A Commonplace Book
I'm Charlotte, a U.S.-American polytheist and pagan. I pull from animism, ancestor veneration, nature worship, and English/Germanic folk tradition. Occasional spellcrafter.
Always open to questions
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Leader of the XAXE TEṈEW̱ Sacred Land Society’s Indigenous land restoration and stewardship program, says Indigenous land stewardship direct
Burn scars can still be seen on the oldest of Douglas fir trees on southern Vancouver Island, according to Tiffany Joseph, leader of the XAXE TEṈEW̱ Sacred Land Society’s Indigenous land restoration and stewardship program.
That is evidence that the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples have been conducting forest burns for generations, she said.
"Our ancestors, with their great observation skills that spanned over thousands of years, recognized that when a naturally occurring burn happened, the foods and the medicines were more abundant and of better quality."
Happy Litha everyone! To mark the occasion, here's a collection of customs and rituals pertaining to Midsummer, taken from The Denham Tracts by Michael Denham (1846-59).
The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania by Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1849).
Midsummer Cushions
"This was a custom, used some seventy years ago at many places in the North of England ; but it, like almost every other of the innocent and pleasing customs and amusements of our fore-elders, is fast vanishing away, if it has not altogether done so. The young lads and lasses of the town or village having procured a cushion or, in accordance with local phraseology, a whishion, and covered it with calico, or silk of showy and attractive colour, proceeded to bedeck it with every variety of flower which they could procure out of their parents' and more wealthy neighbours' gardens, displaying them in such a manner so as to give it a most beautiful appearance. All this done, they placed themselves, with their cushion of Flora's choicest gems, in the most public place they conveniently could soliciting of every passer-by a trifling present of pence, which, in numerous cases, was liberally and cheerfully bestowed. A set form of words was made use of (in rhyme, I believe) when soliciting those gifts, the precise version of which I have never been able to obtain.
This custom prevailed from Midsummer Day to Magdalene Day, which latter has long been corrupted to 'Maudlin Day'."
🙞
Wells
In Durham, the Lambton Well was used as a wishing well. A crooked pin along with a pebble on which is inscribed the initials of the 'wisher' is thrown into the well at Midsummer and the name of the 'wisher' is entered into a book. When the wish must be reversed, the name is erased from the book, and the pebble and pin are collected.
"Half a century ago it was in repute as a wishing well, and was one of the scenes dedicated to the usual festivities and superstitions of Midsummer Eve. A crooked pin (the usual tribute of the ' wishers ') may sometimes be still discovered, sparkling amongst the clear gravel of the bottom of its basin."
The Colwell, a little north of Hexham, the villagers used to dress their well with flowers, and in Erring Burn near Chollerton on or around 4th July (old Midsummer) -
"... great crowds of people used to assemble here from all the surrounding hamlets and villages. The scene has been described to me as resembling a fair, stalls for the sale of various refreshments being brought from a distance year by year at the summer solstice. The neighbouring slopes had been terraced, and seats formed for the convenience of pilgrims and visitors. One special object of female pilgrims was, I am informed, to pray at the well, or express a silent wish as they stood over it for the cure of barrenness. If the pilgrim's faith were sufficient, her wish at the Bore Well would be certain to be fulfilled within the twelve months."
Over in Monkton near Jarrow, the well of the Venerable Bede was said to have healing properties (as did the wells of Jesmond and Holystone), and children with any infirmities would offer a crooked pin and then be dipped into the well.
🙞
Bonfires
Midsummer Night by Nikolai Astrup (1926).
Rev. Gr. R. Hall, quoted in The Denham Tracts, said:
"The fire festivals or bonfires of the summer solstice at the Old Mid- summer until recently were commemorated on Christenburg Crags [Cumbria] and elsewhere by leaping through and dancing round the fires, as those who have been present have told me..." The driving of cattle through the smoke of the need-fire, as a supposed preventative of murrain, and the carrying from farm to farm as quickly as men could ride the sacred self-lighted fire, made by two pieces of dry or rotted wood being rubbed together very quickly, has occurred at Birtley within the last thirty years ; and this forms one of the most recent survivals of the adoration once so generally rendered to the great orb of day and to the element of fire".
Rev. J. E. Elliot Bates, rector of Whalton (Northumberland) recorded a similar ritual:
"The bonfire ... was lighted a little to the north-east of the well at Whalton, and partly on the footpath, and people danced round it and jumped through it. That was never interrupted."
