Magical Alphabet: "B is for Blue"

A lot of magical endeavors start with creating the right kind of environment, and colour plays a huge part in that.

Today we're going to look at the colour blue.

Elemental association: Water

Tarot association: Cups

Magical associations: Emotions and healing.

Directional association: West (usually, depending on tradition)

Blue can be incorporated into ritual and magical work via a large number of means including clothing, candles, ink and altar decorations. The colour blue can also be incorporated with the use of crystals, some of which are not only blue in colour but have a reputation to strongly resonate with healing and emotional energies. Blue Lace Agate, for example is good for emotional healing, known for calming people and providing clarity of thought.

Magical Alphabet: "A is for Apples"

Welcome to a new series of articles I'm calling "Magical Alphabet", as you can see from the title, we're starting with "Apples".

© Jekaterinavlassova | Dreamstime Stock Photos
& Stock Free Images

Apples and apple trees pop-up in a variety of magical traditions and Pagan beliefs... if you slice them in half they even have a pentacle at their core! For this reason apple recipes are often included at ritual meals.

One thing apples are said to be magically linked to is eternal youth or immortality. In Irish tradition the eating of apples is what kept those in the faery realm ever young ( Connla the Fair). This has similarities with the Norse stories of the Goddess Idunn, who fed apples to the gods to maintain their youth.

Apples are also linked to love... especially divination of romantic situations. It is said that if you peel an apple in a continuous strip and then drop it on the floor, it will fall to form the initial of your true love. Another practice is to cut an apple into 9 sections, eat the first 8 standing in front of a mirror and then throw the last one over your shoulder. When the last section is thrown, the face of your intended should appear to you in the mirror.

To ensure plentiful supplies of apples, wassailing apple trees is still practiced throughout many counties of England. This is a practice designed to awaken the apple trees and scare off bad spirits to ensure a good harvest. This is a rather jolly affair which involves lots of singing and cider drinking.

Here’s to thee, old apple tree, 

Whence thou mayst bud 

And whence thou mayst blow! 

And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!

Hats full! Caps full! 

Bushel--bushel--sacks full, 

And my pockets full too! Huzza!

-Gentleman's Magazine, 1791

Podcast: Episode 1 - Yule 2012

Episode 1 - Yule 2012 - The new site, Yule & music from Snowflake!

Treasuring our naivety

I spent last weekend at a large MBS event at the Olympia in London. This was a much bigger event than we normally attend, and put me in contact with an entirely different set of people. Lots of the people approaching the stall were drew by the name "Hedge Witchery Books", and not having had any contact with witchcraft before wanted to know all about it. Answering their questions put me in a somewhat reflective mood, not about witchcraft or Hedge-Witchery, but about learning, knowledge and our attitude to it.

You see, unsurprisingly, there are lots of things I do differently after 10 years plus of magical/pagan practise than I did in my first few years. Had I started the websites and business now rather than then, I may have chosen to call it Haegtessa, to avoid the modern misconceptions of the practise. I may have written about the moons and festivals differently, tying them to the natural calender I now use, rather than the Gregorian one I used to, and still refer to in articles and beginners books. But in some ways I'm very thankful I started the site and business whilst I was still a little more green.

Way back when I was first starting out on this path, there is no way I could have worked to an entirely natural calender... it would have baffled me. There's no way I could have pronounced Old-English terms and charms... let alone used them. There's no way I would have felt comfortable using different names for festivals and celebrations, to the majority of people on a similar path to me... let alone go into details as to why the ones I use seem more appropriate.

Now I'm meeting people in the same position, just starting down their paths and looking for few helpful sign-posts and a way to make the journey easier.

Some people will say that I should only pass on the practises I practise now, that the reason I have evolved my practises over the years was because what I learnt earlier on was "incorrect" or "modern mis-teaching"... or in the case of one writer I had this debate with recently "uneducated". However, as all spiritual and magical practises have a personal relevance to each individual, this is not the case.

Hedge-Witchery.com has always been a "beginner friendly" site... and it always will be. Although we've recently started providing resources for people a little further down there path with the online and in person courses, we'll never -(I hope!)- lose the way absolute new-comers can jump into the beginners articles and books and find a way to practise that they can easily relate to and fit into their lives.

The lessons I learnt and the way I practised in the past is what enabled me to be comfortable and build skills in my path and what led me to where I am now. Had I not learnt those lessons I would not have learnt all the ones that followed. You will no doubt meet writers who have turned the first lessons they learnt, and the people who still pracise them, into negative things that they now point to as "inaccurate", wielding them like hammers to be thrown at new-comers they find disdainful and un-deserving of their self-supposed advanced knowledge, but, in my humble opinion, you should pay them no heed.

