People tell bad stories about magpies. That we hold the souls of gossips. That we carry a drop of the devil’s blood in our mouths. That to meet a single magpie brings bad luck, or sorrow, or death. We refused to take shelter in the Ark, people say; instead we sat on its roof and laughed at the drowned world. We were the only bird not to sing at the crucifixion. Magpies bore into cattle and sheep and eat them from the inside out. Magpies steal anything that shines. Witches ride to their seething sabbaths on magpies’ tails. To make a magpie talk, cut its tongue with a crooked sixpence.
I promised you to talk about it, back when I made my post about caloric magic: unfortunately I lost the article I wanted to reblog as a reference (it is somewhere drowned in my likes). I will still do the post, but quite late and succinct as a result: I want to speak about how bizarre the use of "True Names" is today.
Because if you go onto the Internet, if you check "True Names magic", "Do not share your True Name", "True Names have power", all you get is... Fairies. Fairies, faeries, fae, fair folk, elves, whatever. The Internet today not only proclaims but runs with the idea that a core part of fairy lore, of fairy fiction, of fairy tradition, relies on the existence of a "True Name" that is a powerful thing the fairies protect at all costs, because whoever has them can enslave them. It is everywhere - Mercy Thompson, Modern Faerie Tale, Dresden Files, Shadowhunters, World of Darkness, Spinning Silver...
And... this is utterly, entirely, completely false. Entertaining, charming, a whole aesthetic sure, a freshly-made tradition, but artificial, out of nowhere and heavily misleading to the point of nearing misinformation.
Mind you, it does not come from "nowhere" per se. There is ONE recurring fairy-story that did give credit to the idea that "True Names" were connected with the Fair Folk/Little Folk: the brothers Grimm' Rumplestiltskin, where to defeat the titular antagonist the protagonist must guess his name... However this is A) an exception to the rule as you will find no other popular stories showing fairies relying on their name ; and B) completely missing the point. When you check the many variations, from country to country and era to era, of the "Rumplestiltskin" fairytale-type (type number 500 per the International Classification), you notice that what all the names to guess have in common is weirdness, bizareness, ridiculousness. The "guessing of the name" trial relies not on on the "importance" of the true name, but on the fact the name is just so convoluted and hard to pronounce nobody could guess it.
Fairies in folklore and legend do NOT rely on "True Names" as we understand it today... So where does this whole thing came from?
[EDIT: Mind you, there are, here and there, some little stories about supernatural beings able to be vanquished when their name is spoken aloud, I am not saying it does not exist... But I am saying it is quite minor and not a core nor prominent part of "fairy lore"]
Well, the answer is fantasy. In terms of "magic of True Names", it was the fantasy genre that popularized it. While foundational works like Tolkien's books rely heavily on the importance and multiplicity of names, there's no "True Name" power as we understand it ; similarly its mythical sources do not rely on this either. Yes the Kalevala relies on magic being performed by knowing the "true essence and origin" of the things, but it has nothing to do with "names" at all - to have power over something, you need to be able (for example) to sing how it came to be and how it was conceived. It is knowing the "true tale" of something that is important, not a "true name". [EDIT: Okay, the dwarves of Tolkien do have "true names" they keep secret to their graves and yes names do have significance and power in Tolkien's Legendarium, but it doesn't fit what we understand as "True Names" today]
True Names started in fantasy with... Le Guin's Earthsea. She was the one who first brought the concept that magic uses and relies on True Name ; she was the one who built a world where people kept secret their True Names and went by nicknames or titles ; she was the one who wrote about how you could bind someone using their True Name. And it was from "Earthsea" onward that this concept was used and reused in fantasy - for example in Glenn Cook's "The Black Company" where speaking a sorcerer's True Name means the end of their magic - and the idea that the "True Name" rule only works for magic-users is apparently also found in Niven's "The Magic Goes Away"?
In fact, in fantasy the "Law of Names" was mainly focused as being a purely magical thing. Either it was how wizards and witches worked their magic (like in "The Forgotten Beasts of Held", "Dragonsbane", "Young Wizards" or the "Inheritance Cycle"), either it is a threat to the sorcerer itself, see above. This is very likely because of how Earthsea focuses on the wizards and mages. Similarly sometimes the "True Name" was expanded to dragons, and I suspect it is because the most iconic use of a True Name in Earthsea was against a dragon... And from sorcerers and dragons, the trope slowly slipped into "Fairies". Maybe it is because of famous contemporary works that blurred the line? Such as Ghibli's "Spirited Away" where the witch stealing peoples' name is also a fairy-like inhabitant of an "Otherworld" ; or "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" where the powerful wizard turned fairy-power The Raven King needs his true name to be summoned.
