paper petition to St Mary, Untier of Knots and Queen of the Universe. Marian symbol on reverse; inside Ave Regina caelorum in Latin + English. Left at foot of St Mary statue after prayers.
Stripped piece of birch wood, with twelve notches carved along it. Wrapped with psalm (16:7-9) and gold wire. Dropped into river nearby, along with hair taglock.
masculine figure made from a cedar root; feminine made from birch branch. Left both branches in water overnight to soften before carving with a sharp box cutter.
While the Dumb Supper has come to be better known today as a ritual used to honor or call upon the dead, its origins are said to lie in a divination rite (brought to the US through immigrants from the British Isles) used to foretell one’s future spouse, and in some rural regions of the United States (particularly within the Appalachian, Southern, and Ozark regions), the use of the term Dumb Supper is still commonly used referring to the divinatory practice.
Of the ritual, Paul B. Frazier wrote this (CONTENT WARNING: depictions of domestic violence, murder within the following quote), relaying what he had heard of it -
"An interesting and, I believe, somewhat uncommon folk-
way is the dumb supper. Perhaps for many centuries young women have tried to use magic in this manner in the effort to see their future husbands. Two instances of its practice have come to my attention: one was in Chaffee, Missouri, and one in Harrison County, Kentucky; the latter is more recent, of about forty years ago. The incident of Chaffee, Missouri, appears to be somewhat older, perhaps of sixty or seventy years ago.
The magic practices are identical. The Harrison County, Kentucky incident, [...], is comic.
In it, two teen-age girls, desirous of seeing their future husbands, went to a furnished, uninhabited house, and prepared a supper backward in every respect. The tables were set as wrongly as possible; the chairs were turned backward; the meal was to be served dessert first, and all things were according to the reverse pattern. Promptly upon the stroke of midnight two rather old, [...] married men, who were neighbors of the girls, knocked on the door and jocularly inquired as to when they were to eat. The girls, laughing, stopped their magic."
The Chaffee, Missouri incident, [...], is tragic and a good folktale. Two teen-age girls who wanted to see their husbands-to-be went to a deserted house at night and began preparing the meal in reverse order. As they did so they observed that the wind blew with ever-increasing violence. Just before midnight the supper had been completed, the table set, and the chairs set backward, as in the preceding story. [...] At exactly twelve o'clock the door burst open, as of its own accord, and a young man entered. He was followed by a coffin, empty.
The door at once slammed shut. The man, who had carried a pocketknife in his hand, dropped it, and without speaking or picking up the knife, sat down by one of the girls who picked up the knife and put it in her apron pocket. The empty coffin moved of its own volition beside the remaining empty chair. This meant that the girl next whom it rested would never marry. A few years later she died single.
The man silently ate and soon left, never speaking; the coffin slid along behind him and followed him out the door. Again, the door slammed shut. Then the wind died. A few years later the girl who had retained the knife met and married the young man who had lost it. Several months after the wedding she was arranging some articles in her trunk and, finding the knife, showed it to her husband. He at once remembered its loss and, saying he had never experienced so miserable a night as those on which he had lost it, he snatched the knife from her hands and plunged it into her throat and then deep into her bosom. She died almost instantly.
Believed to have been brought Stateside by immigrants from the British Isles, the Dumb Supper was practiced in the United States at liminal points in the year, which varied from region-to-region. Some dates alleged to have hosted the ritual include:
New Year's Eve
May Eve / the 01st of May
All Hallow's Eve / Halloween
Samhain
during solstices
during transitionary periods between seasons.
