Bee Folklore

Bees appear frequently in folklore. Bee charms were traditionally hung in the best room of a house to attract health, happiness and good fortune. If a bee flew into the home then a stranger would soon call; and bees resting on the roof were seen as a good omen.

Bees may have been seen as psychopomps or messengers of the dead as they have appeared in Mycenaean tomb decorations, with some tombs shaped like beehives. Perhaps the human soul transmuted into bee form after death.

“Telling the bees” is a British custom. Bees were kept abreast of important family matters. Births, deaths, marriages, journeys, absences and especially deaths, were reported to the bees, often before other family members.

Usually the “goodwife” of the household would be tasked with “telling the bees”. She would knock gently on the give to get their intention, and solemnly tell them the news. In neighbouring Nottinghamshire, the wife of the dead was heard singing quietly in front of the hive—“The master's dead, but don't you go; Your mistress will be a good mistress to you.” It was feared that failure to update the bees of such news would bring catastrophe. Failure to put the bees in mourning could end in all sorts of trouble; the bees might fail to produce enough honey, leave the hive, or even die.

In my county, whenever there was a death the top of the hive was wrapped with a piece of black fabric or crepe by the beekeeper, otherwise it was feared that the bees would not thrive. Whenever there was a wedding the hives were decorated, and pieces of cake were left out so that the bees could share in the festivities.

🐝🐝 Bee Correspondences 🐝🐝

Fertility, joy, feminine power, teamwork, growth, competent leadership, hard work, obedience, industriousness, prophecy, the sweetness of life.

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Blessed Ostara!

Blessed Ostara, everyone!

May this moment hold you in perfect balance as you prepare to step out of the shadow, and into the light. As we move slowly towards Beltane may the lighter, brighter days bring you passion, energy and enthusiasm. 🌸🌞 

May the chains hindering your growth be broken. May you welcome the warmth and hope of the season with open arms, and may your desires blossom into abundant reality. 🌸🌞

May the Earth nourish you. May love be rekindled and renewed. 🌸🌞

A Happy Autumn Equinox to those in the Southern Hemisphere!

Wishing you a lovely day, everyone! What are you doing to celebrate?

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Duloe Stone Circle, Cornwall

Duloe Stone Circle

This stone circle was constructed in c2000 BC and is unique for its small diameter combined with large stones. The diameter is actually less than 12 metres; making Duloe the smallest stone circle in Cornwall.

The eight quartzite stones containing ankorite are formed in an oval, and are from nearby Herodsfoot, which is about 2 miles away. The neighbouring farm, Stonetown, was named in 1329 after the circle, but the circle was not “officially” discovered until 1801.

Nestled behind a couple of houses on a small patch of green, this little place is truly magical. I did some filming at this place - I’ll show you later!

As Above, So Below

“As Above, So Below”

I could leave this phrase here to go with this beautiful picture I took last Sunday, but like @love_is_the_law__ has said in the past, it deserves explaining.

This phrase is deeply tied to Hermeticism, which might be something you want to research.

There are actually a few interpretations of this phrase.

An example is that whatever you do on Earth will be reflected elsewhere ~ for example on the astral plane. Another example is that whatever happens above (think astrology) will impact us down on Earth.

Basically, there is an interconnectedness of things: that what is “above” reflects what is “below”, and vice versa.

The differences in belief system relate to what is considered “above” and what is considered “below”, which is something you’ll have to decide for yourself.

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International Women’s Day (8th March 2022)

Family commitments meant that International Women’s Day all but passed me by yesterday; but I want to continue spreading the love that I saw so many of you and @thenordicwolfie (who I love so much 🥺) doing. ❤️

@gretathunberg reminded us yesterday that this day is less of a celebration, and more an opportunity to raise awareness for women’s issues and protest against the oppression that STILL happens on the basis of gender ~ BUT ~ there are many of you I’d like to celebrate! ❤️

There are SO many women who inspire me, and make this world a much better place. (Thank you ❤️)

I started to tag you all but EVERY woman I know deserves a mention. I’m also not sure if Instagram allows such huge tagging ~ and I would surely run out of page. 😍😆

Sending so much love to you all ❤️

Professor Alice Roberts - A Chance Meeting!

I’ve been meaning to share this picture since last September!

It was my lovely friend’s birthday, and the night before our dear friend Terry’s funeral (the Archdruid of Avebury, and Keeper of the Stones). We we went to my local hillfort for a walk and bumped into Professor Alice Roberts @prof_alice_roberts

For those that don’t know, or don’t live in the U.K., Professor Roberts is a biological anthropologist and TV presenter. She had just finished filming Digging for Britain at the hillfort when we arrived there.

Professor Roberts has done loads of fantastic programmes including King Arthur’s Britain: The Truth Unearthed, looking at archaeological discoveries giving insight on the political situation in Britain in the Early Middle Ages; and Stonehenge: The Lost Circle Revealed, which looks at the bluestones of Stonehenge and Waun Mawn.

