Recipe: Wren's Faery Berry Jam

As there are so many connections between faeries, elderberries and blackberries, I named this jam Wren's Faery Berry Jam.

WREN'S FAERY BERRY JAM

Ingredients:
800g Blackberries

200g Elderberries

1kg Jam Sugar (has added pectin)

2 Lemons, juiced

Butter, small nob (optional)

Method:

1. Put a saucer in the freezer.

2. Combine the sugar, lemon juice, and berries.

3. Heat on a low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Turn the heat up and cook on a rolling boil for ten minutes, being sure to stir, so that no fruit burns or sticks to the pan. Skim off any scum.

5. Put a small blob of the mixture on the saucer, and leave aside for a minute. 

6. Push the mixture with your finger - if it wrinkles the mixture is ready.

7. If it doesn’t wrinkle, cook for another 5 minutes and then try again. Keep trying until it’s ready.

8. When the mixture is ready, stir in the butter to dissolve any scum. (I personally don’t bother).

9. Pour into sterilised jars, top with a waxed disc, and add the lid. Do this when hot.

10. Store in a cool, dark place. 

NEXT - Recipe: Elderberry Vinegar
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Blackberry
NEXT - Review: Witchology Magazine - Mabon 2020 Issue
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Foxgloves 

Recipe: Elderberry Vinegar

The elderberries are out! At least they are in my part of the Midlands.

‼️ Please be aware that elderberries should NEVER be eaten raw or undercooked, so please avoid the common advice to put them in muffins or apple pies. They must be cooked thoroughly at heat to handle the cyanide-inducing glycosides. Failure to do so can result in nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Here is a gorgeous recipe using elderberries that we love at home - I like to put this stuff on my chips!

ELDERBERRY VINEGAR

Ingredients:
200g Elderberries

500ml Red Wine Vinegar

50g Sugar (optional)

Method:

1. Wash the berries.

2. Remove from the stalks into a pan using a fork. Mash slightly. Add the Red Wine Vinegar.

3. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down a little, simmering on a high heat for 10 minutes.

4. Decant into a sterilised jar and leave to cool before closing the lid.

5. Store in a cool dark place for 1 month.

ONE MONTH LATER...

1. Strain. Use the berries in stews, soups, salads, or discard.

2. Decant the vinegar into a sterilised bottle

- or -

add back to the pan with the sugar, heat until the sugar has dissolved, and bottle.

Don’t forget to Save this post for later. You can actually create folders of Saved items to find them easier later. This one is good for “Autumn Recipes”.

The elder is associated with the Faerie lands and is sacred to many goddess traditions, especially to the goddesses Venus and Holle. 

NEXT - Recipe: Wild Garlic Pesto
NEXT - Review: Traditional Jams & Preserves by Eve Parker
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Cleavers

Natural Remedies: 15 Ways to Use Dried Lavender

Lavender is an extremely versatile herb. Like lavender essential oil, there are many uses for dried lavender, here are just a few:

• Sprinkle over floors before sweeping/vacuuming. Your vacuum bag and/or bin will smell lovely! 
• Use as an insect/moth/silverfish repellent in wardrobes and cupboards. Hang lavender bags or make a pomander.
• Add to letters and cards for a scented surprise. 
• Create scented candles by adding dried lavender and some essential oil to heated wax.
• Add to other dried herbs plus some frankincense and myrrh to create incense.
• Make Lavender bath salts. Add 1/4 cup dried lavender to 1 1/4 cups of Epsom Salts, and a few drops of essential oil. Combine and store in a tightly closed jar. Pour into a muslin bag before adding to bath. Keeps 6-9 months in a cool, dark place.
• Make lavender bags. Place in drawers to keep clothes fresh or by your pillow as a sleep aid. Squeeze the bag regularly to refresh the scent.
• Lavender bags make great wedding favours. You can coordinate the bag material with your theme. 
• Lavender bags also make great car air fresheners.
• Add culinary grade dried lavender to your favourite drinks to add a floral flavour. Add to green tea or floral gins. 
• Add culinary grade dried lavender to salads, cakes and chocolate.
• Use in place of rice or paper as wedding confetti. Fragrant, a pretty colour, biodegradable, and perfect to take to a wedding if you’re not sure on the venue rules. Create confetti cones and leave in a basket for your guests on your big day. 
• Make lavender infused oil, perfect for restless legs, dry scalps, and itchy bites. Fill a jar half way with dried lavender. Cover with a carrier oil (I recommend Grapeseed). Cap and store somewhere cool for 4-6 weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain, and use within 9 months to a year.
• Use lavender oil made from dried lavender to create balms and salves.
• Use lavender on stalks for smudge sticks, or loose with other herbs to create incense.