In the area of the South I call home, I grew up hearing Halloween and New Year's Eve were traditional, but I've also heard of it being done on May Eve.
illustration of a successful Dumb Supper rite; circa late 1800s-early 1900s
Victorian newspapers, especially in the American South, outlined the process of conducting a dumb supper, while Edwardian novels made them into thrilling plot points. After all, for many young women (and occasionally men), dumb suppers were party games with a supernatural thrill. But in spookier accounts, dumb suppers could herald spinsterhood and death. If a coffin appeared at midnight, that meant that one of the young women wouldn’t marry at all, and would likely die soon. -Anne Ewbank
Performing the Dumb Supper Divination Ritual
What you'll need:
food
dining ware & cutleries
candles
a quiet location
at least one friend to join you
Who to invite:
The Dumb Supper was typically performed by at least two young women, though men could also attend or host one; and it was common that small groups of four or more would come together to carry out this love test.
Location:
It was once the custom that abandoned buildings or empty barns were the preferred places to carry out this rite, but these days it just isn’t safe to run around hosting ritual dinners in abandoned buildings. The reason such places were preferred was, one might assume, because one needed somewhere quiet and peaceful where there wouldn’t be any disturbances.
That being said, any such place will suffice. You can host this dinner in your home, at an event space, or wherever tickles your fancy, so long as you can ensure a quiet night where no one will come barging in and interrupting your rite.
Timing:
Preparing the Dumb Supper can take anywhere from half an hour to an entire night, depending on the amount of work you’re willing to put into your meal.
The actual moment of foresight is believed to come at the stroke of midnight, so you’ll have to have everything readied beforehand, and you should be seated at the table waiting to receive your vision by midnight.
What to do:
From the moment you start preparing your meal for the Dumb Supper, you must maintain total silence.
You cannot speak, as it’s said that speaking will break the spell and ruin your chances of successfully divining the identity of your future spouse or beloved. The silence is where the name Dumb Supper comes from, ‘dumb’ being an antiquated (and not very nice) term for silent.
Aside from keeping silent, you must also walk backwards from the moment preparation beings – this includes while cooking and preparing the meal, while setting the table, while placing the foods upon the table, and while walking into the room and finding one’s seat.
In some customs, the seats are all placed facing away from the table.
The cutleries are to be placed in the opposite positions than they normally would.
The usual rules are that utensils are laid out in the order in which they’re used, and the diner works their way from the outside in toward the plate; and forks are placed to the left of the plate, with spoons and knives placed to the right. How many utensils used would be determined by how formally you’ve set your table.
For a Dumb Supper, regardless of formality, everything is reversed – forks to the right, knives to the left. If you’re including napkins in your place setting, the napkins would normally go at the end of the forks on the left, but for the Dumb Supper, you’ll place them at the end of the forks on the right. The same goes for drinkware – glasses are normally placed above the knives to the right, but they’ll now be placed to the left as well.
Not only will the table be set in reverse, the meal will also be served in reverse – dessert first, appetizers last!
*Note: the backwards dinner concept is more heavily emphasized stateside, while in Scotland and the North of England, the inclusion of a special cake called ‘Dumb Cakes’ were a main focus of the Dumb Supper.
The meal must be prepared and the table set before midnight. You must be seated at the table before the stroke of midnight.
Some customs call for leaving an open seat next to each participant, in case an apparition of their future beloved comes to sit at the table beside them. Other traditions state that the face of the beloved will appear in the plate of the participant, or in the flames of the candles that burn on the table.
Whichever way they choose appear, this peek into the future is said to come at midnight, but only if everything was prepared correctly, in total silence, and in reverse.
There are some claims that instead of an apparition, the future beloved appeared in the flesh, simply walking through the door at midnight and joining in on the meal.
It is also believed that should the participant be presented with the vision of a coffin instead of a person, then that means they wouldn’t be married. The coffin was also seen, in many beliefs, as a portend of death.
To close out the ritual
One must blow out their candles and leave the room as they came – in silence, walking backwards.
From then on, you may speak, for the spell is broken and the rite is over.
As with any rite, your Dumb Supper can be as simple or as fancy as you would like. For those of you planning to revive this divination custom as part of your New Year's Eve, May's Eve, Halloween, or Samhain observances, may you receive the happiest of results and enjoy the best of fortunes. Happy Divining/Dining!
