tenofmuses

[tenofmuses]

Happy Yule and Happy Solstice,  yall!

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...This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath, the door of a vanished house left ajar... ―Margaret Atwood

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Who's excited for Yule?

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The wild hunt

The Wild Hunt or also known as Wotans Hunt is a legend or folk tale that occurs in several European regions.

In other words, it is a large group of ghosts, gods and other demons that move thunderously and loudly across the sky. Depending on the legend and region, watching the wild hunt could be interpreted differently, but often as a bad omen that predicted catastrophes, wars, barren harvests and even death. It has often been assumed that the wild hunt also takes souls of sleeping or dying people with it.

The band is described as fearsome riders on dark horses and with hunting dogs, riding around on a cold storm wind and bringing disaster with them.

The time between the “Rauhnächte” or “Zwölfnächte” (winter solstice / December 21st to January 2nd, in European customs also between December 25th and January 6th) is particularly associated with the Wild Hunt.

The hunt races through the sky with all kinds of loud noises, screams and howls; you can often hear the neighing of horses and the barking of dogs in the distance. The group is led by the Germanic pagan god Wodan or Frau Holle / Frau Perchta (here too, it depends on the legend and region).

Other members of the Wild Hunt are any spirits/souls of people who have died due to violence or misfortune, including children. Animals also come along (horses and dogs etc) and, like human souls, stay with the hunt until they are freed. To free a soul from the duty of hunting usually requires a victim who has to fulfill the soul's duty in place of the soul until it is also freed. So the Wild Hunt is everlasting and infinite.

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sharing some resources on the works of st. hildegard of bingen!

Texts and Chants

Hymn to the Virgin (w/ sheet music and commentary)

Scivias

Selected Writings of Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen: Visions and Validation

The visions of Hildegard of Bingen. 1928.

Hildegard of Bingen and the Greening of Medieval Medicine

fair warning, though. some of them are behind a paywall. do with them what you will.

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It’s nearly witching hour—Happy Halloween!

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pretty fucked up how christian beliefs are referred to as “stories” but indigenous beliefs are referred to as “mythology”

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Something interesting about the fact that crone goddesses are associated with spinning wheels/weaving, and also associated with winter and fate and inevitability. And the fact that grandmothers love to crochet and sew and knit. Aren't we all gods and goddesses.

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You don't need to spiritualize and/or pathologize every aspect of your life.

Please leave yourself room to simply be a weird little animal.

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Nine of Swords reversed and Page of Pentacles

Don't despair, something is sure to turn up.

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Folk Ways for an Acadian or French Canadian folk practitioner

I want to start an ongoing list of Acadian and French Canadian religious and popular folk ways that I've been learning about for the last two years. My references will be at the end for further reading!

Blessing a candle on Candlemas (Feb. 2) with holy water will allow you to have a light whenever there is sickness and storms hitting your home. Traditionally on Candlemas, the light is lit and guided through every room in the house to bless all its corners for the year. It was even paraded in the farmer's fields. (Dupont)

The 25th April, on St. Mark's Day, is the ideal day to bless your fields or garden before putting in the first seeds. This ensures the growing food to be blessed by this saint. (Maillet)

Animals have been known to speak in human tongues on Christmas Eve. (Maillet)

If you feel that nothing is going right in your day, your homemade bread sours, or general bad luck assails you, simply boil some holy medals. (Dupont)

The first three days of the month of August, the ocean waters are known to have healing properties, and it wouldn't hurt to dip your feet in it. (Chiasson)

It was customary to trace crosses on windows using holy water when a storm would hit. (Lacroix)

To find a lost object, simply toss a rosary or a pocket metal rosary over your shoulder. The foot of the cross will point in the direction where your lost object might be located. (Dupont)

To have good weather on your wedding day, be sure to hang your rosary on your clothes line the day before. (Dupont)

Maillet, Antonine. Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie. Les presses de l'université laval, quebec. 1980.

Lacroix, Benoit. Folklore de la mer et religion. Editions Leméac, 1980.

Dupont, Jean-Claude. Héritage d'Acadie. Collection Connaissance, editions Leméac, 1977.

Chiasson, Père Anselme. Chéticamp: histoire et traditions acadiennes. Editions des Aboiteaux, 1972.

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hey there! i'm a relatively inexperienced witch in the prairie provinces and it's great to find your blog while trawling the tags. i love finding other canadian blogs. do you have any tips or resources for finding information as a specifically canadian witch? thanks :)

Hi! I'm glad you found my blog, it's always nice to find other Canadian witches on here! :)

If you're looking for Canada-specific information, I'm afraid it's very sparse. Most of the helpful info I've found are single mentions in larger "North American" books (by this the authors usually mean the States and one or two Canada mentions), an odd chapter here and there, and academic articles about the folklore of certain regions. That said, there are a few things I've done to make my own practice fit being Canadian vs. most of the info being US/UK-dominated. Also, I don't know much about prairie-related witchcraft, but hopefully this is applicable to where you live!

First, I go directly to the source: the land itself.

To me, a lot of my practice currently is very land-based. This includes honouring the land while on walks, getting to know which plants/animals/trees are around me, and respecting nature. One helpful thing to do here is using an app (PictureThis-Plant Identifier is a good one) or plant guide to figure out exactly what plants are around you. Keeping a log of this info can be helpful in getting to know the land you're on, and then you can use those plants in your practice.

Personally, I live in a city, so there's not as much nature around as when I lived in New Brunswick (so many trees), but if you're in a city, looking at peoples' gardens, parks, types of grass, wildflowers, weeds, etc. are all good ways of connecting!