NEXT - Natural Remedies: Nettle & Rosemary Hair Rinse
NEXT - Review: Magical Aromatherapy by Scott Cunningham
NEXT - Flower Magick: 52 Floral Magickal Correspondences 

Honouring Nature: The Forager’s Code

I’m a keen forager but it’s really important to remember the responsibility that comes with foraging.

Whilst our motivation is usually to create something, it’s important to remember our place in this process. When we take something we become more than a visitor to a place, we actually become part of that place.

It’s important that our actions don’t hurt a carefully balanced system. Within any eco-system, other organisms depend on each other to survive.

Known as the Forager’s Code, it is our duty to work out how we can insert ourselves into this carefully balanced network without harming it. The Forager’s Code must be observed at all times:

• Minimise damage
• Collect from plentiful sources only 
• Leave plenty behind - remember you come second to other birds and animals
• Do not collect rare species 
• Respect Nature
  
  

To add to that, I would say:

• Don’t pick roots or bulbs
• If you’re not 100% sure what you’re picking, don’t 
• Leave no trace of your visit
  
  NEXT - Honouring Nature: Winter Foraging
  NEXT - Recipe: Wild Garlic Pesto
  NEXT - Review: The Wheel by Jennifer Lane

Recipe: Wild Garlic Pesto

For those that missed my Instagram Reel earlier in the week, here’s the recipe I used for Wild Garlic Pesto: 

WILD GARLIC PESTO

Ingredients:
150g Wild garlic

Zest of half lemon 

Juice of half lemon 

2 x Garlic cloves 

150ml Rapeseed oil 

50g Parmesan cheese 

50g Pine nuts

Glass jar with lid

Method:
Rinse and pat dry the wild garlic.
Roughly chop the wild garlic.
Prepare the other ingredients - mince the garlic cloves, zest and juice the lemon, measure out the oil, grate the cheese.
Add the ingredients to the food processor, including the lemon juice and oil.
Spoon into the jar and label and date.
Stir the pesto through cooked pasta.

The pesto will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge. Please don’t pull out the bulbs - take one leaf from each plant. 

NEXT - Recipe: Apple Cake
NEXT - Wild Garlic Magick: 7 Bear-Related Correspondences
NEXT - Honouring Nature: The Forager's Code

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Major Oak

Sticky Willy Magick: An Abundance of Folk Names

Sticky willy, also known as cleavers, is an edible herb found in Europe, North America, Asia, Greenland, and Australia. Its tiny, prickly hairs give it a sticky feeling when you touch it, one that is not left on the fingertips.

It has an abundance of folk names. I personally know it as “sticky willy” and “sticky Bob” ~ not to be confused with a herb robert, which is known as “stinking Bob.”

It is also called goosegrass, hayriffe, hedgeriff, catchweed, scratwees, hitchhikers, barweed, bobby buttons, whippy sticks, Velcro plant, clivers, bedstraw, hayruff, sticky weed, mutton chops, sticky bud, sticky back, sticky Jack, sticky grass, grip grass, robin-run-the-hedge, everlasting friendship, robin-run-in-the-grass, loveman, and goosebill.

It is a valuable herb that is helpful for treating inflammation, disease of the urinary organs, scurvy, psoriasis, and skin diseases. It has a soothing effect and induces a quiet, restful sleep.

Celtic folklore says that drinking a cleavers infusion for nine weeks would make you so beautiful that everyone would fall in love with you, and taking a bath infused with cleavers would make a woman successful in love. It has been used in the past to treat gonorrhoea, and as a hair tonic; it is said to help hair grow abundantly.

The plant is often infused in hot water and drunk as a tea, roughly 2-4 grams of the herb being infused to 60 to 120 milliliters of water is a good measurement, although I just grabbed a bunch and infused it. The infusion, hot or cold, is taken frequently, up to three times per day.