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
'Anglo-American Folk Belief and Custom: The Old World's Legacy to the New' - Hand, Wayland D.
'American Regional Folklore: A Sourcebook and Research Guide' - Mood, Terry-Ann
'When Dumb Suppers Were a Halloween Love Ritual' -Ewbank, Anne
Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion; Vol. 35
Midwest Folklore; Summer 1959, Vol. 9 - Issue 2:
'The Dumb Supper' by Frazier, Paul B.
Autumn Allies: Charms, Spells, Divination, and Plant Magic; Part 1
by Keziah Zibelmann
Autumn evokes thoughts of fallen leaves, barren trees, foggy mornings, and rainy nights, of damp earth, of browns and oranges and reds, of gray skies and shortening days, and of the beginning of the dark half of the year. It's a season often associated with death and dormancy, and while this is a fair association, it is also true to say that autumn is a season just as abundant with plant allies as spring and summer. With vegetables, nuts, herbs, and trees aplenty, autumn is an oft overlooked season offering bounty for practitioners of witchcraft, magic, and herbalism.
In this piece, you’ll find a collection of some of the natural allies and tools autumn has to offer, as well as possible uses for these allies. May this article serve all those who make use of it, and stay tuned for part 2.
[NOTE: The majority of these practices and beliefs were taught to me by my maternal grandparents and extended family members I grew up around. I'm from a multi-cultural family in the Southern US, so these customs will likely be a hodgepodge of practices similar or identical those within Southern folk traditions and traditions from Europe, particularly Central European, some Eastern European, and Irish and British traditions. While my main source of this piece is lived experience and things picked up from family and friends growing up, I will include a further reading section at the end of this post including books and/or articles that touch on similar practices.]
ACORNS
Acorns, gifts from the oak tree, are nuts with many magical uses. From luck, abundance, and fertility work, to being used for protection or as offerings, one shouldn't overlook these nuts.
Luck & Abundance:
Acorns are associated with luck and bounty in many folk beliefs and can be used in various ways to attract good fortune and abundance, as well as to foretell about such matters.
Acorns can be carried on one's person as luck charms, or can be worn from necklaces to bring luck as well. You'll also find metal acorn charms for just that purpose, as even the symbol or likeness of an acorn is believed to bring luck.
Planting an acorn (from which oak trees grow) during a new moon is believed to be a blessing for one's wealth and money, and can ensure that more money will always come to you than will leave you.
My grandmother always told me that if you find an acorn on your property when you have no oak trees (likely brought by a squirrel, chipmunk, or the like, though she also told me that sometimes they were gifts from land spirits), this was a good omen and a sign that good fortune was on its way for the household.
If one is currently seeking a new job, a promotion, a pay raise, to start one's own business, or any other endeavor that involves money, they can use acorns to foretell if the outcome of such an endeavor or hope will be in their favor or not. This can be done when one comes across fallen acorns by counting the whole, healthy acorns and then counting the broken, eaten, rotten, or otherwise damaged acorns.
-If there were several more healthy acorns than bad ones, what you seek will easily be yours.
-If there were several more bad acorns, there is no hope at all of gaining what you seek.
-If there are more healthy acorns by a small margin, it's likely you'll succeed, but you should put in extra work to ensure as much.
-Likewise, if there are more bad acorns by a small margin, it's more likely you'll fail, but this isn't yet a sure thing and you can still try to turn it around in your favor.
Keeping an acorn as a charm to attract abundance comes from the acorn being a symbol of growth and fertility. Due to this, acorns can be potent allies to incorporate in your abundance work. They can be included in money bowls or bags, or in bag or sachet spells centered around financial matters or growing one's business.