I will always hold onto the terms and practises I learnt in my more naive days, although I may not use them in all situations, they are still very relevant. They hold a certain magic of their own, a kind personal to me, a kind of energy that relates to wonder, excitement, curiosity and a desire to learn more. Who knows, another 10 years down my path and the terms and practises I use now may hold the same magic.

What is a Hedge-Witch?

Powerful Magic...

A few different things this week led me to thinking about "powerful" magic. Story books are full of illustrations of Mages surrounded by whirl-winds of fire and ice, changing the very fabric of the universe... but how does this translate to real witchcraft and modern magical practices?

I started by asking some friends "What is the most powerful magic spell/ritual you know of?" I received a range of answers. A few people said they were the personal ones that cause an emotional/spiritual shift. Some said the most powerful magic is that which happens naturally, like falling in love or life itself. Someone said it's the rituals that seem to write them selves, flowing naturally from your lips or pen. Others looked to ancient magical text, such as the Abra-Melin.

Obviously there is no definitive answer to this, it's really dependant on what you view as powerful. But, I've thought on this for a while and came to a rather unexpected conclusion.

For me powerful magic has three main ingredients:

   - Focused intent

   - A historical/ancestral connection, a pre-set pattern of some sort that magical energies are already imprinted on.

   - Utter un-questioning belief in what you are doing.

No-one can focus on what they want more than a child, desired objects and outcomes are decided on instantaneously, almost instinctively. When they decide they want something, they really want it.

Since 1940 a man named Walt planted a singing cricket and mis-guided puppet into the hearts of generations of children... and a ritual to be repeated a hundred times a night, all over the world was born... and the innocence of childhood, and instinctive knowledge of magic means there is not a doubt in their minds that their wish will go un-noticed.

I cast my most powerful magical spell aged about 4 in order to conjure a new doll!

Plants and Magic

Plants form an integral part of magic, as they have throughout history. The use of herbal medicines go back thousands of years, and over those thousands of years the way herbs and plants are used and the people with access to them has grown and diversified.

Within witchcraft they are commonly used by being turned into incense or burnt as smudge sticks, to decorate places and altars and as ingredients within potions or meals to celebrate Sabbats and Esbats.

As the demand for plants with magical associations grows, so does the number of retailers that stock them. It is important to check that wherever you purchase any magical items, you ensure they have been grown or manufactured in a sustainable, organic way.

Of course, in an ideal world everyone would all grow and harvest their own herbs, or forage for wild ones. If you do decide to go down the route of growing your own, it is recommended that you use a book or calendar that details key dates in the lunar cycle, in order to gain maximum magical energy. Many practitioners have found that gardening is a magical ritual in itself. If it’s not something you have done before it is certainly worth trying.

If you decide to collect plants and herbs from the wild please be respectful of where you collect them from and give something back; collect seed pods from that area and scatter them to help the area grow. It goes without saying that rare or protected plants should never be removed from their habitats.

There are many sources of information available for the different ways in which you can use plants and herbs in spells and rituals. ‘The Book of Magical Herbs: Herbal History, Mystery, & Folklore’ by Margaret Picton and Michelle Pickering is a popular choice. It is a beautiful book that provides information on the history and folklore surrounding the everyday plants and herbs found in kitchens and gardens.

If you want a big no-nonsense sourcebook to look up the properties of a wide range of different herbs, you would be hard pushed to find a better book than ‘The Herb Book: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to More Than 500 Herbs’ by John B Lust. Another good book, and firm favourite amongst the magical community is ‘Cunningham's Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs’ by Scott Cunningham.


There are also countless websites that provide information on this subject matter. An important point to remember is that whenever you read about magical correspondences associated with plants, that they will be slightly different for everyone. The more you work with plants, the more your instincts for what will work where, will grow.

For an article about specific magical plant correspondences click here.

Magick vs. Magic

"What is the difference between 'magick' and 'magic?" is a question a lot of people new to witchcraft will ask themselves at some point.

Anyone researching magic or witchcraft on the internet, in books or anywhere else, will come across the words 'magic' and 'magick'. This is something that often confuses people, as they seem to be referring to the same thing. And, for the most part the are.

The use of the spelling 'magick' is largely believed to have started with Aleister Crowley.  He offers one explanation as to why he used this spelling in his book 'Magick in Theory and Practice'.

“In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to the Great Work, understanding thereby the Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of material existence. I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just as H. P. Blavatsky some years earlier. "Theosophy", "Spiritualism", "Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable connotations. I chose therefore the name "MAGICK" as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most discredited, of all the available terms. I swore to rehabilitate MAGICK, to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to respect, love, and trust that which they scorned, hated and feared. I have kept my Word.”

Another theory that a lot of people subscribe to is that he chose this spelling for numerological reasons. In Numerology 'k' corresponds with 11, and 11 is a powerful number denoting psychic ability and deep insight.

