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Road to Runes
Road to Runes: Ehwaz – A Journey in Trust I finally got a new set of runes. In fact, it’s one I’ve had for a long time that I was going to sell, years ago, but for some reason have clung onto. Now I know why! It’s a set of carnelian tumble stones (rocks shaken in a tumbling machine until they are smooth) each inscribed with one of the Elder Futhark. I don’t go in for a whole lot of crystal magic as mining crystals has a lot of negative impacts on the Earth and the people involved. However, I also don’t waste what I have, and these are…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Blackberry The humble bramble or blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is a common sight in British and Irish hedgerows and wild places. Blackberries are also found all over the United States, and may also be called caneberries. Blackberries grow on thick, fast-growing branches covered in thorns, making picking the fruit perilous – use gloves! Each berry is a collection of tiny balls called a drupe, and the taste ranges from sweet to mouth-shrivelling and sour if you pick the tiny, hard ones. In the woods near my house, once you venture away from the paths, the spiky branches trail riotously between tree trunks, making it impossible to create…
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Book Review – The Witchy Homestead: Spells Rituals and Remedies for Creating Magic at Home by Nikki Van De Car
Book Review The Witchy Homestead Spells Rituals and Remedies for Creating Magic at Home by Nikki Van De Car Publisher: Running Press Adult 144 Pages Publication Date: August 17, 2021 I’m always on the lookout for books focused on everyday magic that makes home and family life easier and, perhaps, that little bit more wonderful. This one is so eye-catching with its promise of spells, rituals, and remedies for creating magic at home. Yes please! The book is handily split into three sections: Enchanting Your Food, Enchanting Your Health, and Enchanting Your Home. I love the idea of enchantment as an everyday practice to weave into all aspects of…
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Brambling – A Poem for the First Harvest
Brambling Caught red handed, Well, purple really, Juice dripping down Guilty chin. Bucket half full Promising wine, crumbles pies All lies If I don’t stop eating them Along the trail. These jewels are not just mine I share them with Doves, pigeons, blackbirds Lon Dubh shouting As I invade His sacred space. So I leave enough To feed the feathered folk Even knowing this means Imminent purple plopping On the bonnet of my Long suffering vehicle. Dodging nettles Spiky brambles Benevolent thorns They take my juice As I seek theirs. Caught red handed Purple hand gang States the seven-year-old As we fill our…
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Book Review – Pagan Portals: Aos Sidhe- Meeting the Irish Fair Folk by Morgan Daimler
Book Review Pagan Portals: Aos Sidhe Meeting the Irish Fair Folk by Morgan Daimler Publisher: Moon Books 104 Pages Publication Date: August 1, 2022 The Pagan Portals range from Moon Books is a popular and wide range of introductions to various topics connected to Paganism. Morgan Daimler’s latest instalment in this series explores the Aos Sidhe – who they are, how they fit into folklore and mythology, plus the many different beings that can be classed as Aos Sidhe. For those that don’t know, Aos Sidhe are the “folk of the fairy mounds,” Irish beings often called fairies, the Fae, or more cautiously and safely, the Good Neighbours.…
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Book Review – The Yorkshire ‘Av’mal by Dan Coultas
Book Review The Yorkshire ‘Av’mal by Dan Coultas Publisher: Independently Published 69 Pages Publication Date: June 12, 2022 Lissen up yuh daft apeth, an’ let mi tell thi… about a new book that manages to combine one of the most well-known and celebrated parts of the Poetic Edda with a quirk of the English language known widely across the North of England but perhaps not very much anywhere else, these days. What language am I talking about? It’s the striking and, in the opinion of myself and many others, very beautiful Yorkshire dialect. My opening sentence was a little snippet of Yorkshire, written phonetically – more or less.…
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Dancing Into Summer – Poetry
Pick up your feet Your dancing feet Even if you’re stuck in one place Even if you’re body refuses Or simply can’t Close your eyes Let your thoughts dance Tap tap tapping down the corridors Of your mind Whirling in worlds Of soul and spirit Sending your essence flying high Towards a domed ceiling Candelabras shaking Under the onslaught of joy Dance, dance, dance into summer Heat waves a slave to the beat Solstice imbalance pouring Funk into the shadows Open the windows and Fly, fly out into blue Into fluffy white Into thirsty, hot afternoons And giddy evenings Sing, laugh, love Embrace the chaos that you can And…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: The Beech Tree The common beech, or Fagus sylvatica, is a majestically large deciduous tree, native to North America and Europe, and a vital part of the ecosystem thanks to being home and food to many forms of wildlife. There are other beech species, all in the Fagus genus, with some native to Asia, including Fagus japonica, the Japanese blue beech, and Fagus engleriana, the Engler or Chinese beech. In the U.K. where I live, we often see “Copper Beeches”, which have distinct, purple-bronze leaves and look like they’re straight out of a fantasy tale. Interestingly, this isn’t a different species, but a carefully cultivated…
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Road to Runes
Nauthiz – Need and Sacrifice As part of my ongoing journey to understand more about the runes, I’ve decided to go totally random and use a rune generator rather than my physical set of runes. I’ve fallen out with these runes for personal reasons, and I do have another set but I don’t feel like I’m attuned to them yet. As frustrating as this purgatory-like stage is for divination purposes, it’s the ideal opportunity for getting some straight up learning in without questioning my own abilities or biases. The rune generator I’m using is ifate.com which I also chose at random after a quick Google search. This month I’ve…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary Special: Flowers for Bealtaine Bealtaine is an Irish festival traditionally celebrated on May Eve (April 30th), with many modern celebrations taking place on May 1st. The word is pronounced Bee-ell-tun-uh approximately – at least that’s my best attempt with my very basic Irish! I think it’s important to embrace the correct pronunciation (or as close as you can get) because Irish is a living language and thriving culture, so anglicising Irish words is needless. I pronounced it Bell-tane for many years – now I know better, I try to do better. I’m an English person whose Pagan path is heavily influenced by Irish Paganism, history,…
