#Tree Magic

[maureen2musings]

Magical morning in the Peak District

peaklass

[funeral]

Iva Kenaz, Tree Magic

[carlavermeend]

Magnolia

[lailoken]

Not long ago, my husband and I were lucky enough to meet a truly awe-inspiring tree—a centuries old Sitka Spruce that was likely once utilized by the indigenous population for funerary rites.

While the area surrounding the tree was (rightfully) fenced off to prevent disrespect or damage to the site, I was able to lay my hands on the exposed roots that crept beyond the enclosed perimeter, and that still felt very powerful and special.

[freyjalestrange]

What a beautiful tree portal 🌳 🌿🧚✨️

[astra-ravana]

Black Locust

The black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) native to North America, is known for its resilience, fragrant flowers, and strong wood. Though often associated with protection and endurance, it also has a mysterious and somewhat dual nature, as parts of the tree are toxic while its flowers are sweetly aromatic and edible. This duality makes it a fascinating plant in magickal and spiritual practices.

Correspondences

• Element: Air, Earth

• Planets: Saturn, Mercury

• Deities: Hekate, Loki, Nyx, Lua Saturni, Baba Yaga and other trickster or liminal deities

• Zodiac: Scorpio

• Chakra: Root, Third Eye

• Gender: Masculine

Properties

• Protection & Warding – Due to its sharp thorns and tough wood, black locust is a strong protector against malevolent forces, curses, and unwanted influences. Use black locust thorns in talismans or place around doorways to ward off intruders and negative energy.

• Endurance & Strength – Thrives in poor soils and regenerates quickly, making it a symbol of perseverance and adaptability.

• Hidden Wisdom & Mystery – Connected to esoteric knowledge, deception, and seeing beyond illusions. It's heavily associated with liminal spaces and the unseen realms.

• Duality & Trickster Energy – The tree’s beauty and fragrant flowers contrasts with its danger and toxicity, making it useful in spells involving balance, duality, and revealing hidden truths.

• Baneful Workings & Combat Magick - Black locust is a very formidable tree and as such its branches are ideal for blasting rods and its sharp thorns are a powerful curse component that will bring suffering to your target.

• Truth & Discernment Work - Burn black locust wood (ethically sourced) as incense to aid in divination, uncovering deception, or strengthening intuition. Carry a piece of black locust bark or wood in a sachet when dealing with tricky situations or people.

• Binding & Banishing - Its sharp thorns make it ideal for binding spells, curse-breaking, or reversing negative energy. Used in shadow work and self-exploration to confront hidden fears or illusions.

• Spirit Work & Hedge-Riding - Its connection to Saturn and the underworld makes it useful in necromancy, ancestral work, and spirit communication. Can be used to enhance lucid dreaming and astral projection when incorporated into charm bags or altar work.

• Transformation & Rebirth - The tree’s ability to regrow quickly symbolizes new beginnings, regeneration, and resilience. Useful in spells for healing from setbacks, personal evolution, and emotional strength.

[dark-corner-cunning]

The Virtues of Sacred Woods: Embracing the Magick of Trees

Note To Reader: As we find ourselves in the heart of summer, journeying along the southern road of the crossroads here in Appalachia, we embrace the virtue of earth and the magick of Old Mother Green Cap. This post is woven from the threads of traditional witchcraft, physical witchcraft, and my own path. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest. Feel free to make up or create your own correspondences and virtues as you see fit.

What is a virtue? In our witchy world, a virtue is a beneficial quality or power of something, a word whispered from the metaphysical lips of existence. It's the hidden essence, the subtle energy, the magick that pulses through the veins of the natural world. When we speak of virtues, we're invoking the spirit and energy that dwells within every tree, every branch, every tool crafted from nature's gifts.

Among the myriad stick-formed tools in the Traditional Craft of Cunning, two stand as pillars in our practice: the Wand and the Stang (or Staff). While their virtues are distinct, their roots intertwine deeply with the ancient woods from which they were born. Let us briefly explore these sacred tools, for within their grain lies the power to shape our craft and connect us to the hidden currents of the world.

-The Wand: Conduit of Power-

The wand, slender and elegant, is a faithful companion to the cunning practitioner. Its primary virtue lies in its ability to direct power and energy, much like a conductor's baton orchestrating the unseen forces around us. Wands are used to banish unwanted influences and spirits, sweep away negativity, and conjure helpful entities from the ether. When we cast a working circle, the wand traces the boundary, marking a sacred space or container where magick can unfold.

Each wand, depending on the wood it is crafted from, carries its own unique virtue. A wand of oak might offer a fiery virtue of strength, wisdom, power, protection, or aid to solar rites and magick… while one of willow could provide a watery virtue of emotional healing, strengthening love, divination, enchantment, enlightenment, or aid to rites and workings of the Moon. The wood whispers its secrets to us, guiding our hand and amplifying our intent. Thus, the wand becomes an extension of our will, a bridge between the mundane and the magickal.

