources to draw upon for Wiccan circle casting are by Paul Huson
and by Janet and Stewart Farrar.

What most modern Witches and Pagans today don’t realize is that
in casting a circle they are actually accessing the universal World
Tree or . Circle casting is actually a misnomer. It isn’t a circle or ring
being created but instead a perfect sphere with one dome rising
above the earth and the other below. In my personal opinion, when
one casts a circle invoking the four elements and the extra spirit,
one is only creating half the sphere. This is the half accessing the
upperworld of the Gods and ignoring the realm of the dead below.
Casting a circle is an act of duplicating the World Tree or accessing
it as the axis mundi. This intention is found in all Pagan cultures
across the world of both polytheistic and animistic beliefs. For
example, the Egyptians and their djed of Osiris which is considered
the god’s spine and axis mundi of the world just like Legba of both
African and Haitian belief is associated with the poteau-mitan of the
‘s peristyle which is also considered to be Legba’s spine and the
World Tree. This poteau-mitan is used to draw down the lwa or
draw up the ancestors known as the ghédé.

The Norse and Scandinavians also had centre poles in their

wooden temples and places of outdoor worship. These poles were
made of wood or were live trees and were where rituals took place
as this pole was their representation of – the Norse world tree.
When the Vikings sailed to settle in Iceland, they brought their
carved centre poles with them and threw them into the sea believing
if the poles floated ashore it was a sign the land was blessed and

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they should settle there. They also believed that to commune with
the gods they must reach them through the World Tree and it was
the same for the spirits of the dead and the gods of the underworld
Hel. The Mayans, Aztecs, Sumerians, Assyrians, Celts, Greeks,
Hindus, as well as animistic Native tribes all have a world tree or
“tree of life” as well. In some cases the World Tree is a “World
Mountain” or a colossal standing stone instead.

In some pagan cultures, the axis mundi is itself a god who is

believed to guard the gates between all realms and instead of
casting a circle, the god is called upon through the use of a tree,
pole, pillar, staff, or wand which the World Tree god is believed to
inhabit or be drawn into. In many cultures this representation is
then danced around while chanting to induce trance. Then this deity
is propitiated with offerings and asked which gate (to the upper or

35
under world) the participants would like the deity to open. The Norse
called upon Heimdal or Odin, the Greeks upon Hermes, the Gauls
upon Esus, the Haitians upon Papa Legba, and so on. Depending
on the culture, there were also deities who specifically guarded a
gate either to the realm of the dead or the realm of the gods. An
ancient Roman necromancer would’ve called upon Hecate rather
than Mercury to open the gate to the underworld.

External Circle Casting for Individuals or Groups

There is more than one method to access the World Tree. One is
internal and one is external. For the external method, which is
shamanic in origin, the four directions are called (north, east, south,
and west), but they do not have elements corresponding to them.
Then, both the upperworld and underworld are called after the four
compass points making for a total of six directions invoked to
duplicate the World Tree and open the doorway to the otherworld.
When it comes to calling the four main directions one could call

upon the four

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dwarves associated with them in the Norse faith, the four bees of
the Mayan faith, or the four supernatural creatures associated with
the four directions in ancient Chinese belief depending on what
cultural tradition you practice. For the above and the below one can
use the terms for the realm of the Gods and the realm of the dead
used in one’s own tradition or cultural mythology. Drumming is also
a common method of summoning the six directions and many
images of the world tree and the cosmology of the earth are found
on the drums of animistic peoples. Drums were considered by
shamans to be horses or deer which allowed the drumming shaman
to travel up or down the World Tree or invoke the World Tree itself.
Frame drums are especially useful for this purpose. Coming up with
a chant for the six directions to sing while drumming is an effective
way to create the sphere and access the World Tree.

Below is a diagram of what the ritualist is creating along with two

common ancient symbols which reflect it. Think of the circle (the
sphere) as a metaphysical elevator that moves up or down the axis
mundi. Those practicing Traditional Witchcraft who are influenced
by the teachings of Robert Cochrane may notice the diagram is very
similar to Cochrane’s stang with the two crossed arrows hung upon
it and a wreath encircling them.

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If you practice within the umbrella of Traditional Witchcraft you can
use a stang or staff in your rituals to access the World Tree. For
ritual, the stang is struck into the ground outdoors (at a crossroad is
best). The part in the earth reaching down to the underworld like the
roots of a tree, the branch representing our realm, and the tines
reaching to the heavens uniting the three realms and opening a
doorway to the Otherworld. After calling upon the six directions the
gods or spirits may be drawn down or up through the stang to be
petitioned or communicated with during the ritual. A live tree or staff
can be used in a similar manner.

Those with an interest in etymology may find the old meanings of

stang very interesting indeed. In the Scottish and Anglo-Saxon

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tongues it most commonly means pole, staff, stick, or shaft, such as
a hay fork, distaff, walking stick, the beam of a plough, or the axle of
a car. If one digs a little deeper into the varying meanings, stang
was also used to mean key, phallus, arrow, serpent’s fang,
intoxication, or “a means of stimulating the conscience” ().
Interesting no? It certainly explains the staff usually found
accompanying shamans, cunning folk, sorcerers, and magicians in
history, folklore, and mythology. The word Völva, used for Norse
seeresses, translates as “wand bearer”. They were able to access
the spirit realms and commune with gods and ancestors for the
people of their communities.

Accessing the World Tree Internally

The internal method of accessing the World Tree is the elemental

method. If the World Tree is a spine then we can also look upon our
own spine as a miniature axis mundi. Many culture’s myths and
folklore say humans were created from trees, but perhaps we were

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created from the Tree? I believe in the three sacred elements of
earth (land), water (sea), and air (sky) and that fire is the extra
element that completes us and gives us our intelligence and
cunning – that fire is spirit. If I want to walk between worlds in my
body I go to a place where the three main elements are present
bringing the fire in my own body. When I wish to commune with my
deities and familiar spirits, or to leave my body, I call upon the four
elements contained within my own body while inducing trance in
order to cross between worlds. This is an internal method because it
is done without any external movement or actions besides possibly
chanting or breathing methods to induce trance. Within us all is a
doorway to the World Tree. Some can access it and some cannot.
Some just need to find the key. If you are in a tradition that is
influenced by the Kabbalah, the internal method may already be
very familiar to you. I don’t personally use the Kabbalistic Tree of
Life for this method, but it can also be very effective. Those
influenced by yogic practices may use the chakras to access their
internal axis mundi. These Eastern methods are not necessary to
achieve the same effect by those practicing within a different
cultural framework. The internal method is how the witch or shaman
accesses the road to the otherworlds and walks between them.
Some call this method astral travel, some flying, and others
hedgecrossing.

Let us bring the World Tree back into circle casting and not forget
the why and wherefore of what we do in ritual as witches, shamans,
druids, and magicians.

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A Blessed & Fruitful Lunasadh

August 02, 2010

Mine was full of bees, spiders, potatoes, henbane, and chatting with
the folks. I hope yours was as lovely and full of magic. Hail to the
fertile god endowed with bountiful fruits and bedecked with beautiful
flowers! How his beauty caresses the dark Earth as he thirsts for
her deep waters under the hot summer sun. They hold on tightly in
their embrace knowing he will soon die. His dead body becoming a

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blanket to protect her from the cold in winter.

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Best Incense Making Day Ever!

August 01, 2010

kyphi incense blends

What happens when you let two Leos loose with expensive herbs
and resins and give them a kitchen to work in? Why the best
incense making day ever of course! My lovely apprentice came by
this morning for a day we had long anticipated after shopping at
Soma Luna. We made an original ancient Egyptian Kyphi incense
recipe and Holly’s Hermes Kyphi recipe. Both will still take a week
or two before they are finished. We made a huge batch of the
Egyptian Kyphi and will be selling the excess in the Botanica. It’s
not too often you find authentically made Kyphi pill incense these
days.

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rolling bee oracle incense

Then we made the Bee Oracle Incense (melissae incensum)

pictured above which is an original mock-kyphi recipe I came up

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with. The main ingredient is bee propolis resin, but it also contains
honey and homemade mead along with herbs associated with bees
and prophecy. I have to say that bee propolis resin smells
absolutely amazing! It’s like honey and vanilla had sex with flowers.
It smells delicious burned on charcoal and lasts a long time. It’ll take
a few days to dry and then I should have it up in the botanica. It’s to
be burned for divination, oracular work, blessings for mead making,
and for working with bee familiars. The Melissae are tied to
Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hermes, and sometimes Demeter in Greek
mythology. My apprentice’s lovely man came over after hiking in the
woods and he helped us portion and form the Bee Oracle incense
into pills as well as the Amber resin we made.

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My apprentice and I have also been very tempted for a while to
make our own Amber Resin. So of course we had to make some for
the best incense making day ever. Amber resin isn’t actually made
from amber, which is a petrified tree sap, but is usually made with
benzoin resin and vanilla. For our own recipe we used benzoin
resin, liquid storax resin, vanilla bean, honey, and pure beeswax.
We melted it all over a double boiler and then let it set and cut it into
pieces and wrapped them up like candy. The amber cubes smell
like candy, but I wouldn’t recommend eating one! They smell
absolutely delicious and sexy when burned. Our Amber resin recipe
would be perfect for love and sex magic. There is nothing like
vanilla and honey with a touch of sickly sweet benzoin. These we
finished today and should be up in the shop tomorrow or Monday.
We put three cubes to a packet as you only need to burn 1/9 of a
cube at a time to fill an entire room with smoke – and it burns for a
good while.

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Of course once we had made all these incenses, the three of us had
to light a charcoal and hover around it as we tested each one
inhaling their divine scents. I can easily see how incense is the food
of gods and spirits. I have to say, it is very much worth it to spend
good money on your gods for such a purpose.

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Sex Magic in Traditional Witchcraft

July 30, 2010

e’ve all heard of sex magic, especially when related to Ceremonial

Magic, Thelema and Tantra, but what about sex magic in Witchcraft
and Traditional Witchcraft? The Great Rite within Wicca is well
known, but seldom practiced today except symbolically with athame
and chalice. However its origins are quite ancient and can be found
in the heiros gamos, the sacred marriage of a god and goddess
within the Ancient Greek and Egyptian religions of which an initiated
priest and priestess of the old gods would re-enact for elaborate
ceremonies during certain festivals. Our animistic ancestors
believed that the earth was a fertile woman and the sky god her
lover. When it rained, it was the god’s semen fertilizing the earth
goddess. Worship of the phallus is found the world over, as is
worship of the Sacred Whore.

Some scholars and witches argue the first act of sex magic was
between Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Those old
writers loved analogies. Some say the trickster god initiated Eve into
the mysteries of knowledge, awareness and cunning by having sex
with her. And afterward it was no fruit, no fig she gave to Adam, but
her “fig”, an ancient analogy for the female genitals as well as the
act of intercourse still present today in the mano fico hand gesture.
So the trickster god initiated Eve and then she initiated Adam into
the mysteries for which they both got thrown out of the garden for

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“being too much like gods”. The first cunning man and woman were
the first man and woman. In etymology the proto-Germanic root
word for Witchcraft – weik – from which wicce, wicca, wiccaecrafte
and related sorcerous words stem from literally translates as
“cunning and guile”. This possibly explains the use of sexual
initiation for certain traditions, especially within Medieval and
modern traditional witchcraft. Sex is a way to connect with the Gods
of both the Upper and Lower Worlds. There are accounts from the
witch trials of women having sex with the devil himself to be initiated
into a coven and into the mysteries – does this sounds so far
removed from the story of Eve?

Uses

Sex magic has multiple uses within Witchcraft. It can be used as an

offering for deity worship, for acting out the mysteries of the gods, to
attain knowledge/ awareness /inspiration, to be initiated into a
tradition or mystery, to raise energy for workings, to empower
sexual fluids for magical uses, to conceive, to act as Sacred Whore,
to empower a working or sigil, for healing, or for flying… I’m sure
there are many more out there.

I have to add a note here about sex and initiation: it is never okay
for one to tell a prospective initiate they have to have sex with them
in order to be initiated or as a required part of the initiation rite.
Even if a tradition does have a sexual initiation, there are always
ways around having sex with the teacher/initiator. Respectful and
mentally healthy members of a tradition will be sure to tell you the
options. So many young people have lost their innocence to such
manipulative creepy people who usually can’t have sex any other

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way than force. Never fall for it!

Methods

So here’s the dirty part, if you can’t handle graphic imagery and
naughty words – suck it up and read it anyway! You’re a witch and
sometimes we need to get dirty. As this article is solely about
magical sex, I’ll be saving the magical uses of bodily fluids for
another piece.

1. Evoke a god and goddess or deities, who are the same sexes as
the lovers, into the partners during ritual and have sex during ritual
essentially while possessed to reenact the sacred mystery and to
empower a rite.

2. From folk magic – have sex outdoors on the ground to bless the
earth to encourage its continued fertility. This was once practiced by
farmers to ensure healthy crops at the spring festivals. So in
modern times you could drag your lover outside for a wild romp in
the garden or in the woods as an offering to the genius loci.

3. During an outdoor rite, have sex standing up against an old

sacred tree so the energy you and your lover build up is sent forth
up the trunk of the tree at the point of climax – to the otherworld, to
the gods – either as offering or to blast out the power or your spell
or working through orgasm and use of the tree as a conductor.

4. Have sex during a traditional witchcraft outdoor rite with the stang
driven into the earth of the centre of the compass, using the stang to
draw up energy from the earth or draw down power from the

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otherworld to empower and send forth your spell/working with the
gathered energy at the point of climax.

5. For flying – use a flying ointment for magical masturbation or sex,

but make sure it’s safe to use on your naughty bits as some of the
traditional herbs can cause irritation and rashes — especially avoid
putting datura, henbane and belladonna down there — mandrake
(mandragora officinarum) is okay. One method, which works with
both straight and male gay couples, would be to rub one partner’s
cock with the flying ointment and then have sex during a rite, so you
both may fly. If you’re a lesbian couple, there are always fingers and
dildos.

6. Have sex in an outdoor location with land, sea and sky all present
to invoke a deity, or to raise energy for a rite or working.

7. For initiation – to be given the initiation at the point of orgasm;

secret wisdom or knowledge passed on during climax from the
initiator to the initiate. This can be done in the privacy of indoors or
outdoors during a rite – best in a place with land, sea and sky or
where two rivers meet. Or at a crossroads to be initiated by the
goat-horned black man himself.

8. For Rune and Sigil Magic – after having sex during ritual to
empower the sexual fluids, they can be applied to runestaves and
sigils to give “life” to the charm and empower/activate it. A man can
masturbate and cum on the sigil or runestave to the same end, or
the symbols can be drawn on the bodies of the lovers during ritual,
so their orgasm empowers the symbols and the spell is released.

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Pleasurable Reading:

• by Alain Daniélou

• by Victor Anderson

• by A.T. Mann & Jane Lyle

• by Georg Feuerstein

• by Richard Alan Miller

• by B.Z. Goldberg

• by Richard Payne Knight

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Moonflower

July 24, 2010

I finally caught it blooming late tonight under an almost perfectly full

moon. I’d only found mysterious fallen brown flowers beneath the
leaves before. It is definitely datura inoxia – Moonflower – the
night-blooming datura. This type has a trumpet within a trumpet.
The flowers smell absolutely divine like the richest perfume. If only I
could bottle it…

Moonflower is the friend of shamans, healers, and Saturnian

witches. She breaks spells sent to harm you and protects you from

53
evil spirits. She’ll even let you borrow her wings to fly and take you
to extraordinary places. But she’ll also show you things you wish
you hadn’t seen and she’ll make you afraid of her. Sometimes it’s
better to to view her from afar and not touch the Moonflower.
Sometimes it’s better just to wait for her to bloom on a cool summer
night under a full moon and deeply inhale her beautiful scent… and
then quietly go back to bed.

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The Night Garden

July 23, 2010

Last night I watered my garden in darkness by the light of the moon

and the stars. I whispered to their spirits and burned tobacco leaf
as offering to each one – my Saturnian solanaceae, the subtlely
narcotic catnip, my ever growing mullein and great avens, my small
grove of rowan, cedar, elder, and oak…

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Henbane in flower and fruit with Bittersweet Nightshade behind

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Orange and White Tree Daturas

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Rowan in darkness

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Blackthorn Hedgewitch Wand

July 21, 2010

This wand carved from the traditional hedge wood of blackthorn has
been hand carved with a toad, two types of fern, bittersweet
nightshade, a branch of blackthorn, and a serpent spiraling around
the tip. The two sigils underneath the toad are the ogham character
straif for blackthorn and a symbol of the world tree to reflect the
wand’s use for walking between worlds. The carvings have been
painted with eco-friendly wood stains. The wand is finished with raw
linseed oil and the witch’s homemade woodbalm made with
beeswax, linseed & almond oil, cedar oil, and blessing oil. It is the
traditional length of 17 inches from the crook of the elbow to the tip
of the index finger.

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(Click to enlarge images)

This Hedgewitch wand can be used for hedgecrossing, protection,

and sending forth spells or curses. Blackthorn was the traditional
wood of UK cunning folk for their canes and wands. A person with a
blackthorn staff was often feared by the locals, but despite the
misconceptions blackthorn has many more uses than just baneful
ones. (Sorry Sold)

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Camping with Coyotes

July 19, 2010

As I type this one of my creepier eight-legged familiars keeps

edging closer and closer towards me… as long as they don’t jump
on me all should be well and this post finished. This past weekend I
went camping deep in the forest with chatty ravens,
feather-dropping barn owls, a pair of mouse-hunting eagles, and a
very large and loud pack of coyotes. Oh, and there were plenty of
witches there as well passing bottles of homemade mead around
the campfire of fragrant cedar logs.

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The massive fir tree near the fire was oozing golden sticky resin
which I collected and put on log in the fire so it melted and smoked
to release its scent. Talk about fresh incense! I had lots of time to
carve sitting under a canopy of trees in the sunlight. I finished a
wand as much as I could with just my knife and some sandpaper
and then started on another. I have a bunch of things to make for
friends before I can get back to carving for the botanica.

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I also got to talking with one of the lovely witches about my feather
collection and she graciously gifted me with goodly amount of blue
heron feathers for my crafting. They are large and lovely and soft
and will make a beautiful smudge fan. My sweetie also found a
robin’s egg shell in the woods which may end up inside another
familiar vessel. I found a massive felled hazel branch already split
into two staff-sized lengths which I of course took home. What a
beautiful relaxing weekend of carving mixed with rituals of
drumming, chanting, a tambourine and a flute — just lovely.

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Here she is now, my eight-legged friend half a foot away from my
computer when she started off on the other side of the room… she’s
now throwing herself off the shelf and then dangling in the air from a
thread like a bungie jumper over and over – it looks kinda fun.

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The Witch’s Garden in Bloom

July 12, 2010

The earth was my bed, the wind through the leaves in the trees my
lullaby, and the breeze caressing skin my blanket. Then I woke up
to a lovely surprise. The Mullein and Henbane in my sky terrace
garden had bloomed! I have never grown Henbane before nor seen
it before now. The blooms are beautiful and covered in pollen. The
leaves are soft and fuzzy despite their prickly appearance. I’m so
happy as I was hoping to get seeds so I could grow it again next
year. Henbane grows fast here and really seems to like the climate
of my hot terrace beaten by the sun all day. In a dream I received a
recipe for a sabbat mead which includes Henbane as one of the
three ingredients. Henbane used to be used commonly in beer
recipes in Europe, but as it can be very poisonous in high amounts,
I shall have to be very careful of the dosage. It is also found in a
couple traditional spirit work incenses as well as flying ointment

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recipes. It’s one of those plants that brands you as a witch when
seen in your garden.

My Mullein shot up a foot or more and suddenly bloomed these

gorgeous egg-yolk flowers. I don’t understand how anyone can
consider this a weed. It is just such a beautiful, soft, and impressive
plant. I hope to collect the seeds from this one and plant a whole
family of Mullein next year. I just took these pictures in the sunlight,
but the wind is raging and bringing a storm in.

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This Week I Made…

July 09, 2010

A Holly and Oak ogham wrist chaplet. The beads with the ogham
characters are carved from Holly and are double sided. The green
spacer beads are carved from Holly as well. Each ogham character
is also carved and then painted green with eco-friendly woodstain.
The Awen charm and the clasp are handcarved from Oak wood. All
of the beads are strung on green cotton thread. The leaf pendant is
a real impression of an Oak leaf in clay done by Blackhorse Studios,
but she unfortunately closed her shop a couple years ago. These
prayer beads can be worn as a bracelet or a necklace. Not for sale

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The next thing I made was this Bone Goddess Ritual Necklace as
an offering to the old Bone Goddess who is mistress of the beasts,
the wild, and of the dead. It is Moose and Deer antler beads strung
on white silk with a Deer antler tine pendant. The clasp is a section
of deer leg bone with a coyote toe bone. The two skulls are carved
from deer antler as well by an amazing fellow in Alaska. This one’s
in my personal collection – also not for sale.

I also made another Robin Familiar Vessel – this time with a full
head and a naturally holed stone (Sold).

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The Witches Visit the Island

July 06, 2010

Last weekend was a long weekend for Canada Day and me, my
Mojo, and our two witchy friends Wendy and Steven (who you may
know from the Wigglian Way) all got on the ferry and headed over to

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Vancouver Island. We went camping at Englishman River Falls
outside of Nanaimo. The forests were gigantic with their tall trees
touching the sky. The branches were full of Ravens cawing out their
rolling calls. They are much shyer than their Crow cousins,
however, so I wasn’t able to photograph any despite being
constantly surrounded by Ravens. The falls were impress and so
much bigger than I could photograph. Everything was so green and
lush – the forest of trees above and the forest of ferns below. The
Arbutus trees were beautiful and gigantic. At the end of our trip we
had a few hours to kill before catching the ferry home so we headed
to Coombs (a favourite haunt of mine since I was a kid) to see the
country market and the goats who live on its roof. Coombs has
become very touristy since my childhood, but there was still a lot of
beauty there – especially in the market. Mojo would disappear and
then reappear with chocolates or fudge. After Coombs we made
one more stop at Lobelia’s Lair (a well known metaphysical shop in
Nanaimo) and for some lunch and then caught the ferry home.