Yet the Earthsea world has everybody keep their true name secret, not just magic-wielders, ordinary folks too. Because, and we are getting into the interesting part... Because it is meant to be a cosmic and social thing for everybody, not just one specific type of people. And this is explained when you look at Earthsea's inspirations. While Earthsea became a staple of "traditional fantasy" in itself (becoming inspiration for "traditional" works like "Name of the Wind" or parody works like Discworld), it was created to be an un-traditional fantasy. Among its attempts at reinventing the genre, or subverting it, was the desire to create an un-European setting. It is still medieval European in essence (the dragons, wizards and a lot of the society is just very "standard fantasy"), but it is wrapped in a lot of non-European elements. And the whole Rule of Names/Law of Names/True Name system Le Guin created for her book was meant to be THE most un-European thing ever.
Because, before it appeared in fantasy, where did the "True Name Law" appear? Putting aside the monotheistic religions talks, of course. [This trope is found in Jewish beliefs, traditions and occultism, especially when the Kabbalah is involved - there is this famous emphasis on God's True Name and how it should be an unspoken secret. This logic was reused for the story of C. Clarke, "The Nine Billion Names of God", not to be confused with "Kill Six Billion Demons". In Christianity God's name is also powerful but hardly a secret - demons' name could however be secrets people neede to uncover, mainly during exorcisms, but it can be argued this is a rule of every exorcism ritual around the world, the name/nature/identity of the evil presence needs to be identified.]
Well, Le Guin's inspiration were the Chinese Dao/Tao concepts of "zhen ming", "true names", and "zhen xing", "true shapes", used to create talismans which have power over spirits and demons. And the social traditions of the First Nations of Northern America, where children received two names - one public name that changed with the events in their life, and a secret unchanging one they preserved so evil spirits could not steal it. And the Egyptian legends where Isis stole Ra's true name to gain power. And the Polynesian sacredness or taboo-nature of specific names. (I could mention the South-Eastern Asian habit of protecting children by changing their name when they got cursed, or giving them false temporary names to trick spirits, but I am not quite sure Le Guin used it, whereas I know she did take inspiration from China, Polynesia and pre-colonization America)
And this is the whole irony of the thing. The introduction of "True Names" in American fantasy was done in an effort to create a non-European ambiance and flavor. Yet today it ended up becoming the emblem of the most European thing ever - fairies. It is a fascinating "snake bites its own tail" - in half a century, from trying to get away from European folklore, the Americans returned it all to European folklore.
You are becoming the god of a plant. You can live as long as that plant exists, and you have divine powers (all related to that plant).
Does one come to mind?
Grave offerings and burying the dead with tools and goods is actually such a deeply human thing to do. It's not really even necessarily about how much you believe in a literal afterlife or them taking the tools with them. It's also just going Wait, I'm Not Done Taking Care Of You, let me make you one more pair of socks so your feet won't be cold when you go wherever it is where I can't follow.
Are you going to be doing more posts on narrative charms?
At some point, yes. I took a break to work on another post and that got upended by other projects. But, yes, now that my practice has entered a quieter season, I probably will have time to get back to those soon.
say it with me chat: not believing something is not the same as fundamentally disrespecting it. not agreeing with someone's opinion is not the same as fundamentally disrespecting them. not believing someone's spiritual claims is not the same as disrespecting them or their beliefs. you do not owe people your agreement
I just want to say thank you for everything you've done with sheydmade, with celebrating Jewish magic, with being authentically yourself in the face of racism and antisemitism and harassment in the witchfraft community. Because I know I've at least grown so much confidence in building my practice through knowing you and I also know how hard it's been for you. So thank you and love you so much 🧡🧡🧡🧡
Raz, these words mean so much to me. 🖤 Thank you for your kindness and for appreciating my baby, @sheydmade. It was definitely tough for the majority of 2025 dealing with harassment, and 2026 started off rough with some of the same issues. It's still something I deal with now and again, but I'm learning how to manage with it. I honestly wouldn't be able to do so without friends and mutuals like yourself. Sending you all the love in the world. 🖤✨
Today, as the new moon preceding the full moon of April, is the first day of a Spring sacred period I’m calling “Welltide.”