Protection:
It's said keeping acorns in one's home can grant protection from many things, including malevolent forces and spirits, bad luck, and bad weather. This is said to be done by keeping acorns near the front door (some say to tie the acorn from a string and hang it from the doorframe or on the door itself, and others say to keep an acorn or acorns on any credenza or table one may have in their entryway.
Acorns can be included in bag or sachet spells for protection, especially if one is seeking protection from illness or misfortune.
Health & Fertility:
As acorns, like the oak trees they come from, have long been used as symbols of fertility, growth, and longevity, it's no surprise that they can be put to good use in any spells or magical workings centered around health and fertility.
An acorn kept beneath one's pillow or bed, particularly if one feels as if they may be coming down with something, is said to ward off illness from taking root.
For those seeking a boost of fertility, wearing an acorn charm or keeping an acorn under "the marital bed" (old language from old charms, but an acorn can be placed under any bed on which "the deed is to be done") is believed to help with fertility over all.
Some spells call for carrying an acorn in one's pocket to help boost fertility.
According to my grandfather, gifting a groom with an acorn on the day of his wedding or placing an acorn in the bridal bouquet can be a blessing for fertility or a blessing for a good sex life.
APPLES
These fall favorites are a wonderfully versatile and powerful ally to keep in one's magical arsenal. Apples can be used for divination and in spells and amulets for protection, luck, inspiration, love, and more! In fact, apples offer so many possibilities that I've written entire pieces exclusively about the use of apples in magic — Apple Magic: Using Apples in Spells & Divination and the Apple in Myth: Deities, Figures, & Lore — and they've made numerous appearances in some of my other articles. Apples really are that useful! Here are just a few examples of some of the ways in which you can utilize apples in your craft —
Love:
Apples have long been used in love spells and love divining. This can be done in a number of very simple ways.
To encourage someone to love you or to secure a long-lasting, harmonious relationship with someone, cut an apple in half and split the apple between the two of you, each of you eating one half.
There are many methods of divining about love that involve apples, particularly in folk traditions.
-One of the best known involves peeling the apple and tossing the peel over one's shoulder (usually the left shoulder). One then goes to look at the peel on the floor. Whatever letter the peel most resembles is said to be the first initial of one's soulmate.
-Another method of love divination used to foretell one's soulmate calls for standing in a dark room (usually at midnight) with a candle in front of the mirror. Eat an apple whilst standing in front of the mirror. As you eat the apple, a vision of one's soulmate is said to appear at one's shoulder in the reflection of the mirror.
-Another simple and common way of divining the identity of one's soulmate with an apple is to twist the stem of the apple. With each twist, go through a letter of the alphabet (i.e. the first twist is 'A', the second twist is 'B,' and so on). When the stem breaks from the apple, whatever letter you were on is said to be the first letter of your soulmate's first name.
Apple seeds and apple trees can also be used as charms to preserve, encourage, and protect love.
-My grandmother learned from her grandfather that a newlywed couple should plant an apple tree together in the yard of their first marital home (and, preferably, at every home to follow). As the trees grow and thrive, so shall the love, and the roots of the trees are, he claimed, able to trap any negativity that could come for the couple and prevent it from reaching the home, snaring the trouble in their roots beforehand.
-Apple seeds can be included in sachet spells for attracting or preserving love.
-Apple seeds can also be used in spells and charms for bringing harmony in a relationship.
Money & Luck:
Apple seeds can be potent little features in money spells, such as money bowls and money jars.
A dried apple seed can be carried in one's wallet or purse as a charm to attract money or luck with money.
Those seeking good news about a money matter (such as about a pay raise, promotion, inheritance, or settlement) can use apple seeds both as charms to bring the money in and to divine if they'll be successful in the matters.
-To bring the money in, apple seeds can be place in one's sock or shoe whilst they're putting in work in regards to the matter (such as whilst one is interviewing or applying for a promotion, whilst one is filing paperwork or replying to messages, phone calls, or emails pertaining to the matter, or whilst one is speaking to their lawyer or accountant).
