Intention: I Call Back My Power

In this moment, I call back my energy and power from all people, places, realms, entities, dimensions and situations that have been draining me; intentionally or otherwise. I call back my energy and power; and stand firm. Safe, sovereign, balanced, calm and protected. And so it is.

NEXT - Winter - A Time For Rest & Regeneration
NEXT - Review: Witch Charms by Quirky Cinnamon 
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Hecate On The Hell Staircase 

Fabulous Folklore: Hag Stones

Hag, holey, witch, fairy, dobbie or adder stones are protective charms used in folk magic. Hung in windows or doorways, in barns and on boats, they were believed to protect against the evil eye, witches, evil spirits, and negative energy, whose magic would be rendered useless when the hole was peered through. It was believed they could wars off curses, sickness and theft. In my part of the world ‘witch stones’ were hung in dairies. Witches could stop cows from producing milk, or prevent cream from turning into butter.

It was believed that other worlds and invisible spirits could be seen through the hole, and they were hung in bedrooms to prevent nightmares. Worn around the neck they protect the wearer from harm.

The holes are formed from the boring of a mollusk called a “piddock”, by water, or by smaller stones grinding against the surface.

I found this stone in the cemetery, so I’m really chuffed with it! Do you have any witch stones? If so, where did you find them?

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: White Horses

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: King Arthur £23 Notes

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Wolfsbane

Witch Charms by Quirky Cinnamon

Meet Juniper! This amazing besom charm was made by my friend Cassia of @quirkycinnamon.

An incredible artist from São Paulo, Brazil, and living in my sleepy little town in England; Cassia creates amazing witchy items from the heart. She sculpted Juniper’s face from scratch and says that these creations take on a life of their own when she’s creating them.

She is absolutely beautiful, Cassia. I will treasure her forever and she will take pride of place in our home - thank you so much!

I highly recommend checking out Cassia’s page and creations.

Fabulous Folklore: Wishing Trees

Wishing Trees are found all over Great Britain and have a history that goes back hundreds of years. The idea is you hammer in a coin into the tree and this offering will help cure illness and disease.

Unfortunately it has become a bit of a trend and is damaging woodlands all across the country. People visiting woodlands for the day are hammering coins to make wishes and leave their mark.

This tree is in the woods beside Golitha Falls in Cornwall. Coins weren’t just left in this stump, but also across an entire trunk that had fallen. I know some people will think it doesn’t matter because it’s “just” a stump, but chemicals from the coins leak into the environment, and sadly people are hammering coins into trees that are still very much alive. It’s time we stopped this practice!

“𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬.” ~ 𝐉.𝐑.𝐑. 𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐧

If you’d like to leave an “offering” donate to woodland charities instead, our beautiful trees need all the help they can get.

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Phallus Worship

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Yule Evergreens

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Yule Tree

Fabulous Folklore: Horse Brasses

Horse brasses ~ correctly known as “pressed brass harness decorations” ~ became popular in the 1850s.

They are brass plaques used for identifying and decorating harness gear; especially for cart, parade, and Shire horses.

It is unknown if horse brasses had a deliberate magical intent originally, as no English tradition of metal charms on horses exists previously, however it is likely that horse brasses replaced charms of other materials, as horses were seen as particularly liable to the attention and effects of malign forces, and anything eye-catching and shiny can protect against witchcraft and the evil eye.

Many English brasses depict lucky and fortuitous symbols such as the sun, crescent moon, star, horseshoe, sun cross, and wheel; and dogs, lions, and serpents are common, too.

Horse brasses are commonly used as apotropaic charms to protect homes. Apotropaic charms offer a shield of protection whilst repelling negative energies, magic, and forces. Horse brasses have been found up Welsh chimneys, and were used to protect carts on the streets of early 20th century London. They have been used as protective pendants on necklaces, and as altar decorations.

Modern horse brasses are being produced now. Alongside my collection of antique horse brasses I have also brasses for Stonehenge and Avebury stone circle.

Do you use apotropaic charms? Do you have horse brasses in your home?

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Witches of Belvoir

Hydrangea Magick: Correspondences

Hydrangea is a genus of 70 species of flowering plant native to Asia and the Americas.

“Hydrangea” is derived from Greek and means “water vessel”. Other names for hydrangea include French hydrangea, garden hydrangea and florist’s hydrangea, it may also be referred to as hortensia - the French and Spanish word for hydrangea.