Welltide refers to the inner well, the pool of emotional and metaphysical energy that lies within. “Tide” seeks to honor the cycle that this energy inhabits, the push and pull of this source, this energy which brings me inspiration, authenticity, healing, and wisdom. Also, -tide is already a suffix associated with seasonal observance (“yuletide” etc).
For years now (I don’t remember exactly when it started), I’ve felt inspired to take time for myself and my development in spring. I pull daily cards, reinstate morning meditation, and journal about who I am, how I’m feeling, what I want to become and how I am to become it. It’s a time that’s characterized by both mindfulness and emotional vulnerability. Usually I emerge with a reinvigorated sense of self-love, empowerment, and peace.
It’s always been a multi-day affair, because it requires time to process and heal the emotional wounds you accrue during a year. My previous model for my calendar didn’t really account for it, because it was focused on single day observances. Still, Welltide was an informal, yet reliable, pattern. I’m now seeking to restructure my calendar around the practices I actually feel drawn to, when I actually feel drawn to them, which will start with Welltide as the first completely new holiday—technically, I honored Dawnchime (March 1st) by its new name, but it was still my spiritual new year before that, so.
I’m really happy to welcome Welltide to my soul this year. I’m especially happy that the spring equinox (which I think I might call “Temperance Day”) will fall within the bounds of Welltide so that I can combine them together. And during my spring break too!!! I have big plans.
It will be a lot of work to sit with myself this year, but I know that I will be held through it. Praise Spring; praise to the Moon. Praise to the Waters of Life that run through me.
The storytelling format for spoken charms is one of my favorite elements of the cunningcraft I learned from my grandmother. Sometimes known as a narrative charm, this is a method of charm delivery in which the magical directions are given in the form of a brief story. The stories come in many shapes, but one that is common in healing magic in particular is the format that I refer to as a “Two Maids Came Walking” Charm. This was the first charm of this kind that I was taught to use, and has been the basis of my personal study of the mechanisms and applications of narrative charms.
Narrative charms can be spoken directly over a wound or patient, as is the case in charms to staunch blood and to remove fevers. They can also be used to bless poultices, compresses and other supplies for healing work, imbuing the articles with the same healing spirits and powers that are wielded by administering the charm directly. To provide distance healing, they can be administered over pictures of the target or over items intended to be consumed or used by a healer’s target.
The stories contained in narrative charms are not typical in the sense that we think of structured narratives. They do not contain a beginning, middle or end. There is no rising action or resolution. Rather, these stories depict a single moment, a single action. They are containers of symbol and instruction in the same way that prayers and petitions are containers of our desires. Speaking the charms over a patient or supplies is a coded command that is designed not to petition aid from a deity or spirit, but to directly cause the desired effect or action to take place. To stop or slow bleeding, to break a fever, to heal the sick, and so on.
Although many of the traditional examples we have of these types of charms describe scenes involving maids, the colors of their dresses, the items they carry in their hands, etc., there are also numerous examples which depict folkloric, mythological and even Biblical figures and motifs in the same manner. The methods associated with writing and performing narrative charms can be used by anyone to create narrative charms that fit within their own magical framework, symbol set, religious practice, etc. The figures that appear in the narratives used in these charms, the colors that are featured, the items they bring, the landscape, and so on can all be drawn from one’s own background, belief set, practice, and interests. And all of these can be used as functional tools for carrying out the charm’s magic.
Narrative Subject
The subject of a narrative charm is the figure that is featured in the charm. In the example of the Two Maids Came Walking charm, the subject is the two maids. In the well-known Nine Herbs Charm, the subject is Woden. In variations that deal with saints carrying out various actions, the subject is the saint. In charms that describe two figures meeting—for example, a farmer and the Devil—it can be more difficult to determine which is the narrative’s actual subject, but we will talk more about that in a moment.
From the perspective of the writer, the subject of any narrative should be the person, animal, spirit, or object that is participating in or facilitating the events around them (or otherwise interacting with their environment). If three maids come carrying three herbs in a charm for empowering medicine, they are the subjects of the narrative. If a fox shakes the snow from his fur to banish a chill, the fox is the subject. If a flower blooms to return vitality, the flower is the subject. If Woden is battling a snake or Christ is wrestling with Satan, Woden or Christ would be the subject. No matter how many figures are presented in a narrative charm, the subject will always be the person, animal or other figure that represents direct action.
