Walpurgis Night… Hexennacht In The Wood

Walpurgis Night, or Hexennacht is the Germanic word for the Witch’s Night. May Day Eve, the night before Beltane when witches, spirits, and demons are thought to roam the night skies. A celebration for the thinning of the veil between the worlds, and the concomitant rise in all our magickal abilities. A gathering at Brocken Mountain, the highest of the Harz Mountains of north central Germany. It is there that bonfires are ablaze, frenzied tantric dances ensue, and the darkest of beings are in attendance…

It has taken me years of diligence to achieve this night’s flight, and the first few were what nightmares are made of. However once mastered, I must say this dark night is by far my favorite.

I don’t actually get on my broom and take flight, in its stead a spectral flight. That in essence is the first hurdle, to be in two places at once, keeping a greater focus on the ghostly realm. If at any time your focus shifts, your back in your body in a heart beat.

I experience the bewitching night in visions, a series of flashing scenes. A sequence of continuous views, some within the dance upon the hill. The bonfire warms my body, and the screeching of diabolical creatures fills my head. I see these creatures and demons, and at times they’ll send visions as well. So another hurdle becomes learning how to decipher, or chance becoming trapped in their web.

I feel the fae brushing against me, occasionally pulling or scratching until I take leave by flight. I have visions of new abilities, hear the whispers of plant spirits, and dance with the devil till dawn…

When I return its a time of contemplation, as I sift through it all once again. Then its off to my May Day celebrations, for its Beltane once again.

Self healing journey

Greetings all on this eve of healing and the sun. 🌞 I am a week out from my last surgery, and I have been making some healing brews, ☕️🍃 aromatherapy blends to rejuvenate, and resting with Petula.

It is amazing how one’s body lets you know enough…. rest.
I get dizzy, flushed, and suddenly feel exhausted. When this happens I respect my body and it’s needs, grab a mug of chaga with cream and molasses, and head for my chair near the fire. The anesthesia takes awhile to work it’s way out of my body, so there is time spent just in the now. I listen to what’s going on around me, but stay silent with closed eyes, and shut down.

I am healing well, as I’ve got a routine for after surgeries, and there is still more surgeries to come. I see this as my metamorphosis… and in time my self be done. 🦋

#thoughtsofawoodwitch

#selfhealingjourney

Hedgeriding and the Otherworld door…

Tonight I talk of doors…🚪

There are words and herbs🌿and postures. There is music and dancing and singing. There is fasting and swaying. Stand on one foot, close one eye, 👁 and raise one arm. Eat this mushroom, 🍄 soak this herb🎋 in wine🍾 overnight, and infuse this fat with belladonna leaves and mandrake root. Sing these words, scream them… mean them. Beat a drum 🥁 and shake a rattle until your wrists hurt, until you cannot feel your hands. Dance around the fire 🔥 until you sweat and sweat, until you forget you are human. Shroud yourself in complete darkness, until there is nothing but the world of visions. All these things and more can lead to hedgeflight and transport one
to the otherworld’s door.”

Things to do in a witches wood.

Going down the rabbit hole…

The March hare is a potent symbol to spring and Ostara, a symbol of fertility, renewal, and rebirth. But for this witch spring is also a time to “go down the rabbit hole” to see where it will take me….

“I Shall Go Into a Hare…

That indeed be the case of at least two women thought to be practicing the art of shape-shifting back in the 1600’s.

For in 1662 a woman  by the name of Isobel Gowdie made several admissions to witchcraft. One of her confessions being that she was sent to do the devil’s bidding in the guise of a hare. Whilst in this form she told of being chased by some hounds, but Isobel cunningly tricked the hounds by racing frantically from one house to another. This continued until she was able to have a few seconds to utter the magickal words that indeed returned her back to her human form. But Gowdie was not the only one…

Julian Cox, Taunton, Somerset was accused of shape-shifting into a hare in 1663 by a local huntsman. He told his tale under oath of how he was out within the wood hunting a hare, with a pack of hounds by his side. It was then that they came upon Julian Cox’s little cottage. Once there the hare quickly darted towards a large hedge row, in an attempt to avade capture.  The huntsmen quickly got to the hare before the hounds, only to find Julian Cox rolling and twisting about on the ground. Taken aback the huntsman spoke to the lass asking her what she be doing there, but Julian was too out of breath to reply… 