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Rowan Ogham Card

July 02, 2010

Watercolour and archival ink

26 x 36 cm

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One down, twenty-four more to go! I estimate the entire deck could
take 40-50 days total to complete. Each illustration takes almost two
days to complete. To quote the lovely Judith (who I am designing
this deck for), here is the meaning of the Rowan card:

“In a reading, the message of this card is positive and not

negative. It does not tell us that there are things threatening
us from outside because we all know already that the world
can be a dangerous place. Instead it reminds us that we are
already protected and to employ our protections without fear.
The card reversed tells us much the same thing, that we
should use common sense to overcome what threatens us.”
(Click here for the full meaning)

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Horned God Athame

June 27, 2010

It is finished! It is definitely worth the cuts, bruises, and pain that is

carving rock-hard Blackthorn wood. The finial and guard are carved
from Alder wood and the handle with oak leaves is carved from
Blackthorn wood brought back from Ireland by my friend who is now
in possession of his athame. At first I didn’t think I’d be able to pull
off the metal and wood combo, but although difficult without proper
power tools, I still managed to pull it off somehow with my knife and
a drill. I also handmade the leather sheath. I had to hammer a nail
through the leather over and over to make all the holes and then I
used waxed cotton cord to sew a blanket stitch to attach the two
pieces of leather. The back piece has slits so the sheath can be

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slipped on a belt.

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I like it very much! It looks like a blade out of a fairy tale or even an
elaborate fantasy film. My friend couldn’t stop looking at it and
stroking it once I gave it to him, so he must like it too! After sanding
each piece I rubbed them with linseed oil and then let the three
pieces dry overnight. In the morning I added my wood balm mixture
of oils, beeswax, and blessing oil (which smells wonderfully of
cedar). Once that had dried I assembled the pieces on the hidden
tang of the blade locking the joints together with an amazing glue
and then put it in a makeshift vice for the rest of the day until dinner
when I was able to hand it over to my friend shown below wearing
his new athame.

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How Does the Witch’s Garden Grow?

June 24, 2010

Mullein about to pop its torch

So far so good. My Mullein is about to flower. I can’t wait as I’ve

been wanting a Mullein torch for a while to use in ritual. As it’s a
chthonic plant it will most likely be for a dark moon ritual. Today I
transplanted my six Henbane plants from their small pots to a large
planter. They outgrew those pots pretty fast and are almost a foot
across from leaf tip to tip. I also put my Datura seedlings outside to
acclimatize to the weather as they are getting too big for their little
greenhouse and will need to planted outdoors very soon. One is so
unhappy he’s growing a flower. I have to nip that in the bud so he
lives.

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Henbane & Datura

I also rooted some cuttings and planted them – a Black Lace

Elderberry and some wild Bittersweet Nightshade (which roots
surprisingly well and quickly). It’ll take a while for the Elder to get big
enough to produce berries, but it will be worth it. I’ve always wanted
to make mead with fresh Elderberries, mmm… My neighbour also
gave me a potted Oak tree. I still need to grab some dirt to
transplant it into a huge pot. As I have a big deck and not a yard, I
can only garden in pots. So far my potted Rowan tree is doing well,
it just needs to be topped up with more soil.

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Black Lace Elder & Henbanes with Bittersweet Nightshade

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My Calendula which is planted over the dead crow is absolutely
prolific this year. I can’t keep up with the blooms! I guess it likes its
fertilizer… Calendula is one of my favourite magical plants to grow
as the flowers can be used for money magic, dream magic, sun
magic, protection, teas, healing salves and so much more. A friend
of mine and fellow pagan, gardener, and wildcrafter brought me
some Rue cuttings from his garden on Midsummer. Although to say
“some” cuttings is putting it lightly. His Rue bush is so prolific the
cuttings he gave me are a shrub in and of themselves! There is so
much I had to hang the Rue to dry in the laundry room with my
seasoning woods instead of my usual drying area in the kitchen.
Rue is another favourite magical herb of mine. I find the smell alone
divine. Some of the stem pieces I was given are big and woody
enough to dry and use for carving beads out of. How magical would
that be? A necklace or bracelet of Rue wood beads harvested at
Midsummer?

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Horned God Athame Progress

June 23, 2010

Here are some pictures of the progress I’ve been making on the
athame for my friend. Some may know him as Manly Man
Mannerson from the Wigglian Way. I’ve finished carving the Alder
wood Pan-head finial and the raven wing guard and now need to
carve some Oak leaves into the Blackthorn wood handle. Then
there is sanding, a little staining, oiling, and waxing to do and then
assembling with a strong glue. Right now the woodcarved parts are
not attached to the blade – I just slip them on the hidden tang to
make sure they all fit together. I cut my finger pretty badly while
carving it yesterday, but luckily for my friend it was on my left hand –
so not too much longer now until this beauty it done. I also want to

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make a leather sheath for it.

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Moongazing Hare Skull

June 21, 2010

This little fella is looking for an altar to call home – preferably an

altar belonging to someone who works with rabbits and hares as an
animal familiar. As he’s a spirit hare, you don’t need to clean up
after him or remember to feed him, but he will need attention and
incense offerings won’t hurt either. If you’re nice to him he will teach
you about the moon, the deep still waters of wells and springs, and
(if you’re lucky) maybe even how to shapeshift and run free with him
under the moon and starlight.

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A real wild hare skull painted with blue chevrons and crescent
moons as symbols of the ancient wild earth Goddess, goose feather
ears, and a cedar bark ruff (every distinguished hare needs a proud
ruff). This skull can be used as a fetiche to work with a hare familiar
and also as a spirit vessel for your familiar to inhabit and ground in
when you call upon it in your rites and magic. If you might have a
good home for him, you can find this moongazing hare here:

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Walking Between Worlds

June 18, 2010

Hedgecrossing, travelling, flying, astral travel, out of body

experience, trance, altered states of consciousness… It doesn’t
matter what you call it as all the words refer to the same practice.
Hedgecrossing is a modern term taken from the German tongue
less than a decade ago to refer to crossing between worlds in
European Witchcraft. Even though the word is modern, magical
practitioners have been “hedgecrossing” for millennia. There is no
one way to walk between worlds – there are many. The ability to
walk between worlds is found in both witchcraft and shamanism as
well as ancient Pagan religions (especially those with ecstatic cults).
It is experiential and cannot be taught to someone without the
innate ability. It is something either you can do or cannot do. This is
not folk magic – not everyone can walk between worlds. Certain
factors predispose ability such as being caul-born, being born with

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the second-sight, a traumatic experience or near-death experience,
being chosen by the spirits and granted the ability, and such-like.
Some travel between worlds without realizing they have done so:
“was that a dream, was it a vision? Am I seeing things?” You’d
better find out! If one does not have the ability to commune with
spirits, to talk to the gods, and to see between realms — one will not
have the ability to walk between the worlds.

I have to say this – visualization and guided meditations are NOT

walking between worlds or trancework – they’re painting a lovely
picture of doing so in your head. If you are still in your head, you are
not walking between worlds. Any practice where you are using only
your imagination and not actually leaving this reality or your body is
not hedgecrossing.

Crossing in the Body

Yes, you can cross between the worlds while still in your body. This
requires an ability to achieve altered states of consciousness or
perception (aka trancework) which gives one the ability to see into
the otherworld and commune with the spirits dwelling there. You
should be in two places at once when travelling in the body with a
foot in both worlds. Your soul is still in your body but all your senses
are in the otherworld so you can see, hear, and feel in the other
realm. This can be practiced both indoors and outdoors. Crossing
while in your body can be used to consult your deities, spirit guides,
animal familiars, or plant allies. It can also be used to commune
with land spirits (genius loci), talk to the spirits of a graveyard, or for
divinatory purposes.

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Walking between worlds while still in the body involves finding
thresholds between the worlds and calling on the right spirit or god,
or the right incantation in order to pass through. This also depends
on the magical tradition you practice. If you have difficulty with
trancework there are physical practices you can try instead. Such
practices include: standing on the threshold of your front door while
standing on one leg with one eye closed; finding a place in the wood
where the forest meets a meadow and ask to be let in or simply
stand there and read prophetic signs in nature; standing at a three
or four-way crossroad; or go to a place where land, water, and sky
are all present (the sea is best but a lake or stream will do). Other
methods include drumming, ecstatic dance, and breathing or
meditation techniques.

The dangers of travelling physically still in your body can include:

getting lost in the otherworld; ingesting food or drink there without
realizing you’re in the otherworld and having your soul trapped
there; returning to your own realm to find years or decades have
passed by since you left; or making malevolent spirits aware you
can see them which may result in their attacking you or trying to
possess you.

Crossing out of Body

In this method the soul leaves the body in the form of a

non-corporeal spirit or by the spirit shapeshifting into the form of an
animal in order to journey to the otherworlds or a destination in this
world. The part of your soul known as the fetch is usually the part
that does the most travelling. When it leaves your body it can take
on the shape of an animal that you are the most spiritually

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connected to. How you travel when leaving your body can help you
to find out what your closest animal familiar is. Do you run across
the ground or climb trees? Do you soar through the air or fly to great
heights? It won’t be easy right away. It may take try after try to
actually free yourself from your body. It takes great trust – trust in
yourself and trust in your spirit guides. You must love your body
and want to come back to it when your journey is finished. This is
very important.

The best way to travel is to fall into the little-death which is the place
between sleep and awake. Consistent repetitive drumming is very
useful to induce this state. Dreaming is not travelling so if you fall
asleep know that you were not successful. If however you fall into
something resembling REM sleep within just a few minutes of lying
down know that you are travelling because this type of sleep does
not happen so quickly. You can also tell if you are not dreaming if
you dream the same “dream” consistently all night from falling
asleep until waking and do not feel rested at all. REM sleep is
usually sporadic and broken up in to multiple dreams. Keep a blank
book by your bed or in your temple space and write down your
experiences so you can learn to tell the difference between
dreaming and travelling. Once you know how to tell when you are
travelling, start attempting to control your actions and reactions
while experiencing it.

The Otherworld and Underworld contain many stray paths, wander

down the wrong one while travelling and you will either come back
insane, not come back at all, or something else will come back
instead. Be aware of the risks before attempting to start out. When
you are journeying you have no control over the landscape nor

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sometimes where you go or what spirits appear to you. But you still
have power there and it is always the best and safest practice to
have your spirit guides travel with you to protect you and give you
advice while there. When you first decide to start walking between
worlds it is best to have an experienced teacher present to guide
you through the process and also to act as your “spotter” should
anything bad happen. They can pull you back out, make sure a
spirit doesn’t take off with your soul, or make sure a spirit doesn’t
possess your body while you’re gone. It is also best to only travel
when it is needed, not just for kicks or to try it out. Such reasons
include to seek important knowledge, to seek help, to travel a great
distance, or to meet with other witches or shamans you cannot in
person.

The shamans of old would only journey between worlds if

everything else they tried for a working failed first. They took many
safety precautions before heading out – wearing protective ritual
costume, protective amulets, or calling a guardian spirit to guard
their body while they are gone on top of the spirits they call to travel
with them into the otherworld.

If you do not have a teacher to rely upon it is best to work with your
familiar spirits and the deities who guard the crossroads, the
entrances to the other realms – both the underworld and otherworld
– the psychopomps. Some can open a door so spirits can come to
you, others open a door so you can go to them – the latter is much
more dangerous. I would say start working with spirits before
attempting to travel between worlds. The spirits can protect you and
aid you while there, give you advice and help you stay on course for
you purpose… whether it is gleaning hidden knowledge, retrieving

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the stolen soul of a patient, or battling an enemy. Keep in mind you
may not like what you see while walking between worlds. There
may be things that upset you or scar you and you may not wish to
return. I have seen fields of death and have been frightened out of
my wits. Some spirits will purposely scare you to see how you react
and see if you can handle it. It is important to stay sane and
grounded. To experience the fear, but let it pass through you and
not consume you.

Further Reading:

• by Emma Wilby

• Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg

• Etheric Anatomy: The Three Selves and Astral Travel by Victor

Anderson

• North Star Road: Shamanism, Witchcraft, and the Otherworld

Journey by Kenneth Johnson

• by Claude Lecouteux

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S.J. Tucker has Left the Building

June 16, 2010

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to say anything other than – it

was awesome! It was soooo good! Sooj rocks! But I’ll try… S.J.
Tucker came all the way to Canada and played in our co-op’s hall
with her sexy cello player Betsy Tinny. Sooj filled up the hall, not
just with her voice, but with people! Many I knew and many I didn’t,
but thank you all so much for coming! Mojo opened the show with a

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set of his new tunes; “Harvest Dance”, “Lord of Light”, “Pay the
Piper”, and also his soon to be released “Valhalla”. Then our friend
Wendy joined him in singing two songs from Chalice and Blade:
“Cunning and Art” and “I Hear You Calling”.

Mojo in his “What Would Godzilla Do” t-shirt

Then Sooj and Betsy came onto the stage and started off with a set
of their wonderfully silly songs: “Alligator in the House“, “Tough Titty
Cupcakes“, “Taglio“, and “Ballad of the Boy Cat” leaving the
audience in giggling fits. Then Sooj brought us back down to a more
somber mood with “Follow Me Down” from Haphazard and “Cold
Sunshine” from Sirens (which Betsy rocked the cello on). Then for a
surprise she called Mojo on stage, where his own drum
mysteriously appeared, and asked him to play “Hymn to Herne” with

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her from Mojo’s favourite Sooj album Blessings. He blushed but
agreed and all three musicians played their drums while singing for
the Horned God.

Sooj also played many of her songs from her new

yet-to-be-released album Mischief including “Ravens in the Library“.
To end the show, first the ladies played “Manticore’s Lullaby” and
then they played their version of the ballad of ‘Tam Lin” from Tricky
Pixie’s album. It was beautiful, enchanting, and a bit sexy if I may
say so myself. It left everyone in a very magical happy place. S.J.
Tucker made a lot of new fans that night and also made life-long
devotees of those who already listened to her music, but had never
seen her live. Sooj is an entertainer par excellence – every
movement, every facial expression, and every note has meaning

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and intent behind it. She made people cry, shout, laugh, jump,
sway, dance… and clap so loudly after each song it sounded like
thunder.

They stayed at our house for a couple nights after and I made sure
to feed them well. But time goes fast, and after exploring Vancouver
they had to leave and go back to Seattle. My personal goal was to
spoil them rotten so they’d come back, but I think the audience on
Sunday did a better job of spoiling them then I ever could. Sooj and
Betsy were positively glowing after the show from how warmly they
were received and loved here in British Columbia, Canada. Good
job Canucks! With luck they’ll come back soon!

[bandcamp track=1869824040 size=venti bgcol=030303

linkcol=fdfcfc] [bandcamp track=2976205343 size=venti

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bgcol=030303 linkcol=f5f5f5]

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Is Witchcraft Shamanism?

June 09, 2010

‘ve been noticing in blogs, forums, podcasts, and from talking to

other Witches in person that many within the Pagan and Witchcraft
community don’t know the answer to this question or even where to
look to find it. Shamanism doesn’t just refer to Native Americans or
Siberians – European Shamanism did exist and still does today. Is
Witchcraft Shamanism? Yes and no. Yes because Shamanism can
be found at the root of almost every spiritual and religious tradition
on the planet including both ancient Pagan religions as well as
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Did I just say that? Yes I did!
Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed were shamans in the sense they all
could fall into trance, hear the voices of the spirits of ‘God”, and
bring back knowledge and wisdom from the spirit world to help their
people.

No, Witchcraft is not Shamanism, because it has evolved from its

roots in Shamanism into something else. Modern Witchcraft
traditions, such as Wicca, are mainly European-based (even in the
New Worlds) and their foundation comes from the Western magical
traditions which, although have some similarities to Shamanism,
have diverged from it and become more esoteric and ceremonial
rather than rude and of the common people like Shamanism. But do
UK Cunning Folk, Norse and Celtic seers and magicians, ancient
Greek sorcerers, and Eastern European folk magicians have roots

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in Shamanism? Yes they do! The practices of European folk magic
are closer to ancient Shamanism than modern traditions of
Witchcraft are. The base beliefs and practices of the rural common
folk in Europe and elsewhere are more akin to Shamanism than any
modern religion and spirituality today.

How can it be that Shamanism is found worldwide? I must be

making this up right? Shamanism is an experiencial spirituality. Its
beliefs, traditions, and vocabulary vary with locality and culture, but
the core stays the same because the practitioners are all sharing
similar experiences with the otherworld and the supernatural beings
who dwell there. The cosmology of Shamanism does not differ
continent to continent. This is too uncanny to ignore. There is too
much evidence that once upon a time humankind all shared a
spirituality no matter how much land or ocean separated them.
Thanks to the advanced leaps and bounds by modern
archaeologists and anthropologists, this idea has turned from
conjecture into reality – it has been proven. The likes of Mircea
Eliade and Margaret Murray can now rest peacefully in their graves
knowing that, although their theories were before their time, they
were on to something bigger than anyone at the time could’ve
imagined.

Now does this mean that just because you identify as a witch you
can say your practices are similar to an Altaic or Sami shaman? No,
it does not because you are not from that culture and learned in
their beliefs, traditions, and practices regarding their particular form
of shamanism. However, if the form of witchcraft you practice is
absolutely steeped in Norse folk magic and beliefs, you could
identify yourself with seidr and call yourself a seiðkona (if you were

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a woman that is). Just because the essence of Shamanism has
been found to be universal does not mean every form of
Shamanism is the same. Just like any Pagan religion, it will only
work and make sense if you practice within a cultural context.

If you wish to learn more about Witchcraft’s roots in Shamanism and

the comparison of the two specifically – I highly recommend the
following works to you. If I could only pick two books for the person
new to this concept to read they would be The Way of Wyrd and . I
would start there and then venture into the academic worlds of
Ginzburg and Wilby.

• Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary

Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic by
Emma Wilby

• by Carlo Ginzburg

• North Star Road: Shamanism, Witchcraft, and the

Otherworld Journey by Kenneth Johnson

• by Stuart A. Harris Logan

• by Brian Hayden

• by Joe Wilson

• by Carlo Ginzburg

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• The Way of Wyrd: Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer by
Brian Bates

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Wildcrafting for Witchcraft

June 06, 2010

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday so I decided to take

advantage of it and wildcraft as we’ve been having nothing but rain
and more rain forecasted for the coming week. I was a busy bee! I
managed to wildcraft Ash tree leaves, Hawthorn leaves and thorns,
Hazel leaves, Elder leaves, and Blackberry leaves. I also gathered
some Herb-Robert for its association with nature spirits and fairies,
Enchanter’s Nightshade for its association with Circe and magic,
and also Foxglove, wild Violets, Black Cottonwood fluff, and plenty
of Selfheal. Later on in the day I also harvested more Cedar and
Juniper fronds to make more smudge wands – maybe fancier ones
with multi-coloured silk thread… All the plants are bundled now and

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hanging in my kitchen by red thread or in paper bags. Once dry I’ll
package some to sell and use the rest for magical recipes of my
own.

I also had a beautiful walk from one side of Forest Grove to the
other. The Foxgloves have all jumped up and are in bloom, berries
are growing on all the shrubs, and the sunshine through the leaves
of the trees always makes my heart sing. I was so happy to find wild
Baldhip Roses as they were once used by the local Native tribes for
magic to protect from ghosts and to send spirits back to the land of
the dead. The leaves and bark were also smoked for pleasure too
so I’d like to try making a smoking blend with them. Such tiny little
roses, only one centimetre across, but they smelled divine!

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I also went to visit my favourite lone Hawthorn tree on the hill. When
I first met it years ago it never flowered or had berries, but now that
it gets more sun and I keep showering it with compliments and
blessings, she seems to have found her self-confidence and is
absolutely covered in showy flowers every single year now. In the
fall she is so covered in berries you can hardly see her leaves! She
is definitely a mother. Always looking after the little birds, slugs,
snails, and spiders. This Hawthorn is always covered in wildlife.
Hawthorns are known as protectors of the small creatures as the
larger predators can’t get past the sharp thorns to eat them. It’s a
good protective tree for people who are more sensitive or tend to be
preyed upon as it will protect them too.

On the way home I stumbled across some wild Coltsfoot which

made me very happy as I didn’t think any grew at this elevation on

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the mountain. But there it was in a huge patch near a mountain
spring. I’ll have to come back for it another sunny day as not only is
it a powerful medicine, it is also used in magic for love, receiving
visions, and seeing spirits.

And that was my day.

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Aves Salve and a Note on Entheogens

June 05, 2010

I purchased a nice chubby duck this past week and was able to
carefully remove all the fat to make more of my Aves Salve. The
previous batch was a custom order – the excess of which sold very
well in the apothecary. This time around I was able to perfect the
recipe and make the salve a bit stronger as I wasn’t following a
patron’s specific desires. The texture is now smoother and more

113
salve-like as the previous batch was more gelatinous and fatty
(which was not so sexy). It can be used to anoint specific points on
the body for rituals of hedgecrossing, shapeshifting, or working with
an avian familiar. This salve can also be used as a flying ointment
which would require rubbing it over the entire body or using it on
your private bits (yep it’s safe for down there). If your lover happens
to be a witch too you could always use it in place of a lube and both
of you could go for a “ride” (wink, wink).

It’s my own personal belief that when one uses ritual entheogens it
shouldn’t be for the purpose of having extreme hallucinations –
that’s called overdosing and poisoning yourself. Entheogens are
meant to be a key to a door that already exists inside of you. They
should help you drop your inhibitions and preconceptions to see
what is “really” there not hallucinate what is not and to do things you
normally would think impossible such as flying or shapeshifting.
There’s a big difference between seeing shit and actually doing shit.
Flying ointments are a key – you still have to open the door yourself.

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Ingredients for the Aves Salve

115
Grinding the Belladonna berries

I went through the usual salve process heating up the fat and
adding the herbs. This time I added just a little bit of sunflower oil for
smoothness. I ground up the mandrake root and belladonna berries
with my marble mortar and pestle. Then I burned the crow’s wing
and breast feathers with a flame which makes them flare up like
flash paper and turn into small bits of charcoal. I added the feather
charcoal to the brewing fat and herb mixture along with owl bone
shavings.

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Lastly the mixture was strained twice through a medium and a fine
seive, and then pure white beeswax was added to stabilize the
blend. Then they were poured into 2oz jars and allowed to set. I had
fun taking the photos of the finished salve with one of my crow
skulls. I’ve been wanting to sneak them into some product photos.
When I’m done working on a few wooden items for friends I’ll have
more animal familiar vessels and various skulls available for sale…
right now I seem to just be collecting skulls!