From the perspective of the practitioner, the subject of the narrative charm functions in the same way as a wand does within some systems of magic. The subject is both an extension of the practitioner themselves and a tool for directing and manipulating spirit, energy and circumstance. Their place within the narrative is parallel to the practitioner’s place within the spell; the subject’s desires, actions, and predicaments mirror our own through allegory. The subject of a narrative charm can be anyone—maid, saint, Devil, animal, or farmer—or anything that represents the practitioner’s role in the charm we are working.
The narrative subject’s identity, how we refer to them, the features we focus on operate as symbols for who we are and where we stand in the working. The maid, for example, can be a symbol of purity and earnest desire. Different saints can be invoked through narrative charms to call on traits demonstrated in their associated myths. A farmer can represent the everyman. A fox can be a sign of cleverness and wile.
Who is the Subject—the Farmer or the Devil? When we’re modifying, syncretizing or creating a narrative charm, understanding the subject is an important part of assembling the machinery of the spell. So, how do we identify the subject of a narrative charm that contains two or more interactive characters? We look at the function and identity of each figure in relation to the practitioner’s role in the magic. A common form that multi-subject narrative charms can take is the meeting of two figures, such as a farmer and the Devil or a young woman and one of the Hidden People. It can be easy to assume that the folkloric, mythic, Biblical, etc. figure is the subject because we tend to think of them as being the “main character”. But that’s not always the case.
Often, the primary subject in such charms takes on the role of the petitioner, meeting with a folkloric, mythic, or divine figure to ask for intercession or to acquire the necessary tools to complete a task. The Hidden People provide the maid water from a blessed spring, yet the maid is the subject because she is the facilitator of the charm. Her journey to visit the Hidden People to acquire the water represents the practitioner’s earnest petition for aid in healing. The Devil appears at the crossroads and provides the farmer with a golden whistle that he can use to call any wandering cow back home. But the farmer is the subject, and his rendezvous with the Devil represents the practitioner’s petition for protection for their cattle.
Even though the folkloric, mythic and divine figures in these charms may supply the tools for the subjects to carry out their magic, they are acting as secondary subjects. They are present in the charm because the practitioner is petitioning them for aid or intercession, because they are asking for their help to empower the charm. The Hidden People are not administering the healing; they are merely providing the supplies. The Devil is neither missing cattle nor blowing the whistle; his role in the charm is simply to provide the means of magical action.
Narrative Setting
The setting of a narrative charm is not always mentioned. There are many such charms that mention nothing at all about the setting apart from noting that two maids sat spinning, or Woden went riding. When a particular setting is mentioned, it is generally done in vague terms, without any specifics or description. Nevertheless, when a setting does appear in a storyteller’s charm, it plays an important role in building the spell’s coded command.
The setting can help us to hone our charm onto very specific targets. A stream, for example, may appear in charms related to the flow of blood (i.e. bringing about menstruation, ridding the blood of infection, or dealing with any number of ailments that would have been thought to come from some form of bad blood). It can also be used to help practitioners to get very specific about what kinds of spirits, if any, they are calling for help from or what kinds of energies they are calling into the working. A young girl coming over a valley invokes a very different energy than does an old woman coming from the forest; and a figure that approaches from the east can bring a different kind of aid than one who comes from the west.
A setting can describe something as specific as a stream flowing through a valley or something as ambiguous as mentioning snow. And, just as the narrative subject is allegorical for the practitioner and their desired actions, the setting is representative of the realm in which the practitioner is working or the internal landscape they are navigating. The stream represents the blood. The road represents transition and movement. Whether a setting is a necessary part of a narrative charm depends upon whether the writer feels that the charm is specific enough to address their exact target, their exact realm of concern without it.
Curios in Narrative Charms
When we think about narrative charms, we may not always think of magical curios in the typical sense. Part of the joy of narrative charms is that the story, the spoken charm can help to mitigate the “necessity” of tools. The subjects of spoken charms do not generally arrive with daggers and wands. They do not typically come with candles and poultices of their own. Although they may—almost anything is possible with narrative charms—such instances are atypical examples of how curios appears in these magical stories.
Curios in narrative charms typically appear in the form of symbolic elements carried, used, worn, or otherwise interacted with by the subject of the charm. In the example I have previously used of the “Two Maids Came Walking” format, the maids are often described as carrying flowers, branches from powerful trees, candles, pearls, fish, and any number of symbols that can lend themselves to magic.