I brew a Spring Equinox tea to bring about the fetch within you. A shapeshifter tea of sorts. An enchanting brew of red clover, dandelion and stinging nettles. With a sprinkle of chamomile flowers for the return of the sun, and passion flowers to aid altered  states…

☕️🌿✨ How to brew: add about a tablespoon of the blend to near boiling water and steep for 5 minutes, strain, sweeten to taste and enjoy

The Celts linked the hare to shape-shifting and rebirth, considering the creature sacred. Hares are said to bring the gifts of the underworld as the light increases, and folklore tells of witches and hares, running about the woods and countryside creating mischief with the fae… and I intend to be one of them. Enjoy this spring equinox all. )0(

Crone Magick

There be times when life can become hellish indeed, every day being exactly the same. Long white hallways that never end, and surviving it all to do it over again.

But I have visions, divination and the Crow spirit, for Crone magick this most certainly be. For when darkness comes to fall upon me, then even darker magick shall set me free…

#thoughtsofawoodwitch #woodwitchways

The Magick of Pine

The Magick of Pines…

The Pine has been used in magick and healing practices for hundreds of years. The ancient Egyptians placed an image of the deity Osiris in a hollowed-out pine tree, and in Celtic mythology, Pine is known to be a tree of protection and forgiveness. This tree’s branches have been used in exorcisms and banishments of evil and malevolent spirits for many moons. It can be used to not only break a hex… but return to sender! That’s cool as hell! One can burn the branches to expel the dead, and if you burn both ends of a pine wand it will aid you in your battles, one of the perks of Mars energy!

The Pine be a magickal tree indeed… but traditionally used by folks during the winter holidays. Pine is a very beneficial tree, containing loads of vitamin C, vitamin A, antioxidants, and its health benefits are many. I do believe if I were to choose only one tree to live amongst, it would be without a doubt the white pine. The scent alone of this fantastic tree’s needles and resin is reason enough to fall for this bewitching tree. Pine has many magickal properties associated with it. Pine is a tree of Mars, right there says a lot! It is a tree of air, so burning of its needles rises into the ether with your intent intact. Its long slender needles point upward symbolizing a flame to shamans and mystics alike.

Tis said that if one falls asleep under a pine tree, they may never wake up.

This I believe is due to its inhabitants. Pine is one of the oldest trees on the planet, and it is said that the pine gave birth to wood spirits. Lore also tells us that Merlin himself resides in the pine tree, so you can see the potential for possible mayhem there, not to mention the amount of energy that resides within this tree! A tree of Cernunnos, the lord of the wood, and a fierce protector, a deity I work intimately with. Pine is a rejuvenator, and healer, which is why folk placed pine branches on the coffins of their dead. Pine is always on my ancestral altar, as it keeps any nasty spirits from attaching to my spirit houses.

But at this dawning of a New Year use pine branches as a smudge to purify the old, and offer protection for the New Year, and make a brew of pine needle tea to bring health as well… Happy New Year one and all! ✨🌲🍸✨

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Time for change…

This be a winter of mystery and oddities indeed. Since I left the city and moved up into these woods many moons ago, I have never strolled the fields in December. There should be close to 30 inches or more of snow on the ground…but this year there be none. For the last several days I have walked within the fog and mist of these woods, thinking and entering dream states, trying to understand the signs and symbols I’ve been shown. Change is coming. This I know…

My health and it’s transformations are key, and so is my writing, but there is more to it than that. When I quit my job and left society to become a recluse to these woods, I went wild with my new found freedom. No limits, no boundaries, no one telling me what I can or cannot do, (that is until Etsy got on me), I could now express myself in any artistic fashion I so desired. And I went in every direction, like roots spreading out within the ground. I took on too much and became overwhelmed with the freedom of it all, and now that has to change. I think… and this is in the early stages of thoughts that I have, that I want to focus on quite a bit less but more detailed and intricate magickal wildcrafts for the shop. I am also making changes at Ravens Hedge as well, as I feel strongly about healing and spending more time within the magickal realm of my woods.

I cherish my walks within these woods, my circle, and my beloved hedgerows are so dear. For that is truly for me where the healing and magick is, and for now I long to be near… thoughts of a wood witch.