It is a powerful diuretic, so should be avoided when diabetes is present. Please check with a clinical herbalist before ingesting herbs of any kind.

American Beautyberry Magick: 8 Alluring Correspondences

I spotted this amazing plant in the World Peace Garden in Glastonbury, where the Chalice Well is situated. I couldn’t believe the colour of the berries, they’re so vibrant and striking!

It is an American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana; a deciduous shrub that bears bright purple fruit throughout the autumn and winter. It has a wide array of medicinal uses and some culinary uses, too.

It was used by indigenous Americans in various methods of application for fevers, rheumatism, malaria, dysentery, digestive issues and colic. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is used to slow down or stop bleeding internally, particularly in the stomach and lungs. These are just a few of its medicinal uses, and beautyberry is being studied for its efficacy in treating cancer and memory loss.

Beautyberry Magickal Correspondences

Alluring
Attraction
Banishing
Beauty

Enchantment
Glamour
Luring
Temptation

I found the following magickal correspondences for beautyberry online:

Element: Water
Zodiac Signs: Scorpio
Planet: Venus

Magic: An infusion can be used topically in glamours, beauty, and luring spells.

As beautyberry is used for repelling insects you could use it in magick to repel something or someone. It is helpful to the digestive system so you could also use this to help “stomach” something that is difficult to accept. It goes from being quite tasteless raw to full of flavour when cooked, so perhaps you could use it to enhance something.

Of course, magickal associations are those which you find when you form a relationship with a plant or herb; so there are no correct or incorrect answers here.

Honouring Nature: Winter Foraging

We had our first frost on Tuesday ~ time to pick sloes if you’re making gin ~ and there are loads of mushrooms on the cemetery, which got me thinking about foods that can be foraged at this time of year.

You might imagine that with the wet and cold there wouldn’t be much, but this is far from the case.

Mushrooms 

There are plenty of mushrooms available from November to February in the UK. From the Common Oyster to the Winter Chanterelle, the most important factors are knowing 100% what you are picking (you’ll only eat the wrong mushroom once), and more importantly leaving enough for animals and invertebrates, who will be looking to sustain themselves over the winter.

Sloes (Prinus spinosa) 

There has always been a bit of a debate as to when the best time to pick sloes is, but the general consensus seems to be that sloes for gin should be picked after the first frost. You can make all sorts of things with sloes; jams, jellies, chocolate, wine.

Sweet Chestnuts (Castanea sativa) 

Not to be confused with “conkers” from the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), sweet chestnuts are amazing cooked on an open fire. They’re high in vitamins B and C, and can be used for nutroasts, stuffings, cake fillings and more.

Hawthorn Berries 

Hawthorn berries ~ “haws” ~ are at their most ripe in November. Surprisingly you can make quite a few things with haws - gin, ketchup, syrup fruit leather, and jellies.

Bullace (Prunus domestica) 

Bullaces are a type of plum that are a lot like damsons. I’ve not managed to find any around here yet! They can be used for all the usual plummy things - jams, chutneys, crumbles, wine and liqueurs.

Green and leafy things 

Chickweed, navelwort and dandelion can all be harvested for their leaves, which can be used in salads, sandwiches and stews.

Please follow the following foraging guidelines:

• Please take only what you need, or even better: less. The animals and local ecology come first. I actually took a break from foraging this year.
• Don’t eat anything you haven’t ID’d yourself.
• If you’re not 100% sure of what you’re picking: don’t pick, don’t eat.
• Don’t take unless you fully intend to use.
  
  NEXT - Honouring Nature: Hedgehog Health & Pumpkins
  NEXT - Simple Magick: 12 Tips For New Witches
  NEXT - Recipe: Apple Cake 

Fabulous Folklore: Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane, also known as aconite, monkshood, mousebane, pops, Cupid’s cap, flapdock, women’s bane, queen of poisons, devil’s helmet and blue rocket, belongs to the plant genus Aconitum; a group of plants which are all poisonous, with wolfsbane being one of the most toxic plants in the UK.

I haven’t managed to spot Aconitum napellus in the wild yet, but I did spy this Chinese aconite (Aconitum carmichaelii) at our local gardens, which I was really surprised to see! Isn’t she beautiful?