Sometimes, however, the curios are subtler. It can be found in the description of a subject wearing a red dress or a blue sash. One of the first charms I remember learning started out with the lines: Three maids came to the river; the first wore red, the second wore white, the third wore blue. This example was a charm used to stop the flow of blood (either from a wound or from prolonged menstruation or other gynecologic issues). In this instance, the three maids in their dresses represent the flowing blood (red), dressings or gauze (white), and the return to a healed, “pure” state (which, in our tradition, can be represented by the color blue).
When curios are described, it can be either overt or abstruse. It can be an object that is used or a flower that is simply present. It can be something that the practitioner has on hand, that they are incorporating into the physical element of the working; or it can be something that is rare and hard to acquire, but so significant to one’s lore and practice that the practitioner wishes to include it, even if it is only through the spoken charm.
Writing a Narrative Charm
The important thing to remember when writing your own narrative charm (or modifying an existing one) is that the purpose of the charm is to work magic, not to tell a story. They are not to add flair to a working by having something to say. Narrative charms are functional magical tools. They are commands for directing magic and for shaping outcome. Although, it may be tempting to make these charms beautiful and poetic, they don’t need to be. They don’t need to be flowery. They don’t need to rhyme. They don’t even need to describe a “pretty” scene. All they need to do is work.
I always advise that, to make these types of charms work and work well, they should be written in as direct a way as possible. No frills. No fluff. This might seem like silly or even counterintuitive advice to give in regards to storytelling charms. But what it boils down to is that whatever subjects, settings, curios and other elements you put into your own narrative charms should be necessary. Whether it is a stream, a tree, a red dress or a little mouse, every element should be functional. Every element should be part of the magical command you are issuing or it should be left out.
Historical Examples of Narrative Charms
I walked through a green forest,
There I find three wells, cool and cold;
The first is called, Kind,
The second is called, Good,
And the third is called, Stop the Blood.
This example from The Long Lost Friend (Hohman) is a Pennsylvania Dutch verbal charm for staunching blood as if from a wound. The forest mentioned here can represent the danger and uncertainty of bleeding that will not stop, while the color green can be a symbol of growth and life (especially to an agricultural community like the ones that might have developed this charm). The wells can be similar to the stream I mentioned in an earlier example, where the flow of water under the ground may represent the flow of blood. Wells are sometimes also incorporated into Christian folk charms as a symbol of Christ’s blood, which is often invoked in healing magic of this kind. This charm contains no outright curios, but instead invokes simple virtues in its working to dispel any “evil” that might be causing the bleeding and to support the final command to stop the blood.
Mary, God's Mother, traversed the land,
Holding three worms close in her hand;
One was White; the other was Black; the third was Red;
Now all the worms are dead.
This is another example from The Long Lost Friend, which is intended to rid livestock of intestinal worms. This charm does not mention a setting. It calls on the Virgin Mary, who is often invoked for healing, blessing and protective magic. It also employs the use of color magic. In Hexology and Pennsylvania Dutch magic, white may be used for blessings, black can be included for protection and banishing evil, and red can be a symbol of strong desire or vitality. These three colors are used together as a coded command to protect the cattle from the withering effects of worms, to protect uninfected cattle against their spread, and to return the livestock to their healthy state.
S. George, S. George, our ladies knight,
He walkt by daie, so did he by night;
Untill such time as he hir found,
He hir beat and he hir bound,
Untill hir troth she to him plight,
She would not come to hir that night.
This charm is an example of how narrative charms mention only what is useful to the spell, sometimes requiring prior knowledge of folklore and legend to truly understand the story it refers to. This English folk magic example is recorded in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (Scot), where it is mentioned as a charm against nightmares and other evils of the night. In this charm, the subject is Saint George. The language is archaic, but it details Saint George journeying through day and night until he came upon the dragon he is famous for slaying. In the story, the dragon has been terrorizing a village to the point that they have begun using a lottery system to select human sacrifices to sate the dragon’s hunger. When Saint George enters the story, a young princess (the lady referred to in the charm) has been selected as the next sacrifice. Saint George beats and subdues the dragon by binding it with the princess’s belt or girdle. In the legend, Saint George and the princess lead the dragon back to the village, using the girdle as a leash; there, Saint George vows to slay the dragon and save the village only if they will convert to Christianity. In the charm, however, Saint George appears to bind the dragon until the creature swears that it will not do harm during the night.