“Another Midsummer’s Eve divination involves the holy oak tree (Quercus spp). It was believed to have flowers that only bloomed on Midsummer’s Eve, and if a maiden would lay down a white cloth under the oak tree, in the morning she would find a dusting of the pollen from the blooming flowers. If she put a pinch of this magical dust under her pillow, she would dream of her true love. This reminds one of the mystical fern seed associated with Midsummer’s Eve. Certainly, this was an eve where upon the witching hour of midnight, the mundane became supernatural, if only for a few moments. The same is true of the winter counterpart Christmas Eve, at midnights hour. Plants were also knwon to bloom uncharacteristically during this in between passage. One method that called upon both the plant and power of the dead was for a young maiden to gather yarrow (Achillea millefolium) from a young man’s grave on the night of Midsummer’s Eve and sleep with it under her pillow. This was sure to bring prophetic dreams of her future husband. A well-known charm from Southern England to be said while picking the graveyard yarrow leaves: ”Yarrow, sweet yarrow, the first that I have found; in the name of Jesus Christ I pluck it from the ground; as Jesus loved sweet Mary and took her for his dear; So in a dream this night I hope my true love will appear”. A young man could do the same by picking the yarrow from the grave of a young woman in turn, likely with another incantation. The harvesting was to be done in strict silence; a rule held until retiring for the eve. A combination posy for dreaming included grave yarrow, rue (Ruta graveolens, a plant known in different cultures to aid with the second sight) and various colored flowers, was tied together by the hairs of the woman’s head whom was seeking the dream. It was then sprinkled with oil of amber using the left hand and bound to the woman’s head, as she went to sleep on clean linens to receive her dream.”
— Corinne Boyer - Dream Divination Plants in Northwestern European Traditions
learning the names of local plants.
noticing where water gathers.
thanking a tree before taking from it.
picking up trash.
leaving a place better than you found it.
sitting quietly long enough to feel the mood of the land.
animism is not always spectacle.
sometimes it is relationship, attention, and care.
Since I've lived in my current apartment for nearly seven years, I feel like it's only fair to consult the house spirit for advice on my next house. It probably knows a thing or two about me. And houses.
Since I've lived in my current apartment for nearly seven years, I feel like it's only fair to consult the house spirit for advice on my next house. It probably knows a thing or two about me. And houses.
May Day celebration part one complete! Put a treat out for the fairies last night, got up for the sunrise this morning, did a little dance, then went out for breakfast. Meeting work friends for drinks this afternoon. But first, therapy and a long nap.
...at the comessing of May,
When miri and hot is the day,
And away fled winter-showers,
And every field is ful of flours,
And blosme bright on every bough,
And all things wexeth miri enow.
Samhradh buí na nóiníní gléigeal,
thugamar fhéin an samhradh linn,
Ó bhaile go baile is chun ár mbaile ’na dhiaidh sin,
thugamar fhéin an samhradh linn
Bábóg na Bealtaine, maighdean an tsamhraidh
suas gach cnoc is síos gach gleann
cailíní maiseacha, bángheala gléasta,
thugamar fhéin an samhradh linn
Tá an fhuiseog ag seinm is ag luasadh sna spéartha,
beacha is cuileoga is bláth ar na crainn,
tá’n chuach’s na héanlaith ag seinm le pléisiúr,
thugamar fhéin an samhradh linn
Tá nead ag an ghiorria ar imeall na haille,
is nead ag an chorr éisc i ngéaga an chrainn,
tá mil ar na cuiseoga is na coilm ag béiceadh,
thugamar fhéin an samhradh linn.
Tá an ghrian ag loinnriú`s ag lasadh na dtabhartas,
tá an fharraige mar scathán ag gháirí don ghlinn,
tá na madaí ag peithreadh is an t-eallach ag géimni
thugamar fhéin an samhradh linn.
Golden Summer of the white daisies,
we bring the Summer with us,
from village to village and home again,
and we bring the Summer with us.
Beltaine dolls, Summer maidens
Up hill and down glens
Girls adorned in pure white,
and we bring the Summer with us.
The lark making music and sky dancing
the blossomed trees laden with bees
the cuckoo and the birds singing with joy
and we bring the Summer with us.
The hare nests on the edge of the cliff
the heron nests in the branches
the doves are cooing, honey on stems
and we bring the Summer with us.
The shining sun is lighting the darkness
the silvery sea shines like a mirror
the dogs are barking, the cattle lowing
and we bring the Summer with us.
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