My "Red Serpent" Wand: This wand is directly linked to the serpent energy of the land. It is made from Oak and has a Dragon Blood Stone, Snake rib, and Blood embedded into it. I use it as an extension of my own willpower and life force. I usually bury it under a Full moon to charge when "Sprowl" is at its peak.

-The Stang: Pillar of the Worlds-

The stang, often fashioned from a forked staff, holds a different yet equally potent virtue. It can stand as a representation of the Horned One, the dualities of nature, and the power that flows from earth to sky. In its form, we see the concept of the World Tree, a sacred axis that grants access to the virtues of both the upper and lower worlds and those that lie at the crossroads.

In ritual workings, the stang is a steadfast companion. Its presence anchors us, grounding our energy and connecting us to the land. When we walk the paths of the wild, the stang serves as a tool to gather and store land energy, the elusive "sprowl" that breathes life into our craft. It becomes a beacon, drawing the virtues of the earth and sky into our rites and rituals, where they can be harnessed and directed.

My Stang that I have been slowly working on for a few years now. It is made from Oak and the forked ends have Clear Quartz in each end. It has the Web of Wyrd Rune on the front and the symbols for each element on the back. I mainly use my Stang during laying and conjuring the crossroads for rituals.

-The Dance of Wood and Witch-

In the dance of wood and witch, we find our path illuminated by the virtues of our tools. The wand and the stang, though different in form and function, both serve as conduits of the ancient energies that flow through the natural world. They are not mere objects, but living entities that resonate with the heartbeat of the land.

Some practitioners favor keeping several wands, each made from different kinds of wood to suit various purposes. Yet, many find solace in the singular presence of one main stang or staff, a trusty ally that carries their spirit and intention.

As we continue to explore the virtues of the different woods, let us remember that our connection to these tools is a sacred bond. Through them, we touch the spirit of the trees, the whispers of the wind, and the silent strength of the earth. They are our guides, our protectors, and our allies in the timeless craft of cunning.

-The Virtues of Woods-

Note: This list is but a glimpse, for the world is rich with countless species of trees. Here, I focus on trees that dwell in my own corner of the world and the ones I know. These are mainly just the virtues of the wood and bark (not the leaves, flowers, seeds, or fruit). I highly recommend you embark on a journey to discover and list the trees within your local area, letting their virtues reveal themselves to you. Also, please take caution of any poisonous trees.

Alder: Defensive Magick, Strength, Leadership, Bravery, Divination, Healing, and Wind & Weather Magick

Apple: Love, Healing, Friendship, Divination, Garden Magick, and Harmony

Ash: Healing & Regeneration Magick, Sea Magick, Communication, Knowledge, Wisdom, Travel, Aids workings of Spirit, Passage Between Worlds, and is often the wood chosen for a Stang.

Beech: Wisdom, Knowledge, Focus, Meditation, Wishes

Birch: Purification, Creativity, Willpower, Initiation of Inception, Birth & Fertility.

Blackthorn: Baneful, Associated with Bucca Dhu/The Devil, Blasting, Defensive Magick, Setting Boundaries, Toad Magick, and Rites of The Dark Moon.

Cedar: Cleansing, Protection, Wards, Divination, Summoning, Consecration, Prosperity

Chestnut: Clarity, Focus, Justice, Encourage Longevity

Crepe Myrtle: Glamour Magick, Fertility, Youth, Peace, Money

Dogwood: Wishes, Protection, Health, Wisdom

Elder: Protection, Exorcising Illness, Spirit Conjuration, Blessing

Elm: Protection, Divine Feminine, Healing, Fae Magick

Gorse: Purification, Conjuration of Fair Weather, Discovering, Protection, Fertility & Love

Hawthorn: Associated with Bucca Gwidder/The Green Man, Dealings with Spirit Folk, Fertility, Enchantment, Wards, Charm, Spirituality, and Fishing Magick. Folklore suggests not using Hawthorn as a staff as it may employ ill luck upon walking journeys.

Hazel: Wisdom, Luck, Fertility, Wishes, Divination, Dowsing Wands, Inspiration & Visions

Hickory: Legal Matters, Protection, Protection, Wisdom, Leadership, Acquisition, Power, Wholeness

Holly: Aids Rites of Death/Rebirth, Exorcism, Defensive Magick, Potency, Logic, Power Transfer, Protection

Linden: Creativity, Enchantment, Enlightenment, Truth, Healing

Locust: Enforcing Boundaries, Binding, Defensive Magick, Enchantments, Wood and Thorns used to make pins for Baneful Magick, Appalachian Association with European Blackthorn Virtues.

Magnolia: Fidelity, Love, Hair Growth Magick, Marital Happiness

Maple: Love, Luck, Longevity, Money, Travel, Cleansing, Communication

Oak: Strength, Power, Protection, Wisdom, Longevity, Endurance, Doorways between Realms, Solar Magick, Potency, Associated with The Red Serpent.

Palm: Fertility, Focus, Potency, Divination, Purification, Protection

Pine: Strength, Protection, Healing, Prosperity, Exorcism, Wisdom, Increase of Power

Poplar: Spirituality, Change, Rebirth, Summoning, Wealth, Willpower, Witch Flight

Rowan: Protection, Guarding, Defensive Magick, Warding, Necromancy, Quickening, Conjuring Visions, Lifting Curses, A staff of Rowan protects while journeying.

