I’ve seen the offering stone recipe and that’s cool. And I’ve seen a lot of ppl confused about what to leave as an offering to a plant or patch of land you take things from. But you know what’s a better option than wasting all those ingredients that you probably looked for, for other things in the first place?
Things that are compostable.
This isn’t always appropriate, especially if it’s somewhere like a graveyard where you want to keep it looking nice, but if you’re hiking and see a wild plant you’d like to pick? Drop some strawberry tops or a cut up banana peel somewhere close but out of sight to feed the plants or animals around that area. If you have plants in your yard? Leave some orange peels or parts of plants that you eat that you would normally just throw away. Ones that you know can be broken down by the plants you’re giving back that life to. (Research what is good for compost beforehand, so that you know you’re not hurting a plant or introducing seeds that will take over that plant).
Water also counts! If you’re taking from a place that you know you can’t drop compostable waste into, give the plants water. Thank the plant before you pour it.
And another good practice, whether it be picking a plant or picking up treasures from the land, is asking the plant or land, and WAITING UNTIL YOU FEEL ITS GIVEN YOU PERMISSION. This can be tricky, and you can often feel that the answer you get is really just your own bias, but listen. Which sounds better to you?
You take something from someone and they go “hey! That’s mine! You can’t just take that, I need that!”
You ask the person, and they give an answer that seems ambiguous but implies that you can, so you take it. Worst case, they say “hey, I said no” and you go “whoops, I apologize, your answer wasn’t clear. Here you go” and you give it back. Best case, they really did say yes and you can indeed take it.
Now I’m not saying you should take things from PEOPLE without explicit permission, but nature isn’t always explicit. So always be listening to your gut feeling, and express extra care in land that you’re not familiar with or that you’re not native to.
To some people this stuff is the most basic of basic knowledge, and that would be true. And I know all of this has been said already a billion times, but I figured I’d make my own post about it for the baby witches out there 🖤
Serious question - How does one know when the land gives its’ permission?
I see this referred to very often, usually with similar instructions to wait until you “feel” permission has been given, either to enter a place or harvest a plant or pick up a stone or what have you.
But what is the feeling one should be looking for? How long should one wait for an answer? What if one doesn’t have a particularly well-developed intuitive sense for land spirits?
The instruction I see for this practice always seems to be very nebulous and very vague. I mean, I’m more than willing to allow that intuitive feelings are difficult to describe in text, but isn’t there some further description that might be given, especially if this is meant as a best-practices technique for beginning practitioners?
Just seems like a discussion that’s worth having.
Witches, any thoughts?
(TL;DR at bottom)
@breelandwalker thank you for raising this question, I’ve certainly talked about this topic as if it were inherent knowledge, forgetting that we were all beginners once!
For me, I think it’s just as much my subconscious making connections as it is a message from the land/plants. I’ve been wildcrafting and harvesting (which I’ll be using for my examples) for a long time, so I don’t go through the mental checklist of ethical harvesting—it becomes second nature.
Because of that, I may not consciously think “hey, there aren’t very many of this plant here, maybe I shouldn’t harvest it”, instead I simply know (or have a feeling) not to harvest it and move on. Sometimes I don’t make this connection until I’m leaning down and about to harvest it and something stops me. Is this my subconscious? The plant? Both? Who knows. But I think it can be fostered by having an awareness and knowledge of how impactful you’re being.
As we get more experienced, we tend to forget what it was like to be in the learning stages. It’s like driving a car. At one point, we fumbled with something as simple as turning the ignition and getting into gear. But once you’ve done it enough, you don’t think about it. It becomes second nature.
So what I’d recommend for those wanting to be more in tune with the land is learning about it. Know the names of the plants. Know which animals live here. Everything ties together, figure out how much you can give or take before breaking that tie by building your mundane knowledge.
Talk with people. Google it. Read field guides. Learn the history of the land. Spend time in the area. There are resources compiled by people passionate about this, waiting for you to find them!
Plants:
Who relies on those plants? Is the plant common or rare? Invasive or important? Introduced or native? What phenological phase is it in? How many are in this area? Are there other patches of it?
What’s the best way to harvest it? When’s the best time to harvest? What are you going to use it for? You should know before you harvest. How can you tell if it’s healthy? How much should you leave for the plants and animals? (ie. what percentage can you harvest before having a negative impact)
Animals:
Know who lives here. There are often species lists compiled for areas, and you can reference range maps as well.