Awaiting winter in the woods

The woods are in a silent standstill… as we await winter’s return. Normally this time of year the Cailleach has taken a frozen hold onto these woods, with 10-15 inches of snow on the ground as a general rule. But alas this year there be only a couple of inches, and with today’s high of 42 degrees out, that won’t be here for long. The rivers and lakes aren’t frozen yet by far, and the foxgloves in my poisonous garden are for the most part still green.

Winter here is a secondary world, a frozen woods of dream states, altered realities, and hibernation. Now all the creatures and wood spirits alike are still in silence… awaiting to hear the hag screeching and flying about the wood. Knowing this in certanity will bring about a white winter to these woods.
❄️🌲❄️🌲❄️🌲❄️ Winter in a witches wood.

The children all know that it’s time to dread, when in place of “sugarplums” it’s Krampus instead.

Krampus traditionally in folklore is a half goat, half horned demon. With black tufty hair, sharp claws, and a forked tongue, hissing wildly….

His beginnings predate Christianity, thought to be of Alpine and Norse traditions, as well as Germanic roots. Krampus, or “krampen,” in German meaning claw..
Krampus is said to be the son of Hel, she herself being the daughter of Loki, a well known trickster deity.

Krampus’s arrival on the night of ‪December 5th‬, is called “Krampusnacht,” or Night of Krampus. The hooved demon visiting the bad children in Saint Nick’s stead. Some of the lore and artwork depicting the two arriving together, other times Krampus’s appearance being a solitary one.

This dark enity can be heard within the dead of night by the sound of his demon like cloven hooves, his bells and chains thrashing about in the night.
He carries with him birch sticks or ruten, to swat naughty children with, and has a wicker basket strapped upon his back. Using this to transport the children later to Hell….
How wonderfully wicked!

In 1958, Maurice Bruce wrote this of Krampus ~ There seems to be little doubt as to his true identity for, in no other form is the full regalia of the Horned God of the Witches so well preserved. The birch – apart from its phallic significance – may have a connection with the initiation rites of certain witch-covens; rites which entailed binding and scourging as a form of mock-death. The chains could have been introduced in a Christian attempt to ‘bind the Devil’ but again they could be a remnant of pagan initiation rites.

In the 12th Century, the Catholic Church made it’s attempt to do away with the folklore of Krampus, in time artwork changing Krampus’s darkness to red, and a closer resemblance of the devil.
The Austrian government trying again in the 1930’s, neither being successful in their tasks. 

Krampuskarten, a European custom of exchanging greeting cards, has been a tradition since the 1800’s. Words of “Gruß vom Krampus” written upon them, translating to Greetings from Krampus. The demon is usually pictured tongue wagging, and eagerly collecting the bad children, but has also been pictured pursuing more curvaceous women as well..

Over time, the representation of Krampus in these European cards has changed. The older versions having a more demonic looking Krampus, while modern versions having a less threatening, almost red cherub type vibe.
So much for progress….

Traditionally it is said to offer Krampus a libation of strong distilled fruit brandy, or schnapps, although I have offered him birch beer as well. I burn offerings of birch and pine resin, and I offer him blackened berries of belladonna. 

Recent times and movies have brought this dark demon to a whole new light, his folklore and customs living on for generations to come.

So enjoy the night, and go straight to bed, listen for his bells, and cover your head!
Be well, and be good!!!

Thanksgiving… food for thought

For most of us Thanksgiving is nothing more than a time of celebration with our friends and loved ones. A sharing of food and good times, and a time of being thankful for the blessings and bounty we have received. We all remember the stories of the first Thanksgiving that we were taught back in school, but tragically there’s a lot more to it than that…

As I live among the Menominee, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) peoples, that are among the original inhabitants of these woods. For these people Thanksgiving also bares a very different meaning, a time of mourning and honoring of their ancestors.

You see shortly after the Thanksgiving celebrations between the two that we all know of, things between the European settlers and the Native American tribes

began to change. Most of us have never been taught about the genocide of Native people by the millions that happened in the years after, as well as the theft of their graves, food, and Native lands.

So for me Thanksgiving truly originates from the Native Americans belief in giving without expecting anything in return, and a honoring with gratitude for the Wampanoag tribe. For it is they who provided this first meal we all know of as Thanksgiving, as well as their vital knowledge in hunting and agriculture to our ancestor settlers of 1621. I serve corn bread stuffing cranberries, wild rice, and turkey for my meal, as these foods were introduced by the Native Americans. And I

honor the story telling and healing of these people, for they are the true reason for thanks…

Food for thought.