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Making Outdoor Sigils

June 04, 2010

“forest spirit” offering sigil

Sigils can be used to draw down the gods, to call spirits from the
otherworld, and raise up ancestors from the underworld. They are
also used to leave offerings specific to what spirit or deity the sigil is
aligned with. Sigils don’t just belong to the realm of ceremonial
magic like those shown in The Key of Solomon and other ancient
and not so ancient grimoires. Their use for magic has been found in
preChristian Northern Europe, in Africa, and in Asia. Today outdoor

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immpermanent sigils are still found in use in Haitian Voudou as
veves to call the lwa and in the sand mandalas of Buddhism and
Hinduism.

veve for Papa Legba

Sigils drawn with powders are miniature maps of the cosmos and
doorways to access specific points in the other realms. Most of the
designs involve the use of an intersection of some sorts to represent
crossing between worlds via the axis mundi also known to many as
the World Tree. The rest of the design can be elaborated upon and
created in the moment to match the deity or spirit being called or the
realm being accessed. The best places to draw outdoor sigils and
leave offerings at them are crossroads (especially dirt ones),
graveyards, the foot of trees, or around a staff or stang driven into

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the earth. If you wish to use a sigil to leave an offering of food or
drink make sure to draw it somewhere with earth and not a paved
street as you’ll need to dig a hole big enough to bury or pour your
offering into.

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sigil to call the ancestors

There are many different materials which can be used to draw sigils
outdoors. It is best to use natural biodegradable ones no matter
what – especially if you will not be destroying the sigil. Traditional
materials include powdered white eggshell, corn meal, wheat flour,
powdered barks, sand, and red brick dust. Even the material used
can correspond to the sigil to be drawn. Drawing a sigil is itself an
act of magic that can induce meditation and trance – think only of
your intent as you lay out the design pinch by pinch of powder.
Once drawn invoke the spirit or deity with a song, chant, or original
invocation and commence with your intended working. Leave your
offering in the centre of the sigil – whether it is alcohol, a lit cigar,
food, incense, or fresh flowers.

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Nature Magic Ointments

June 02, 2010

Amanita muscaria oil for the genius loci salve

I’ve been busy in the forest and the witch’s kitchen harvesting
ingredients and cooking up magic salves. I crafted a new recipe to
see and commune with wild forest and plant spirits called Forest
Spirit Ointment. Genius loci means “spirit of place” and refers to the
essence of an area of land and the spirits who dwell within it. First I
made an infusion of dried Siberian amanita muscaria mushroom
caps in olive oil and let it sit for a few weeks. Then I added plants I
wildcrafted from the forest – leaves of Oak, Ash, Hawthorn, &
Rowan, Cedar tips, Moss, Fern spores, and Herb-Robert.

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Wild plant and oil infusion for genius loci salve

The mushrooms, Oak, Ash, Hawthorn, and Fern all have old
folkloric associations with the good folk – for seeing them and
interacting with them. Rowan is traditionally used to enhance
psychic ability and also to protect from spirits as you talk to them or
travel through their territory. This is essentially a “fairy ointment” –
not for the sweet tiny tinkling fairies of English gardens – but the
more real and scary ones who dwell in the wild wood where human

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feet may never travel. It’s hard to gain their trust, but well worth it as
they have many secrets to share about the wilds and the art of
magic.

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I also made more of my recipe for Toadman’s Ointment which has a
habit of selling out. More wildcrafting and digging up roots ensued.
The large dandelion root pictured above just too perfectly
ressembled a woman that I couldn’t bring myself to cut it up, so I
carved it and buried it again to turn it into an alraun. I hope it works!
The other root went into the oil infusion for the salve along with
more amanita muscaria skin and bits of a dried toad.

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I let the oils sit and infuse with all the herbs for days to weeks and
let them soak up at least one day of sunlight and a night of
moonlight. These ones sat under the full moon. Then I place the
glass jars in the oven on its lowest setting (not hot enough to cook
the herbs) to better infuse the properties and natural oils of the
plants into the carrier oil. Then I strain the heated oils and then add
preserving essential oils and shaved pure beeswax and pour the
mixture into jars to cool.

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The Seer’s Reading List

May 29, 2010

Assailed by Spirits by Theodore von Holst, 1830

This reading list is for those with the predisposed ability of seeing
ghosts, spirits, doubles, and visions of the present and future. Some
believe the ability can be transferred by someone who is a seer to
someone who is not, but most seers say they would never wish it
upon anyone as most of the sights and visions they receive are of
misfortune and death with much fewer visions of love, marriage, and
birth. As one seer told the father of John MacInnes “he would not
advise him nor any man to learn it; for had he once learned, he
would never be a minute of his life alone but would see innumerable
men and women night and day about him…” (Davidson, p.15)

by Emma Wilby

I’ve recommended this book more than once before, but once again
it’s a font of information on a subject! The material mostly pertains

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to Scotland and England covering Cunning Folk, mystics, and saints
who were all visionaries. Chapters to pay special attention to if you
are a seer or mystic yourself include: chapter 9 – Spirit Worlds and
High Gods, chapter 10 – Phantasticks and Phantasms, chapter 11 –
Psychosis or Spirituality, and chapter 13 – The Unrecognized
Mystics. Witches with the sight or clairaudience may also find
chapters 3-7 in Part I of the book very useful especially with regards
to seeing and hearing familiar spirits – those inhuman and those of
the dead.

by Robert Kirk

Robert Kirk was a minister in Scotland in the 17th century who is

most well known for being the first to translate the Bible into Gaelic.
What most of his parishioners didn’t know was that in his spare time
his hobby was interviewing Scottish Seers and writing a manuscript
on their abilities and beliefs. That manuscript was The Secret

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Commonwealth which was written around 1691. It was not
published until well after his death as the subject material was not
popular during the time of the inquisition and witch trials. However,
with the Romanticism movement interest in mysticism, Pagan gods,
and spirits resurfaced and The Secret Commonwealth was well
received. Overall it is a difficult read due to the archaic language
and Kirk’s extreme misogynism, but it’s well worth the deciphering.
It is my own belief that Kirk himself had the second-sight as his
obsession with the subject and his uncanny and definitive
descriptions of spirits are not those of one simply transcribing what
others have said. He does not state this in the manuscript however,
but this could be because during his time the second-sight was
frowned upon by most clergyman and he could’ve gotten himself in
trouble with the Church by admitting he had it or simply for just
supporting it.

His conclusions in this work should sound familiar for those who
have read The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries – which contains only
the lingering beliefs while in Kirk’s time they were still in full force.
Kirk concludes that fairies are spirits of the dead and Faerieland is
the underworld. He also believes their are different kinds – some
are nature spirits and not human – and he also covers brownies and
other wights. He describes the spirits of the dead as beings made of
air – condensed like raindrops into a form like a cloud and that there
is nothing evil or unnatural about this nor about communing with
land spirits and the dead and he even gives selected Biblical verses
which support this. He also writes of circumstances where seers
have immigrated to the New World and lost their abilities. He
believes this is because the ancestral spirits are tied to the land
where someone is born and it is they who give an individual power,

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visions, and warnings – and when one is removed from their
influence one loses any of their abilities because the seer is alien to
the ancestral spirits of the new land. North America being so newly
discovered when Kirk wrote his work, there is nothing in it of the
abilities of the children of the immigrants born in the New World.

If you want to learn about the nature of the spirits of the dead and
genius loci, how the “two-sights” or second sight works, and how to
gain it – I would recommend checking out this classic work. It’s
available online in full in two places – Google Books and Sacred
Texts – but the latter version is still in the original phrasing and
spelling of the time and can be very difficult to read.

Edited by Hilda Ellis Davidson

This out-of-print collection of papers on the second-sight from a

symposium on “The Seer” at Oxford in 1987 is well worth getting

133
your hands on even for a high price. The authors are folklorists,
anthropologists, and professors of history and literature. Hilda Ellis
Davidson herself is a well known academic whose research and
writings in the fields of Celtic and Germanic paganism from the
1940s up until her death in 2006 outshine other works in the same
field and broke new ground for other researchers. In this work she
has written the introduction as well as an article on the Seer’s
Thumb about the ancient practice of seers putting their thumb in
their mouths to receive visions and prophecy. A wonderful factor of
The Seer in Celtic and Other Traditions is that it also covers seers in
Israel, Japan, China, and India along with the seer in British, Irish,
Scottish, and Welsh traditions. In this work articles by credentialed
academics are alongside works by seers themselves and folklorists
who have devoted themselves to the study of the second-sight.
Eilidh Watt’s paper “Some Personal Experiences of the Second
Sight” is especially of interest to true seers as it is this native
Scottish woman’s account of all her experiences with the second
sight throughout her life – both good and bad.

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by Michael Attyah Flower

This academic work published by the University of California Press

covers the seer in every day Greek society. Both male and female,
they were consulted on matters of marriage, childbirth, death,
business, weather, the outcome of battles, as well as messages
from gods and spirits of the dead. Unlike modern fortune-tellers who
are usually in the lower income brackets and not well respected by
the general public, the seers of ancient Greece were well paid, held
in high esteem, and were usually from society’s educated upper
class. The author covers the history and role of the seer and
modern skepticism about seers in the starting chapters and then
goes more in depth about ancient consultation and divination
methods from reading entrails of a sacrificed animals to full spirit
possession as well as covering famous oracles and prophecies from
ancient Greece. If you follow a Hellenic influenced path, this is
definitely the work on seers for you. To get a feel for the work a

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sample chapter is available from the publisher here: Problems,
Methods, & Sources

The Night Side of Nature or Ghosts and Ghost Seers

by Catherine Crowe

This two-volume work from 1854 by Catherine Crowe, a British

novelist, is a folkloric work on the second-sight, spirits, and ghosts.
Drawing upon both modern and ancient, Christian and Pagan
references, Crowe mainly covers the sight pertaining to seeing
spirits of the dead. The chapters cover everything from warnings
and visions of the future, döpplegangers and doubles, to dealing
with troubled spirits and hauntings. Beliefs and theories in the
afterlife and reasons for the dead roaming the earth are covered. As
with Robert Kirk, I believe Crowe was possessed to write this work
due to her own experiences and natural abilities with the subject
matter. For those who have the natural ability to see and/or hear the

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spirits of the dead, this can be an invaluable work despite its older
publication date. The Night Side of Nature has been reprinted by
various publishers who print cheap paperbacks of out-of-copyright
works (the one linked to being the best quality), but it is also
available in its two volume entirety on Google Books.

Other Titles Which May be of Interest to Seers:

• Etheric Anatomy: The Three Selves and Astral Travel by Victor

Anderson

• Priestesses Pythonesses & Sibyls: The Sacred Voices of

Women who speak with and for the Gods edited by Sorita d’Este

• by Claude Lecouteux

• Seidways: Shaking, Swaying and Serpent Mysteries by Jan

Fries

• by Claude Lecouteux

• by John Gregorson Campbell

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Rootwork & Gardening Magic

May 27, 2010

This morning my neighbour popped over to help me make herbal

goodies for the Botanica. We made more of my Visions of the Seer
smoking blend (as the last batch sold out pretty quickly), and also a
smudge blend of three sages plus lemon grass, an exorcism
smudge blend from local evergreen trees, and the original Love
Potion No. 9 which was actually a tea and not a perfume or oil.
Shown above, there are also two magical tinctures brewing – one of
real Mandrake root and the other of roses, lemon, and vanilla bean.

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We also fit in time to start the oil infusions for two magical salves:
more of my Toadman’s Salve recipe (since it sold out) and also one
of Amanita Muscaria to be used for communing with the genius loci
and plant allies. It was a busy day and there’s even more to do
tomorrow! I’m still working on the Spirit Work chapbook. I’m just
finishing one more chapter and doing the editing now.

After my neighbour had to leave I also made some money mojo

hands shown above using fresh peppermint leaves, high john the
conqueror roots and natural golden flax. Once dried they’ll be sewn
into felted gold wool pouches to be carried around by someone
looking for continuous prosperity and success.

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This evening I also managed to get some magical gardening done.
My porch repairs are finally finished and I was able to reassemble
my garden. Oh, and it turned out the False Solomon’s Seal I
transplanted wasn’t false at all but true Solomon’s Seal – so bonus!
Today I sowed my two types of Belladonna seeds that have finished
the cold water soaking method in my fridge. The seeds were Atropa
Belladonna and Solanum Douglassi or “greenspot nightshade”. The
chill rainy day seemed perfect to plant them in. I added some
bonemeal to a soil mix of dirt, sand, and manure to make them
happy and left them to be watered by the rain. I also transplanted
my Henbane seedlings into bigger pots as they were outgrowing the
little peat disks.

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Then I took a peak at my Datura seeds to see if any were sprouting
and transplanted eleven of the purple seedlings into soil. The White
Tree Daturas are sprouting, but taking much longer being they’re
much bigger. I used the warm water soaking method for these and
then put them in a moist cloth in a container just loosely covered
with wax paper on top of my grow light to absorb its warmth and it
seems to germinate them fairly well and quickly.

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142
S.J. Tucker’s Coming to Town!

May 26, 2010

I have some exciting news for locals! My Mojo has arranged a show
with Sooj’s man Kevin here in Burnaby on Sunday, June 13th! This
will technically be S.J. Tucker’s first show ever in Canada. Never

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thought we’d end up concert promoters, but when life gives you a
Sooj you make a concert happen! It will be a small private

performance with

the ceiling capped at 50 people. All the details for the show is at the
bottom of this post. There’s even more good news! Betsy Tinney will
be coming too – playing her cello beautifully and powerfully as she
does well. Also, barring an emergency, my sexy Mojo from the
Wigglian Way podcast will be opening for Sooj with a half hour set
of new and old favourite songs of his. If you loved Mojo in Chalice &
Blade and his solo performances at Myles of Beans, you will love
his new material even more!

If you’ve never heard of S.J. Tucker you’ll want to! Sooj is a Pagan
singer-songwriter and storyteller with seven solo albums under her
belt and two with the Pagan superband . If you’ve never heard the
wonder that is Sooj before you can listen to all her music for free
online here: [Link]

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Me and Mojo are selling the tickets. If you know us, drop by the
house and pick some up. If not, then I am selling e-tickets for the
show through Paypal – just send me an email. Tickets will also be
available at the door, but they’re selling out fast so consider
grabbing some now!

An Intimate Evening with S.J. Tucker

Sunday June 13, 2010
6:30pm-9:30pm
Whattlekainum Co-op Hall, Burnaby, BC
Suggested ticket donation is $8-15
Facebook page with more details

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Magically Cleaning House

May 21, 2010

Before the last dark moon I cleaned my house. This doesn’t sound
that unusual except that I was cleaning it magically before a ritual
which needed the house to be purified. Normally I just add some of
my homemade florida water to a spray bottle and dilute it with spring
water and spritz it around the house and on the carpets, but this
time I used a floor wash for the linoleum floors, walls, and front step
and made a herbal baking powder sprinkle for the carpet since you
can’t mop carpet. First I physically cleaned and tidied my home, and
then I set to work magically cleaning. All dirt and cat hair swept up
wasn’t allowed to linger and was taken out to the garbage through
the front door. Then I set about with my magical potions to spiritually

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cleanse the house and it also has the side effect of making the
whole house smell divine.

Spiritual Cleansing Carpet Sprinkle

1 cup baking soda

1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp powdered dried basil
5 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil

Mix in a bowl and crush any lumps formed by the essential oils then
add to an old empty and rinsed herb or spice shaker. Walk around
your home sprinkling a light coat on all your carpeting and carpeted
stairs. Not only does it magically clean the carpet, it also removes
odors and helps release any pet hair and dander in the carpet for
easier vacuuming. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then vacuum well.

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Cleaning house wasn’t always just physical – in pre-Christian times
cleaning was also thought to be magical as it removed evil spirits
that could cause bad luck or illness. Today magical floor washes are
a common part of spiritual cleansing and are found in modern
Hoodoo/Rootwork and folk magic as a regular practice. It is best to
spiritually cleanse your home once a month by washing the floors
and walls with a magical solution of herbs and a small amount of

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floor wash can also be added to your regular cleaning products for
every time you clean. The best times to use a Floor Wash are
during the full or new moon and before and after intense sabbat and
esbat rituals.

Tisane brewing for the Health & Healing Floor Wash

My friend came over a couple days ago and we set to work making
herbal floor washes for spiritual cleansing using my own recipes.
We made one for cleansing a new home or regularly cleansing your
current home – Sacred Herb Home Cleansing Floor Wash, one for
cleaning a house or room where someone is ill or to spray in a
hospital room – Health & Healing Floor Wash, and also one to purify
and uncross a home, business, apartment etc, and also to cleanse
a temple room or altar of built up energies – Hyssop & Rue Purifying
Floor Wash. We started by adding spring and/or rain waters to a

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non-metal pot and adding all the herbs bringing the mixture to a
gentle simmer for about 10 minutes per batch. Any essential oils
were added to the bottom of the 8oz storage bottles. Then the tea
mixture was strained and poured into the bottles and allowed to cool
a bit. Then we added organic fair trade castile soap and they were
done. I used spring and rain waters instead of tap water because of
their magical energies. Most tap water comes from lakes and lakes
are stagnant sitting water not good for purifying and cleansing like
rivers, springs, streams, and the ocean are. Lakes are better for
grounding energies. And voilà, three new floor washes sit on my
kitchen counter.

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Isobel Gowdie’s Shapeshifting Song

May 18, 2010

The Drum I made at the Women’s Red Drum Workshop led

byNikiah was a birthday present for a friend – I didn’t say so in the
post because it was a surprise. So I went for a month without a
drum and I was feeling the itch! But luckily Nikiah dropped off my
own red drum with a cedar frame last thursday in time for a dark
moon ritual and also my ritual group’s campover Beltuinn (sorry no
pics as it’s a private group even though it’s an amazing ritual). I
made a beater for my new drum from a piece of Yew wood, sheep’s
wool, and deer leather.

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As soon as Nikiah left for home I started singing and I suddenly
knew how to sing Gowdie’s shapeshifting chant. So I recorded it as
soon as I could so I wouldn’t forget. Here is the second recording
along with my new hand drum. It’s sounds like an old phonograph
as it was hastily recorded on my little mp3 player instead of the
podcast studio recording equipment. Any animal can be added to
make your own shapeshifting song for a specific animal. The drum
is important as it is a doorway, a horse, an intersection that allows
one to cross between worlds. Here are the words:

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I’ve also been working on a ritual blade for a friend from Blackthorn
and Alder woods. The Alder guard will be carved into raven’s wings,
the Blackthorn handle carved with oak leaves, and the finial the
head of Pan. A few more long days of carving and it may be done…

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Spellwork Boxes

May 12, 2010

I’ve been busy finishing boxes for spell and ritual supply kits for the
Botanica. The first is for a Spirit Work Kit made from a reclaimed
antique Cedar sewing box that is beautifully made and beautifully
lined with fabric, but just needed some love and exterior refinishing.
The wood turned out gorgeous after I sanded it, oiled it, and gave it
a good coat of beeswax with my homemade wood balm. I
pyrographed the lid with a memento mori design inspired by old
tombstones – the negative black space is all pyrographed making

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the white images raised. The box is filled with four of my incenses
for working with spirits, charcoals for burning the incenses, Ancestor
and Divination Oils, and Spirit Body Wash to cleanse oneself after
working with spirits of the dead so they don’t attach to you.

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I also made a box for a Pacific Northwest Shaman’s Tool Kit using a
three-sided triangular wooden box on which I pyrographed a design
of the World Tree with each of the five sides representing the earth,
sea, sky, upperworld, and underworld. I painted the pyrographed
illustrations with eco-friendly coloured woodstains and then finished
it with linseed oil and wood balm so it smells deliciously of cedar oil.
The box contains two handcrafted cedar and sage smudge wands,
an abalone shell to catch the ashes, Reversal Smudge for reversing
spells and curses, Devil’s Club for a tea drunk while fasting in order
to commune with nature spirits, Red Ritual Face Paint for various
shamanic rituals, and also my Earth-Sea-Sky elemental oil to open
the door to the otherworlds for ritual.

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157
I also made a smaller box to store the herbs for this Weather Witch
Herb Collection. The box is made with thin pliable wood and is
almost like a leather satchel. I pyrographed the back with an original
design of four forces of weather – sun, rain, wind, and lightning. The
contents include fern leaves and heather to cause rain,
lightning-struck oak wood to cause a lightning storm, broom to stir
up winds, and lobelia to stop or prevent a storm. Weather witchcraft
is become forgotten lore as some think it is either unethical or
impossible. I’ve had quite good rainmaking results during droughts
however – my forest needs its rain and the streams need to swell

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for the salmon to return each year. It used to be the duty of the local
shaman or witch to ensure the natural patterns of weather when
needed.

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Solanum: The Poison Plants of Witchcraft

May 11, 2010

Once a long time ago when humans still communed with plants, the
spirits of the dead, and the gods, the people learned of the
Solanaceae genus of plants – of both their great powers and their
dangers. Those who knew of the secrets of these plants, later
branded as witches and poisoners, were greatly feared and cast out
of society as the power of the Solanaceae could bring armies and
kingdoms to their knees. And they did, many times, when those who
knew their secrets used them against invading armies as the first
chemical warfare. Those who are most famous for their knowledge
of the Solanaceae may sound familiar: Circe, Medea, Hecate; great
sorceresses and a great queen each known for their skill with
poisonous plants. The Solanaceae are belladonna, datura,
henbane, mandrake, and tobacco which are related to the more
familiar sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, tobaccos, and tomatoes.

If these sound familiar it is because the former can all be found in

ancient and modern flying ointment recipes and the latter can
usually be found on dinner plates around the world. Plants are
neither good nor evil in their nature. It is humankind that sets a plant
toward a good purpose for healing, or a bad one for killing or
cursing. Belladonna, Datura, Henbane, Mandrake, and other
nightshades were all commonly found in medicines of ancient times.
They were respected for their dangerous powers, but in regularly
using them the people of the times found them to also be the most
potent of medicines. Only in the last century have extracts of these
plants been used in modern medicine. For example atropine, which

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is derived from Belladonna, Datura, and Mandrake, is listed as a
“core medicine” on the World Health Organization’s “Essential
Drugs List” as it is used for heart, lung, nervous system problems as
well as resuscitation after heart failure, and it is also an antidote for
different types of poisoning. All of the plants in the Solanaceae
family should never be taken internally due to the compound
tropane found within them. The body can build up a resistance to
tropane, but the heart cannot and even just one instance of
ingestion can cause permanent heart damage and multiple
ingestions can result in death. If one is a healthy person, they could
get away with drinking properly dosed mandrake infused wine or
henbane beer every now and then, but I would completely avoid
ingesting belladonna or datura as the dangers and the damage
wouldn’t be worth it.