One book that really shaped my view of the land is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer, which I highly recommend! She's a Haudenosaunee author and her perspectives on the environment have really influenced my own practice. So, if you're interested in plants, nature, the environment, etc., give that one a go! (there's an audiobook read by her—it's amazing)

Another way of connecting to the land you live on is something new I've been trying this year, which is following the seasonal shifts you see around you, instead of the dates marked on the wheel of the year. Seasons are so regional that celebrating spring when there was a blizzard a day earlier never made sense to me lol, so definitely don't be afraid to do your own thing!

Second, take a look at your ancestors.

Our ancestors originally came from many different cultures (even if we're currently disconnected from them), and those cultures oftentimes have their own witchcraft practices, even if they didn't use the term "witchcraft" (most of them didn't). Looking into those ancestral traditions and practices can be a great way to connect to a tradition that feels personal to you and your family history. Personally, all of my family are Christian, so being the only witch can feel a bit lonely at times—finding the traditions and folk magic of your ancestors can be a great experience.

Another tip here is to look at your family and see if there are any little things they do—superstitions, odd sayings, "good luck" charms, etc.—that you could incorporate into your own practice. Homemade cleaners can become cleansing tools. Same goes for simmer pots. Certain spices or herbs your family uses a lot may be ones you have a connection to and could bring into your practice. You can use anything you want in your practice, so be creative and use what you're connected to!

Read-up on local folklore

This will vary widely based on your location, but you can generally find folklore for the region you live in. It can include local legends, spooky stories people tell, and so forth. These stories can usually tell us a lot about the region you live in. Lots of them can be found online, but asking your family or people in your community about local legends can be a good source too (and won't tip people off to witchcraft if you're in the broom cupboard).

You may have to read a lot of stuff before finding any gems, but there usually are some gems in the folklore if you're willing to look for them!

Another way to find sources is academic journals, and these will usually be articles about folklore, history, or religion. Use Google Scholar/JSTOR/etc. and search terms like the following ones: "province"/"prairies"/"city" AND "witchcraft"/"folklore"/"magic"/"folk healer." These aren't always exciting reads (unless you're history obsessed like me), and sometimes the research goes nowhere, but I've found some amazing info this way. I’ll also note that there tend to be a lot of stereotypes related to Indigenous people in some of the older articles about witchcraft in Canada, so that’s something to keep in mind.

When all else fails, US sources can be helpful

Despite the differences between our countries, there are many similarities in the witchcraft practices (unless you're from a more specific culture, e.g., Acadian, French Canadian, etc.), and using US sources in your own practice can be a good gateway to researching topics you're interested in. Especially more general topics!

Two books I've read and enjoyed: New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic by Cory Thomas Hutcheson, and Llewellyn's Complete Book of North American Folk Magic: A Landscape of Magic, Mystery, and Tradition by Cory Thomas Hutcheson et al. Both are predominantly US sources with a sprinkling of Canadian stuff, although the former has a chapter on French Canadian folk magic.

Unfortunately I don’t have any prairie-specific book recommendations, but I’m sure they’re out there, and they might be helpful even if they’ll likely be dominated by US info.

This got kinda long lol, but I really hope it's helpful!! :) It's my dream that one day a Canadian witch will write a nice thick book with tons of info for every part of the country, but until then we have to dig through the scraps!

[tenofmuses]

"Satanic Panic? In MY Witchcraft Community?"

It's more likely than you think!

Tune in this Spooky Season to hear two weary millennial witches wax maniacal about moral panics, community paranoia, and the sneaky ways that remnants of Satanic Panic rhetoric show up in witchcraft spaces.

🎃 Hex Positive returns October 7th 🎃

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Scottish Saining

by autumn sierra

The word “sain” is Scottish in origin (related to “seun”—or the Old Irish “sén”—meaning “charm”), and goes back as far as the 11th century. It describes the practice of purifying and blessing things, people, and places. Essentially, saining removes the influences of malevolent or generally negative spirits and energies and protects against future encounters as well as hexes, curses, mallacht, piseógs, etc. It isn’t necessarily an energy cleansing practice alone, although some might interpret it this way. Saining is known to be one part blessing, one part cleansing, and one part protection, though I would say it weighs a bit heavier in the blessing aspect.

There are also different saining methods by way of the different elements and other items. It is possible to sain with water, smoke, fire, and tar (even written poetry or prayer read/spoken aloud). To do so, one marks the object, person, or location with an equal armed cross turned diagonally in the shape of an “x”.

Although there are a variety of methods to use when saining, I very much prefer using the element I feel most connected with: earth. And I do this by employing different plant spirits.

The most common plant spirit incorporated in this practice is Juniper. When burnt, Juniper was said to ward off witches, evil spirits, negative energies, and keep away everyday pests and disease. Exits and entrances to the home would be closed to allow the smoke to fill each room before it was released outside into the open air, carrying with it everything unwanted. Not only can the fronds be burnt, but the berries as well. And not a lot is needed to reach the desired outcome which is wonderful for maintaining the sustainability of the plant.

Heather, Rowan, Cedar, Pine, Rosemary, and Sage (salvia verbenaca in Ireland and Britain or salvia officinalis on the mainland; not white sage) are also used for saining. In my practice, I personally prefer Cedar or Pine since they are bioregional to my home, and I feel more drawn to their spirits.

Although not commonly used in my personal practice, water is a very popular method by which to sain. Water can be steeped with plants and/or blessed before use. Known for its natural purifying energy, water is very efficient when cleansing and protecting, so it may be arguably easier to notice the effects of saining after its use.

In the end, it comes down to the individual preference of the practitioner to decide which saining method to use in their practice. Take the time to listen to what calls to you, try different methods to see which one feels right. Work with different plants and elements and connect with your land as you do to enhance your practice.

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