Hydrangea flowers are produced from early spring to late autumn, though most of the ones I’ve seen around are fading now. There are two types of flower formation - “mophead” and “lacecap”. The ones in the picture are mopheads.

Hydrangeas seem to be missed from a lot of magical herbalism books, but generally they seem to be associated with hex-breaking, love-drawing, devotion, friendship, fidelity, binding, and bringing back a lover. They can be used for challenging karmic patterns, protection and redirecting psychic energy and attacks.

Associated with boundary setting they can be used in spells for shielding, and placed around the home they can create an environment where we become better at keeping a healthy balance between the physical and spiritual. Of course there are no set rules with magical correspondences, and so they might mean something altogether to you.

They have a deep connection with water so they can be a good ally to those who are intuitive, emotional, or psychically sensitive.

Magickal Correspondences for Hydrangea:

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Moon (whole plant), Jupiter (root), Neptune

Element: Water

Magickal Uses: Love spells, hex-breaking, redirecting curses, fidelity, understanding, binding, protection, love-drawing, bringing back a lover, devotion, friendship, challenging karmic patterns, psychic awareness, redirecting psychic attacks, boundary setting.

Do you like hydrangeas? Do you use them in your magick? If so, how? 

NEXT - Poppy Magick: Correspondences
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Magickal Hydrangea
NEXT - Summer Solstice Blessings

Fabulous Folklore: Horseshoe Magick

Horseshoes have good luck status in England as Blacksmiths and Farriers are considered to be natural magicians. Horseshoes are displayed in a “U” shape, with the points upwards, so that the luck should not run out. It is considered very bad luck to have them pointing downwards.

Traditionally, only Smiths and Farriers may display a horseshoe downwards. Blacksmiths would have an upside-down horseshoe hung over their forge doors; their magical power pouring from the horseshoe on to the forge itself.

There is one other exception to this rule, though.

In my county we only display horseshoes downwards. It is found on houses, and above doorways. It is also upside-down on our county flag.

The people here believe that the Devil can’t make a home in the horseshoe this way up, and upside-down horseshoes bring good luck to us, much in the same way that upward horseshoes bring luck to the rest of the country.

We also have a tradition where any reigning monarch or peer of the realm who visits the county for the first time should present a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor. This custom is over 500 years old and still continues today. There are now over 200 upside-down horseshoes on display at Oakham Castle, the oldest said to have been given by Edward IV in around 1470.

Valerie Worth, in the Crone’s Book of Words, gives a horseshoe spell to cure a headache. You hold an end in each hand and press the centre of the horseshoe against your forehead and say:

“Good metal loosed,

From horse’s hoof,

Draw from my brain, 

These nails of pain,

Cast them away,

Keep them away.”

Horseshoe traditions have also become popular for weddings. A bride carrying a horseshoe will bring good luck to both the occasion and the marriage. Sometimes this is a small symbol, made of silver, or porcelain hidden in the bouquet or carried alongside it. My grandmother carried several decorative horseshoes alongside her bouquet.

Do you have a horseshoe protecting your home? Which way up is it? Have you seen horseshoes at a wedding, or carried one yourself?

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Horse Brasses

Fabulous Folklore: Bird’s Foot Trefoil

Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

This cheery little plant is one we have in abundance on the cemetery. It flowers in grassy areas between May and September. Native to Eurasia and North Africa, and found throughout mainland Europe, Asia, Africa, the US, and the tropics; it’s not difficult to see that it’s a member of the pea family.

The bird’s foot part of its name refers to the appearance of the seed pods. Five leaves are present, but three are held above the others, hence the “trefoil” part of the name.

It has an abundance of wonderful folk names: deervetch, lady’s slipper, lady’s shoes, granny’s toenails, butter and eggs, eggs and bacon, hen and chickens, cats claws, crow feet, crow toes, devil’s fingers, devil’s claws, king’s fingers, to name but a few.

In folklore the birds-foot trefoil was sometimes associated with evil. Its claw-like seed pods were compared to the Devil’s claws.

The theme of warning and protection comes up a lot with this plant. It has been suggested that bird’s-foot trefoil were woven into wreaths on Midsummer’s night, its three-lobed leaves reminiscent of the Holy Trinity and therefore offering protection; and U.K. schoolchildren used to pick these flowers to use as protective charms against their teachers’ anger.

