LinksThere's something here for everyone - from the novice to the more experienced spell caster.
(Don't forget to visit our Special Seasonal Events page for the relevant ceremonial and seasonal activities and festivities!)
To Ensure You Always Have Money!
Carry a Tiger's Eye stone in your purse, wallet or pocket; preferably with the highest denomination of paper money, to ensure you never run out!
Trouble Remembering Things?
Smelling the wood of the rosemary plant improves your memory.
To Chase Away Nightmares!
A traditional cure is to place a sprig of Thyme under your pillow. Native American Indians hung 'dreamcatchers' over their beds which trap bad dreams in 'the web', allowing only good ones to enter the sleeper's head. Alternatively, hang up a Witch Ball to catch all negativity.
To Bring a Lover Into Your Life!
You will need 1 pink candle, a small dish or incence burner, charcoal disk, 'Frankincense' incence, a new un-used pin, a picture of yourself, 2 half-open red roses, a small container to hold them. Light the candle. Light the charcoal disk, place into the incence burner of dish. Sprinkle the incence onto it. As the smoke rises into the air, focus on the flame of the candle and visualise yourself meeting your new love. Push the pin through the stalks of both the roses, about half-way down. Pass the heads of the roses through the incence smoke, and place them in the container. Extinguish the candle and leave the joined roses (don't forget to keep water in the container!) until the flowers open, and the petals fall. Collect the petals and place them in an un-used envelope, and sleep with them under your pillow for seven nights. Your lover will come into your life!
To Rid Your Life Of Worries!
Traditional folklore uses Worry Dolls. There are six dolls to a pack. Remove the dolls from their little pouch, and whispering ONE worry to each doll, you place the doll back in the bag. Place the bag under your pillow and sleep through the night. In the morning, you will notice the worry is gone as the doll has taken that from you. It is important not to burden any doll with more than one worry, although you need not tell all your worries to all the dolls in one go!
SEASONAL SPELL - LUGHNASADH/LAMMAS
LUGHNASADH/LAMMAS CORN DOLLY - (1st August)
At the heart of LAMMAS is gratitude and generosity. Give thanks to The Lady and The Lord for the bounty in your lives - and share that bounty with others in a harvest feast. Make your Corn Dolly as simple, or as intricate as you desire - decorate her or keep her plain, as you desire. Pass the Dolly through the smoke of your ritual fire to bless her. Ask her to protect your household from theft, poverty, illness and disaster. Last year's Corn Dolly (if you have one) should be tossed in the fire with prayers of gratitude for a year's worth of good fortune. Treat this year's Dolly with reverence, and hang her in a highly visible place. Blessed Be!
How to make a Corn Dolly
The best part of the stem is the top length from the ear (the seed head) down to where the last leaf leaves the stem. Leaving the ear intact, strip off the dead leaves and sort the stems according to size: thick, medium, and fine.
Dry straw must be soaked flat in cold water for about 15 minutes and then stood upright to drain before plaiting.
The Five-Straw Plait is the easiest to work with for a beginner:
1. Tie 5 straws together close to the ears.
2-5. Each time the straw being folded passes over two corners, it is then left and the one at the last corner is picked up and used in its place until the round is completed. The attractive spiral pattern grows as round succeeds round.
6. When completed, the ends are tied to the starting point below the ears, making a decorative circle.
To feed in new straws, cut the old straw off after it has passed the second straw. The thin end of the new straw is inserted in the hole, making sure of a firm fit which is hidden under the fold of the straw of the next round.
Simple corn dollies can also be made with the standard three-straw plait.
More complex corn dollies involve multiple straws, intricate braids, and sometimes the creation of a straw core shape around which the outer straw is plaited.
A Corn Dolly by any other name
-
England: Harvest Queen
-
Kern Baby
-
Corn Doll
-
Scotland: Hag
-
Old Wife
-
Old woman (Cailleac)
-
Wales: Hag (Wrach)
-
Brittany: Mother Sheaf.
-
Germany: Kornmutter (Corn Mother)
-
Harvest Mother
-
Old Woman.
-
Prussia: Grandmother
-
Denmark : Rye Woman
-
Barley Woman
-
Poland: Baba (grandmother)