A lot of people who chose to use this spelling do so in relation to Wicca. This is a little unusual as Aleister Crowley was not Wiccan. In fact the majority of significant figures within Wicca (including Gerald Gardner), used the spelling 'magic'.

As a general rule of thumb, if you see the spelling 'magick', it is usually in relation to a form of ceremonial magic. However, as with a lot of things within witchcraft, it comes down to personal choice. A lot of magical practitioners use the way they spell it as an expression of the path they follow. Some simply use the same spelling as the person that taught them. Some take it from their favourite witchcraft books or websites.

Either spelling is neither correct nor incorrect, and you can see examples of them both on all manner and type of literature and websites.

Circle Casting

Casting circles for spells and rituals is something practiced by many branches of witchcraft and Paganism. The purpose and necessity of casting a circle is something that will vary between practitioners and covens.

Some believe that circles are cast to create a protected area in which to practice magic. Others see them as a way of building magical power and focusing it into the ritual that is being carried out. There are others that believe they are a way of acknowledging, paying respect to, and thanking the deities and magical energies that are present during rituals and spells.

As you can imagine, due to the difference in believes as to what a circle is for, there is also a large sliding scale as to how important and elaborate a part of rituals it becomes.

Personally, as a Hedge Witch, circle casting as we know it today isn’t really a big part of my chosen tradition, but it’s still something I often do. Granted in a very short simple format, but I find it creates a nice start and finish point to spells. This may sound a little strange but after a day at the office or running round after children having something you do as a regular prelude to workings is a good way to enter the right mind set and clear away the cluttered thoughts that may distract your concentration.

Below is a very simple example of circle casting, as with all magical workings it’s best to come up with your own adaptation and make it personal to you.

The circle itself may or may not be marked out physically. This can be done with anything you choose but rope and salt are common choices. Sometimes candles are used to mark the directional correspondences on the circumference of the circle, (Green for North, Yellow for East, Red for South and Blue for West). Sometimes representations of each element is used to mark directional correspondences, either around the circumference or on an alter within the circle, (Earth for North, Air for East, Fire for South and Water for West).

Before the circle is cast the person leading the ritual will welcome the Lord and Lady, or specific deities that they wish to be present.

They will then walk round the edge of the circle in a clockwise direction (traditionally starting at the East) marking it out with either an athame, a staff, a wand or simply their finger. They may stop at each compass point to welcome the energies / God / watchtower, or they may complete the circle and then welcome them. An example of what they may say would be:

“Energies of the East, I ask you watch over this rite with powers of knowledge and communication, guided by Air, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’,
Energies of the South, I ask you to watch over this rite with powers of strength and will, guided by Fire, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’,
Energies of the West, I ask you to watch over this rite with powers of peace and emotion, guided by Water, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’,
Energies of the North, I ask you to watch over this rite with powers of prosperity and stability, guided by Earth, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’.”

Once the circle is cast it is generally believed you should not cross it’s boundary, and break the circle, if it can at all be helped. Some practitioners will cut a doorway in the circle if someone needs to leave by using whatever they used to draw the circle to mark two small lines across the boundary of it. Once the person has left / re-entered they then re-connect the two edges.

One, if not the, most important part of casting a circle is for all the participants to visualise it as clearly as they can. For most people this will be a circular wall or sphere of light, but it is a very personal thing and will vary for everyone.

Once the spell or ritual has been complete, it is important to then take down the circle. Confusingly this is often called ‘opening’ the circle as people often visualise the energy or light dissipating outwards, rather than falling in on itself.

To do this the person leading the ritual will walk around the circumference in an anticlockwise direction tracing the outline of the circle. Either whilst they are walking and reach the compass points, or after they have finished they will say something along the lines of:

“Energies of the East, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can, go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’,
Energies of the North, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’,
Energies of the West, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’
Energies of the North, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’.”

They will often use a similar statement format for thanking and saying goodbye to the Lord and Lady or other deities, which they will do next.

As I said previously this is a basic outline of how circles are cast. Some are much more complicated, and by the same token some or much simpler. Some plainly consist of visualising the circle and mentally acknowledging the different elements and directions associated with them.

However you choose to embrace this practice, like all things magical, it will develop personal power and meaning the more you do it.

Harvest Moon

Tonight you can see the full Harvest Moon - (aka Blood Moon and Hunters Moon). This not only has the usual magical connotations connected with other full moons but has a large significance for wildlife. It is the brightest moon of the year and many animals wait for it as a signal to start migration, hence the name Hunters Moon as due to the effect on wildlife it is indeed a very good night to go hunting.

Dispute Moon

Tonight is the last night of "Dispute Moon" as tomorrow night the full "Singing Moon" rises. Named after the singing celebrations of those returning from the fields after much harvesting. It represents a time leading up to Mabon when the toil is almost over and we can rest and enjoy the rewards of our hard work.