Are you influencing an important habitat? It’s important to consider both large and small creatures. That stone may not be important to a bear, but it may be shelter for a salamander or insects. Finding bones is fun, but are you taking all of them? They’re an important source of nutrients for creatures such as rodents.
Big picture:
What landscape are you in? What are it’s biggest threats? What influences it the most? (is it an ever shifting riparian zone, shaped by the river? A green belt that gets trampled and compacted by human feet? A recent clear cut?) How has it changed over the years?
TL;DR: You don’t need intuition or the ability to connect with spirits to know how you’re impacting a place or when it’s best to avoid something. (If you have it, then great! I still recommend this anyways…) Build your knowledge of the area and the plants and animals within it. Read about it, spend some time observing it, notice how everything flows when humans aren’t in the mix. Then you’ll know how impactful you’re being.
Now onto the perspective of someone who uses natural resources sparsely thus, hasn’t built such a feel for nature.
1) Investigate, investigate, investigate. You don’t want to touch something toxic by accident.
2) Use your common sense and tackle all the mundane reasons first. Is this resource property of someone else? Is foraging in the area permitted? Etc.
3) Always ask for permission
4) Pay attention to your feelings and thoughts. Are you trying to pic a flower and suddenly feel a sense of uneasyness. Try taking a step back and breathe then get closer and notice if the feeling changes. If you start feeling actual guilt, stop. Better be safe than sorry.
5) Pay attention to your surroundings. Are you trying to pick something when a gush of wind blows on your face or a nearby alarm goes off? Better leave. (This has happened to me. It’s very hard not to hear the “no” when dirt is being blown into your face)
5) Au contraire, if you’re trying to pick something and you feel honoured and easy it is most likely a permission.
6) If something bites you after you’ve taken something you go put back whatever you took and apologize. (Also happened to me).
7) if you took something and you start feeling bad, better go back and leave it and apologize.
8) if you misinterpreted and realized days later, go to the place and apologize, if you can, leave an offer.
9) ALWAYS SAY THANK YOU!!! The earth is allowing you to take something they made. It’s only polite.
10) If you’re walking in a park and suddenly something falls in front of your or, on you. It probably is a gift, follow the above suggestions as a checkup and say thank you.
Those are the basics I follow. If you want to talk about how to do this with bodies of water let me know.
Peace.
This is EXCELLENT information and as good a reply to my questions as I could have hoped for! Really, all the replies I’m seeing in the notes are stellar and I’m so glad this started a conversation.
I’ve been talking to trees for ages now, so I’m just so used to the standard operating procedures of, “It fell in front of me or appeared on my path, and I’m not going to refuse a gift” and “I’ll water this bush/plant/tree after I prune some twigs or pick some blossoms.” I’ve never yet felt like something was telling me to faff off, but that might be because I generally do my foraging on friendly land and keep my pruning to what I need.
Couple points to add, mostly regarding picking up bones or feathers - Check your local laws regarding the ownership of animal parts. Some places don’t allow ownership of certain species, even in the form of freely-found castoffs like feathers or bones. (It’s an anti-poaching thing.) So just be aware of that as you’re picking things up.
Also, I feel like it’s important to note that while humans can be a threat to natural areas and we should be aware of and careful with what we’re doing when we step into the woods, remember that you’re part of nature too. Walking on two legs and wearing clothes doesn’t mean you should automatically feel like you don’t belong. As long as you’re properly cautious and respectful, especially when visiting fragile or sacred areas, you should be all right.
Witchlings, take note of this thread. It’s good information for wildcrafters, in a magical AND a practical sense. Definitely do that homework and forage responsibly!
Yes! Thank you @breelandwalker for mentioning feathers as well as bones!
The MBCA (Migratory Bird Convention Act) covers almost all species. I can think of… two?? Off the top of my head that aren’t protected. Anything protected by the MBCA is illegal to possess even a shed feather from. It’s serious and I hope all of us take it seriously and don’t just brush it off bc ‘its just a feather.’ Conservationists and witches and all us people that love nature need to know and follow all of the nature, Game and Fishing, and other regulations.
Also check if the land you are on is protected or not! Certain parks (at least in the US) have laws that make it illegal to take *anything* (including plants, animals, rocks, etc dead or alive). This is to protect what little wilderness we have left, so please obey these rules/laws!