Serious poisoning by plants is rare in the UK, but the toxins of wolfsbane can enter the blood if protective clothing is not worn when handling. In 2014, a gardener in Hampshire, UK, died after brushing against it, which is extremely unusual, but shows the amount of care needed when handling these plants.

Aconite, along with other baneful herbs, is said to be a constituent of flying ointment, which is said to have been used by witches from the Late Middle Ages. This hallucinogenic ointment allowed the witches to astrally project; the witch’s consciousness “flying” off rather than their physical body.

Francis Bacon listed the ingredients of flying ointment as wolfsbane, “the fat of children digged out of their graves”, smallage (celery), cinquefoil (potentilla), and fine wheat (wheat flour).

Poisonous ingredients listed in flying ointments, past and present, include belladonna, henbane, mandrake, and hemlock.

Whilst I have a good general plant knowledge, I’m still learning about the baneful aspects of certain plants, and their history. One thing is for certain: baneful plants are absolutely beautiful.

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Magickal Hydrangea

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Witches' Flight

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Werewolves, Werewolfery & The Werewolf Witch Trials

Fabulous Folklore: Leicestershire & Rutland Leechcraft

Whilst there are many parts of Leicestershire folklore that are also found in other parts of the country; some recorded folklore is specific to Leicestershire and the immediate district. Some of my favourite Leicestershire folklore is the wonderful, and often bizarre, leechcraft: healing or medical “cures.”

Rub a wart three times with the rind of stolen bacon. Nail the rind up on some outside wall, and, as it dries up, the wart will dry up also.

Charm against drunkenness: “Take the lungs of an hog; roast it; whosoever eateth thereof fasting shall not be drunk that day, how liberally soever hee takes his drinks.”

Swallowing shot will remedy “raisin’ o’ the loights” (heart-burn).

Get a black snail, rub it on the wart, then stick it on a thorn until it dies.

To cure whooping cough seat the patient on a donkey, with his face towards its tail. Give him a roast mouse to eat. He must not know what he's eating.

The Churchyard Mould Cure for rheumatism: bury the patient in the earth for two to three hours, naked, his face only uncovered. Repeat daily until the rheumatism is cured.

To cure a wart travel to an ash tree with some fresh pins. Stick a pin through the bark, and then into the wart until it produces pain. Take it out and stick it into the tree. Use a different pin for each wart. The warts will disappear in about six weeks.

Charming for whooping-cough and fits: the operator, generally an old woman, draws a circle round the sufferer’s face nine times with her fore-finger, pausing each time at the centre of the forehead and the chin, her lips moving silently during the performance. (It is believed the words of the charm were probably transmitted from mother to daughter as a treasure to be secretly guarded, and may now be irrecoverably lost).

When stung with a nettle find a dock leaf and beat the sting with the leaves, repeating the words "in dock, out nettle " — a word with every blow.

Sources: 

Leicestershire Legends, Folklore & Dialect 

County Folklore: Leicestershire & Rutland

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Horses

Fabulous Folklore: Primrose

Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

The name primrose comes from the Latin “prima rosa” meaning “first rose”, indicating that spring is generally the time for these beautiful plants to flower, although they sometimes open as early as December in the mildest areas of the U.K.

They’re found across the whole of Britain and Ireland, and are considered a favourite by many, including the many little creatures that depend on them for food, nectar and pollination. They are found in woodlands and by hedgerows and thrive in damp shade. 

There are lots of primrose recipes, but it’s illegal to pick or remove them from the wild as they’re currently protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Folklore surrounding primroses is mainly associated with faeries, and with life cut short.

Hanging primrose flowers outside your house is an invitation to faeries to come in, and touching a rock with a posy of primroses is a key; supposedly opening the doorway to the faerie realms. To receive a blessing from the faeries, primroses should be placed upon the doorstep, and at Beltane primroses and yellow gorse were often lain across the threshold to celebrate the spring and the encroaching summer. That said, as much energy has been spent trying to protect against faeries over the years as attracting them. In the National Folklore Collection in University College, Dublin, there can be found a piece of verse relating to Beltane and faeries:

“Guard the house with a string of primroses on the first three days of May. The fairies are said not to be able
to pass over or under this string.”

In Flora Britannica, Richard Mabel notes that in Victorian times it was common to plant primroses on the graves of children. There are definitely primroses dotted about on this cemetery, but I’m not sure if they correspond.