-To divine if you'll be successful in attaining the money (or to tell if the money will be a large or measly sum), cut an apple down the middle and inspect the seeds. If there are 5 or more seeds, this is seen as a good and positive omen, but if the seeds are small or look unhealthy (i.e. feature mold or are ill formed somehow), this is a bad sign and can mean that the money incoming will be delayed, will not ever reach you, or will be an insignificant amount. If there are a lot of seeds, this is seen as a very good sign that the money will come in and will serve you even more than you anticipated it would.
To foretell if one will have good luck in a new endeavor, cut an apple down the middle and count the seeds within. An even number is a good sign, while an odd number is a bad sign.
To have an apple tree growing on one's property is said to be a sign that the household will know wealth and abundance.
Protection:
Apple seeds can be used to protect from unwanted spirits or ghosts. Keep apple seeds in a jar or bowl in your home and, when an unwelcome spirit makes an appearance, grab a handful of seeds and throw them in the direction of the spirit. This is believed to quickly banish them.
Apple seeds can be included in sachets and bag spells used to ward off nightmares.
Similarly, apple seeds are often used in spells (especially in container spells or to form rings around candles in candle spells) for protection.
Cutting Ties:
Apples are used in this very simple spell for cutting ties between two people (from Apple Magic: Using Apples in Spells & Divination).
What you’ll need:
an apple
a knife
(optional) a marker
So, you want to cut ties with someone in your life? This spell will aid in severing the bonds between you and that person, as well as cast distance between you.
What to do:
-Take your apple and either carve your name into one side of the apple or, if you’d prefer, write your name on one side of the apple using a marker. Then turn the apple to the other side and carve or write the name of the person you wish to separate from.
-With your name on one side and theirs on the opposite side, take a knife and cut the apple down the middle. This symbolically severs the bonds between you.
-To cast further distance and create space between you, bury the apple halves on opposite sides of a street or body of water.
CARROT
Carrots have long been associated with fertility and virility, most likely due to their rather phallic appearance.
["Garden carrot" from the Juliana Anicia Codex (6th century AD).]
Fertility:
Carrots should be grown on one's property to increase one's sexual virility.
One can roast whole carrots and serve them to their bedmate to encourage a "rise in passions."
Carrot seeds can be included in sachet or bag spells to promote fertility.
Place carrot seeds in a small bag or fold them up in a piece of cloth and keep them beneath your pillow to boost one's fertility and chances of becoming pregnant.
FEVERFEW
Protection & Health:
Dried or fresh feverfew can be used in spells for protection, particularly protection from illnesses, injuries, and accidents. They can be included in protection pouches or sachets, or can be carried as a charm in one's purse, wallet, or pocket.
Feverfew flowers can be cut and kept at the bedside of someone who wishes to ward off illness if they feel at risk of coming down with something.
My grandfather tells me that putting feverfew flowers in one's shirt pocket works as a charm to repel illness, especially if that illness is magic-sent (such as via baneful working).
LEMON BALM
Love:
Lemon balm can be carried on one's person or pinned to one's clothes to attract love.
If there is someone in the home wishing to attract a partner or marriage, planting lemon balm on the property can aid in doing so.
If one has a particular person in mind for themselves, one should write the name of their love on a lemon balm leaf. That leaf can be used in love workings (sachets or bag spells, especially) to encourage that person to notice the worker.
-Alternatively, the leaf can be placed beneath the pillow and slept on to bring about a dream in which the person whose name you've written will appear. Should they appear facing you, they have interests in you as well; but if they appear with their back to you, your feelings are unrequited.
[by Otto Wilhelm Thomé, in Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz (1885).]
Healing:
Dried lemon balm or lemon balm incense can be burned to promote healing and cleansing or to guard against illness entering a space.
Burning dried lemon balm in either herbal bundles or loose is recommended after one has been ill in the home to cleanse the home of any lingering negativity brought about by the sickness.