This is a wonderful example of how folklore and legend can be utilized in narrative charms as symbols. These charms can invoke a story—calling on its themes, figures, and morals as magical tools—without following the myth exactly. It is not adherence to the folklore in its exact form that lends power to the practitioner’s command; it is the knowledge and understanding of the symbols within the story and the practitioner’s use of its parts to direct magic.
Petter was Laying and his head upon a marrable ston weping and Christ Came by and said what else thou Petter Petter answered and sad Lord god my twoth Raise thou Petter and bee healed and whosoever shall carry these Lines in my name shall never feel the twothick.
This charm is one of the many in the collection of National Museums Scotland ("Charm"). It is a written charm, rather than a spoken one. It was written by a service practitioner by the name of Kate “Kett” M’Aulay in 1855. It was kept in a silk pouch and worn around the neck as a cure for toothache.
In this charm, the narrative is used to enchant the paper that the charm itself is written on. It tells a story of Peter who sits upon a marble stone and weeps in pain because of a toothache. The stone here is likely symbolic of the tooth itself. Christ approaches and asks what is troubling him and Peter answers. Through Christ’s healing of Peter’s toothache, the paper is charged and the magical healing command encoded upon it.
Works Cited
Hohman, Johann George. The Long Lost Friend. T.F. Scheffer, 1856.
Scot, Reginald, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, Dover Publications, Inc., New York: 1972. ISBN 0-486-26030-5.
“Charm." National Museums Scotland, Museum Reference no. H.NO 18. National Museums Scotland.
Spring Allies: Charms, Spells, Divination, and Plant Magic; Part 1
by Keziah Zibelmann
Spring — a time associated with renewal, rebirth, awakening, and change, and a season best known for its wealth of greenery, buds, blossoms, and outdoor beauty. Much of that outdoor beauty is teeming with power and possibility, as spring brings a plethora of plant allies that can support and enhance one’s magical practices. With herbs known for their potent protective qualities, flowers said to be invaluable divinatory tools, and plants bringing in luck and money in abundance, even the most “common” and overlooked of springtime finds can be a boon to one’s witchery and magic.
This pieces aims to provide a collection of some of spring’s most powerful magical allies and the versatile ways in which they can be put to use in anyone’s magical craft.
BUTTERCUP
[WARNING: All species of buttercup are poisonous. Do no ingest and do not leave buttercups in an area where they can be ingested or accessed by children or animals. Buttercups are also known to cause dermatitis when handled, so handle with care and caution.]
Buttercup is associated with love, friendship, harmony and peace, and happiness, and can be used in any magical working surrounding these matters. They also bear some association with health and healing works, be that physical, mental, or emotional healing.
[Buttercups by Nik, 2025.]
FOR LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, & HARMONY:
Gifting a bouquet of buttercup flowers (or featuring buttercup flowers) can promote peace and harmony between the giver and the recipient.
Happening upon buttercup recently after starting a new relationship or starting to date someone is an omen of happiness to come and love growing between the parties involved.
To repair a damaged friendship or promote a last friendship, plant two buttercups side by side, naming them for each of the parties involved.
Growing buttercup on one’s property attracts peace and love to the home and its inhabitants.
FOR WISHING:
If one is lucky enough to catch buttercup just before blooming, one can make a wish on the buttercup flower. Wishes on buttercup should focus on matters of the heart and relationships, or on personal happiness and growth. The wish will bloom as the buttercup flower does.
FOR HEALTH:
If one has illness or disease in one’s home, planting buttercups on the property is believed to help attract healing and cast illness out.
Buttercup petals or whole flowers (please handle buttercup flowers safely and with caution, preferably with gloves, to avoid dermatitis) can be included in a sachet or bag charm for healing.
A bouquet of buttercups kept in a home where illness is taking root is said to prevent the illness from sticking around and lasting long.
My grandmother says that gifting buttercups to someone who is unwell “draws the sick back out of them” and promotes a speedy healing and recovery process. She says this can also be done by burying buttercups on that person's property.
Buttercups brighten, fighting back against depressive energies and promoting mental clarity and wellness. Therefore buttercups can be grown on the property of those who suffer with depression or have recently experienced loss, as a means of combating and warding against depression.
CHERRY BLOSSOM
[CAUTION: Cherry blossoms contain coumarin, which is potentially hepatotoxic. Handle with caution and care. Do not ingest cherry blossoms unless they have been properly prepared. It is much safer to buy professionally prepared, ready to use, pre-made cherry blossom products instead of attempting to make one's own.]