Sumac: Cleansing, Healing, Creativity, Focus

Sweet Gum: Healing, Spirituality, Enchantment, Leadership

Sycamore: Ancestral Wisdom, Divination, Prosperity, Strength, Endurance

Walnut: Cleansing, Healing, Focus, Insight

Willow: Moon Rites & Workings, Emotion Healing, Love, Fertility, Divination, Change, Wishes, Enchantment, Spirituality, Wards

Witch Hazel: Chastity, Protection, Emotional Healing

Yew: Death Mysteries, Ancestral Wisdom, Transformation, Change, Renewal, Baneful, Necromancy

[vintage-tigre]

this tree is hard to describe, it has a certain...je ne sequoia

[coenderuiter]

[maureen2musings]

rinie_fotografie

[raining-tulips]

My sacred tree

(Reblogs okay, ask permission before reposting)

[carlavermeend]

Inspirered by nature

[shelandsorcery]

Harlequin Forest Sorcerer

Watercolour and pencil crayon were my weapons of choice for a few years there, and I still love the kind of graphic value schemes I achieved with them.

Also yes this one was drawn while listening to Opeth, I linked the song on my post up there.

[lailoken]

Inducing the Aid of the Oak Tree Lord

I had to run some errands that took me a ways away from home today, and while I was there, I realized I was actually fairly close to a butte that I occasioanlly visit in order to propititate a great, hollow-bearing Oak Tree which grows there. Since I've done some potent and highly effective magic with the help of the Oak Tree Lord recently, I thought I would go to him again with another request. Specifically, my stores of Hollow Water have begun to run low, and I've been needing to replenish it. We had some very wet weather not long ago, which made me think I would be easily able to retrieve the water I needed from another tree hollow I've drawn from before, but following a sudden spell of hot and dry weather, I was chagrined to discover a hollow that was very wet, but not full enough to retrieve water from. I was worried I might have missed my chance to get more for a while, but given that the Oak Tree Lord helped me find the last source of Hollow Water I drew from, it seemed worth going to him again.

Being an unplanned visit, I didn't have any of the normal tools I would have with me for such an endeavor—such as a flask for collecting water, a lance for drawing blood, or anything on hand for me to offer the Oak Tree Lord—but a mage must frequently make do. In the end, I collected 13 Galls from other Oaks around the butte, each of which I painted with my blood (thanks to the help of a nearby Hawthorn copse) and then fed to the Oaken Mouth of the tree I came to propititate. I also gave a wreath that I wove from dandelion flowers.

Literally minutes later, I was overjoyed (and a little astonished) to stumble upon exactly what I was looking for. The natural font was deep and pungent, and what's more, the tree which bore it was an old Oak itself. I carried out the necessary ritual actions and gathered the water using my emptied water bottle (which I will be cleaning very thoroughly after this.)

What I gathered has since been transferred into an old glass vessel that I found once I was done, being sold for only $6 at a nearby junk shop I'd never noticed before. This should definitely last me a good while.

The Grove Elders—an assembly of tutelary tree deities possessing immense wisdom and power—are a truly amazing group of entities to work with.

[cursecuelebre]

Collected Spruce Tree Branches

Spruce Trees are great for witchcraft for connecting with nature, resilience, strength, inspiration and enlightenment in nature. Spruce trees are part of the pine family but not a pine tree though the smell is very pine scented. It’s more like an evergreen which are commonly used for Christmas trees or Yule trees.

Spruce tree is edible the small green needles can be eaten raw, cooked, and brew as a tea for rich vitamin C just make sure you know what tree to look for and allergies you may have before consuming any plant or tree.

Spruce trees are also great for medicinal purposes such as coughs, colds, respiratory issues. They have also antiseptic properties for cuts and open wounds and fighting off infections.

If you live in the Northeastern part of America like New England, Rocky Mountains, Southern Appalachian mountains, parts of the northern pacific coast, and the Great Lake states you’ll find spruce trees commonly.

Yes I did hang some spruce twigs on Odin’s shrine as an offering and decoration, it fits him.

[alittleperiwinkle]

I'm looking for stories, podcasts, YouTube channels, Pinterest boards, quotes, music, communities, novels, and history that explore witches ✨, spirituality 🌙, energy 🔮, the moon 🌕, and personal practice 🕯️. I’m in search of something to anchor my thoughts—something that speaks to the soul, expands the mind, and opens a path through these sacred and mysterious realms 🌌.

I would love to hear personal stories—how a book, a song, a quote, or even a Pinterest post shifted your path, lit a candle in your practice, or helped you feel seen. Tell me what it taught you, what you carry with you, and what you hope it might teach me too.

Bless those who write, share, and create—thank you for your magic and your honesty 🕊️.

Share the stories that inspire you. The quiet ones. The wild ones. The ones that live between the lines of a poem, or in the soft silence after a good song fades out. I'm ready to listen.