The art of poisoning’s association with witchcraft can be found in the

Greek word pharmakos, used to refer to herbal remedies,
spell-potions, and poisons and eventually became synonymous with
the sorcerers, herbalists, and poisoners who crafted them.
Pharmakos of course being the root of the modern words
pharmacology and pharmaceutical. The great goddess Diana, who
is linked to the ancient Greeks’ goddess Artemis, apprenticed her
daughter Aradia (Herodias) in the arts of poisoning as part of her
training in witchcraft and then instructed her to teach it to peasants
that they may free themselves from slavery and oppression with
poison as the slaves did during the Haitian Revolution to win the
land they were being forced to work for themselves.

Diana to Aradia from Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches of Italy:

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“And thou shalt be the first of witches known;
And thou shalt be the first of all i’ the world;
An thou shalt teach the art of poisoning,
Of poisoning those who are great lords of all;
Yea, thou shalt make them die in their palaces;
And thou shalt bind the oppressor’s soul with witchcraft;
And when ye find a peasant who is rich,
Then ye shall teach the witch, your pupil, how
To ruin all his crops with tempests dire,
With lightning and terrible thunder,
And with the hail and wind…“

Belladonna

Other Names: Atropa belladonna, Belladonna, Deadly Nightshade,

Dwale, Death’s Herb, Sorcerery’s Berry

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Ruling Deities & Spirits: Atropos, Dionysus, Hecate, The Moirae,
The Valkyries, Freyja, Odin

This plant is named after Atropos one of the three Fates whose
name means “inevitable” as she was the one who cut the thread of
life causing death for all humans. Some believe the name of this
plant is a play on words of a Greco-Roman phrase meaning “do not
betray a beautiful woman”, but I believe it simple means “beautiful
lady of death” referring to the goddesses who rule this plant.
Belladonna is a traditional plant of transvection having been used in
shamanism well before its same use in witchcraft to open the
doorway between worlds and to leave the body hence its use in
traditional flying ointments.

Bittersweet Nightshade

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Other Names: Solanum dulcamara, Bittersweet, Felonwort, Garden
Nightshade, Scarlet Berry, Snakeberry, Staff Vine, Woody
Nightshade

Ruling Deities: Hermes, Hecate

This nightshade is found all over Europe, Asia, and also North
America and is most common in forests, hedges, and marshes. It is
noticeable by its brilliant purple flowers and its vines which closely
resemble that of a potato plant. It has bright red berries and the
whole plant is toxic and no part of it is a hallucinogen. It is used
externally as a medicine to heal bruises, swelling, sprains, corns,
and sores – especially when combined with chamomile. Not to be
burned as an incense or ingested, but it can be used as a ritual
ointment or offering for the listed deities. The berries also make a
good offering for the spirits of the dead.

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Black Nightshade

Other Names: Two varieties – Solanum nigrum (European) and

Solanum americanum (North America)

Ruling Deities: Hecate, Isis, Saturn, Hades

Found wild in the woods, desolate spots, hedges, and wastelands,

this nightshade is also poisonous, but the well-ripened berries are
okay in very small amounts. Black Nightshades are not
hallucinogenic. When cooked, the berries become safe to eat and
black nightshade can be found as a food plant in India and Ethiopia.
A clever witch could make a jam or liqueur of the well-ripened
berries along with sloe plums from the blackthorn tree for an offering
to be used for communion with the underworld spirits and gods.
This berry is also found in ancient Kyphi incense recipes as well as

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salves and incenses for Hecate, but make sure to only use the
ripened berries when using for incense as the leaves and roots emit
toxic fumes when burned.

Datura

Other Names: Datura stramonium, Datura inoxia, Datura wrightii,

Angel’s Trumpet, Devil’s Apple, Devil’s Trumpet, Jimsonweed,
Sorcerer’s Herb, Stramonium, Thorn-apple

Ruling Deities: Hades, Hecate, Saturn

This large plant is found mostly in North and South America, but
smaller varieties can be found in other parts of the world, including
Europe. Datura is dangerous even to touch so be very careful when
even handling this plant whether live or dried. It has many healing

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properties but is rarely used due to its toxicity and its habit of
causing severe unpredictable hallucinations that can last hours or
days with the person who ate or smoked it usually having to be tied
up to prevent them from hurting themselves or others. In South
America the seeds of the tree datura (or brugmansia) were once
powdered and mixed with pig’s fat to form an ointment used for
healing and also by shamans for their out of body travels to the
spirit world – however even then it was usually only used in times of
great need such as for a soul retrieval or to reverse a great curse
caused by the ancestors. In folk magic it is used to break hexes and
reverse curses back to the sender.

Henbane

Other Names: Hyoscyamus niger, Black Nightshade, Devil’s Eye,

Henbells, Jupiter’s Bean, Poison Tobacco, Stinking Nightshade

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Ruling Deities: Apollo, Belenos, Hades, Hecate, Jupiter, Thor,
Zeus

The Henbane plant is found in the Northern U.S.A. and throughout

Canada as well as Europe. In European folk magic it was used by
men to attract love and/or a wife and it was also burned outside to
cause rain. In ancient Greek medicine it was used as a sedative and
in Greek folk magic Henbane was used for divination and it can also
be found in incense recipes for raising shades up from the
underworld. It was also used as an aphrodisiac and in love potions
to force someone into love. Henbane was commonly found as an
ingredient in beers and wines up until the Middle Ages, however,
this plant is toxic and hallucinogenic and, like the other Solanaceae,
is better used externally. For witchcraft it can be added in proper
dosages to flying ointments or in an aphrodisiac massage oil.

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Mandrake

Other Names: Mandragora officinarum, Atropa mandragora,

Alraun, Brain Thief, Circeum, Circoea, Djinn’s Eggs, Golden Apples
of Aphrodite, Mandragora, Mandragor, Mannikin, Sorcerer’s Root,
Witches’ Mannikin, Womandrake,

Ruling Deities & Spirits: Aphrodite, Circe, Hathor, Hecate, Medea,

Prometheus

In ancient Greece Mandrake was once powdered and added to

wines as well as various love-philtres. It was well known for making
humans act like beasts and is believed to be one of the plants
responsible for the legends of werewolves and shapeshifters.
Mandrake is hallucinogenic, and although it contains less tropane
than its relatives, it should only be ingested rarely in one’s life. As a

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hallucinogen it is best ingested as a tea or infused in wine, but it is
much more common to find Mandrake being used in flying
ointments such as the magic salve of Medea which she learned to
make using Mandrake roots from the Titan Prometheus. Medea
made this salve for the hero Jason so he could infiltrate Hecate’s
garden and steal the golden fleece. If you should choose to ingest
or apply a tincture or salve of Mandrake externally be sure to be
careful of your dosage first so you don’t poison yourself Mandrake
has been used for millennia in folk magic for fertility and love
magics. When ingested it actually decreases libido, so the root is
used sympathetically for these purposes. When used externally it
acts as a euphoric and aphrodisiac making ointments the best
choice for sex magic. Mandrake roots also have a long history of
being used as mannikins or alrauns – carved dolls imbued with a
spirit and used for luck, healing, and prophecy. These Mandrake
dolls were usually kept wrapped in cloth or stored in a small
coffin-like box and hidden from the view of anyone but the owner.
They were considered a great responsibility to own and had to be
fed in order to remain potent. Such mannikins were passed down
through families for generations before they were outlawed by the
Church in Europe.

_____________________________________

Recommended Reading:

1. Miller, Richard Allan. The Magical and Ritual Use of

Aphrodisiacs. Destiny Books, 1993.*

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2. Miller, Richard Allan. The Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs.
Destiny Books, 1993.*

3. Müller-Ebeling, Rätsch, & Storl. Witchcraft Medicine: Healing

Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants. Inner
Traditions, 2003.

4. Pendell, Dale. Pharmako Series. North Atlantic Books, 2009.

5. Schultes, Hofman, & Rätsch. Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred,

Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers. Healing Arts Press, 2001.

6. Thompson, C.J.S. The Mystic Mandrake. University Books,

1968.

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A Beltuinn Greeting

May 02, 2010

“Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,

Or he would call it a sin;
But– we have been out in the woods all night,

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A-conjuring Summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth–
Good news for cattle and corn–
Now is the Sun coming up from the South,
With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!”

~ Rudyard Kipling

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A Riddle

April 29, 2010

I am the pillar
I am the stone
I am the tree
between earth and sky

I am the lock
I am the key
I am the doorway
all must pass through

I am the mountain
I am the path
I am the centre
of the crossroad

I am the fire
I am the light
I am the brightness
illuminating dark

Came to me while cleaning the bathroom -of all things! I never seem
to receive great liturgy, mostly just seemingly children’s rhymes and
riddles…

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Traditional Witchcraft Definitions

April 26, 2010

‘ve seen many attempts at trying to define what Traditional

Witchcraft is since it recently became popularized through the
internet and book publishing, but most of those definitions seem to
only include what it is not or are extremely ambiguous and
misleading. The most common definitions tend to say that it is a)
British Isles traditional witchcraft (Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
Cornwall, England, etc) of the “anything but Wicca” variety; b)
European-based traditional witchcraft (usually just Germanic, Celtic,
Basque, Italian, and Greek witchcraft and folk magic), but not
neoPaganism or reconstructionism, and is also of the “anything but
Wicca variety”; c) a long-established tradition of witchcraft (tradition,
however, being used in the modern sense stemming from its use for
Wiccan traditions), usually referring to hereditary witchcraft both
fictional and non-fictional – the latter being more of the folk magic or
hereditary psychic ability category; d) and lastly the more
ambiguous anything but Wiccan, non-neoPagan, non-fluffy,
non-religious, “craft” or “skill” of witchcraft usually practiced by
solitaries.

The above explanations really don’t do it for me (as I prefer my

definitions sans Wicca-bashing) and also do not explain well how
the term is applied today compared to what the term actually
represents when it comes to a path or tradition of magic and

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spirituality of today. I suggest, based on my own experience,
research, and having been in the Traditional Witchcraft community
before there were really any books or websites on the subject (at
least with the words “traditional witchcraft in the titles”), that there
are two separate definitions of Traditional Witchcraft just as when
one looks up any word in the dictionary there is usually more than
one possible meaning. Here are the two I have found to be used by
practitioners and groups overall, or at least, how they intended to
define it:

Definition 1 – “Traditional Witchcraft”: A modern witchcraft, folk

magic, or spiritual practice based on the practices and beliefs of
witchcraft in Europe and the colonies from the early modern period
which ranged from the 1500s to the 1800s. The beliefs and
practices were usually the pre-Christian remnants of more ancient
Pagan or Animistic ones surviving to the early modern period
through oral fairy & folk tales, ballads, songs, rhymes, superstitions,
rural traditions, and various grimoires. However, there really were
practicing witches, folk magicians, and magical groups during this
time, but their practices and beliefs would have been tinged with
Catholic-Christian overtones and mythology – even if thinly
veneered on top of the Pagan ones. This does not mean there is a
long-established tradition of an unbroken line of witches practicing
within Paganism, but rather that just small fragments of what “might”
have come before remained even if the witches and superstitious
peasants themselves didn’t know it (which they likely did not).
Cunning folk are a good example of the survival of such traditions
even up to the mid-1900s in rural areas of the British Isles.

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Definition 2 – “Modern Traditional Witchcraft”: Traditional
Witchcraft as a modern accepted term used to refer to a specific
witchcraft path and traditions within it which did not exist until the
early 2000s. Before this time period there was no literature or
groups claiming this label the way it is used today, but many
influences for modern Traditional Witchcraft came beforehand in a
period from the 1950s to the 1970s. These earlier influences most
commonly included Robert Cochrane, Paul Huson, Joe Wilson,
Robert Graves, and Victor Anderson. The later most common
authors whose influence led to the creation of and modern definition
of Traditional Witchcraft from a period of time from the 1980s to the
2000s includes E. J. Jones, Michael Howard and his periodical The
Cauldron, Nigel Jackson, Nigel Pennick, Andrew Chumbley
(post-2000) and Daniel Schulke (post-2000) — the later authors
largely being influenced by the former. There are also more recent
internet-savvy popular writers who now have their own cult
followings due to the lore and hard work of the groundbreaking men
who came before them. Most modern witches who claim they
practice Traditional Witchcraft are mainly influenced by Chumbley’s
Sabbatic Witchcraft, the writings of Robert Cochrane (also via Joe
Wilson and E. J. Jones), and the practices and beliefs of Paul
Huson in his work Mastering Witchcraft – whether they know or
acknowledge it or not as the lore from these men may have come
indirectly through another person or resource.

All other witchcraft and magical traditions not based in early modern
witchcraft, modern traditional witchcraft, or British traditional
witchcraft (Wicca) belong more to the realms of culture-based folk
belief/religion, shamanism, and animism than they do to traditions of
witchcraft.

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For more information and resources see the article on

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Witchcraft on the Day of Saturn

April 25, 2010

Yesterday my lovely witches came over for some witchcrafting after

fasting and bathing. We consecrated protective talismans in ritual
using an altar I’d set up on my grandmother’s old table inside a sigil
drawn with white cornmeal. We consecrated them by spring and

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rain water, by rich black earth, by the fire of the candles, by air of
the smoke from the burning of fragrant mercurial herbs and lastly
when reborn as talismans we anointed our objects with holy oil I
made from a recipe from the Old Testament (it smells divine).

Then after copious amounts of tea, I set them to work crafting witch
bottles for protection. The purpose of a witch bottle is serve as a
decoy for deception. If any evil magic, the evil eye, or curses of
illness is sent your way, a witch bottle buried on your property with
draw it and take it in instead of you. So of course it must be checked
once or twice a year to make sure it hasn’t broken and needs to be
replaced to continue protecting you. For this reason one should not
make a witch bottle with a beloved jar or glass bottle! Newer
versions are just vinegar, pins, and herbs, but the ones we made
were, how shall I say this delicately… less pleasant.

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181
Here they are above finished – the bottles sealed with candle wax
and then bound with read wool and bound again around the neck,
and then sealed again with wax so the wool doesn’t unravel. They
are ready to be buried Afterward we created herbal sachets to
protect our homes using red linen cloth and red wool, a drop of
blood, and a blend of organic herbs. They are to be hung over the
front door and replaced every year.

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When the ladies had to leave, the Wigglians (Sparrow and Mojo)
arrived to record a new episode of the Wigglian Way Podcast. But
first, the three of us went out to hunt craft supplies and hit a few
stores. I’m glad I went with them as one store was having a bead
sale and I found a cimaruta and red coral! I remember thinking of
looking for a cimaruta a couple days ago and lo and behold here
was everything I needed to make one! The charm was traditionally
strung with red coral so I got two different sizes for some variation
and the cirmaruta had extra links to hang more charms from so I
went though my collection of beads at home and found three
appropriate charms – a five-petaled flower, a silver moon, and a
skeleton key.

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Hagstone & Key Charms

April 24, 2010

Holed stones large and small have been used for all kinds of
magical purposes by the different cultures who find them. The
charm of a holed stone or stones tied to a key is mainly found in
Europe but especially the UK and also France and Italy. In the UK it
was used as a protection charm as the locals believed that by tying
their front door key or the stable door key to a hole stone they would
protect the building it hung upon. Although I’m sure thieves figured

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this out pretty quickly and the key was changed to a generic or old
one that didn’t open the door. Holed stones are also used in folk
magic to look through the hold in order to see spirits – either souls
of the dead, nature spirits, or the good folk as in the Scottish folktale
of “Habetrot and the Scantlie Mab“:

“‘There is one,’ replied Habetrot, ‘whom I bid to come here at this

hour, and he has heard my song through the self-bored stone.’ So
saying she rose, opened another door, which was concealed by the
roots of an old tree, and invited the pair to come in and see her
family.“

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In Italy both the holed stone and key are symbols of Diana, known
to the Greeks as Artemis. She is both goddess of and protectress of
witches. The holed stone itself is supposed to protect from black
magic and curses and also nightmares or magical attack when
sleeping. As for the key, I couldn’t write its properties any better
than Elizabeth Pepper so I’m just going to quote her words:

“The key is an important magical symbol, representing access to a

coveted place in either a physical or mystical sense. It is associated

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with the goddess Diana and is a critical element of the cimaruta, an
Italian charm symbolizing devotion to her. The key relates to Diana
in the form of Jana, an alternative form of her name, and her role as
keeper of the gates of heaven and ruler of the doors and thresholds
of a house. They key is also a symbol of Hecate, the mistress of the
lower world who possesses the ability to open the gates and free
imprisoned souls. Keys are also believed to be excellent conductors
of psychic energies.“

~ Elizabeth Pepper, The ABC of Magic Charms

I made these Hagstone and key charms last night using

beach-combed holed stones, lampwork glass evil eye beads,
antique keys, and silk and wool yarns to bind all the charms
together. I’ll probably be consecrating them and awakening them to

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their purpose either today or tomorrow and will have them up in the
Botanica after that. They can be hung up inside the house by the
door to protect the house from evil spirits entering, from people who
mean you harm from entering, and also from theft and bad luck.
They can be hung over or kept upon the witch’s altar to use for rites
of Hecate or Diana/Artemis for opening the door to the otherworld or
underworld, and also to receive visions or see spirits.

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Women’s Red Drum Workshop

April 18, 2010

A while ago I asked Nikiah of Red Moon Keeper if she would

organize a drum making workshop for my witchy girlfriends and I
and she happily agreed and set to work on getting it organized and
today was the day! I was very excited last night, I even got up early
this morning! I went with my lovely friends Holly and Saturn who
also happen to be apprenticing with me as well as Merina, a local
crafty pagan, artist, and shamaness. When we arrived Nikiah
crafted a circle of sacred space for us to work within using her own
beautiful red drum. She then gave us a brief history as women as
drummers throughout time and cultures (for more info see by Layne
Redmond) and then told us a beautiful story after which we got
started on our drums. After we each picked an elk hide dyed
naturally red, we busily got to work weaving the laces in and out of

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the hide and around the maple drum frames.

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There were a few issues with the fatty laces, but we worked through
them and pushed on until each of us had laced, tightened, and tied
off the lacings for our drums and finally got to look at the beautiful
smooth shiny side we’d be playing. Each one was unique in its
colours and patterns – some more raspberry red and some more
purple. When held up to the light the red elk hide glows like a red
moon… how perfect since we were being taught by the Red Moon
Keeper!

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After we had all finished we took a break for a potluck lunch of all
sorts of yummes – lamb dumplings, three kinds of sandwich buns,
homemade couscous salad, a huge fruit platter, corn tortillas and
humus, and a yummy cinnamon apple cake thingy that was divine.
During the mini feast of women I also snuck into the bathroom to
take a picture of the dye bath – I couldn’t resist it looked like we’d
murdered someone in there and in hindsight I suppose it was the
elk who offered up their skin for our drums. After lunch we all made
our beaters with wood we had each brought. Holly and I had Rowan
and Saturn and Merina had both brought sticks of Willow. Each one
was completely unique and we attached trinkets to the beaters as
well. In the end everyone went home with a beautiful finished 16″
red drum. Here we are in the image below standing proudly with our
new drums and beaters. If you’re local and salivating, Nikiah said
she is planning on hosting another Women’s Red Drum Workshop
in June and I do highly recommend it – it was both a spiritual and
crafty experience! It was so wonderful to work alongside women
who not only see the drum as a musical instrument, but as a sacred
tool. Now, to wait for it to dry over the next few days so it can be
played!

For those interested in Nikiah’s process and the red dye she makes
you can learn more about it from her recent blog post on

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The Witches’ Reel

April 17, 2010

This song originates from Scotland and has been dated to the year
1591. The words are from the witchcraft trial of the Earl of Bothwell
Francis Stewart who was accused of using sorcery to try to kill King
James VI. He was found guilty, but escaped the castle he was being
held in and caused all sorts of ruckus afterward – you know raising
small armies to kill the king – little stuff like that… But this reel is
what is interesting to me. Read in the Scots tongue by one who
doesn’t understand it, this song doesn’t mean much nor make much
sense beyond “ring-a-ring a widdershins” which makes a witch’s
ear’s perk up. But there is much more within it once investigated

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and translated. to hear how it is to be sung listen to Green Crown’s
version

Firstly a reel is a folk dance accompanied by a tune and/or a song.

In The Witches’ Reel the instructions for the dance are given in the
song – and it is a witches’ dance. The song is to be sung three
times while circling counter-clockwise nine times in total, one time
for each verse, faster and faster each time. The witches do not hold
hands as they dance, but rather link arms and spin around each
other to catch the next witch’s arm and so on and so on. This is how

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one may be left behind as last when the song ends.

Translation using the Dictionary of the Scottish Language:

Witch go you fast, witch go you

If you will not go fast, witch let me
Circling a circle widdershins (counter-clockwise)
Linking hands quickly and merrily widdershins,
Wives, crones, mothers and young lasses
Round go we!

Witch go you fast, witch go you

If you will not go fast, witch let me
Circling a circle widdershins
Looping (or weaving) easily and swiftly
Tucked up skirts and flying hair
Three times three!

Witch go you fast, witch go you

If you will not go fast, witch let me
Circling a circle widdershins
Whirling (rotating) screaming louder, widdershins
Devil take the last one (furthest behind)
Whoever she be!

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In the 16th century Earl’s trial this reel was accused of being
performed on a cliffside by the sea and causing a fierce wind and
rain storm to raise up threatening the ship the king was on at sea. I
conjecture, being a Scottish witch and well-read on the lore, that this
widdershins reel is for opening a doorway into the underworld to call
up Nicnevin (also known as M’Neven or the Gyre Carline meaning
‘witch ogress/giantess’), queen of Elphame and the unseelie court.
To the ancient Celts the sea was the underworld and one can still
find traces of Nicnevin as a sea witch in folktales with the sea being
her domain. In legends it is also said that when you invoke her you
know she has come when a storm or a fierce wind rise up. I also

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suggest that the last person to circle was perhaps chosen to be
possessed by Nicneven or to commune with her to deliver her
messages to the rest of the group. “Devil” was used by the Scots to
refer to any evil or unseelie spirit, not necessarily the Christian devil,
as in the witches initiation charm from the Orkneys. Some scholars
argue that in reel’s like these with possible druidic origins, the last
person standing could possibly have been chosen as a sacrifice –
but this doesn’t necessarily mean killing them – but instead their
being chosen for a possibly dangerous task.

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The Mountain Provideth

April 15, 2010

My neighbour and I went off into the woods yesterday evening,

which just happened to be the dark moon, to look for witchy
treasures. She dug up some bleeding hearts, enchanter’s
nightshade, and a maple tree seedling to transplant to her shaded
garden and I found decayed red cedar wood, beautiful Elder flower
blossoms, tightly curled sword fern fiddleheads… and while we
were near a stream I found the best and rarest treasure of all – male
fern fiddleheads. Male fern grows here, but I almost never find it on
the mountain. There was a huge growth of one covered in
fiddleheads of which I harvested a small amount seen above resting
on the cedar wood. Dried they are burned outdoors to cause rain,

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carried by men they increase their virility and protect from all harm,
and the root when dug up on Midsummer’s Eve and dried by the
bonfire becomes St. John’s Hand.