Protection:
Feverfew is also carried as a charm of protection while traveling. This can be done by wearing feverfew flowers or leaves on one's person (preferably pinned to the inside of one's clothes or kept in one's pocket, sock, or shoe).
ONION
Onions offer a variety of uses in witchcraft, with many folk magical uses in particular.
Protection:
Growing onion on one's property is believed to ward away negativity or ill intentions sent one's way by someone.
Growing onion on one's property is also said to provide protection from evil forces.
Placing an onion on one's windowsill (some call for piercing the onion with pins, needles, or tacks beforehand) is believed to ward away evil; the onion, my grandmother says, acts as a magnet for the evil and malevolence, soaking it up into the onion instead of letting it impact the household.
For protection against illness or evil eye you suspect may have been sent to your home, my grandmother's grandfather recommends cutting an onion into quarters and placing one quarter in each corner of the home. This is believed to draw the evil or illness into the onions, forming a protective barrier to the household. *CAUTION: Do not leave onions down where animals may ingest them.
My grandmother also recommends to protect from depression or to stop a depressive spell from worsening, to cut an onion in half and place the halves across the room from one another, facing each other, in whatever room the person suffering with depression is in. She says the onion draws out the worst of the negativity. The onion should then be discarded, as it has soaked the depressive energy into itself.
Onions, like garlic, can be strung at windows, doorframes, on doors, or on porches to serve as a protective charm, warding away evil, baneful workings, harmful spirits, and even disease and illness.
Onions can be used to cast out evil entities from an area. This can be done by either cutting an onion in quarters and, as in the above scenario, placing those quarters in the four corners of the area, or by hanging onions up either in a bag, from a string, or by their own stalks at the four corners of the area or at the main entrances to the area.
Onions still attached to their stalks can be used to cast out evil spirits or entities as well. This is done by walking, starting from a door or corner, the perimeter of the area, swinging the onion in front of your body in 'X' motions. My grandmother says some swing the onion by the stalk, while some swing the stalk through the air by the onion. Once you've made a complete circuit around the perimeter of the area (this can be done while chanting or reciting incantations or prayers of protection), the onion should be posted by its stalk from the doorframe or corner at which you started walking.
One can braid onion stalks together and keep the braid on their bedpost or under their bed to protect from evil and illness whilst they sleep.
[Woodcut print of a onion, from Hortus Sanitatis (1547).]
Money & Fortune:
My grandfather assures me that finding a sprouting onion in your stash is a favorable omen, a sign that money or a turn of good fortune is soon to find its way to you.
Dreams:
Onions are said to be able to bring about prophetic dreams.
-One method calls for eating an onion-heavy meal before bed.
-Another method calls for biting directly into a raw onion and eating that bite before bed.
-And still another method recommends sleeping with an onion beneath one's pillow or bed.
Please see Autumn Allies: Charms, Spells, Divination, & Plant Magic; Part 2 for more!
FURTHER READING:
Culpeper's Complete Herbal: Consisting of a Comprehensive Description of Nearly All Herbs (1880) - Culpeper, Nicholas
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (2008) - Cunningham, Scott
Doctoring the Devil: Notebooks of an Appalachian Conjure Man (2021) - Richards, Jake
The Fortune Telling Book: Reading Crystal Balls, Tea Leaves, and Everyday Omens of Love and Luck (2000) - Kemp, Gillian
The Good Spell Book: Love Charms, Magical Cures, and Other Practical Sorcery (1997-1999) - Kemp, Gillian
Something I want to draw attention to in practicing any form of spirituality is to not let yourself become unhealthily obsessed with it. You don't have to look at everything as a sign from the divine or consult tarot for every single decision you make. It's important that you stay grounded and sometimes that means stepping out of a spiritual perspective, living life in the moment and following simply what your heart wants.
turnnoffyourmind
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