Animism at the Dinner Table
Some of you may not be aware of this, but food is my first passion above herbalism and above magic. I am a mom, then a cook, then a plant lover, and then a witch. The artist is in there too, but often...
View ArticleOn Flying Ointments as Medicine
“I ha’ been plucking plants among Hemlock, Henbane, Adder’s Tongue, Nightshade, Moonwort, Leppard’s-bane And twice, by the dogs, was like to be ta’en.” ~ Ben Johnson I have been growing henbane,...
View ArticleCurses & Blessings at the Witches’ Sabbat
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, witches came from miles around to meet in the woods and learn from each other about cursing and warding magic. I remember walking a dense spiral path formed by...
View ArticleOn Serendipity and Iron
The other day I had a serendipitous morning of finding datura and brugmansia plants at a local nursery and the ladies who work there gave me all the seeds they’d collected after hearing about the pain...
View ArticleThe Evolution of the Apothecary
Once upon a time I lived in the Pacific Northwest rainforest at the foot of a mountain, the city on one side, a sea inlet on the other. I could step out my front door into groves of impossibly tall red...
View ArticleA Wintry Day in the Life
I awake in the morning before the sun at 6am when the sky is still dark blue and the bright moon shines into my bedroom window. When I make breakfast and bring my two year old downstairs, the sun is...
View ArticleForest Chai
Chai tea is a delicious way to start working with local plants. Tailor your own chai recipe with aromatic herbs native to the forests of your region and then learn how to identify, seek out, and...
View ArticleIt’s All Indie Cards Two
This is my yearly “indie tarot decks are awesome” feature. I would even argue that some independently published tarot and oracle decks are of a higher quality and creativity than many mainstream decks...
View ArticleHunting Mycelium in the Wildwood
There is a forager in town who lives a two minute walk from my house. We kept running into each other because small towns are small which led to conversations over local beer about medicinal mushrooms,...
View ArticleSix Herbs for Spirit Work
These herbs are easy to find for most and can be bought, foraged, or grown. Maybe you are trying to learn ways to work with spirits or maybe you are looking to incorporate plants into the spirit work...
View ArticleCalendula and the Lily of the Valley
I’d forgotten about calendula. I used to grow it years ago. I buried grandmother crow under its roots and it flourished into a massive bush of fuzzy green leaves covered in the brightest orange...
View ArticleRewilding Realities in Small Towns
Here there is a constant chorus of tree frogs, crickets, and birdsong that never stops, even in the darkness when the bats fly over the creek to hunt mosquitoes. I see the black and white flash of a...
View ArticleMysteries of Beast, Blood and Bone
© 2013 Sarah Anne Lawless – Originally printed in Serpent Songs: An Anthology of Traditional Craft curated by Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold and published by Scarlet Imprint. Do not copy or use any...
View ArticleHealing Through Spiritual Cleansing
I bathe thy palms In showers of wine, In the lustral fire, In the seven elements, In the juice of rasps, In the milk of honey – The Invocation of the Graces, Carmina Gadelica talk a lot about the...
View ArticleConsecration and Desecration
I am very much a “consecrate all the things” type of magician. I consecrate altars, ritual tools, divinatory tools, fetiches, talismans, charms, idols, candles, holy water, and even herbal...
View ArticleOpen Source Magic
“I do not want to father a flock, to be the fetish of fools and fanatics, or the founder of a faith whose followers are content to echo my opinions. I want each man to cut his own way through the...
View ArticleBreaking Tradition Or, How the Death of Modern Witchcraft is a Myth
“Witchcraft is already dead as a hag, as barren as the moon, as contaminated as the tar sands. Yet Witchcraft is born again in this sacred despoiled landscape, and will be despised as an abomination by...
View ArticleCatching and Binding Spirits
“Black spirits and white, red spirits and grey, come ye and come ye, come ye that may! Around and around, throughout and about, the good come in and the ill keep out.” ~ Doreen Valiente (based on...
View ArticleBanishing, Depossessing, and Devouring
“Raise no more devils than you can lay down.” – German Proverb Let us be honest. There are endless ways, spells, and rituals to summon spirits, gods, and demons but when it comes to safeguards or...
View ArticleFor Fear of Flying
“Up on their brooms the Witches stream, Crooked and black in the crescent’s gleam; One foot high, and one foot low, Bearded, cloaked, and cowled, they go.” - Walter de la Mare he metaphorical witch’s...
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