Little habits and practices
Greet the trees outside your window in the morning, or the ones you pass on your daily commute. They're your neighbours, after all.
Carry a needle and a bit of thread; especially red wool, as it mends the threads of fate.
Pick snails out of the road and lay them back in the grass.
Move the bodies crushed by the road into the grass as well. You wouldn't want your body to dry out on the asphalt instead of returning to the earth, would you?
Consider composting the organic waste from your household. Use the compost to grow herbs for your craft: they grow wonderfully inside a home and don't take much space or maintenance.
Carry a bit of birdseed or barley for the birds you encounter.
Speak to things as you work: tell your bread dough it will be delicious when you knead it, tell the clothes you're making or mending that they will be long-lived and beautiful.
Tell your sorrows to willow trees, your deep desires to oaks, your plans and achievements to spruces and your gossip to birches.
Especially in summer and autumn, carry satchels with you to collect foraged herbs in. Dry them on your windowsill, spread into a thin and even layer, shuffling them every few days until they've dried completely. Store somewhere dry and steep them into teas over the winter.
Save jars to put preserves in, make jar spells, tinctures or blessed water and oils, but keep only as many as you need. Around the the turn of autumn, give the surplus to friends, family or neighbours, or anyone in need.
If you cannot give away a piece of clothing you no longer want, either because it's damaged or because it won't fit anyone you can give it to, take it apart and either reuse the fabric/thread or give that away. But as much as possible, avoid throwing away perfectly good clothes.
And if you must, leave them near the bins in clean bags for the poor and unhoused to take.
Carry nuts and dried fruit on you to attract abundance and keep you nourished, and offer them generously whenever possible. The more you give, the more comes back to you.
Never return a borrowed dish empty.
Eat boiled barley, cream of wheat, polenta and rice pudding especially around midsummer and going into fall, to honour the grains harvest.
Before you eat an apple, twist the stem and recite the alphabet, one letter for each twist. The letter it breaks off on is the initial of a good friend, so give them a blessing. You can also use this if you suspect someone is speaking ill of you, by first asking the apple to reveal who it is.
In winter, leave citrus and apple peels on your hearth or radiator to dry out, then use in spells.
In spring, leave the hair from your brushes for sparrows and pigeons to use in their nests. As they are homely, gentle-natured birds that live in tight-knit flocks or pair for life, this will come back to you in the form of a bountiful home and a steady, loving life and family.
Greet magpies and crows politely as you pass by, particularly if you only encounter one on its own, to ward against bad luck. They aren't wicked, but they are tricksters and very good at magic themselves, and so a show of respect will both guard you from their offense and call on their favour.
Greet also the storks as they come home, protect their nests from anyone who would disturb them, and compliment their hatchlings.
And when you give a compliment, make a spitting motion twice lest the praise turn into a hex.
Love these ideas, however human (and pet) hair can be very dangerous for birds. It can entangle their feet, create moisture issues in the nest and can be toxic due to hair products or flea/tick treatments (same goes for dryer lint, thread, etc). Natural materials like dried moss, lawn clippings, straw, small twigs, etc are much safer.
Ah, thank you for the comment! This is just a superstition where I'm from, but as we know, old wives' tales are often misinformed. I've corrected the original post, thank you again!
Honestly I wish hair wasn't an issue because the sentiment behind the tale sounds lovely~
Also be careful how you pick up snails!
Do not just pull them off the ground and lift them straight up! Try and ease them off and then lift them slowly on a slant!