We also mentally mapped places to collect Oregon Grapes, Indian

Plums, thimbleberries, and huckleberries from, and she also
showed me a huge ancient Rowan tree she and her husband had
stumbled upon during a walk. I’d never noticed it before, nor have I
ever seen a wild Rowan so big or so old here on the mountain! It
could possibly be the mother of all the rowans growing in the area!

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On Shapeshifting

April 15, 2010

Shapeshifting is oft discussed, little practiced, and much

misunderstood. But what is shapeshifting outside of fiction and
fantasy in both ancient and modern magical practice? To start,
shapeshifting is not the literal physical transformation of a human
into animal form as this is not realistically possible as much as some
believe and wish it to be true.

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Some psychoactive plants can convince a person they are an
animal, or more commonly make them behave like an animal, just
as a masked and costumed shaman may imitate an animal’s every
movement and sound in ritual, but still the person or shaman’s form
does not physically change. Instead, shapeshifting as a magical
practice involves either a part of the magician’s soul transforming
into a spirit animal (known in the Germanic tongue as the fetch) and
leaving the body to journey vast distances in both our realm and the
otherworlds, or, another method is for the magician’s soul to leave
their body and “ride” a living animal or external spirit animal or
familiar in this or the otherworld. In the latter instance “riding” being
a metaphor for possession as in spirit riding within Haitian Vodou

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where the Lwa possess a person and speak and act through
controlling their body. “Riding” is also found in European folklore in
stories of witch’s using unsuspecting people as “horses” and riding
them ragged – not as in the witch’s are literally changing people into
horses, but rather possessing them and using their body instead of
the witch’s own like in the Scottish tale “The Blacksmith’s Wife of
Yarrowfoot“.

There are also many tales in both European and Native American
lore of souls of dead relatives appearing to their loved ones as
animals and in this too, spirit possession fits. In lore found in tales
and mythology across cultures there are also instances of animals
taking on human form to commune with us and I myself have met a
wolf possessing a man – it was quite an uncanny experience to say
the least!

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It is traditional for witches and also fairy doctors or medicine men
and women to shapeshift into or “ride” liminal animals which have
longstanding otherworld associations such as toads and frogs, deer,
hares, cats, water birds, birds, and bats – animals of the moon, the
night, and which dwell in-between elements of earth, water, or air. In
order to shapeshift the magician must first possess the ability to
separate their soul from their body. To do this their body and soul
must first be in harmony. To attain this harmony one must be able to
function in and understand the difference between both the real
world and the otherworld as well as truly knowing themselves.
Differing methods can be found throughout continents, cultures,
mythology, and folklore – from the skinwalkers of the Navajo, the
witch-hares of Celtic lands, and the animal-costumed spirit dancers
of the Coast Salish to the werewolf and shapeshifting myths found
in Greek and Norse mythologies. In some cultures psychoactive
plants are consumed as a part of the ritual, in others the drum is the
vehicle through which the spirit of the magician can leave the body
and transform into an animal, and yet in others animal pelts or other
body parts are worn by the magician wishing to transform.

“The shamanic costume tends to give the shaman a new, magical

body in animal form. The three chief types are that of the bird, the
reindeer (or stag), and the bear – but especially the bird.”

~ Mircea Eliade, Shamanism

In the Irish tale “Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire” from the Book of

Lismore, the druid Mogh Roith calls for his speckled bird mask
adorned with billowing wings, the hide from a hornless bull, and his
druidic gear and being wrapped in the bull hide wearing his mask he

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[his spirit] flies up into the sky using an enchanted fire as a conduit
and transforms into a bird gaining the power of flight in order to
magically defeat Cormac Mac Airt’s army. Also from Celtic lore,
seventeenth century Scottish witch Isobel Gowdie gave instructions
and spoken charms for shapeshifting into specific animals during
her voluntary trial. Her and other witches from around the same time
period admitted they did not physically transform and the only
outward change of appearance was of wearing the pelt of an animal
or a mask – but they were not asked about spirit possession in
these trials. The incantations Isobel Gowdie provided are as
follows–

To change into a wild hare:

I sall gae intil a haire,

Wi’ sorrow and sych and meikle care;
And I sall gae in the Devillis name,
Ay quhill I com hom againe.

To change into a cat:

I sall gae intil a catt,

Wi’ sorrow and sych and a black shat;
And I shall gae in the Devillis name,
Ay quhill I com hom againe.

To change into a crow:

I sall gae intil a craw,

Wi’ sory and sych and a black thraw;

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And I shall gae in the Devillis name,
Ay quhill I com hom againe.

To change back:

Haire, Haire, [catt, craw, etc] God send thee caire [back],
I am in a hairis likness just now,
Bot I sall be in a womanis likenes evin now.

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The Dangers of Shapeshifting

The dangers of the magical practice include not being able to return
to your body due to forgetting you are human, forgetting which
realm you belong to, or journeying too far to return resulting in coma
or the death of your physical body and also to be captured or stolen
as a spirit in the otherworld resulting in the same consequences or

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to be hunted, injured, or killed while “riding” an live animal in this
world. Many of us have heard the tales of witches stealing milk from
cows by shapeshifting into hares or witches who when injured or
killed as a hare or other animal either turned into a human or were
found in their home with the same injury as the animal as in the true
tale of “The Witch Hare” collected from Mr. and Mrs. Hall by W.B.
Yeats. This is not a case of “die in your dreams, die in real life”, but
rather if your soul is injured, captured, or destroyed so is your body.

Precautions the Shapeshifting Magician May Take

1. Set a firm time limit before shifting so no matter what happens or

where you are you are pulled back into your body.

2. Use a red witch’s cord and tie it to yourself and also to your spirit
so when you wish to return you can follow the cord back from
the spirit realm to your unconscious body. This method uses
sympathetic magic as in what you do ‘magically’ in the physical
world is reflected in the spiritual realm.

3. Have a safe word or an incantation like Isobel Gowdie’s that

when spoken or thought acts as a triggering device to pull your
spirit back into your body.

4. Carry magical protection charms on your body so you cannot be

harmed or your spirit stolen while travelling in the otherworld.
Magical charms and tools also exist in the spirit world when
properly made and consecrated.

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5. Have a spotter, especially when starting out and practicing and
give them a time limit so they can try to rouse you so you are
aware of your body and are pulled back to it more easily. A
bucket of cold water splashing on one’s face tends to work pretty
well…

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The Gods of Man

April 12, 2010

The Gods of Man are one yet six, and yet dual and tripartite, but
twelve in total. A new illustration done with archival ink and water
soluble coloured pencils – a cosmological map of the earth and the
surrounding universe. The earth with the equal-armed cross doesn’t
mean the earth is the centre of the universe, instead it means “you
are here” (wherever you are on Earth) at the point of crossing…

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Traditional Gaelic –

The Three who are over me,

The Three who are under me,
The Three who are over me here,
The Three who are over me yonder,
The Three who are in the earth,
The Three who are in the air,
The Three who are in the heavens,
The Three who are in the great pouring sea.

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Entheogens & Bark for Incense

April 10, 2010

Some new witchy goodies arrived on my doorstep today; Siberian

Amanita Muscaria and European Mandrake root for flying and
shapeshifting as well as Storax bark from Turkey to make classical
Greek and Egyptian incense recipes. The Mandrake is to make a
classical Greek recipe for Medea’s Salve (which supposedly
conveys the strength and power of the great goddess Hekate to the
witch) and the mushrooms are for salves and other experiments…
The Storax bark will find its way into Hecate and Kyphi incenses.

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Animal Spirit Vessels

April 08, 2010

An idea I’ve been toying with for a while… Not everyone can have a
skull of their familiar on their altar nor can they have a live one as a
pet (wild animals should be in the wild) – so why not bits of them
with a carved wood fetish of the creature instead to be used to call
the spirit of the familiar? From left to right: Robin familiar vessel with
egg shell, foot, wing and breast feathers, and Rowan egg and Robin
head fetiches; Barn Owl familiar vessel with a feather, a bone, Elder
wood beads, and a Goat Willow wood fetiche; Deer familiar vessel
with an ear bone, a tooth, and a Goat Willow wood fetiche with deer
hide ears; and also a Crow familiar vessel with breast feathers, a
toe, 2,000 year old black glass beads, and a Blackthorn wood

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fetiche… All in glass bottles with wax-sealed corks bound with wool.
I’m still working on ones for Mountain Goat, Bee, and Butterfly and
plan to make even more for snake, fox, toad, cow/bull, duck, spider
– based on whatever bits I’m able to come by.

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Horned Owl Ogham Box

April 07, 2010

To continue the bird theme here is a pyrographed box I recently

made featuring a Great Horned Owl sitting in a Hazel tree with the
Ogham script in the fishtail font wrapping around the four corners of
the box. I stained the inside a rich blue to match the border, sanded
it til the wood was soft, oiled it, then applied my wood balm. It’s now
in the private collection of a friend.

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Aves Flying Ointment

April 06, 2010

Someone recently requested a concoction similar to my Toad Salve

but for birds instead, specifically crow and owl, to be used for
shapeshifting and flying (astral travel, hedgecrossing, etc). So going
through my previous experiments and considering the request I
came up with a recipe using delicious golden duck fat, shaved Barn
Owl bone, ashes of Crow feathers, various herbs for astral
projection, a copious amount of balm of gilead buds, and mandrake
root, the entheogen the person requested. After I put aside their
portion I added some belladonna to the remaining fat mixture. This
post is for the reader’s amusement only as the preparation methods
and quantities are very important – so no recipe will be given – as
lovely as my wonderful witchy readers are I know there are others

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on this world wide web who might foolishly try to make it without
proper research first or use it outside the proper context to “get
high” – and stronger is not better when it comes to psychoactives
my friends!

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First I rinsed my lovely fat duck in cold water to wash away blood
and then I set to work removing all the fat but leaving all the meat
using my butchery skills (I’m sure my former Chefs didn’t have this
in mind when teaching me butchery!). If you’ve never quartered
poultry before let alone painstakingly removed just the fat, I don’t
recommend trying this without someone showing you how to do it
first and testing yourself a few times on less precious chickens. I
collected all of the fat into a pot and then portioned the remaining
meat and cut up the carcass to save for making soup stock.

Then I put the fat on the stove on low heat for about 4 hours until
the skin the fat was attached to was golden and crisp and any liquid
not fat had been evapourated. Then I strained out the skin and bits
and added the herbs, bird bits, and entheogens and let the fat
mixture simmer on the lowest heat for another 3-4 hours. The smell

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of the flying ointment filled the whole house with the rich luscious
scent of duck fat and balm of gilead – it should seriously be an air
freshener scent! I can’t even describe it to you, you’d have to smell
it!

After this was ready I strained it twice, once through a medium sieve
and once through a fine one. The fat from one duck renders down
into about one and half cups of pure golden liquid. Then I added
beeswax and portioned the Aves Salve into two ounce jars to set.
Once left overnight I’ll be able to label them and will list some in the
shop after testing it out first to make sure it won’t scare anyone (too
much). With luck the effects will be mild but very useful. Entheogens
which have been made fat-soluble have been shown to increase the
production of melatonin in the pineal gland (the third eye), and
create the most vivid waking “dreams” – in effect opening the door

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of your third eye while awake. I think the witches of old knew quite a
bit more than they let on and modern scientists are just figuring this
out…

On modern witches salves from Witchcraft Medicine:

“…despite the fact that none of the ‘modern witches’ themselves

have any experience with the plants, they warn about the poisonous
additives. In this literature, which is as superficial and empty as the
elaborately fashionable themes of tantra and shamanism, it is
considered trendy to brew ‘modern flying ointments, guaranteed to
be not poisonous.’ The recipes are nothing more than ineffective
rubbish.”

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Altar Spring Cleaning

April 03, 2010

It had been a long time since I cleaned my altar, changed the cloth,
and went through the items and old spells on it. What better time to
change an altar than at the liminal times of the spring equinox and
between the full and waning moon? I washed and ironed my yellow
altar cloth, I collected and buried the remains of old workings that
used natural elements, I removed everything from my antique
dresser which my atlar sits upon and washed it with soap and
blessing water. Then I put the new cloth on and rearranged my altar
deciding what to keep on it and what to move somewhere else. I
mostly just kept my tools, magical objects and a couple offering
dishes. Lastly I lit my candles, left offerings of incense and wine and

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rededicated the altar to my gods, then sat down with them to share
a glass of wine.

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Today was for Gardening & Wildcrafting

April 01, 2010

Besides needing to do some tarot readings for clients, which I save

for the liminal time of dusk, I had time for myself today to do as I
wished (a very rare thing!) and I wished to wildcraft and transplant
wild native plants into my garden. So out I went on this sunny day in
my wellies and my indigo coat. First, I harvested some Enchanter’s
Nightshade (Circaea alpina) from the head of a mountain spring. I
noticed it growing there last year, but didn’t collect any in time
before the unseasonably hot summer we had killed off the delicate
moist and shade-loving plants. Enchanter’s Nightshades aren’t
actually in the nightshade family (solanaceae) and are found in both
N. America and Europe. How they acquired their name and

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association with the Greek witch Circe is a mystery to most, but a
look into their use in European folk magic for sorcery and witchcraft
explains it. The local Native peoples here were well known for
practicing magic, so I wouldn’t doubt it if they put this beautiful plant
to a magical purpose as they had a liking for the magical powers of
strange roots.

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Medicinally it was used by Native peoples externally as a poultice or
a wash for wounds and was be taken internally as an infusion for
wounds as well. Magically it is used to tempt a would-be lover to
you, for shapeshifting and transforming, enchantments and
glamours, as well as cursing or binding enemies – quite an
all-purpose magical plant! As it needs an environment of perfect
balance between shade and light, wet and dry, it is also used in
workings for balance – those of energies, femininity and masculinity,
the bright and dark… The leaves and the strange little bulbous roots
are now drying over my kitchen window.

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Then I walked further on to search for a large family of native
Rowan to ask for a trunk the right size for a shaman’s staff for a
friend. One was offered, it’s bark reminiscent of moonstone
changing colour from blue, to green, to silver, to white… I asked
permission and spoke my chant and cut the piece quickly and
cleanly from the base. ‘Twas a very tall one! I gently directed it’s fall
so as not to damage the surrounding trees and shrubs and then
poured my homemade mead made from the blood of trees (my
dad’s maple and birch syrup) over the wound as both offering and
wash for the wound to stave off disease. Then I set about to saving
the leaves for drying for magical oils and incenses, small branches
wide enough for beads, and cut the thinner portion into wand sizes,
and lastly sawed the larger portion of the trunk into two
shoulder-height staffs.

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After taking my wildcrafted treasures home I went back out into the
woods and dug up some wild native plants for transplanting.
Granted Mullein isn’t technically native, but it’s been here for so long
now and is a well-known weed methinks it counts. The great
Mulleins usually get whacked down by kids, dogs, or the annoying
bushwhacking gas company, so instead of waiting for a Mullein
torch this year only to see it destroyed, I decided to transplant this
beauty into my garden so it could thrive in the full sun it loves so
much. It’s quite fuzzy and soft, not really showing it’s nature and
history of association with witchcraft. I also transplanted two Great
Yellow Avens. They don’t look like much but weeds now, but they
grow large stalks with even more leaves and nice yellow flowers in
the summer. The flowers and roots are used magically for
protection from just about any illness, evil, or wild animal, when
carried on one’s person.

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I also transplanted some False Solomon’s Seal as it’s not only
huge, beautiful, and transplants easily, but it has a local and ancient
tradition of being used for magic. It has white star-petaled flowers in
the summer and bright red berries in the fall which are edible. The
Coast Salish believe it belongs to snakes, bears, deers because
they are all believed to eat its fruit. It has many medicinal
applications, almost too many to list here without droning on and the
magic is more interesting anyway! The berries and the roots were
used for sorcery and False Solomon’s Seal root mixed with Sweet
Flag root (calamus) was used to cast spells on people or lay tricks
(Native magic is pretty much rootwork and quite similar to hoodoo
minus all the Catholic/Christian symbology). Combined they might
have also been used by shamans to fly or call spirit guides.
(Update: it turned out to be true Solomon’s Seal that had probably

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escaped a garden, still though, score!)

My porch garden has been growing since January due to the

beautiful weather British Columbia has been having. My catnips are
huge! I didn’t know the leaves could be as big as my palm! My
potatoes are coming along nicely, my herbs and baby Cedar trees
survived the winter, and my Rowan tree’s delicate leaves are all
unfurling. My peppermint is big enough to hack at to make
money-drawing oil, and my black nightshade came back all on its
own. This year instead of planting as many food plants as I did last
year, I will be planting more medicinal and magical plants. Friends
gave me many seeds so now I have just about every Nightshade
and Belladonna that exists, two types of Datura, Henbane, Castor
bean, and Rue seeds. I hope to get them all germinating this long
weekend so when the weather is stable and nights warmer I can

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plant them all outside. I think I have a thing for nightshades as last
year I grew two local varieties as well as potatoes, five types of hot
pepper, and three types of tomatoes… which are all in the
solanaceae family — I just realized that now!

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Darkness is Good For You?

March 31, 2010

The Effects of Light Pollution on Magical Ability

t is said in many different cultures that the great powers of priests,

shamans, magicians, and witches of the ancients once had are now
lost and no longer found in today’s practitioners. This is lamented
from Ireland, to Haiti and Hawaii. If this is so, why? One can’t
blame it alone on the spread of Abrahamic religions as many
cultures still have Animistic and Pagan beliefs. So what has
changed – what exists today that didn’t in all the centuries and
millenia before the modern age? One could answer many things but
the most obvious is technology and from it artificial light. Imagine a
world where when the sun sets, you can’t just flick on a light switch
to see or perform tasks, where you are too poor to afford candles let
alone precious oil for lamps. Imagine a world when on average
twelve hours out of your daily life are in darkness and in winter only
six hours out of your day would have natural light.

“This scarcity of artificial lighting meant that a significant proportion

of waking and working life would have been spent in darkness or in
the semi-darkness of dawn and twilight. Animals could not be left
hungry and corn could not be left to rot in the fields because the
light was fading or the sun had not yet risen, consequently early
modern poor would have lived much of their lives under the

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powerful thrall of darkness, and their perception of the world and its
inhabitants would have been sculpted by its mystery.”

~ Emma Wilby, Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits

Now what does this have to do with magic? Well, while I was
looking up some information on the differing cultural beliefs in the
third eye I found scientific information along with it that surprised me
and led to my theory that light, especially artificial light, hampers
innate magical ability. The third eye is located between one’s eyes
and anatomically behind this location outside of the blood brain
barrier at the centre of one’s brain is the pineal gland. The pineal
gland is still mysterious and still being researched today, but what is
known about it is that it may be connected to every system of the
body and the gland produces a compound known as melatonin
which is found in plants, animals, and microorganisms. Melatonin is
photosensitive and its creation is prevented by light and aided by
darkness -meaning our bodies need a minimum of eight hours of
darkness per day, which is still too little on average, to a maximum
of twelve hours per day in order to produce enough melatonin to
function properly.

Melatonin regulates sleep cycles, the body’s and the organ’s

circadian rhythms, your emotional and physical seasonal cycles, a
woman’s fertility cycles, it plays a role in the protection of DNA, and
is also a powerful antioxidant helping the immune system function.
More interesting for us witches, melatonin is very important to REM
sleep and vivid dreaming actually causing extremely vibrant and
realistic dreams in elevated (or I should say “normal”) levels. Also
interestingly, hallucinogens found in nature actually aid in the

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production of melatonin and increase its effects allowing for
dream-like experiences in an awakened state modern psychologists
term “altered mental states”. Melatonin deficiency can lead to
seasonal affective disorder, ADHD, mood disorders, sleep
disorders, lack of dreams, cancer, infertility, and possibly autism if
the parent(s) suffers from the deficiency.

All of this from a tiny little 5-8mm gland behind your third eye!
Seventeenth century French philosopher René Descartes believed
the pineal gland located deep in the centre of the brain was the seat
of the soul in our bodies and was what connected the spirit to the
mortal coil. Madame Blavatsky taught much the same thing in the
late 1800’s and her writings on the pineal gland and its connection
with the third eye can be found in her work The Secret Doctrine:

“If the odd ‘eye’ in man is now atrophied, it is a proof that, as in the
lower animal, it has once been active; for nature never creates the
smallest, the most insignificant form without some definite purpose
and use. It was an active organ, we say, at that stage of evolution
when the spiritual element in man reigned supreme over the hardly
nascent intellectual and psychic elements. And, as the cycle ran
down toward that point when the physiological senses were
developed by, and went pari passu with, the growth and
consolidation of the physical man, the interminable and complex
vissitudes and tribulations of zoological development, that median
‘eye’ ended by atrophying along with the early spiritual and purely
psychic characteristics in man.“

~ Helena Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (p.298)

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She means that primitive man in his earliest physical development
was more spiritually developed then we will ever be today and
enlarged pineal glands from fossils examined by modern scientists
have shown her words to ring true. Also keep in mind that at the
time of early man’s development, the earth was further away from
the sun and not only colder, but also received less light from the
Sun. For me, this importance of darkness explains the sacredness
and ritual use of caves along with the animistic practice of placing
an initiate in a place of darkness for a period of days or weeks
before they are to meet the spirits to gain their initiation –whether
the dark place be a hut, a cave, a room dug into the earth, or a
mock grave with an air hole. It definitely puts a different spin on
mystic Robert Cochrane’s love for spelunking… It also explains the
more common occurrence of visionary experiences by people in the
recent past than compared to the people of modern society.

So perhaps if you want to develop your third eye and therefore your
psychic or “supernatural” abilities, the best thing you can do is sit in
darkness and absorb its very essence into yourself. We may not
ever be able to attain the states of awareness, abilities, and spiritual
connection our ancestors did, but perhaps with their guidance we
can try.

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Dead Mail

March 29, 2010

I received lovely gifts from the post man today – some wicked
looking skulls I’d purchased from a collector who was destashing.
They are two deer skulls, one small and one large, and one goat
skull which I think looks perfectly devilish. I will be carving and
painting them into fetishes which can be used as vessels for spirit
familiars or to top a staff or stang. I will need to leave the larger deer
skull out in the sun to bleach it as it is rather brown and they need a
bit of a cleaning due to the smell as they are obviously found skulls
and not from a taxidermist. I’ll post pictures once I have the time to
work on them. Right now I’m finishing a box and wand for a friend.