“Here I dance in a dress like flames,

And laugh to think of my comical names.

Hoppetty hop, with nimble legs!

Some folks call me Bacon and Eggs!

While other people, it’s really true,

Tell me I’m Cuckoo’s Stockings too!

Over the hill I skip and prance;

I’m Lady’s Slipper, and so I dance,

Not like a lady, grand and proud,

But to the grasshoppers chirping loud.

My pods are shaped like dicky’s toes:

That is what Bird’s-Foot Trefoil shows;

This is the name which grown-ups use, but children may call me what they choose.”

~ Mary Cicely Barker, “The Song of the Bird’s-Foot Trefoil Fairy”

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Meadowsweet

Fabulous Folklore: The Land and People

This month @witch.with.me are hosting a challenge based on #regionalwitchcraft and they get started this week with the prompt “Land and People”, two things that are deeply interwoven here.

I’m a “Raddleman” which means I’m an inhabitant of the smallest county in England - Rutland - which is nestled between Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Our agricultural landscape boasts hills and valleys, sacred wells, a Sheela na gig, a labyrinth, a Norman castle, a Bede house, and lots of churches built on old, sacred ground. We are a beautiful county, steeped in the rich history, folklore and traditions of the surrounding area, much of which has made its way into our magick.

Aside from smiths and farriers, we are the only people that may display a horseshoe pointing downwards to bring us luck, for fear that the Devil will make its home in the hollow when displayed the other way round. Apparently we need to keep an eye on the Devil as he’s always hard at work putting temptation in the way of the people! We nail horseshoes with nine nails over the stable door, and keep one in the fire at all times. A horse-shoe nailed on a door renders the evil power of a witch that may enter of non-effect, and many local houses display them.

Our local produce, broad beans, also feature a lot in our folklore, especially remedies - “take the pod of a broad bean, rub it on a wart, and then bury it or throw it over the shoulder without looking back”, and you can spot someone from Leicestershire as the beans will (apparently!) rattle in their belly.

If you drop a knife, a male visitor will come to the house. If you drop a spoon, a female visitor will come. If one person begins to pour out the tea, and another takes charge of the tea-pot to finish, there will be a birth in the family within twelve months.

We have loads of legends, many of them ghost stories. The spectral lady of Braunston, Swift Nick, Nicodemus, the Black Annis, the Witch of Edmondthorpe Hall, a magic hedge that bows when you walk past it, and a bogeyman. All yet to be shared with you. 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Knockers of Cornwall

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: King Arthur £23 Note 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Doniert Stone - The King's Cross

Sacred Symbols: Thor’s Hammer

It’s Protection & Defence Month over at @witch.with.me and this week’s prompt is home protection.

Displayed here is our Thor’s Hammer, created for us and given to us by a good friend. It was created with protection in mind, and it hangs in the entrance hall of our home. The famous weapon belonging to Thor was not only a symbol of destructive power, but also one of protection against the forces of evil and violence.

The reason we were given a hammer, and not a different protective symbol, is for several reasons. The friend who created it for us hails from Orkney, once a seat of great power in the Norse empire, and it reflects our time spent there, our residence in the Danelaw, plus our own Scandinavian heritage. It also nods to the fact that we have spent some time in the past as Viking reenactors.

Orkney remained part of a Scandinavian kingdom until 1468 when the islands were pawned to the Scottish Crown by Christian I of Denmark as a dowry for his daughter’s  marriage to James III of Scotland. If you ever get a chance to visit Orkney it has some amazing places - the Brough of Birsay, the Broch of Gurness, Maeshowe Chambered Cairn, Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, and St Magnus Cathedral; the medieval cathedral at the heart of the Earldom of Orkney.

Until we get back to those shores, our hammer will keep us safe!

NEXT - Sacred Symbols: Runes
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Norse Magick
NEXT - Witchy Quotes: Gudrun of Mirmirsbrunnur - Prayer For Receiving Stewardship of Land

Spell: Cloutie Spell for Justice

A cloutie, or clootie, is a strip of rag or cloth. You may have heard the saying “Ne’er cast a cloot til mey’s oot” which means don’t shed any clothes before May is over (and the Hawthorn has blossomed!) and summer has arrived.

Clouties are usually found at Cloughtie Wells; which are sacred wells and springs, usually with a tree beside them. The pieces of cloth are usually dipped in the holy water and then tied to the tree, as part of a healing rite, with prayers offered to the spirit or goddess of the well.