There are other customs related to death and primroses, meaning they provoke a similar feeling to blossom for me: they are representative of the ephemeral nature of life. 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Yew 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Oak Galls

Recipe: Apple Cake

A blessed July everyone!

This is a post from the Solstice which I am only sharing on the website today:

“Today marks the longest day of the year. We celebrate the peak energy available at this time, but it is a bittersweet moment. Despite the joy and abundance of this time, the energetic scales are tipped; and once again we will begin the descent into darkness."

Whilst there is a definite sense of making merry at this time ~ celebrating the abundance of summer and enjoying time outside with friends and family ~ it can be a time tinged with sadness for many, including myself. For those of us with chronic illness who are solar powered, and are only really just starting to feel healthy, well and energised, it’s frustrating to know that the days will start to draw in, in a few days’ time.

But let us put those thoughts aside for now, and revel in this peak moment of light and warmth!

Rather than a traditional Honey Cake, I made an Apple Cake this year. This will grace our table many times between now and Samhain. In many ways it’s more like a pudding than a cake. It is delicious served warm with custard. I have tried this recipe successfully with Gluten-free flour, but not vegan substitutes. I’m sure it would work well.

APPLE CAKE

Ingredients:

225g Self Raising Flour

110g Caster Sugar 

170g Bramley Apples, chopped 

85g Butter, melted 

150ml Milk

1 egg 

1 tsp Cinnamon

Method:

Line an 8 inch tin, preheat the oven to 200c 

Sift the flour into a bowl with the spice and sugar 

Beat the egg and add to the milk and melted butter 

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, mix well 

Add the apple, mix well 

Spoon into the tin, sprinkle some sugar on top 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean 

NEXT - Recipe: Stinging Nettle Crisps
NEXT - Natural Remedies: Stinging Nettle & Rosemary Hair Rinse
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Bird's Foot Trefoil

NEXT - Simple Magick: The Shadow

Recipe: Stinging Nettle Crisps

Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are one of the UK’s most abundant wild foods, and they grow absolutely everywhere, making them an easy forage. They’re extremely nutritious, they contain lots of Vitamin C, and they’re one of the richest sources of iron you can find in a plant or vegetable. They’re ten percent protein, which ~ apart from hemp ~ is more than any other vegetable.

Today I made some Stinging Nettle Crisps, the perfect accompaniment to a lunchtime sandwich, or a bowl of Nettle Soup.

Ingredients:
Stinging Nettles
Oil
Seasoning

Method: 

Using gloves and scissors snip the nettle leaves directly into a bowl or a carrier bag. We’re not washing these nettles, so they need to be clean and free from bird poo, bugs, dog excrement and other nasties. Pick from the top of large bushes and away from popular dog-walking routes.

Remove the leaves from any stalks. Arrange them on a baking sheet. Remember that the leaves still sting at this stage, so be careful!

Spritz lightly with oil, or use a pastry brush to apply a small layer of oil to the leaves. Sprinkle over salt, pepper and chilli flakes (optional). You could probably get really inventive at this stage!

Place in the middle of the oven and cook at about 130c until they go crisp. You may want to turn them over during cooking.

Nettles are extremely delicious and there are lots of crisp recipes online, with various ingredients added, such as tahini, paprika or nutritional yeast. 

NEXT - Recipe: Faery Berry Jam
NEXT - Honouring Nature: Winter Foraging
NEXT - Review: A Spell In The Wild - A Year (& Six Centuries) of Magic By Alice Tarbuck

Fabulous Folklore: Cleavers

After chatting all things plant with @fentonsherbology at the beautiful @barnsdalegardens last weekend, I was inspired to catch the small period of sunshine we had yesterday, and put my boots on for a foraging trip.

I needed some nettles, some oak leaves for a small project, and some cleavers (Galium aparine).

Cleavers is an edible herb found in Europe, North America, Asia, Greenland, and Australia. Its tiny, prickly hairs give it a sticky feeling when you touch it, one that is not left on the fingertips.

It has an abundance of folk names. Known by my mum as sticky willy, and to me as sticky bob - it is also called goosegrass, hayriffe, hedgeriff, catchweed, scratwees, hitchhikers, barweed, bobby buttons, whippy sticks, Velcro plant, clivers, bedstraw, hayruff, sticky weed, mutton chops, sticky bud, sticky back, sticky Jack, sticky grass, grip grass, robin-run-the-hedge, everlasting friendship, robin-run-in-the-grass, loveman, and goosebill.