Cherry blossoms are particularly powerful allies for love magic, as well as for beauty and glamour magic.
[Cherry blossoms by David Brooke Martin, 2019]
FOR LOVE:
It is ideal to marry when the cherry blossoms are in bloom, considered an omen of a lasting partnership filled with happiness and love.
Sitting beneath a blossoming cherry tree with someone assures happiness between the parties. There is, though, some question as to how long the happiness is guaranteed – some say the happiness is assured for the duration of cherry blossom season, while others say the happiness is certain from that day on until the start of next year’s cherry blossom season.
Cherry trees growing on one’s property attract and promote love to the home whenever the blossoms are in bloom.
Burning cherry blossom incense while working love magic can give the working more oomph.
BEAUTY & GLAMOUR MAGIC:
Wearing cherry blossom soaps, lotions, creams, oils, or perfumes can be used in glamour and beauty magic to enhance beauty.
Burning cherry blossom incense whilst working glamour and beauty magic, or whilst dressing and getting ready for the day, further boosts beautifying magic.
DAFFODIL
[WARNING: All species of narcissus flowers are poisonous. They contain lycorine, a toxic crystalline alkaloid and are toxic to both people and animals. Please handle with caution and care. Do not ingest daffodil and never leave daffodil where it can be ingested or accessed by children or pets.]
Also known as asphodel, lent lily, and narcissus, daffodil can prove a useful ally in matters of luck, love, prosperity, and fertility.
[Yellow daffodils in spring by Yoksel Zok, 2020]
FOR CLEANSING:
It’s said that daffodils can clear out and ward off negative energies, as well as attract positive energies, happiness, and love into their space.
Daffodils are often seen as symbols of new beginnings. Incorporating daffodils in one’s space, such as on one’s altar or magical work area, whilst one is clearing out old feelings or energies serves as a symbol of newness, but the daffodils also boost one’s cleansing work while they’re at it.
FOR LUCK & PROSPERITY:
Bouquets or tussie-mussies of yellow daffodils bring fortune, wealth, and good luck with money into a place where work is to be done or creative endeavors are carried out, such as an office, studio, or cubicle.
Having a bouquet of daffodils in the home is believed to draw luck into the home. Some sources specify further that the bouquet should contain no less than thirteen daffodils [1].
Carrying a daffodil flower in one’s pocket, purse, or on one’s person is believed to attract good luck. When the daffodil is kept in a shirt pocket near one’s heart, that luck is believed to be even stronger.
Growing daffodils on one’s property can draw luck into one’s home and life, and increase already existing good luck significantly.
FOR LOVE & FERTILITY:
Gifting someone daffodil flowers or a bouquet featuring daffodil can promote feelings of love between you and that person.
To attract love into your life and home, plant daffodils on your property.
For those seeking a boost in fertility, bringing fresh daffodils into the bedroom and keeping them near the bed, such as on the nightstand, is believed to help in boosting fertility and virility.
Featuring daffodils in one’s bridal bouquet is said to assure children will soon follow the marriage.
OTHER:
Daffodils growing in the wild are said to be indicators of a sacred place [2], and some sources say they have associations with fae folk [3]. Due to this, it can be ideal to work magic in an area where wild daffodils are growing, particularly if one works with fae in their practice.
Daffodils also, though more commonly in ancient European cultures than nowadays, bear associations with death and underworld realms [4]. They are still sometimes used as grave flowers. Thus, daffodils can be an ideal plant ally for magical practitioners who work with death or with spirits or deities associated with death or the underworld.
DANDELION
Ah, dandelion. There are plenty of folkloric associations and uses for dandelion, and they’re most commonly known for folk divination customs and wishing spells, but they can absolutely be put to other uses in one’s magical practice.
[Dandelions by Viridi Green, 2020]
FOR DIVINATION:
Dandelion tea can be ingested before or during the practice of psychic and divinatory arts. Doing so is said to boost one’s psychic abilities and aid in such work.
To the same end, placing dandelions in one’s bath is said to enhance one’s psychic gifts [5].
Some say [6] that one can tell how many years they have left in life by blowing on a dandelion during its peak puffball stage. Blow the fluff and count the seeds left attached after doing so. The number of seeds are said to be the number of years you have left to live.