Cloutie Spell to Obtain Justice

This spell by Ann-Marie Gallagher is designed to be an Imbolc spell to be carried out as part of your Imbolc celebrations, but you could carry it out any time you are in need. It’s not a spell for revenge, but to redress balance when an injustice has occurred.

You will need:

A charcoal disc in a fireproof dish

Matches or lighter 

A teaspoon of Myrrh

One white candle 

One purple candle 

Thirteen strips of white cotton cloth 

A dead branch, propped up

A tree where your spell will remain undisturbed for as long as possible

Instructions:

Light the charcoal disc and sprinkle on the Myrrh.

Light the white candle saying “Brigid is here.”

Light the purple candle saying “And justice will come.”

Speaking your anger, fear or despair at the injustice you wish redressed to each strip of cloth, seal them by passing them separately through the incense smoke.

Hand them loosely on the dead branch and placing your hands on the topmost twig say:

“Brigid, pity this branch

For it is as dead as my enemy’s cause.”

Go out to the tree, and as you tie each cloutie loosely to its lower branches, say:

“May the earth hear me in the roots of this tree,

May the air carry my cry,

May the sun take up my plea,

And the moon decry it,

For with Brigid on my side,

My cause is carried.” 

NEXT - Spell: Personal Spell for a Difficult Situation
NEXT - Imbolc: 40 Correspondences
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Ashwell Sacred Spring

Simple Magick: Using Black, Pink & White Salt in Witchcraft

“Salt! Salt! I put thee into the fire, and may the person who has bewitched me neither eat, drink, nor sleep, until the spell has been broken”.

In the 19th Century it was believed that the power of a witch could be destroyed by sprinkling salt into the fire nine mornings in succession.

There’s an old folk saying “salt does what you tell it to”. Salt is commonly used in Witchcraft, it has endless uses.

White Salt is often used for circle casting (indoors only!), cleansing and purification:

Some use it to represent Earth as it is a mineral and can be found on Earth. 

Some use it to represent Water as it also comes from the sea.

Leave it in a bowl on a windowsill under a Full Moon to charge it.

Check your salt - salt with added Iodine is considered impure for ritual use.

Pink Salt is often used for purification, protection, and spiritual awareness:

Use for ritual bathing.

Use in magick pertaining to love, friendship, harmony, romance, emotional healing, spiritual healing, devotion, faith, self-love and compassion.

Use it to remove unwanted love spells or love curses.

Beware that pink salt can sometimes stain.

Black salt is often used for banishing, protection, repelling negative and toxic energy:

Sprinkle on to your doorstep to keep away negative energy and unwanted guests.

Keep a small bag under your pillow for protection at night.

Use around the home to dispel negativity.

Add to spring water for scrying during the Dark Moon. 

Use in spells for protection from known enemies.

Hide a small bag in the office or workplace to absorb anger, moodiness and gossip.

You can make black salt easily by using charcoal, salt, incense ash and other magickal materials such as herbs. Each witch has their own preferred recipe usually.

Do you use salt in your practice? Do you use all three colours?

NEXT - Simple Magick: Protecting The Integrity of Your Spells on Social Media
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Salt 

Sacred Symbols: The Witch’s Foot

The Witch’s Foot is composed of three lines of equal length; one that runs straight down, and two intersecting at an angle to create a snowflake-type shape.

Its composition is such that you can break it down into several parts, depending on how you look at it. There is one central point; and three long lines, or six short lines radiating from the centre.

The pattern of the world is realised in this device. The power that flows from above, the power that flows from below, and the power that flows from the four cardinal directions, with the witch being the point in the centre.

The central line, the spine, represents the balance between light and shadow, silence and expression, inner and outer influences. The power from above and the power from below, which brings me on to the saying “As above, so below”, the idea that whatever happens in the astral plane is reflected on the Earth, and vice versa. That whatever happens in the microcosm, the world of the individual, affects the macrocosm, and vice versa. The balance in all this is the centre point, where the witch stands, and to keep this line straight and strong to support the other two lines, the witch must accept herself, shadows and all, to find balance.

The diagonal lines represent the four cardinal directions. They represent our emotions and intellect, our experiences and wisdom. I also relate these lines to the Four Planes of Existence, and to the tenet “To know, to will, to dare, to be silent”, the conscious and unconscious mind, and the World of Matter and the World of Spirit.