We were definitely not expecting this chance meeting. What started out as a birthday celebration, and a quick walk in the middle of nowhere to clear our heads before a big emotional day, turned into this marvellous encounter.

Thank you Professor Roberts for talking to us and agreeing to a photograph! ❤️

Help for Ukraine

I struggle to say something eloquent at the best of times, but at the moment it’s particularly difficult. My heart is breaking for so many people across the world right now; and in particular for those in Ukraine.

If you’d like to help please go over to @globalgiving and read more about the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund which will help communities who are caught in the current escalating conflict and humanitarian crisis.

The British Red Cross have also set up an emergency appeal @britishredcross 

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.

How to Utilise a Special Connection with the Land

Further to my post “How to Connect to the Land or a Special Place” here are my suggestions for using the connection you have built with the land or a special place:

🌿 Spells and Workings 

You can use the land (provided its suitable) as an actual place in which to carry out your magick. But you can also use this connection from afar. You can recall the feelings you get, and create a mental picture of this place in your mind’s eye. For example, if you are creating a spell for safety, and you feel safe there, you can conjure those feelings and images for your working.

🌿 Meditation 

You can visit a special place on your meditative journeys. Maybe you feel relaxed in this special place, and so you meditate on it to enter a deep state of peace. Maybe your special place is at a distance, and this is one way to regularly visit, and to connect in.

🌿 Grounding Yourself 

Visiting your special place is a great way to ground yourself. Take your shoes and socks off and walk the Earth. You can also call upon the feeling of safety and security you feel at this special place to ground you, when you’re feeling stressed or scared.

🌿 Invoking the Elements When Casting a Circle 

You can use experiences of your special place(s) when casting a Circle. Recall how the wind feels stood atop a hillfort, “see” the image of water at a nearby lake, feel the warmth of a hot and sunny place. All are experiences you can use in your magick.

🌿 Using Items Found at Your Special Place 

You can forage items such as fallen leaves, acorns, berries, herbs etc. to use in your magick. This further establishes the connection you have. Don’t forget to ask permission, and to give thanks.

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Hellebore Magick

So happy to see these beauties back - lovely hellebores. While everything is still frozen and the trees are bare, it’s exciting to see these wonderful flowers blooming.

❗️Hellebore is poisonous, gloves must be worn when handling it.

In Greek mythology hellebore was used to save one of the kings of Argos’ daughters who suffered from a mental illness that caused them to run naked through the city, wailing at the top of their voices. This hysteria was supposedly induced by Dionysus. The quick thinking of Melampus of Pylos saved the day - he administered a potion made from hellebore which saved the daughters. 

Hellebore is associated with the element of water, and Mars and Saturn. It is used for protection and in exorcisms, and in healing rites where mental health is concerned.

I think baneful plants and flowers are often the most beautiful. What’s your favourite spring flower? 🌸 

Talking Trees

I thought I’d share a story I told back in 2020. It’s a very personal story about a tree.

It’s not the tree whose shadow is featured in the picture, but a beautiful Oak I met on a sacred site many moons ago. I say “met” because this is where it gets interesting. The tree spoke to me.

Before I go any further, I’d like to point out that I know this story will sound far-fetched to some, and that by omitting certain details detracts from its credibility; but I must recall the story in the way that feels right.

I was visiting a hill fort at a particularly difficult time in my life, but I was making the most of the beautiful day I had been gifted. The Sun was shining, the birds were singing, and despite things being tricky, I was otherwise enjoying life.

My then-partner wandered off to look at something, and I made my way over to the most beautiful of Oaks. I wanted to stand beneath it, touch its bark, and connect in with it; this majestic being.

I cuddled the tree with my arms, and said hello. In my mind I told the tree how beautiful it was, and I was relaying some one-sided chatter before asking the tree what I should about my current situation. I never expected an answer. It was at once the voice in my mind, but also the voice of something ~ someone ~ else, too.

I decided my imagination was playing tricks on me, but I was aware that there was no way I could think and talk inside my mind at the same time. I did what I think anyone else would do, and I asked their name, which the tree told me. Please do not ask me to repeat the name, because I have promised to keep it a secret.

We conversed a little longer, but not wanting to be greedy or “push my luck” I thanked the tree for its insight, and ended the conversation. I stayed a little longer under the tree, happy but stunned, before moving on. An experience I will never forget, but one I no longer find extraordinary - several plants have revealed information about themselves since.

When I got home I was shocked to discover that I could not find anything under that name on Google.

Has anything unexpected like that ever happened to you? Tell me your witchy stories. 🧙🏻‍♀️🧙🏾‍♂️✨

Spellcasting Ethics

The ethics of spellworking are there to help us create fair, considered and effective spells. They are a set of principles that can help us avoid harming ourselves and others.