It is a valuable herb that is helpful for treating inflammation, disease of the urinary organs, scurvy, psoriasis, and skin diseases. It has a soothing effect and induces a quiet, restful sleep. Celtic folklore says that drinking a cleavers infusion for nine weeks would make you so beautiful that everyone would fall in love with you, and taking a bath infused with cleavers would make a woman successful in love. It has been used in the past to treat gonorrhoea, and as a hair tonic; it is said to help hair grow abundantly.

The plant is often infused in hot water and drunk as a tea, roughly 2-4 grams of the herb being infused to 60 to 120 milliliters of water is a good measurement, although I just grabbed a bunch and infused it. The infusion, hot or cold, is taken frequently, up to three times per day.

It is a powerful diuretic, so should be avoided when diabetes is present. Please check with a clinical herbalist before ingesting herbs of any kind.

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Bird's Foot Trefoil

Fabulous Folklore: Oak Galls

Galls are defined as a growth on a plant that are caused by another organism. In the case of the Oak marble gall (pictured) found on pedunculate oaks, they are caused by a tiny wasp, Andricus kollari, which measures about 1.5mm long.

Around May or June a sexual female lays her eggs in the developing buds of an oak tree, usually in an immature or unhealthy specimen. Chemicals from the adult and the developing wasps cause the formation of the gall.

Oak apple galls are caused by Biorhiza polliza, and oak knopper galls are caused by Andricus quercuscalicis; two other types of wasp, producing two other types of gall.

Until the early twentieth century, oak galls were used in the production of ink. The Book of Magical Charms, a handwritten manuscript written in England in the seventeenth century, containing numerous passages regarding charms for things such as healing toothache, was written in oak gall ink.

Oak galls could also be used for divination. Three galls were dropped into a basin of water to see if a child was bewitched. If they floated, the child wasn’t enchanted, but if they sank, the child was.

They were also used to predict the weather. If a maggot was found inside on St. Michaelmas Day (29th September) the weather ahead would be pleasant. If a spider was found, ruined crops, if a wasp was found, moderate weather, and if nothing was found serious disease would occur all year.

Oaks are associated with my home town. I’m going to buddy these galls with some peridot to make a necklace or bracelet.

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Oak Apple Day

Witchcraft Books - Herbal Sunday Witchstack

My Witchstack Sunday for @witch.with.books #witchwithbooks - just some of my favourite herbal books:

Magical Aromatherapy by Scott Cunningham 

Culpeper’s Complete Herbal 

The Hedgerow Handbook by Adele Nozedar

The Green Witch by Arun Murphy-Hiscock

Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham 

Herbal Remedies by Anne McIntyre 

Cunningham’s Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs 

The Likely Herbarium by Kate @likelytale.witch

What are your favourite herbal books? Do you have any of the ones in this stack?

NEXT - Witchcraft Books: Mixed Witchstack Sunday
NEXT - Review: The Magic of Marie Laveau by Denise Alvarado

Simple Magick: 25 Ideas for Creating a Forest Altar

Yesterday’s prompt for the @witch.with.me hashtag challenge was “Forests & Trees” and it got me thinking about the witchy things you can forage from the forest floor for use in spells and on altars:

Acorns 

Oak Galls 

Pinecones

Conkers 

Feathers

Ferns 

Rowan berries 

Leaves 

Twigs

Nuts 

Antlers

Bones 

Fur

Moss 

Stones

Remember to always follow the Countryside Code - respect others, protect the natural environment, and enjoy the outdoors.

To create a Forest Altar add to your foraged items:

Potted plants 

Shades of green and brown 

Deity statues, for example Herne the Hunter, Elen of the Ways 

Altar cloth with forest/trees/leaves/mushroom print 

Forest sounds - birds singing, wind blowing, rainforest, thunderstorms and rain

Green, brown and cream candles 

Table top fountain

Wooden candle holders and incense holders 

Green and brown crystals for example tiger’s eye and moss agate 

Musky incense such as sandalwood or patchouli

Have I forgotten anything? If so let me know in the comments! And if you found this post helpful don’t forget to Save it in the folder for later.