The witch is where all these lines meet. The witch is where these worlds intersect.

The Witch’s Foot is used in a myriad of ways, and is a powerful device for invoking the presence of Spirit. It is also used for meditation and for Riding the Hedge.

NEXT - Sacred Symbols: The Pentagram
NEXT - Word Magick: As Above So Below
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Witch's Familiar 

Simple Magick: Using Eggshells

Crushed eggshells are known by some as Cascarilla. Eggshells have been used in magickal practice for hundreds of years to cleanse negative energy and bring positive occurrences. The eggshells are dried and ground into a powder and are not to be confused with the plant Croton eluteria, which is also known as cascarilla, and is a plant native to the Caribbean.

Eggshells can help block non-corporeal entities from a psychical space - benign or malevolent - so you might want to think carefully about their use, but you can use them to put a ring of peace and protection around your sacred space or home. They can be mixed with herbs to create magickal powders for specific intentions and goals, and they’re often used in spells related to setting boundaries.

Use eggshells with other ingredients (eg. Holy Water) for cleansing; use in a protection bath, or as a floor wash. Some witches use powdered eggshells to wash their hands, rub in their hair, or to mark ritual symbols on their bodies or animals for protection.

Cascarilla is simple to make. Boil the eggshells for ten minutes to protect yourself against Salmonella. Leave them in a bowl or on a piece of kitchen towel on a warm windowsill to dry. When they are completely dry, crush them with a pestle and mortar.

I grind my eggshells down further as part of my spellwork. In the meantime, these have been bottled and consecrated.

NEXT - Simple Magick: 11 Tips For Beginner Witches 

Simple Magick: Our House Guardians

This is Copernicus. He is one of the six stone heads that are mounted on the exterior of our home, who I refer to as our House Guardians. (You can see the others on my “Welcome to our Cemetery Lodge - Part Two” Reel).

Copernicus is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the Renaissance-era mathematician, astronomer and Catholic clergyman, who formulated the idea that the Sun was at the centre of the universe, rather than Earth (a Greek astronomer had actually come up with the same idea some eighteen centuries earlier).

He has been here since the house was built in 1860, “outliving” any of the humans that have stayed here, looking down on us as we enter and depart the building.

I feel the House Guardians - but especially Copernicus, who resides at the back of the house - watch over our home and keep us safe. Whenever we leave the house I petition Copernicus to look after our home, and when we return I thank him. I believe he helps me connect with the genius loci of our home.

We always intended to name the other Guardians, but so far they haven’t come forward with names. Although I don’t feel spirit in those as strongly, they definitely work alongside Copernicus to help keep us safe.

Do you have an animist view? Does the spirit of something other than an animal or human keep you safe? If so what is it? And do you think that modern homes are less protected by spirits than older ones? I’d love to hear your views.

NEXT - Simple Magick: Liminal Spaces 

Simple Magick: Horse Brasses

Horse brasses - correctly known as “pressed brass harness decorations” - became popular in the 1850s.

They are brass plaques used for identifying and decorating harness gear; especially for cart, parade, and Shire horses.

It is unknown if horse brasses had a deliberate magical intent originally, as no English tradition of metal charms on horses exists previously, however it is likely that horse brasses replaced charms of other materials, as horses were seen as particularly liable to the attention and effects of malign forces, and anything eye-catching and shiny can protect against witchcraft and the evil eye.

Many English brasses depict lucky and fortuitous symbols such as the sun, crescent moon, star, horseshoe, sun cross, and wheel; and dogs, lions, and serpents are common, too.

Horse brasses are commonly used as apotropaic charms to protect homes. Apotropaic charms offer a shield of protection whilst repelling negative energies, magic, and forces. Horse brasses have been found up Welsh chimneys, and were used to protect carts on the streets of early 20th century London. They have been used as protective pendants on necklaces, and as altar decorations.

This horse brass features the upside-down horseshoe, which is my county’s symbol, along with the acorn. It other English counties it is considered bad luck to be hung this way, but in Rutland it is very lucky, and is found on houses and above doorways. The people of Rutland believe that the Devil can’t make a home in the horseshoe this way up.

Do you use apotropaic charms? Do you have horse brasses in your home?