Good ethics for magick/spellcasting can be summed up as follows:

1. Never work to harm anyone, including the self. 

2. Never manipulate anyone against their will or natural development. 

3. Never assume you know all the facts about a situation or person.

4. Never work for your own gain at someone else’s expense.

5. Word spells carefully and precisely, so that rules 1-4 may be observed.

The Wiccan ethical motto “An it harm none, do what thou wilt” does not mean “anything goes”, it means a Witch should have a legitimate aim clearly in mind, and work to achieve it.

Ethical spellworking is not centred around power, or self-gain for selfish reasons. It is a positive action focused on fruitfulness, problem solving and progression. It is not angry, arrogant or destructive; instead it is designed to flow in a state of balance and harmony to bring about positive results.

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Winter Aconite

Winter Aconite - Eranthis hyemalis

These gorgeous little buds are Winter Aconite. They open out to a beautiful flower which looks like a large buttercup (they belong to the buttercup family). They’re not to be confused with lesser celandine, which will flower between March and May, and have a pointy, star-shaped flower. Hyemalis means “wintering flowering.”

When we think of aconites we tend to think of monkshood (highly toxic), also known as wolf’s bane, which is from the same family (Ranunculaceae), which is associated with death, hallucinations and flying ointments, magickally, but I find this sweet little yellow flower much lighter in energy.

As a spring ephemeral plant they remind me of the fleeting beauty of life; and their appearance in the coldest part of the year reminds me that even after tough times, hope should be held in your heart, for abundance will return once more.

‼️ Please note that all parts of this plant are poisonous; cardiac glycosides will stimulate the heart, and even cause cardiac arrest in large quantities.

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The Celtic Cross

The Celtic cross is known as a symbol of Irish heritage. It is a form of cross that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. It’s not clear exactly where the first crosses originated, but the wave of cross building in Ireland came to an end in about 1200 AD. Most of the examples in Britain were destroyed during the Protestant Reformation. They gained popularity in the 19th Century, the name “Celtic cross” coming from that time.

These crosses are usually intricately carved, often with Bible stories and knot work, and a variety feature inscriptions in ogham. Some historians have suggested that the shape of these crosses may have mirrored trees, which the Celts revered, and that the symbol of Christianity was linked with the Sun Cross to appeal to early Pagans. Some assert that placing the cross on top of the circle represents Christ’s supremacy over the Pagan sun.

No one really knows why these huge stones were erected, by they’re typically located by important monasteries, and are popular for funerary monuments. This cross is situated in Duloe village, Cornwall.

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Wild Garlic

Wild garlic ~ Allium ursinum

This perennial plant usually grows in large swathes of carpet in damp woodlands, fenlands, and by rivers. You can easily detect wild garlic - often before you see it! - by the smell in the air. It is a wild relative of chives, and is also known as Ramsons, Wood Garlic, Broad Leaved Garlic, and my favourite - Bear Garlic - as described by its binomial name. It has broad, flat leaves, and white star-shaped flowers with six segments.

The English naturalist William Turner in 1548 knew the plant as Ramsey, with the town in Cambridgeshire (just down the road from my mum! ) sharing its name, along with Ramsbottom in Lancashire (where my sister used to live!) meaning “Ramson valley”.

Its leaves have grown up through the ground now, and it will be in full flower in April and May. It is used to make pesto, pancakes, soups, stews, rissoles, and anything else you would use garlic for. Its leaves are delicious in sandwiches, and you can eat the flowers, which are stronger than the leaves.

The word ‘ramsons’ was a metaphor for bitterness in Irish folklore, but this plant was valued there, where bulbs were planted in the thatch of cottages to deter faeries. Churches were once decorated with wild garlic on the feast day of St. Alphege (19th April), which must have scented the church as it has such a strong smell.

It was once believed that wild garlic scared away venomous creatures such as snakes, and that it could be used medicinally to treat snake bites. Chewing the plant before a race was said to ensure victory, and a similar belief was held for battle.

Considered a great healer by the Celts, it is often used in healing spells, and of course has the protective qualities of any garlic. It is often associated with the magical correspondences of bear medicine due to its name: 

🐻 Strength

🐻 Wisdom

🐻 Healing

🐻 Action 

🐻 Power 

🐻 Spiritual connection 

🐻 Familial bonds 

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Winter is Still Here

Hey everyone, 

Just a little reminder that we’re still in the depths of winter. It’s ok to need to go at a slower pace. This is a time of regeneration, recuperation and rest. As you take the time to look after yourself with sleep, good food, and all the lovely things that comfort you; your body and soul responds with growth. 

As we travel the Wheel, and get nearer to spring, we will pick up more energy. The Sun will soon melt away, not only the literal ice of the winter; but also our troubles. For it’s easier to tackle things when we have the energy. Work on personal protection, and leave everything else free to evolve in its own sweet way. The spring is a new beginning for everyone, and as we approach it, it will be easier to make the changes we need to.

Have faith in yourself, and your abilities, you’ll feel much better soon! 

Runes:

ᛒ - Berkana 

ᛁ - Isa 

ᛖ - Ehwaz

ᛉ - Elhaz

ᚱ - Raidho