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What Makes One a Witch?

March 28, 2010

I hear this topic come up often on forums as well as in person

between pagans, but everyone seems to have a differing opinion
ranging from simply acting like a witch to being initiated into a
tradition. For me, these simply don’t go in depth enough nor do they
answer the question “can anyone be a witch?” The simple answer is
no –anyone can practice magic, but not just anyone can be a witch.
To become a witch you must be chosen by the gods or spirits and
not try to force your way into it.

Definition of Witch

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The word we use today stems from Old English which is Germanic
in origin. Etymology is such a simple way to learn the origin and
meaning of a word. In etymology the root “witch” stems from is
“weik” which has five separate meanings that are all related to
magic in some way. Wicca (originally pronounce “vitcha”) was the
singular word for a male witch and wicce for female. Wiccaecrafte
was the word once used for the practice of witchcraft and wiccian
was used to mean “to cast a spell” or “to bewitch” as a verb. But the
meaning of the root is found in all words in the Germanic and also
Latin tongues associated with magic and religion as both along with
other terms from Europe and Asia all originate from the
Proto-Indo-European language group. The version of the root
directly connected to witchcraft means sorcery, cunning, and wiles
associated with pre-Christian religion and supernatural power.
Weik‘s other meanings include to bend, change or alter (as in
changing fate), twine and bind; to be able in battle, strong, brave,
victorious; a clan or group of people; as well as an icon like a
religious icon, statue, charm, or a poppet.

The direct meaning is very similar to the definition of a shaman – a

person belonging to an animistic belief system of unusual cunning
and knowledge with supernatural abilities and the power to act as
intermediary between our realm and the realm of the spirits. For me
a witch is a shaman, witch just happens to be the Germanic term for
the individual whereas shaman originates from a tribe of Siberia. It
doesn’t matter what the term is, it is the meaning that matters and
shows the similarity.

Initiation

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There is more than one type of initiation: 1) Initiation by a group is
initiation into a standing family or witchcraft tradition and can also
include induction into a coven where the initiate learns the set ways
of the tradition; 2) Initiation by the gods or spirits which is a spiritual
calling when one is approached by the gods or spirits to become a
witch and the witch learns directly from the gods, spirits, or their
familiars through a series of visionary mystical experiences. Group
initiation should support a member’s spiritual initiation by the spirits
and gods on top of the transmission of tradition and if one is in a
group it is the leader’s and fellow member’s responsibility to ensure
your safety and continuation into the spirit initiation by offering
support, advice, and guided rites.

The mistake most modern witches make is in thinking just by

reading a book or two on witchcraft and/or getting initiated into a
tradition or coven that they should automatically have the abilities to

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see and commune with spirits and gods, to walk between worlds,
and to have supernatural powers. When none of this happens to
them they start thinking it is all make believe and those who do
claim to have the experiences are lying and frauds. This is one of
the major reasons those new to witchcraft and neoPagan paths
leave them after a short time in bitterness or disillusion. Modern
Pagans have forgotten how to become and be witches.

“Without an experiential dimension any set of magical beliefs,

however sophisticated, becomes little different from a scientific
procedure – a manufactured means through which to manipulate
nature and the objects within it.”

~ Emma Wilby, Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits

Modern witches no longer actually believe in the Otherworld, the

Gods, or the existence of spirits and those who truly want to believe
have such a strong fear of them being real that it prevents them
from ever interacting and communing with them let alone ever
advancing in their craft ability. Today many have boiled witchcraft
down to psychology and magical scientific procedure – this is not
true magic nor is it witchcraft.

To become a witch takes much work and dedication; there is

practice, practice, and more practice required, hard rites of
dedication and initiation required, oaths required, and duties and
services as responsibilities of the rites and oaths required. Many do
not wish to admit the power doesn’t come from them alone when
truly one’s own personal power is just a small portion of the witch’s
overall power. Rather, the power comes from the gods and spirits

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the witch works with and also from the spirits and essence of the
plants and materials used in magical, ritual, and healing. Someone
who works with herbs and memorizes their magical properties is just
an amateur ethnobotanist, but someone who communes with the
spirits of the same plants and learns of their magical and medicinal
properties directly from the plants is a witch or shaman.

There are steps to becoming a witch, it doesn’t nor can it happen

overnight. Initiation is just the beginning of a process that can last
for 10 to 20 years before the initiate achieves full power,
understanding, as well as control of and use of their abilities. One
must always remember that knowledge is never free, there is
always a price to be paid. The price isn’t an evil contract with a
demon or devil but oaths and services promised in return for the
power and knowledge of a witch. These vary from person to person,
for example, one witch may be asked to make an oath of service to
teach a particular area of lore like plant lore in return whereas
another may have to promise to heal others with their power and
become a public servant like the shamans and cunning folk of old.

The initiation and learning of the witch usually occurs in stages that
may or not be in this order, but most often tend to be:

1. Appearance or interference of gods and/or spirits

2. Dedication to one’s gods or spirits

3. Insistence of spirits or gods to initiate and make an oath

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4. Illness or bad luck upon refusal or delay

5. Making an oath or promise of service

6. Acquiring or receiving one’s familiar spirits

7. Acquiring supernatural abilities and/or mystical knowledge

8. Continued visionary and mystical experiences

9. Growth and strength of abilities and experiences the more one

practices and keeps their promises.

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So in conclusion – no visionary experiences equals no witch. Just
because one can’t be a witch nor have a witch’s abilities doesn’t
mean they can’t have a spiritual magical practice and a relationship
with gods and spirits – it simply means one is a layPagan
–someone without supernatural ability who follows a Pagan-based
spirituality and may practice some folk magic and simple rituals,
usually personal and seasonal in nature.

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Tea, Tarot, & Wildcrafting

March 28, 2010

Last night I wild harvested some firethorn berries, hawthorn berries,

wild rose hips, and red rhododendron flowers to make more of my
Spiritus Delecto incense as I only have one packet left. I’ve also got
a couple pomegranates, some decayed red cedar, and alkanet root
ready too.

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Then today, after having our cup of morning tea and seeing the sun
was shining despite the pessimistic weather forecast the night
before, my witchy neighbour and I headed off into the bush armed
with bags and we wildcrafted Dandelions to make Dandelion mead
with (super delicious and good for you to boot!) as well as Oregon
Grape flowers, delicate Cherry Blossoms, Heather flowers, and
lastly sticky sweet buds of Balm of Gilead from the Balsam Poplar
trees growing all over the area. To me it’s not officially Spring unless
you can smell Balm of Gilead on a warm breeze…

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After tea at my neighbour’s we headed back to my house with our
wildcrafted treasures just in time for my apprentices to arrive after
which we sat around eating finger food and drinking more tea while
talking about magic, witchcraft, the gods and making some ritual
face paints. I received a very interesting tarot spread and full
instructions into my head last week and wanted to try it out to see if
it would work (this type of thing happens often to me – magical lore,
meanings of mysteries, rituals, and instructions falling into my head)
and I really wanted to try it out on my friends before offering it as
reading in the Botanica and at events. The spread is to find out who
a person’s gods are – with the center representing the person, and
the other four representing the gods. It doesn’t give the pantheon
and sometimes the four surrounding cards can represent the same
god(s) – but overall I and my apprentices have all realized it works
well and it’s dead on. I’ll probably write about the spread as an
article for the blog or for the upcoming witchcraft journal project yet
to be published…

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Spring Equinox Rootwork

March 22, 2010

I was alone at home for most of this weekend so I decided to take

full advantage of the time I was given and catch up on crafting
rootwork supplies for the botanica. I made so much, this is going to
be a mouthful! On Saturday I made two smoking blends: my Love
Smoke recipe which is a euphoric and aphrodisiac and a new blend
I’m calling “Visions of the Seer” which is smoked to induce visions
and heighten psychic abilities for divining.

I also made four new incense blends: three blends for the triple
goddess which are “Mistress of the Wilds” for the moon goddess

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Artemis, “Love Goddess”, and “Earth Goddess” as well as a
Greenman incense which I thought appropriate given it’s the Spring
Equinox. And still on Saturday I strained and bottled my tinctures of
Guggul Gum, Nettle, and Oregon Grape root as well as made more
of my Forest Healing and Sore Muscle Balms –more is coming
soon too along with other “flying” ointments.

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Today I spend the afternoon making bath salts for spiritual
cleansing. All of the blends are for magical uses as ritual bathing is
one of the oldest magical practices. The idea behind spiritual
bathing being to purify oneself before approaching the gods or
spirits or performing rituals for your needs and desires. What is
more purifying and cleansing than salt? One must be pure of mind,
body, and spirit before working spells, performing ritual, divination,
or communing with the gods and spirits – this belief is very ancient
(think stone age shamanism) and is still practiced today by almost
all cultures and religions.

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Using some lovely epsom salts and different sea salts I made a
hedgecrossing ritual blend (pictured above), a pre-ritual bathing
blend, a “Visions of the Seer” blend to go with the smoking blend,
an uncrossing blend, a spiritual purification blend of hyssop and rue,
a sage wisdom blend, an evil eye blend, a money drawing blend, a
love drawing blend, and lastly a high John the conqueror root blend
for confidence and luck. It’s a lot of blends! They all smell lovely and
each one is unique. Each blend will come with a reusable muslin
bag as herbs clogging the bathtub drain is bad! I still need to finish
the labels for everything and then take good photographs in the
forest, so expect to see all of these goodies listed over a period of
multiple days this week.

Have I got you desiring to conjure up some rootwork of your own?

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The Bright and Dark

March 14, 2010

The Raven and Eagle

are husband and wife.
The dark one rules death
and the golden one life.

His cloak painted with sunlight,

Eagle soars the blue sky.
With feathers black as pitch,
Raven watches us all die.

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Both must be as one
lest there be chaos on Earth.
So from every rotting corpse
there springs a new birth.

This is an illustration from a sketch I drew a year or two ago and

forgot about until this poem/chant/song (?) fell into my head while
innocently waiting to catch the skytrain and I was reminded of it.
The original sketch was an idea for a tattoo, but my tattoo plans for
myself have since changed. I still like the design though, hence the
illustration. I posted the following on a forum, but it fits quite
perfectly with the illustration and verse so I thought I would share it
also as it reflects my beliefs regarding the bright and dark in
witchcraft:

_________________________

I see witchcraft, magic, and religion as divided into the bright and
dark, but instead of good and evil it’s more like working with the
underworld or the upperworld, the sun or the moon. Most modern
Pagans work with the bright, but there is a new trend I see forming
of acknowledging and working with the dark. In my own practice and
spirituality I work with both the bright and the dark as I believe in
balance. Ignoring the dark is to lie to yourself that it doesn’t exist,
ignoring the bright is lying to yourself that there is no good for you in
the world.

For those who have never had anything bad or scarring happen to
them it is much harder to work with the dark, but for those who have
undergone trauma in their lives it is much easier. I think it is

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because for the wounded there is comfort in the dark — the dark
doesn’t pussy-foot around, it doesn’t lie, it doesn’t prettify, but most
of all it doesn’t ignore or sweep anything bad under the rug and
pretend nothing happened. I’ve noticed that for magical practitioners
facing initiation if they approach it with dark things swept under the
rug and they still choose not to let it out and face it they more often
than not go mad. I do believe mental illness is a kind of darkness, a
darkness of soul either caused by the individual or by things done to
the individual by others or spirits.

I also work with the bright and the dark on a seasonal cycle with the
bright being associated with spring and summer and the dark with
fall and winter – much like the changing of the fairy courts from
seelie to unseelie rule in Celtic lore. So during spring and summer
I’m more focused on working outdoors with my plant and animal
allies, genius loci, wildcrafting, and medicine making and during fall
and winter I turn my focus to working with my inner self and the
darker parts of my soul, the “gods” of the underworld, and the spirits
of dead including my ancestors whom I believe are free to roam the
earth from Samhain until the Spring Equinox. I also work in a similar
fashion with the sun and moon. I do positive magics under the light
of the sun for prosperity, healing, growth, gardening, arts, crafts,
writings etc. Under the moon, but mainly the dark and waning moon,
I’m more likely to be making my cursing and banishing powders,
incenses, and charms, working with the king and queen of elphame,
communing with the dead, performing divinations etc.

So in conclusion I don’t think “dark” magic is working with evil spirits

or systems like Goetia, but instead is recognizing that every light
casts a shadow and one cannot exist without the other.

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On Staves

March 11, 2010

It took me four years to realize that as a wand maker and writer, I

have never written a piece on wands before. I would like to start
with a disambiguation as there is much modern fakelore out there
about wands; wands were not invented by Gerald Gardner, they
were not invented by new agers, nor are they a modern ritual tool.
Staves, (referring to wooden staffs, wands, and other rods) are a
very ancient magical tool stemming from our Animistic ancestors
stretching further back than the stone age. As wood does not
preserve well over millennia, researchers must look to documented
historical uses of wooden staves, similar ritual tools made of metal,
bone or stone in later ages as well as the use of wooden staves by
untouched animistic tribes in the last two centuries. Do such
examples exist? Indeed they do –in spades and spanning across
cultures and continents.

Introduction

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I have met many neoPagans and traditional witches alike who use
staves but really have no idea what their history and

purpose is or how to use them in magic. I hope to remedy that in

this article with my research and own experience as a ritual tool
maker and tree worshipper. My god is the World Tree and he has
been hung upon it both willingly and unwillingly throughout myths
bringing back the mystical knowledge of trees; of their medicine as
well as staves, runes, and charms carved from their wood. Each
year he cuts himself down with his sharp axe in sacrifice so that
each year the tree, representing this time the fertile greenmantle of
the earth, can be reborn growing out of the mineral rich decay of the
previous dead tree. Within the lore of staves are the rich and
ancient mysteries of the Forest — the Earth when it was wild and
we were but babes just opening our eyes laying on the ground like
fallen fruit beneath the great World Tree.

The Different Types and Their Ritual Use

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Although the different types serve many differing purposes, they all
have one thing in common: what they represent. Simply, staves are
a symbol of the World Tree which is the axis mundi of our world and
of the universe itself. I will cover the ritual pillar and sacred grove
worship in another article on the World Tree.

The Staff

Not just belonging to Christian mythology, staffs are symbols of

power and status reserved for shamans or the priesthood of other
religions as well. Staffs are a magical ritual tool not just walking
sticks. Staffs are traditionally 3-6 feet in length and in general are
crafted to be the bearer’s shoulder height. Magicians who led
battles carried staffs, shamans and cunning folk who travelled from
village to village carried staffs, divine chieftains and peacemakers
carried them also – I’m referring to European, Asian, and Native
American cultures.

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In Pagan history staffs were used for protection, blessing, blasting,
for opening doors between worlds, runic calendars, peacekeeping
or crowd control, as well as spirit invoking and banishing. Oak or
Rowan were carried as a staff when travelling to protect the bearer
from either physical or spiritual harm. If a magician carries an Oak
or Blackthorn staff it was usually for magical protection and blasting.
Blasting isn’t just the throwing of curses, but also a charge of the
magician’s power blasted out of the staff to an attacker with an

269
effect like an electrical shock. Apple and Rowan staffs were used to
open doorways between worlds at threshold places and a Yew staff
would have been used to travel to the underworld. In Celtic folklore
a Rowan staff is used to protect the bearer from spirits and fairies
as well as to grant the bearer the ability to command them, within
reason, such as sending a ghost back to its grave or preventing a
spirit from doing harm.

A staff which is made to act in ritual as the World Tree is usually

carved with one or more serpents. This design is found across
cultures, but most commonly in the Greek, Norse, and African. The
serpent represents the wisdom and knowledge of the Universe and
grants the bearer access to divine inspiration whether it be for
magic, healing, or inspiration for arts and poetry.

The Stang

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There are many misconceptions about the stang in modern
Traditional Witchcraft; partly due to Robert Cochrane’s incomplete
writings about this tool and also due to the lack of research on the
part of modern Traditional Witchcraft authors who never looked
further than Cochrane. Stang is an Old English term for a distaff
which in its earliest form was simply a forked tree branch with two or
more tines. A distaff was a tool for handspinning used every day by
women for at least 2000 years before it went out of fashion with the
invention of the spinning wheel and its introduction to Europe in the
early 13th century and then mechanical wheels during the industrial
revolution. Raw carded fibre is tied to the top of the distaff which
was usually taller than the spinner and the fibre was continuously

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pulled, twisted and spun onto a spindle.

“The so-called ‘sacred object’ held in such reverence by some

witches was in fact a weaver’s distaff–and could easily be mistaken
for a phallic symbol. The weaver’s distaff, bound with reeds or
straw, appears frequently in rural carvings and elsewhere. It again
has reference to the Craft and supreme Deity. It would appear that
the witches were not in the least influenced by Freudian concepts.”

-– Robert Cochrane, On Cords

In mythology, the distaff represents the universal world tree and the
spindle is the axis mundi of the Earth. The distaff was also viewed
by Pagan cultures as the embodiment of the creative powers of the
Universe and of a woman and man –creating something from
nothing just as the Universe itself was created. In ancient myths a
creator Goddess spins the earth and everything upon it from her
distaff using the raw fibres of chaos. In Greek mythology it was
Clotho, one of the Three Fates who held the distaff and spun the

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thread of life. For ritual, the stang is struck into the ground
outdoors. The part in the earth reaching down to the underworld like
the roots of a tree, the branch representing our realm, and the tines
reaching to the heavens uniting the three realms and opening a
doorway to the Otherworld. Then the gods or spirits may be drawn
down or up through the stang to be petitioned or communicated with
during the ritual. A live tree or staff can be used in a similar manner.
In many Medieval depictions of witches flying to the sabbath, they
are flying on their distaffs –the bundled unspun fibres on the ends
often causing the distaffs to be mistaken as broomsticks which have
an entirely different use. Thus the witch flying to the sabbat on her
“stang” is really a metaphor of transvection for the witch using her
distaff to travel between worlds as the shamans of animistic cultures
flew up or down the world tree using their staff carved as a horse or
deer.

Male magicians are usually associated with a staff rather than a

distaff as it was not proper for men to spin in the past. For an
example, a punishment in Middle Age Britain called “riding the
stang” was for a man who had abused his wife or mother. He was
seated backwards upon a donkey while forced to hold the woman’s
distaff and was paraded through the village. For the man, this was
considered utter humiliation.

In magic and ritual use stangs can be used for spinning z-twist
thread for magic, working with the gods of Fate, invoking and
banishing, transvection, finding lost objects, leaving offerings, or as
a spirit trap.

The Wand

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Wands are miniature hand-held versions of the staff, stang, or pillar
– still representing the world tree. Wands are found across cultures,
but mainly in those stemming from Proto-Indo European religions as
well as Native American tribes. Wands are best made from wood to
directly connect with the association with the world tree, but ones
have been excavated from graves made of metal and bone as well.
Crystal wands do not represent the World Tree, but instead are
used for healing and spirit work as stones have the ability to house
spirits or energy. Metal wands also are not representative of the
World Tree, nor used as wooden wands are, and instead are
conductors of power and energy.

Wooden wands and staves are used for divination such as with
Ogham or Futhark runic staves, divination sticks like throwing sticks,
or as dowsing rods for locating water, ley lines, places of power,
stolen goods, burial sites, or treasure, etc. Wooden wands are also
traditionally used for blasting, which is the sending forth or
“throwing” of spells whether they are for healing, protection, cursing,
or as a weapon. A wood wand can also be used for opening doors
between worlds and travelling safely within the realms. Traditionally
they are also used for invoking gods or spirits and sending them
back to their realms and, depending on the wood used, they could
also be used to command spirits.

Wands were used by the Völva of the Norse and have been found
in their excavated graves, by the Egyptians in the form of their

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hand-held djeds, by the Celtic magicians and the later Cunning
Folk, as well as by the shamans of tribal animistic cultures across
the world such as the Coast Salish tribes of British Columbia,
Canada. What they all have in common is that they are a magical
ritual tool used by initiated “shamans” and not laypersons.

In Conclusion

It is only in the present with our modern technology and machines

that the use and meaning of staves has been forgotten, but the
remnants still remain for the determined magician to seek out in lore
and folktale. I plead with you modern witches, druids, and shamans
not to let them be forgotten or fall into disuse. Do not make or use a
stave without knowing why or how it is used as well as the history
behind it. But most of all, do not forget the trees, our ancestors,
which they and the knowledge of their use comes from.

I hope to follow up this article at a later time with another one on the
traditional crafting of wooden staves and which wood is best suited
for which ritual use. Until then I hope these words have helped the
reader to discover the purpose and history of staves.

References:

1. Barbeau, Marius. Medicine-Men on the North Pacific Coast.

National Museum of Canada, 1958.

2. Cochrane, Robert. “On Cords”. Pentagram, issue 3. March 1965.

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3. Harris-Logan, Stuart A. Singing With Blackbirds: The Survival of
Primal Celtic Shamanism in Later Folk Traditions. Grey House in
the Woods, 2006.

4. Harrison, Dick. & Svensson, Kristina. Vikingaliv. Natur och

Cultur: Stockholm, 2007.

5. Hochberg, Bette. Spin Span Spun: Fact and Folklore for

Spinners and Weavers. Bette Hochberg: California, 1979.

6. Hutton, Ronald. Shamans: Siberian Spirituality and the Western

Imagination. Hambledon & London, 2002.

7. MacAnTsaoir, Ian. “Divination and the Second Sight: Renowned

Gifts of the Gaels.” Clannada na Gadelica .

8. Pennick, Nigel. Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition. Thoth

Publications, 2002.

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Don’t Shoot the Messenger…

March 09, 2010

…But it’s Spring! I didn’t want to say anything as the East Coasters
have been barraged with cold, snow, storms, and power outages
(ew, that was us last year), but here on the West coast we’ve had
spring since January. It’s been unseasonably warm and sunny for
the rainforest and everyone’s allergies are going haywire with the
mass early amounts of pollen floating about. My garden started
growing back in late January so I now have potatoes, fennel, beans,
peppermint, catnip, thyme, oregano, calendula….

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When I walk home or through the woods all I see are flowers
everywhere; Cherry Blossoms, English Violets, Indian Plum,
Salmonberry, Red-Flowering Currant, Oregon Grape, Periwinkle….
I’ve even seen fern fiddleheads popping up months too early.

Flowers, genitals open to the world,

the wind, critters flying or crawling,
the whole forest a vagina–
bees like semen, promiscous and orgiastic,
butterflies feeding — proboscis curling
and uncurling, lips, petals, golden
pollen and amber, compound eyes.