NEXT - Simple Magick: 9 Types of Divination With Water
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: White Horses 

Fabulous Folklore: All Hail the Blackberry!

One of the best things about the arrival of autumn is blackberries! I’m always overtaken with an urge to create from the hedgerows at this time of year, it must be survival instinct to prepare for winter.

The Bramble (Muin) rules over the 10th lunar month in the Celtic Ogham - 2nd-29th September. (Some sources replace Muin with Vine.)

I love Blackberry, she is very direct, and firm in her demand for respect. And it’s not just her brambles! I got stung by intertwining nettles when picking these.

Bramble is used in healing, money, and divination magic - use leaf, thorn, and twig in mojo bags and charms. Bramble is also very good for prosperity magic in relation to wellbeing - for food, shelter, and creative endeavours related to financial success.

There is an abundance of Bramble stories and lore. Some say that as Blackberries ripen, their colour represents aspects of the Triple Goddess: first green (Maiden), then red (Mother), and then black (Crone).

Some say Brambles offer protection against vampires. Planted near the home the vampire will be distracted, obsessively counting the berries and forgetting what he is about!

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Blackberry

NEXT - Recipe; Faery Berry Jam

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Yew

Simple Magick: Thorns

Thorns are protective; they are a defence against predators, and can cut, pierce and draw blood, which gives them powerful energy. Thorn magic is special because it allows for vulnerability whilst establishing a protective boundary. For example, they are useful to those who wish to be available and vulnerable in love again after heartache.

Thorns can be useful in spellworkings to protect, heal, and hex; placing a thorn in a tincture can increase its strength and potency. Long thorns (eg Blackthorn) can be used in place of pins in poppets, which can also be used for healing, love and friendship.

Use thorns with ink to write magical text, carry as a charm, or use to pierce negative ‘bubbles’. There are many plants that possess strong thorn energy: Hawthorn, Rose, Bramble, Blackthorn and Gooseberry to name but a few. 

NEXT - Simple Magick: 11 Ways To Cleanse A Space 

Simple Magick: Make a Protective Rowan Necklace

About ten days ago I spoke a little about Rowan, and how it has long been praised in folklore for its magical properties. The Rowan’s wood and berries are used in a lot of folk-magic, and a necklace from the berries is said to protect the wearer from harm. The red berries counter any magic aimed at the wearer, and protect the wearer from bad spirits when carrying out Shamanic-type work. Rowan is also said to help the wearer focus when working with energies from magic realms. A Rowan necklace or garland will last for many years when stored in a dry place.

“Rowan twigs and strings of red,

Deflect all gossip, harm and dread”

1. Gather your berries. September is ideal, however I was late and gathered mine in the first week of October.

2. Measure and cut a piece of red cord. This is the traditional colour for making Rowan charms, and of course the vibrant colour adds to the energy of your protective magic.

3. Thread the Rowan berries on to the thread using a large darning needle. It is customary to place a knot between each berry, however I didn’t bother with the knots, and added a small wooden bead instead.

4. When you are finished hang your necklace or garland somewhere warm and dry. An airing cupboard or greenhouse works well. The berries will shrivel and darken as they dry out.

My necklace has had about ten days to dry out; as you can see it’s wrinkly and getting darker - quite a contrast to when I first made it.

Scroll down to my earlier post if you’d like to see the necklace in its beginning stage, and learn more about Rowan. 

NEXT - Simple Magick: 30 Low Energy Magickal Correspondences 

Rowan Magick: The Witch's Tree

The Rowan has long been praised in folklore for its magical properties. A necklace from the berries is said to protect the wearer from harm. Whilst it’s often referred to as a Mountain Ash it’s not actually an Ash at all, and is a member of the Rose family instead.

Typically, September is the month to gather and use Rowan berries ~ I know, I know, I’m a tad late this year ~ and consequently my berries are a bit fat!

The Rowan’s wood and berries are used in a lot of folk-magic, and this beautiful tree is believed to have come from the Faerie realm.
Its berries are used for wine and potions to increase second sight, for healing, and for staying strong whilst fasting. The blossom end of the berry has a natural pentagram, adding to its protective properties.

Today I made a Protective Rowanberry Necklace, choosing to thread some brown wooden beads in between each berry to make it my own.
You can also make protective charms from Rowan twigs and red thread to hang in your car, office or over the doors in your house.

“Rowan twigs and strings of red,
Deflect all gossip, harm and dread”