Scott Cunningham, in Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, takes this further to allegedly calculate the hour of one’s death. He says one can do so by blowing ‘three times at the seed head. The number [of seeds left] is the hour.’
FOR PROTECTION:
Drinking dandelion tea before sleep can keep nightmares at bay.
Likewise, keeping fresh dandelions at one’s bedside wards off nightmares and restless sleep.
To have an abundance of dandelions growing on one’s property is to have magical protection from malevolent forces and spirit foes.
Carrying a dandelion as a charm or token can grant protection from bad luck, negative energy, and malicious magical works sent one's way.
FOR BLESSINGS, FERTILITY, & HEALTH:
Dandelions can attract blessings, peace, and joy. Having them grow on one’s property is believed to be a blessing.
Bringing dandelion root into the home brings joy, blessings, abundance, and peace with it. One can include dandelion root in container spells for blessings, sachets and bag charms, and in wards
Dandelion root is also a symbol of fertility and can be included in any fertility charm or working.
Keeping a dandelion root underneath one’s bed will boost fertility.
FOR WISHING:
Dandelions are commonly used for making wishes, which is possibly their best known use. To do so, the dandelion must be in its puffball phase. Puck the dandelion, make your wish, and blow the dandelion fluff, sending the wish out into the universe with the fluffs that float away.
GROUND IVY
[CAUTION: Although ground ivy is used by humans for culinary and herbal medicinal purposes, it can be toxic to some animals. Please do not leave ground ivy where it can be ingested or accessed by any pets, cattle, or livestock.]
Also commonly called alehoof, gill-go-over-the-ground, lizzy-run-up-the-hedge, and field balm, ground ivy is well known as a divinatory ally, but also has some protection powers to lend.
[Ground Ivy by Ivar Leidus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0]
FOR DIVINATION:
According to Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs [7], one can discover the source of negative magic sent one’s way or worked against them by placing ground ivy at the base of a yellow candle on a Tuesday. Burn the candle fully. After this is done, the source of the negative or malicious work will soon be revealed by dream, vision, or by someone revealing it in conversation.
FOR PROTECTION:
Ground ivy can be a protective ally for those who delve into realms of divination where they may be coming in contact with malevolent or disruptive energies or entities. Keeping ground ivy on one’s work space whilst divining, or, even better, keeping it on one’s person, can offer protection from energies and entities that could harm one or cling to one.
See Spring Allies; Part 2 (coming soon!) for more!
CITATIONS, SOURCES, & FURTHER READING:
NOTE: Some of the works featured in this piece come from beliefs relevant to the area I was born in and live in now, and some of it was taught to me by my grandparents. See the citations below for specific books some works can be found in, and see the sources and further read section for even more books in which these plants and their magical uses and folkloric associations can be found.
Citations:
[1] The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Magical Plants: A Practical Guide to Creating Healing, Protection, and Prosperity using Plants, Herbs, and Flowers (2008) - Gregg, Susan
[2] Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom and Magic of 200 Plants (2020) - Diaz, Juliet
[3] 110 Magical Flowers and How to Use Them [https://www.celebratepaganholidays.com/rituals/110-magical-flowers-and-how-to-use-them]
[4] Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe: Vol. II Herbs (2002) - De Cleene, Marcel & Lejeune, Marie Claire
[5] Magical Folkhealing: Herbs, Oils, and Recipes for Health, Healing, and Magic (2018) - Conway, DJ
[6], [7] Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (1985) - Cunningham, Scott
Sources & Further Reading:
A Curious Herbal - Blackwell, Elizabeth
Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folk Magic from Appalachia - Richards, Jake
Bilder ur Nordens Flora - Lindman, C.A.M.
The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Magical Plants: A Practical Guide to Creating Healing, Protection, and Prosperity using Plants, Herbs, and Flowers - Gregg, Susan
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs - Cunningham, Scott
Doctoring the Devil: Notebooks of an Appalachian Conjure Man - Richards, Jake
Elsevier's Dictionary of Plant Lore - Watts, D.C.
Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen - Köhler, Hermann Adolph
Magical Folk Healing - Conway, DJ
the Master Book of Herbalism - Beyerl, Paul
Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom and Magic of 200 Plants - Diaz, Juliet
Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjure with Herbs - Bird, Stephanie Rose
The Treadwell's Book of Plant Magic - Oakley Harrington, Christina
discoholicmusic
yousharknotpass
origamiaround
kaledo-art
janainaart
stormborns