~ Dale Pendell, Pharmakopoeia

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The Robins have already returned singing their beautiful song each
sunrise and the Canadian Geese have flown back. It will make for a
beautiful long spring and early summer and probably perfect
weather for my ritual groups camp-over Beltuinn deep in the woods.

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Butchery Prepared Me for Woodcarving

February 25, 2010

I had to learn butchery when I went to culinary school. At first I didn’t

like it, I was the girl in science class who couldn’t dissect her frog,
but I and my chef’s realized I was very good at it and very fast. I
started to like the feel of the knife, how delicate but sharp it is. I liked
the simple silence of following the patterns of muscle and finding the
tendons and joints to first dissect and then to portion meats. I could
portion with just my eyes not having to use a scale. My mind would
become so absorbed in the process that I forgot to think my normal
internal chatter and reached an almost meditative state. When I
started woodcarving it came naturally to me, like I’d always known
how to do it and had just needed to be reminded. Wood is like bone
and tissue – each branch has a soft core like the marrow of bone –

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through both flow fluid and nutrients. Outside of this core is a
delicate complex pattern of veins, woody flesh, knots, and burls
which must be carved with the knife in the direction of the patterns
of the wood’s grain or it will be a messy misscut and very difficult to
carve. The bark is the outer skin of the tree, it protects the inner
flesh and the soft core. When alive and green both the bark and the
flesh under it is most easily cut into and harmed. But when allowed
to age properly for a year or more the wood becomes rigid and hard
almost as stone.

I also learned from butchery to acknowledge what I am cutting was

once a living being and to have feeling for it – whether it was a
freshly killed moose my dad and Tahltan neighbour were about to
butcher in the garage or a freshly cut branch from a Rowan tree. I
learned to make my cuts deserving of its death; creating the most
beautiful lamb chop or a well carved wand. I think any craftsman

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should care deeply about the materials he or she works with, how
else can one create something of skill and beauty?

So that’s how I learned to carve wood. The little things I picked up

from talking to other woodcarvers, or just from trial and error.
Woodcarving is my meditation and I don’t do it nearly often enough.
The longer you do something the better you get at it – I’m rusty! I
hope to change that this late winter and early spring with both
friends’ orders and original pieces. Amulets, prayer beads, ritual
tools, runes, charms…. I miss the crafting of them despite the
bloody thumbs from carving and the cracked skin from the
sandpaper.

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Rowan Ogham Fews and a Barn Owl

February 16, 2010

These are for a lovely local woman whose site you may have
stumbled across from my blog: . She made me one of her
amazingly gorgeous necklaces and in return I just had to make her
something equally beautiful back! As she coveted my detailed
ogham staves I agreed to make a set for her with a box to match.
The box is pyrographed with a Barn Owl sitting in a Rowan tree with
the Ogham alphabet in the fish-tail font wrapped around the sides.
The staves themselves are made from Rowan wood I cut myself
from the forest, cured, sanded then carved, woodburned, and
painted. I personally do not like or believe in varnishing wood so
these are finished with raw linseed oil and my own wood balm made

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with almond and linseed oils as well as preserving Cedar and
Lavender essential oils – and of course my blessing oil.

The entire process, not including the curing of the wood, takes
about a week in total from start to finish working on them every day.
Counting curing the wood it took me about a month. I know what
you’re thinking, “these are lovely – can I have a set?” Unfortunately
the answer is no — I will not be making these anymore due to all
the time and work involved, but I will be making plain carved ones
with the ogham runes traditionally reddened along with Furthark
runes traditionally carved and reddened as well.

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Rowan – Ogham Card Progress

February 15, 2010

(click on images to enlarge)

I’ve been working on the Rowan card for the Ogham deck when I’ve
had time – and I’ve needed a lot of it! The leaves alone took about
six hours to finish… I’m really happy with the results so far. I want
the cards to be useful for tree identification as well, so for the card
frames I’m trying to stay as true to the actual tree as is possible with
illustration. For this card, the left tree has ripened Rowan berries
and the tree on the right is in spring flower. Protective charms hang
down from the branches representing Rowan’s protective and
magical powers.

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There is still some work to be done on the Adder snake and the
calligraphy for the card title, but then I am free to fill in the illustration
with watercolours! I love watercolours, they are possibly my
favourite medium.

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Books of Celtic Shamanism

February 11, 2010

Most people, especially North Americans, associate the word

“shamanism” with Native American spirituality and practices. But
the word actually applies to a type of practitioner and shaman
literally translate as something along the lines of “mystical person
with magical powers”. Shamanism is not restricted to Siberia nor to
Asia, nor to Native tribes in North America. Shamanism is found
wherever Animism lives and, as most cultures started off as
Animists, shamanism can be found within almost every culture —
including the pre-Christian Celtic and Germanic tribes. If you’ve
ever been interested in shamanism, but thought you couldn’t get
away with it as you follow a Celtic path, these books are for you!
These books are not modern made-up systems. The following
books are based on years of research and study to find the
shamanism within Celtic culture that early monks so easily erased
from history.

Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise Woman Healer

by Gearoid O’Crualaoich

The author explores oral lore and storytelling to uncover the bean
feasa, the wise women and healers of pre-Christian Ireland and
their practices which are very shamanistic in nature. He explores
their nature, their beliefs, their practices, and their overall
importance to their communities. O’Crualaoich also provides a rich

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body of lore in the full tales he includes in this work.

Cunning Folk

By Emma Wilby

By British she really means mostly Scottish. This is a

ground-breaking work that shook the world of modern witchcraft by
proving a link between early modern European witchcraft and
shamanism. This wasn’t a new idea, but Wilby was one of the first
to provide evidence to match the claim, evidence one can’t ignore!
She compares the beliefs and practices of UK Cunning Folk to
ancient and modern Shamanic practitioners. Although this is an
academic study, the modern witch and shaman can easily glean
practices and ideas from the work as well as insight. As Wilby’s
work is full of Scottish slang you might want to have the Dictionary
of the Scots Language at hand. My tip is to say the Scottish phrases
out loud just as they are spelled to better understand what they
mean.

The Gaelic Otherworld

By John Gregorson Campbell

This is a modern compilation of John Gregorson Campbell’s two

classic works: Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland
from 1900 and Witchcraft and the Second Sight in the Highlands &
Islands of Scotland from 1902. Campbell was a fluent Gaelic

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speaker and also a well-known folklorist in his time. These two
works compiled together are based on the material he gathered in
the field from the 1850-60s before his death in 1891. The Gaelic
Otherworld is of value for those practicing Celtic shamanism as it is
a practical book of beliefs and superstitions of the rural peoples of
Scotland as well as the practices of their witches, fairy doctors,
healers, wise women, and seers. It contains spells, incantations,
healing remedies, beliefs, and practices. Whereas the previous
books mentioned are more theology-based, this one will allow you
to get your hands dirty –especially when used along with Alexander
Carmichael’s .

By Stuart A. Harris-Logan

This wonderful work is by a traditional folk healer and Gaelic

speaker. His research is astonishing and honest and I can’t believe
more people haven’t heard of or read this work published in 2006.
Stuart explores Gaelic oral and written lore to uncover the existence
of shamans in ancient Celtic cultures and he finds them! He is also
very thorough in uncovering and describing their practices, abilities,
ritual costume, ritual tools, incantations, spells, as well as the
famous deeds of Celtic shamans long forgotten. A definite must
read for would-be Celtic Shamans!

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Digging for Roots

February 06, 2010

After finally figuring out why I’ve been feeling so sick this past month
(turns out I’m allergic to all cow related products at an anaphylactic
level and my cheese addiction wasn’t helping. Hmm… is it
coincidence my god is sometimes represented as a bull? ), I finally
had a clear head and enough energy to hike into the rainy woods
this morning for some wildcrafting. Something I haven’t done since
teaching others how to make smudge wands. This time I was
looking for roots and harvested a few Oregon Grape roots for their
anti-inflammatory properties to be used in salves as well as some
Blackberry “mother” roots for magic (mother as in a big ass root
which multiple blackberry plants stem from).

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Even though I was collecting them for medicine, I still talked to the
Oregon Grape roots. I do this when berry picking too or other
seemingly mundane harvesting. I just let the plants know what I was
up to; how many I needed to harvest, what I was going to use them
for, and which ones wanted to volunteer to help out people in need
of their medicine. Five agreed and I used a simple digging stick and
brute strength to pull them up from the wet soil. I left behind the bits
I would not use where I harvested them from to decompose and
feed the future generations much like the local Natives bring salmon
bones back to the river they were fished from so they will return
again the next year.

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Then I brought them home and washed up the roots in the sink and
set them to dry on the counter while I headed off to my mythology
and folklore class. Today we learned about the Heroic Pattern in
myths and legends and it was very fascinating – mostly revolving
around the themes of initiation and rebirth. You’ll probably see the
influence in the third episode of Hedgefolk Tales as I’ve also been
reading a bunch of theses on the initiations of shamans within the
local Coast Salish tribes (I’m a major nerd).

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Divisions of Witchcraft

January 30, 2010

Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?

Tell any non-Pagan with a sense of humour that you are a witch and
this familiar question from the Wizard of Oz is usually the response
you receive. The familiar reply of Neopagans is “none of us are bad
witches, we are only good! We worship the Earth Goddess, eat
vegetarian, and hug trees!” Your average arm-chair Pagan with their
nose in a book will say: “That’s just a myth, there are no divisions in
witchraft and there’s no such thing as bad witches and there never
were! Witches were village wise women and men, healers, diviners,
and they would never hurt anyone!”

Well those are both lovely if naïve viewpoints akin to removing all
the negative cards from a tarot deck and leaving only the positive

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ones –you can still perform readings, but they will not be complete,
truthful, or balanced. A short peek into history as well as local
folktales shows these viewpoints come up short on truth. Look to
the classic works of the founders of modern witchcraft like Sybil
Leek, Doreen Valiente, and Paul Huson and you will find the same
warnings against dark sorcerers and black magicians as found in
folktale. Legends, which are based on true events and people, all
over the world also warn the listener of black magicians hungry to
steal power from the souls of the living and curse their enemies; the
evil sorcerers from Russian tales (i.e. The Frog Princess), stories of
rival shamans from Siberia to British Columbia, Medea and Circe
from Greek myth, Black Annis from British folklore, La Ianara from
Italian folklore, and many more. By making poor choices in your life
that degrade your soul and the souls of those around you, anyone
can easily and unintentionally become a black magician, it is simply
one of the pitfalls of walking this oft crooked path of witchcraft.

Divisions of Witchcraft and Shamanism

When you break it down there are essentially two types: witches
and witch doctors. What’s the difference? Well, go to rural Africa or
India and proudly tell the locals you’re a witch and they will most
likely chase you away with farming implements or actually kill you,
but tell them you’re a witch doctor and they will treat you with a
fearful respect and probably try to hire your services. Witchcraft is
the practice of magic and ritual for personal benefit whereas a witch
doctor’s magic and knowledge are for the benefit, protection, and
healing of their entire community. For example, the Cunning Folk,
Fairy Doctors, Spaewives, and Pellars of the UK were actually witch
doctors not witches. Their magics were to prevent and protect from

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witchcraft, the evil eye, and harm caused by the good folk.

Now having said this it is also important to understand that many

folk magic practitioners throughout the world were both witches and
witch doctors and many practitioners hold the belief that, although
you can be one or the other, it is best to be both and use both
hands when practicing magic. For example, you cannot become a
medical doctor by only learning about treating illnesses, you also
have to learn all about disease or you will be unable to diagnose
and therefore unable to treat patients. The same goes for a witch
doctor, you must work with both your right and left hands in order for
your practice to be balanced and complete — much like the oft
misunderstood Bokor of Haitian Vodou. If you are a witch in the
sense that you only practice magic for your personal benefit (which
is not a bad thing at all as most witches are this type), then learning
how to use both hands is less important. But if you wish to serve
others with your magic it becomes necessary to acknowledge and
work with both the dark and bright.

One of my favourite comparisons of the divisions belongs to author

and mystic Dale Pendell who describes two types of witches: Sun
and Moon sorcerers. The Sun sorcerer works on this earthly plane
practicing healing, love, and fertility magics working with the lighter
gods and benevolent nature spirits. The Moon sorcerer is usually a
necromancer working with the underworld, night, and darkness and
who’s practices include darker more mysterious magics and rituals
involving the gods of the underworld and souls of the dead as well
as malevolent spirits known to the Scots as the Unseelie Court. The
Moon sorcerer’s magic is for personal gain and so can the Sun
sorcerer’s be, but they also serve and heal others whereas the

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Moon sorcerer does not. It is obviously much more dangerous to be
a Moon practitioner as for many that road leads to madness and
darkness of the soul. But if one blends both they are protected by
the light when entering the dark and can travel to the both the
Otherworld and Underworld and back whole and untouched by
madness. Just as it is dangerous to work only with the light and
good it is equally as dangerous, if not more so, to only focus on the
dark aspects of the Craft.

This warning is reflected in the Fairy Queen’s words to Thomas the

Rhymeras she takes him with her on the journey to the Otherworld:

“O see ye not that narrow road,

So thick beset with thorns and briers?
That is the path of righteousness,
Tho after it but few enquires.

And see not ye that broad broad road,

That lies across that lily leven ?
That is the path to wickedness,
Tho some call it the road to heaven.

And see not ye that bonny road,

That winds about the fernie brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland,
Where thou and I this night must gae.”

She is saying there are three roads to travel: the difficult road full of
pain from hard lessons won which leads to purity and balance of the
mind, spirit, and body; then the path of least resistance which is the

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easy road of pleasure, vice, and self-satisfaction and only leads to
corruption of the spirit; and also the fair road of the woods and wilds
which leads one to the Otherworld overlapping our own from which
the practitioner can learn the mysteries of the wilds and of the
universe.

Other Practitioner Divisions

Across Animistic cultures who had some form of shamanic

practitioner, there were many divisions not just one general
“shaman” or witch or the two types mentioned above. In many of
these cultures there are also types of practitioner who they do not
even classify as shamans and who are considered specialists. The
following terms I use are just simple ones I’ve chosen because they
are easily recognizable and understandable. Each individual culture
has their own titles for these types of practitioner as well as more
unique divisions, so I highly recommend looking into the divisions
within the cultural framework you work within.

Divine King/Queen – Usually mystics and shaman-kings. Chiefs,

kings, and leaders who had supernatural powers bestowed upon
them by the land they are guardian of. The Divine or Sacred King is
not a sacrifice, instead he/she is the heart of a people governing
both the land and water’s fertility, happiness, and stability. This type
receives their power from both their people and the local land
spirits. Their duty is to use their powers and rituals given by their
spirits and ancestors for the benefit of their entire community. After
visiting the gods and spirits they return with codes of law, ethics,
and societal rules. They are also expected to act as intermediary
between the spirit realm and our realm for the happiness and

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harmony of those who dwell in both worlds. The Divine King/Queen
is a healer of the land, but not of people as their responsibilities and
powers are considered too great and important to expend on every
person in their community. In this case it is the good of the many
over the one or the few – Divine King/Queens are chosen, not born,
but it is often a hereditary position.

Healers – Usually your average shaman, witch, witchdoctor,

rootworker, or other folk magic and medicine practitioner. They heal
the body, mind, and spirit not just treating symptoms like modern
medical doctors. They were and still are highly respected and
revered for their abilities. Healers are able to directly communicate
with the spirits of plants, minerals, and animals and learn spirit
medicine from them. Healers also belong to the community and
there is no room for selfishness in their practice. The healer is akin
to the Divine King also acting as intermediary between realms, but
on a smaller more individual scale helping all their people who come
to them for aid and healing. Most “shamans” are typically healers as
it is the most common type. Healers can be taught and granted their
powers, they do not have to be born with them.

Lore-Keeper – The holder of oral lore, myths, tales, fables, and

history of a people and their beliefs and traditions. These are the
bards, poets, musicians, storytellers, oral historians, oral
genealogists, etc who are inspired by the divine and trained in their
skills for many years, usually from a very young age into adulthood.
Very few true to this type still exist as many were wiped out by
conquering peoples and new religions. In some of the local Native
tribes where I live this person is usually female and holds the title of
Copperwoman. This practitioner is taught and not born. They can

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also be gifted with their abilities and access to ancestral lore.

Necromancer/Medium – A practitioner who specifically works with

the spirits of the dead, the ancestors. This practitioner is a natural
medium born with the innate gift to commune with and/or see the
dead which cannot be taught. They also have the ability to be
possessed by spirits so they may speak to those who cannot see or
hear them. However, precautions must still be taken to protect the
medium and they must be as good at banishing as they are at
evoking. They are greatly feared and highly respected and usually
only called upon in times of death or near-death to perform their
sacred rituals and ceremonies to help souls properly cross over and
complete their journey from our world to the next. They are also
called upon to help with lost spirits and hauntings. In the Coast
Salish tongue of British Columbia they are called Seuwa, in the UK
they were known as Sin-Eaters, and were also known as
Morthwyrtha or Völva in old Norse who were usually priestesses of
the goddesses Freyja and Hel.

Ritualists – Practitioners who specialize in necessary rituals,

especially when it comes to rites of passage and the cycles of the
Earth’s seasons. This type has a natural knack for leading people in
ritual, bringing others into trance states, and also bringing others
into the presence of the spirits. Ritualists can be trained and do not
have to be born with their gifts. Their abilities can also be gifts from
their familiar spirits or their gods. I would say most modern Wiccans
and Pagans who are in the priesthood fall under this category.

Seers – Someone born with the gift of second-sight, prophecy, and

fore-telling. It was believed this type could not be trained, they had

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to be born with innate psychic abilities and in some cultures the
“gift” was considered hereditary. Like the other types mentioned,
Seers also serve their community with duties including foretelling
the weather, war, natural disasters, the movements of animals for
hunting and fishing, the actions of others, the reasons behind the
actions of others, the truth of a dispute, where lost or stolen objects
can be found, as well as foretelling the usual themes of love,
money, children, and happiness which are the reasons so many
people today flock to tarot readers and psychics. Seers are the
clairvoyants, psychics, oracles, and soothsayers who are
considered a class of their own usually considered unrelated to
witchcraft and magic but with many practitioners having this ability
on top of their other supernatural powers.

A true and very powerful shaman is all of the above and more.

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So Begins the Ogham Deck

January 24, 2010

Many years ago a lovely wise woman and professional Ogham

diviner Judith Crow created a system of tree Ogham divination and
commissioned an artist to create the cards for it which can be found
here:

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The cards were never published, just used for her own professional
readings. Recently she has realized her system has since
developed over time and the original cards no longer match the
system as it has evolved. While she is re-writing and fleshing out
the original companion book, I am working on new artwork for each
card using archival inks and lovely Windsor & Newton watercolours.
Snobby artist yes I am! First, each card will be drawn in pencil, then
finished with black ink for the book illustrations. Then I will fill in the
illustrations with watercolours for the actual cards. My wonderful
artsy friend took me to Opus at Granville Island yesterday (after
which we consumed copious amounts of Strongbow), to
recommend which supplies to get for what I’m planning so now I’m
all stocked up and ready to get started!

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We hope to publish the deck and book so anyone can use it. I think
the two of us are a good blend for this deck, Judith the brainy
researcher and historian, and me the right-brained artist! Once the
paintings are coming along I will create a website for the deck so
others can view it’s progress and know when it’s finished and
available.

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Baba Yaga Will Eat Your Soul

January 21, 2010

When I was twenty years old I moved back to British Columbia, my

home. But no safe home did I move into, no, instead I lived with
Baba Yaga upon my return. A small old one-story Victorian house
with a witch’s overgrown weedy garden and sacred trees guarding it
all; she opened the front door for me and I willingly went inside. She
gave me a mat for my bed on her dining room floor. Moss grew on
the windows and seedlings on the edges of the walls. For three
months I swept and washed her floors, scrubbed her bathroom and
kitchen of their eternal mould, cooked meals, took out the garbage,
and watered the plants. I was Baba Yaga’s servant. In exchange
she told me she would teach me the arts of cunning. She told me
she was a healer, a herbalist, a diviner, a witch. Her words and
promises charmed me, but little did I receive from her in exchange
for three months of servitude. I met her past servants during this
time. They were shells of human beings — bodies with no souls —
mad, listless, schitzophrenic and she saw nothing amiss with this. I
began to realize how ill Baba Yaga was, both physically and
mentally. She should’ve been dead with all her illnesses. “How
could she heal others when she can not heal herself?”, I thought.
Ah, but she could heal herself, but herself alone for she had
unintentionally become a dark sorcerer warned of in the old Russian
folktales. She fed off the souls of others to stay alive. She would
speak to me of my power and potential and how it could be
harnessed, but she did not mean by me. Baba Yaga meant to eat
me, to shove me into her oven, to feast of my soul as she had on
the others before me. But like Vassilisa the brave and beautiful I

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was cunning and pure of heart. I listened to my intuition, the little
voice of truth, and I tricked the witch. I escaped her clutches, not
unscathed, but with my soul still intact. I left at the midnight hour
and did not tell her where I was going. I burned all she had given
me and anything of mine she had touched. I quickly learned how to
shield and protect myself lest she find me through magical means.

It was not for nothing that I apprenticed with the evil Baba Yaga.
She had many lessons to teach me, but at the time I did not value
them. She was a mirror for myself, my soul. What I could become if
I made the same choices she had made. I was innocent, naive, and
trusting before I walked through her door, but when I left I was wary,
watchful, and aware of the evils that could dwell within the world as
well as a woman’s soul; the lies, bitterness, resentment, anger, but
most of all fear. Fear to trust and fear to love lest you be hurt and
also fear to die. If I let fear rule my life I would become her and
therefore like my enemies. She was not truly evil this Baba Yaga,
but much evil had been done to her in her lifetime – great evil. She
did not tell me so directly, but I could read the stains of it on her soul
as plain as day. Instead of letting the evil pass through her and
finding forgiveness for herself and the evildoers, she became that
which she despised so much and, as many ill and abused people
do, she became the abuser. But unlike her I refused to be abused
and left her to her wicked ways. I once wished her dead, but now I
only wish her peace as her soul will not find rest in the underworld
due to all her wickedness.

I wish I could say this tale weren’t true, that it was fiction or
happened to someone else, but alas not. Sometimes when you go
to Baba Yaga for light she gives you darkness instead, reflecting the

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darkness within your own soul. If you do not accept this truth of
yourself you will go mad and live in fear of it, but if you accept your
inner darkness and know it is only ever potential, never realized
unless you make it so — you will follow the true path of your soul’s
journey once more and be gifted with more than you first sought.