NEXT - Simple Magick: Using Black, Pink & White Salt in Witchcraft
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Evergreens of Yule 

Plant Allies: Elderflower

The @witch.with.me prompt for the 16th was “My Plant Allies.”

One of my plant allies is Elderflower, which is a hugely magickal plant, and which I can’t wait to see flower again. I call her the “Plant of Preparation”. When I see those beautiful cream flowers at the start of the summer I am reminded that there are Midsummer celebrations to plan, and when I see the dark purple-black berries in the autumn I am reminded that winter is not too far away.

Elderflower features as card no.15 in the Herbs & Flowers Oracle Cards deck @herbsandflowersoraclecards by @taurus_tells who were kind enough to send me one of their beautiful decks (thank you).

Their beautiful little guidebook says of Elderflower:

“There is a longing to be released from restrictive patterns, people and groups. Showing a new side to the world could confuse a lot of people, but as long as it feels right, it really does not matter what they think. There is no holding back under this vibration, so no fear as boundaries are pushed with a new start and life is lived in the way and style chosen.”

Wise words indeed.

I can’t wait to get to know my herbs and flowers better using this charming deck. It has information and folklore for each plant, as well as a divinatory message and astrological associations. Flick through to the next picture to get a better look. 

NEXT - Flower Magick: 52 Floral Magickal Correspondences
NEXT - Review: Traditional Jams & Preserves by Eve Parker
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: All Hail the Blackberry! 

Fabulous Folklore: Yule Evergreens

Bringing evergreens into the home at Midwinter goes back to a time when people were more connected to the cycles of nature, way before the arrival of Christmas. Evergreens represented everlasting life in the darkest part of the year, and therefore brought the hope of returning light. Each European country, and each British county, had their own specific customs related to evergreens, but many involved hanging them around windows and over doorways.

Holly was hung over entrances to peoples’ homes, and was used to make wreaths. It brought good luck and protection, and was still beautiful in the middle of winter, giving the poor a means of decorating their homes at a time of celebration. The Druids revered holly and believed its evergreen nature was sacred; it kept the earth beautiful at a time when other trees shed their leaves.

Evergreen conifers (pine, fir, cedar, juniper, or spruce) became the Yule Tree, which evolved into the Christmas Tree. The Christmas Tree custom flourished in Germany and over time it spread to other European regions, eventually reaching North America. Traditionally the brightly colored decorations and lights symbolised stellar objects, spirits, religious figures, and religious events.

The ancient Greeks, Druids, Celts, and Norse revered mistletoe as sacred, and it was used for protection, blessing, and medicine. The 23rd December is known as The Nameless Day, and is represented by Mistletoe. This day falls outside the lunar calendar and represents the unshaped potential of all things. This is the extra day in a “year and a day” represented by so many folk tales.

This gorgeous display of evergreens is over a doorway in nearby Stamford, Lincolnshire.

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Robin Redbreast

Mushroom Magick: 8 Correspondences & Warnings

Disclaimer: this article is about the symbolic nature of mushrooms in spells and rituals. You must never ingest (eat) mushrooms unless you are sure of the type. If you are unsure about collecting or picking mushrooms please enlist the help of an expert.

Mushrooms come in all shapes, sizes and colours, and as such some are conducive to magickal practice.

Magickal Correspondences for Mushrooms:

Chanterelle

Abundance, happiness, house warming, fertility, joy.

Death Cap - POISONOUS

According to folklore, a Death Cap picked under the New Moon has its roots in the Underworld. Associated with binding, curses, hexing, but also abundance and joy.

Fly Agaric - POISONOUS

Associated with astral travel, divination, forest matters, the Fae, hexes, protection, psychic ability.

Liberty Cap -POISONOUS

A magical amplifier, Liberty Caps are associated with creativity, and are metaphorical for the night, stars.

Oyster Mushroom

Aphrodisiac, emotional healing, forgiveness, lust and love.

Saffron Milk Cap

Change, cleansing, growth, healing, honesty, justice, strength.

Shiitake Mushroom

Earth, fertility, good health, grounding, healing, strength, virility, youthfulness.

True Morel

According to folklore the Fae and other elementals make homes in the Morel’s small holes. Used for breaking curses, Fey magick, glamour magick, necromancy, protection, and spirit work.

Do you use mushrooms in your Craft?