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New Podcast: New World Witchery

January 15, 2010

Do you like podcasts like The Crooked Path, Celtic Myth Podshow,
Ravencast, Druidcast, or Spoken Lore? Then you will love this new
podcast – – which the hosts Cory and Laine describe as the
different cultural witchcraft traditions and practice that embedded
themselves in American culture thanks to immigrants, indigenous
peoples, and displaced slaves. Follow with them on their journey to
discover the different witchcraft and folk magic traditions present in
America today as well as their history. New World Witchery is both
an entertaining and educational show which both traditional witches
and American folk magic practitioners will love. They plan to release
two episodes a month with educational blog posts in between

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shows.

Happy Listening!

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Introduction to Animal Familiars

January 14, 2010

“White-Tail Deer as Totem” by Ravenari

True witches and shamans have familiar spirits – we just do –

whether we like it or not. Some have animal, plant, mineral, or
ancestral spirit guides/ helpers/ allies/ familiars, and some have one
or more of each, but in this article I will be talking specifically of
animal familiars. Most modern Pagans believe you can only have an
animal familiar and that it’s a real animal you go to the store and
purchase or to a shelter and adopt. Another misconception is that
your familiar is your “totem” and of course due to this there are the
armchair reading Pagans who say you cannot have a totem if you
are from non-Native descent, that’s culture theft, haha so there!
Well, they’re wrong too and I’ll explain why, but first I must define
Animism and Totemism.

Totemism stems from Animism which every culture’s spiritual beliefs

evolved from at some point in time. Animism is the belief that
everything has a spirit and a consciousness — a soul– from the
tiniest microorganism on earth to the planets in the heavens.
Animists usually believe in rebirth & reincarnation either as another
human, or an animal, tree, or star. Anything or one can be an
ancestor and in a way this is true as even scientists will tell you
every single thing in the Universe is created from the same dust
resulting from the explosion of the “big bang”. Spirits of place
(genus loci) are thought to be a soul who has come to reside in a
hill, stream, or grove as its guardian and benefactor. Animism is

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usually viewed as more primitive with Polytheism being seen as
more advanced (think Stone Age vs. the Roman Empire). But as
many modern religious scholars have discovered there is more
natural harmony and more earthly wisdom within animism than
almost any other world religion. You can easily have one without the
other, however, in some cultures the two did go hand in hand: the
Norse had their pantheon as well as strong beliefs in land spirits
and even the ancient Greeks had spirits of springs, rivers, hills,
forests, etc which were worshipped almost at the same level of
devotion if not more as their pantheon of deities with sacrifices,
offerings and festivals in their honour. Anthropologists call these
divisions the “low cult” (animism) and the “high cult” (polytheism).

Totemism is the belief that your family, tribe, or village have some
kinship link with a specific animal, plant, or mineral –contrary to the
belief that totems are just animals. My own Scottish clan was known
as the Yew Tribe once upon a time, meaning we believed we had a
kinship affinity with the Yew tree. Another example is a small tribe in
Africa today who believe they are descended from crocodiles and
revere them as ancestors in an annual ceremony where a cow is
butchered and fed to the crocs. There are many such folktales
which explain the origin of a tribe’s totem. Each person has only one
totem and it is the same as everyone else in their family. You do not
work with this totem on a regular basis, you do not ask it for aid in
your magic or day to day tasks, and you do not ask for your totem’s
aid except in life and death situations of dire need. Even then, it is
taboo in most animistic cultures to call upon your totem more than
once or twice in your lifetime. It is totems you do not eat of as it is
taboo, not animal or other familiars. The consequences are
supposed to be severe illness, severe bad luck, or death.

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So you can only have one totem for your entire life, but your animal
familiars may change throughout the course of your lifetime and you
will usually have more than one at a time.

“Totem Art” by Ravenari

Can anyone have an animal familiar?

Yes, you do not need to be a shaman, seer, priest/ess, witch,

hedgewitch, etc to have or acquire animal familiars. The ordinary
layperson/pagan throughout Pagan Animistic cultures also takes on
spirit guides, the differences being: the layperson’s is an ordinary
animal found in nature and the shaman has at least one
supernatural creature or being as a familiar; the shaman or witch
can see and/or directly communicate with their animal familiar
whereas the layperson cannot; and the shaman’s familiar(s) gift him
or her their supernatural powers as well as knowledge and wisdom
whereas the layperson’s might gift them with knowledge,
foreknowledge, or aid with troublesome situations, but not with
magical abilities. Anyone can be a Pagan, but not everyone has the
ability to be the priesthood of the Pagans as it is an innate talent
and gift one is given and cannot be taken.

Can you have more than one animal familiar?

Yes, records of witches and shamans report they had anywhere

from one to ten familiar spirits which can include plants allies,
mineral allies, or spirits of the dead as well. I myself currently have
six – two plants, two insects, one land animal, and one bird.

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Why have one or more?

Because, as mentioned above, they can gift you with their

knowledge and/or power. Imagine knowing all the uses of the your
local wild plants and medicines that can be made from them.
Imagine all the wisdom an animal has living in perfect harmony with
nature by following their true purpose and instinct as the animal they
are. They can teach you how to live in harmony with your body and
your environment. Also, your animal familiars can come to your aid
when called or even when they sense you are in danger. They can
gift you with supernatural powers: second sight, foreknowledge,
healing with your hands, the ability to travel between worlds, the
ability to see and hear spirits of the unseen realms, the ability to
converse with the spirits of the dead, among other talents. Also,
when you converse and work with spirits both great and small and
travel to the Otherworlds, your animal familiars can take you there
and back safely as well as protect you while you are there. Think of
the Siberian shaman flying into the heavens on his Reindeer or on
the wings of an Eagle. It is incredibly easy to lose your soul to spirits
or to get lost in the unseen realms and your animal guides prevent
this from happening.

How do I acquire an animal familiar?

First of all, they select you, not the other way around. Everyone
wishes their familiar was a bear, wolf, mountain lion, fox — all the
usual suspects — but in reality this is usually not the case. In most
cases an apprentice witch or shaman starts with smaller less
powerful animal helpers and over time as their power and
knowledge increases they acquire stronger and more powerful

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animal familiars. Keep in mind that the size of an animal does not
reflect its power as some of the most powerful animals are also the
smallest. In cases of true hereditary witchcraft or shamanism animal
familiars can be inherited from a dying elder as they have a vested
interest in you as family. Even though you cannot select one, you
can seek them out and invite them into your life, but you cannot
request which animal they will be.

Do not expect your animal helper to appear to you inside your home
or within a city as domesticated creatures are as far removed from
harmony with nature as we are. Also, do not think you have to go on
a vision quest to acquire them – this is only to be used within the
cultural context – as in you’re from an indigenous tribe who
practices it. Don’t spend all your energy looking for your familiar to
be one of the usual suspects everyone claims when in reality that
golden orb spider on your favourite woodland path has been trying
to get your attention for years! Do not forget that “animal” familiar
includes insects, birds, as well as creatures of fresh and saltwater.
Today’s city dwellers have such negative views of wild animals and
insects that no wonder many haven’t found their familiars – they’re
terrified or grossed out by them!

To acquire your familiar you must first venture out into nature – real
wild nature, not a tidy safe campsite full of playing children and
blaring stereos. This factor is prescribed in all Animistic cultures
who take on familiars. First, the animal will appear to you plain as
day – whether it is a vision, daydream, or real life – who is to say?
But they will appear before you nonetheless – in reality not in a
visualization or guided meditation. You may miss it completely if it is
a native animal, but exotic species will definitely get your attention!

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As in “what’s that tiger doing in the Saskatchewan prairie?”! If it is a
native animal do not assume right away it is your familiar, it could
just be a chance meeting, but if it appears to you 3, 4, or 7 etc times
in unusual circumstances there is no question. Unusual
circumstances can mean out of season, strange behaviour,
interacting with you in a way the actual animal simply does not, or it
listens to you and understands your speech and reacts to it… and
sometimes talks back. These are dead giveaways you’ve met your
animal familiar. Also keep in mind that sightings or dreams of a
particular animal may not mean it is your familiar, but sacred to your
God(s) and a messenger from them – to find out use divination.
Many have recurring dreams of animals, this is them trying to get
your attention, but until you see the animal before your very eyes,
they are not yet yours.

Methods

Disclaimer – I do not recommend any or all of the methods

prescribed nor do I take any responsibility for those who chose to try
them

However having said all this, the seeing is not the acquiring it is the
knowing. In order to claim your familiar there is a ritual ahead; you
must lose consciousness without falling asleep — the little death,
the sacred threshold between sleep and awake, life and death — to
achieve an altered state. This can be achieved in multiple ways so
chosing one that fits your comfort level is not difficult. Some
methods include ingesting or inhaling entheogens (mind-altering
drugs, but never alcohol as it is for a different purpose), breathing
techniques (breathing too little or too much), death postures,

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extreme physical exhaustion (pushing your body to its absolute limit
until you pass out), fasting & dehydration (results in hypoglycemia
which creates an altered mental state), extreme purging of bodily
fluids and waste by using purgatives or emetics (also results in
dehydration and hypoglycemia). Traditional methods within tribes
included practices as dangerous as being kicked and beaten until
unconscious, thrown into freezing lakes or rivers repeatedly until
you pass out, having to run up and down a mountain until you pass
out, being ritually cut or mutilated until you faint, etc. The other
methods aren’t looking so bad now…

The idea is that when you are in this special state your spirit can
journey to the spirit world to meet with and learn from your animal
familiar. When you return/wake up you will have any knowledge or
wisdom the animal gave you as well as possibly supernatural
powers that you did not have before the rite. Sometimes they will
give you a new name or title you bring back to your people and this
is how shamans of old determined if you were faking or not, but this
is not reported in every Animistic culture.

The rest is up to you my friends. May you be worthy.

References & Resources:

• Anderson, Cora. Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition

• Bates, Brian. The Way of Wyrd

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• Eliade, Mircea. Rites and Symbols of Initiation : The Mysteries of
Birth and Rebirth

• Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy

• Jilek, Wolfgang G. Indian healing : Shamanic Ceremonialism in

the Pacific Northwest Today

• Jorgensen, Grace M.M. A Comparative Examination of

Northwest Coast Shamanism

• Müller-Ebeling, Räsch, & Storl. Witchcraft Medicine: Healing

Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants

• Wilby, Emma. Cunning Folk & Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic

Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and
Magic

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New Books & Wildcrafting

January 10, 2010

My sweetie Mojo who knows me well found my Amazon wishlist and

cleaned it out! My droolworthy books didn’t arrive in time for Yule or
Christmas, but they’re here now and it’s like an extra birthday or
Yule! From left to right there’s: , by Kenneth Johnson, by Cindy
Renfrow, and by Robert Kirk. The only one that hasn’t arrived in the
mail yet, as it’s coming all the way from the UK, is by Stuart
Harris-Logan

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Also, as I focus much of my energy and craft on the Master and
recently received a message from the Old Lady herself to stop
ignoring her, I added these Goddess books to my wishlist and
LOVE them all – these books are on TRUE women’s mysteries not
the fluff and requisite hugs I’ve experienced in the past– by
Sharynne MacLoed NicMhacha, by Hilda Ellis Davidson (I’d
seriously marry this author, she’s also head of the London Folklore
Society), and by Andreas Johns. Thought Baba Yaga was just a
folktale witch? She is one of the oldest forms of the goddess from
the low cult of the common people. Proto-Indo-European history is
sexy!

Yesterday I had my apprentice and neighbours over again, we

spent the day half in the woods wildcrafting and half sitting on my
kitchen floor turning our harvest into smudge wands. No pictures of
the wildcrafting as they don’t want their faces shown, but above is a

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picture of the Cedar and Juniper smudge wands we made as well
as the Blackberry twigs we de-thorned and wire wrapped to make
witch’s whisks. Thanks to their lovely efforts I should have smudge
wands restocked in the Botanica this week.

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Magic in the New Year

January 08, 2010

It’s a new year, the sun still came up and the omens for the coming
year are fortuitous! For the first footing, it is a funny story. No one
came through the door on New Year’s day nor the weekend… but
on Monday the first person to pass the threshold was the mailman.
He crossed the threshold to hand me a big parcel. But it wasn’t my
regular mailman who is fair-haired and blue-eyed, no, this fellow
was dark of eye and hair with ruddy skin and he was quite pleasant!
A dark man is the best omen in first footing – it means a happy and
prosperous New Year full of good luck. When my normal mailman
reapeared a few days later, he said there had been an incident
trying to get home from his Christmas vacation and his flight got
delayed –interesting no? This witch doesn’t believe in

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coincidences…

At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s day, I ran around the house
and opened every window and door to welcome it in and to take out
the old. I left offerings on my altars – Jim Bean and a fine Cuban
cigar for Papa Legba and a shot of damn good aged whiskey for the
Cailleach – she doesn’t care so much for tobacco. Below is a tarot
reading for a client I performed at the altar. When I read tarot the
messages are delivered through the spirits of the dead, not the
cards themselves (the cards are like mediators so I can translate
the meaning in the messages) and so it must be done in ritual.

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A Crow from the Dark Goddess

January 07, 2010

I posted a while back about finding a newly dead crow in my

wanderings. A poor wee thing, quite old (maybe 10-15 years) with
very bad arthritis in her feet. She died of old age, illness, or fell out
of a tree due to the bad condition of her feet as there were no
wounds from an animal or car, but she had some old scars on her
wings from the claws of other crows during fights. Still lovely and
whole, black beak shining with all her feathers glistening blue,
green, and purple in the sunlight, I gently wrapped her in a cloth
bag, thanked both the crow and the Dark Lady for the generous gift
and took her home. She had lived a long life –been a lover, wife,
mother, grandmother, and possibly even a great-great grandmother!
A wise experienced crow with much to teach and share if used to
make a spaewife’s tools.

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I finally had the time today to take care of the crow properly and
invited my neighbours, also witches, over to both learn and help. I
showed them how to cut at the joints devoid of bone and use a
small saw instead of a knife for cleaner easier cuts. We removed
the wings, the distinctive fan of tail feathers, one foot and three toes
as the hind claw on her second foot had too large an infected sore
from her arthritis to be usable. The toes will become charms, the
foot will tip a stave, the wings and tail feathers will become smudge
fans. The freezer killed any bacteria and mites, salt and good air
circulation will take care of the rest. Afterward we buried her in my
garden reverentially with a spirit apple to finally send her on her
journey to the otherworld (in folklore it is believed the soul of the bird
isn’t set free until the heart is burned or decomposed). I will wait five
weeks and then I will perform a ceremony to dig her up again for her

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rebirth – rebirth as skull and bones. They do not come from the
earth perfect, there is still cleaning and bleaching to do. If you
choose to do such things, wear gloves and a mask and never cut
open the belly of a wild animal, especially when you don’t know how
long it’s been dead for, as there are pathogens and bacteria inside
that can make you severely ill or even die if you breathe them in.
Whatever tools or surfaces you use if not in nature, bleach them.

So, still think you want to be a witch? I grew up on farms and in the
deep wilderness, gutting salmon by raging rivers feeding their
innards to the eager seagulls, watching my dad and our Native
neighbour butcher a freshly killed moose in the garage… and then
raising pigs, turkeys, and cows for meat. I took butchery in cooking
school and I was good at it. This type of work does not bother me. I

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feel sorrow for the loss of life and I promise I won’t waste a thing,
that I will use every bone and feather with intention, reverence, and
thanks in rememberance of the crow’s gift. Familiar spirits worked
with out of love serve one much better and longer than those
enslaved by threat and fear. True magical power comes from living
in harmony with nature and yourself.

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Sneak Peek at a New Project

January 03, 2010

I’ve dreamed for many a year of being a storyteller in the tradition of

the Irish side of my family, but suffer from terrible stage fright when
not in the company of friends and loved ones. Luckily there’s this
new-fangled thing called podcasting where you don’t have to stand
up in front of people to tell a story! Hedgefolk Tales will be a mixture
of oral and written lore pertaining to folk magic and witchcraft. The
site will be launched next weekend!

(click to enlarge)

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Handwoven Rowan Crosses

January 03, 2010

Today my apprentice came over and off we walked into the woods
with our raincoats and wellies armed with garden shears to hunt the
right size of Rowan branches to make Rowan Crosses with the
weaving method used to make Ojo de Dios or “God’s Eye”. I also
harvested some thicker branches to make a set of Ogham fews for
friend and kept the thinnest branches for carving prayer bead sets.

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Winter is a good time to harvest from trees as they are sleeping, the
sap run out of the branches. It is more humane to cut branches from
a tree in winter, it doesn’t hurt them as much or cause as much
damage. If you were deep in hibernation and someone trimmed
your toenails you aren’t likely to feel anything… Never take more
than 10% of any plant, even less from trees if you can (I will go over
proper harvesting methods in a future post). After we returned
home I showed my apprentice how to peel the bark off the branches
for the Ogham fews and smooth out the knots with a knife. I left the
de-barked woods by a heater to dry and hung up the excess bark to
dry for use in oil and incense blends. I don’t like to waste anything I
wildcraft, I’ve even sold big bags of woodshavings from my carving
magical trees to heathen blacksmiths for lighting their forge’s sacred
fires.

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We left the bark on the branches for the Rowan crosses as we were
working with greenwood that couldn’t be sanded and also the
weaving alone takes enough effort, why add bark-peeling, sanding,
oiling and waxing onto that tally? The bark is silver and seems to be
lit from the inside, it has a beauty all its own. Using merino wools
dyed in bright and natural berry-dyed reds and indigos for protection
we wove our crosses into beautiful eyes. The higher quality of yarn
you use, the better the finished product will look. We discovered
variegated yarns look the most beautiful. Rowan crosses bound
with red wool are an old European charm, mainly from Celtic
regions, used for protection from ghosts, spirits, witchcraft, curses,
ill health, bad luck and all manner of ills. However, Rowan’s main
powers are of protection from harm, power over spirits, and
protection from witchcraft. Hang over your front door to protect your
home and all its occupants, or hang a cross in each of the four
corners of your home or apartment to keep out ghosts for good.

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I should have some of these up for sale in the shop this week. If you
are interested in making your own or God’s Eyes here are the best
instructions I’ve found:

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Hecate’s Garden

January 01, 2010

All witches have a secret garden and more in the garden grows than
the witch knows. The witch is the shaman and their garden is the
wild wood. There are more wonders in the forest than the witch can
dream of and every one with a purpose. What better reminder of the
garden, both beautiful and dangerous, than the tales of young
peasants who brave the woods to seek light from Baba Yaga? Is it a
taper they seek or is it wisdom; knowledge of the wild wood?

“Witchcraft medicine is wild medicine. It is uncontrollable, it

surpasses the ruling order, it is anarchy. It belongs to the
wilderness. It scares people. It is one thing above all: heathen.”

~ Christian Rätsch, Witchcraft Medicine

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“Hecate was also a goddess of the shamans. She bestowed
‘illuminating rituals that are, and should be, secret’. She was called
goddess of the gate, stealth runner, the night transformer, the
underworldly one, the terrible goddess of the leaders, or raging
anger engeloping the flame-eyed dogs, Tartaros’ child, the goddess
of the divine necessity, or even the excrement eater… Hecate
brings deep sleep and disturbing dreams, causes epilepsy (the
‘sacred diseas’) and insanity (mania), and also could bring forth
altered states of consciousness, […]three goddesses are united in
her, and she represents a shaman who is bound to the three realms
of the world [land, sky, and sea (underworld)].”

~ Christian Rätsch, Witchcraft Medicine

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“The garden of Hecate, wherein she grew her poisonous plants and
medicinal herbs, was on found Phasis. It was next to the Imperial
city of Aetes surrounded by insurmountable walls nine fathoms high,
protected by seven bastions and guarded by three iron towers. High
on the posts of the tower stood Artemis, radiating a trembling
brilliance, with a horrifying gaze no mortal could withstand, if he did
not approach with gifts and purification offerings.”

~ Johann H. Dierbach, Flora Mythologica oder Plfanzenkunde in

Bezug auf Mythologie und Symbolik der Griechen und Römer

Description of Hecate’s garden from Orphic Songs of the

Argonauts

“There was a grove in the innermost room of the enclosure,

Where lush green wood ascends with shadowy tips,
Laurel trees and cornelian cherry and slender planatos aloft.
There are also many herbs in this place, arching over the deep
roots;
Klymenos, complete with the noble asfoldelos, and adiantos,
Aristeron, most tender of plants, and kypeiros with thyron,
Kyklaminos, like the violet, and erysimon, complete with hormion,
Stoichas, then paiona, surrounded by thickets of polyknemon.
Then polion, mandragoras also, and pale diktammon,
Krokos with sweet scent, and kardamom, next to kemos,
Smilax, dark poppy, and low chamamelon,
Panakes and alkeja, with karpason and akaoniton…
And many more poisonous rose up from the ground.”

Prayer of Medea to Hecate

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O night, faithful friend of mysteries; and you, golden stars and
moon, who follow the fiery star of day; and you, Hecate, goddess
with threefold head, you know my designs and come to strengthen
my spells and magic arts; and you, earth, who offer your potent
herbs to magic; and airs, winds, mountains, streams, and lakes, and
all you woodland gods, and all you gods of the night: Be present
now.”

~ Ovid, The Metamorphose

The Garden of Hecate

by Radcliffe Squires

Anyone may visit this garden.

The gate is heavy and the hinge stubborn, but
It is not locked. Lean on it with all
Your beaing. It will give just enough
For you to enter and pass under the white poplar tree
From which albine worms descend on glittering threads.
They will burn down through your hair, scalp
Lung, gut, knee until they find
The purblind shade under your heel.

You will find yourself looking at

A woman who does not quite look at you
As she speaks, but not quite to you, saying,
“I have been waiting for someone, but not,
I think, for you. Yet you are welcome, though
There’s little here to see. These vines webbing

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The antique column with their heavy flowers, you may
Find pretty.” You look, as her voice goes on
And see how a youth and his love
Walk into the space the other yields.
The pouts of their risk-taking flesh pierce each other
To fill with blood the abyss between them.

Suddenly the woman’s voice pauses halfway in a word.

You glance at her, and when you look again at
The lovers you see entangled on the column two
Dead and brittle vines that in the wind
Break each other, both stalk and tendril
In their rage to disengage.
Then she is saying, “But these are vulgar
Herbs. There is something rarer to be seen
At the end of the hedge, if you care to walk a bit.”

And you will say it is late, and you will turn

And pass under the pale poplar and through
The gate still open just enough for you
To pass, who have just enough strength to pull it to.

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