the Winter Ones: Folkloric Figures of Winter, Yule, and Christmas

Yule has many customs and traditions, and those practices differ from region to region. One of my favorite aspects of Yule is the amount of figures associated with the festival – folk figures unique to the regions from which they hail. For many people, if you ask them about figures they associate with the Yule season, you’ll hear Father Christmas, Krampus, and maybe even a nod or two to Hans Trapp, but there are so many more Yule figures out there! In this post, we’ll meet a variety of these folk figures, and we’ll learn a bit about their Yule tales. It’s my hope that readers of this blog may find a new way of incorporating beliefs or customs of their ancestors or of their homelands (for our readers who are members of diasporic populations), and that, in doing so, their winter holidays may be even just a bit brighter for it. Now, shall we dive in? Who to meet first…

Into the Underworld: Psychopomps and Deities of Death

Death. The prospect of death – the word alone – has stirred fear and discomfort amongst the vast majority of people since mankind first came to understand mortality. Death isn’t simply death, but a time when something meets its end, when a light is dimmed, when a door has closed. Death, whether literal or figurative, plays a role in many magical practices and customs, including (though not limited to) divination, spirit work (in its many forms), ritual work, and spell crafting. It is no surprise then that, as death plays so significant a role in magical practice, there are countless folkloric, religious, and mythological deities, spirits, and figures that are associated with (or represent) death, figures that are often also associated with magic in some form or another. This post will explore some of the many deities, spirits, and figures of death, their roles in the crafts of many magical practitioners, and how death deities and figures are incorporated in different practices associated with spirit work.

Folklore, Misc., Spirituality & FaithKeziahDecember 1, 2023pagan gods, deities, death, death deities, psychopomps, spiritwork, spirit work

Connecting with the House Wights: Using Tarot to Connect with Your Household Spirits

Practitioners of cottage magic possess a deep connection to their homes and the land around it. Although some may think of this as a connection to the beams and bricks that make up the house itself, many cottage witches also seek to build a connection with the rich spiritual energies that reside in their homes. For those who acknowledge the spirit realm and seek to walk in step with it, household spirits can be a source of peace and comfort as well as powerful magical allies.

The Spirits of the House: Honoring Your Household's Spirits

When we discuss the link between spirits and witchcraft, we often focus on the practitioner’s connection with spirits of nature or the spirits of the dead. While it is certainly true that we should celebrate our connection to these spiritual forces, there are many other types of spirits that are deserving of our attention. During the autumn months, when the cooler weather entices us into the warmth of our homes, it is also fitting for us to take time to connect with the household spirits that reside with us in our homes.

Into the Unknown: Celebrating Friday the 13th as a Witch

Friday the 13th is a date that has a long history of association with superstitions and fears, but for witches and practitioners of magic, it can be a day filled with enchantment, mystery, and opportunity. Rather than hiding from black cats or broken mirrors, practitioners of magic can embrace the unique energies of this day to enhance their spiritual practices. Let’s talk about a few ways in which you can celebrate Friday the 13th as a magical practitioner and tap into its energy.

A Remembrance Altar: Using Sacred Space to Honor Your Ancestors

As the month of October unfolds and the daylight hours grow shorter, many witches and other practitioners of magic begin to turn their thoughts to honoring their ancestors. One practice that allows us to express this desire to reconnect with our honored dead is the creation of an ancestral altar or shrine. Creating an altar dedicated to honoring one’s ancestors is a magnificent way to connect with your roots, remember loved ones who have passed, and tap into the themes of death and remembrance associated with the autumn season.

Aos Sí: The Otherworld Folk of Celtic Lore

‘Aos sí’ is a term used to encompass a complex and powerful array of figures within Irish pagan theology and Celtic mythology, figures I sometimes refer to as the Otherworld Folk and Otherkin. You’ll hear them more commonly called the Sídhe, fairies/faeries/the fae, the Good Neighbors, the Folk, the Good Folk, daoine sídhe/daoine sìthe. There are no doubt countless terms and names used to mean the aos sí, and just as many theories as to who these figures are, where they come from, and what they do.

Samhain Divination: Divining the Unknown at Samhain

Samhain is one of the four major festivals within the Gaelic calendar, and easily the most widely known of the lot. The festival marks the end of harvest season, the transition into winter, and the beginning of the dark half of the year. Samhain is a time when the walls between our world and the Otherworld – the realm of spirits of all kinds – are down. During this time, it is easier for the Otherworld folk to walk among us, and easier for the living to see and commune with these spirits. For many, this time of year is when the connection to the spirit world feels stronger than otherwise. Because of this Samhain is considered an auspicious time to practice divination.

A Guide to Samhain: Exploring the Customs & Origins of Samhain

Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sah-win) is one of the four major Gaelic holidays, a festival that marks the passing of summer into winter, of the ‘light season’ into the ‘dark season’, and the end of the old year and beginning of the new. Now celebrated or acknowledged by many modern pagans, wiccans, druids, and magical practitioners throughout the world, Samhain’s origins lie in Ireland.

The Nornir: Norse Goddesses of Destiny

The Nornir (Nornir being plural for Norn; sometimes pluralized as the Norns) are female beings of tremendous power who are responsible for crafting and controlling the fates of all living things, as well as managing the delicate workings of time. Even the fates of the gods are in the hands of the Nornir.

An Cailleach: Mother, Goddess, Witch, Crone

An Cailleach – hag, crone, ancestral goddess, mentor, divine mother; all these things and then some, the figure an Cailleach has been venerated (and by many feared) throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man (where she’s known as Caillagh ny Groamagh) for ages and is still worshipped and revered today within those lands and by practitioners of Gaelic paganism all around the world. She is called an Cailleach, which is a title rather than name. The word ‘cailleach’ is found in Irish and Scots Gaelic and means ‘hag’ or ‘old woman’ but can also be translated to mean ‘witch’.

The Otherworld: Spirit Realms of Celtic Lore

The Otherworld is a realm not quite separate from our own, all around us and yet not always accessible or visible to us. It has been interpreted as one expansive world and as having numerous realms and kingdoms within the one Otherworld, and is home to many beings – gods, fairies, and spirits of all sorts, along with some of the most honored and beloved dead.

The Craft of Isobel Gowdie: The Queen of Scottish Witches

Those of you readers familiar with Scottish Folk Magic and Traditional Scottish Cunning Ways, or perhaps with the history of witch trials in Scotland, will likely have come across the name Isobel Gowdie. For those of you who haven’t, allow me the honor to introduce you. Known as ‘the Queen of Scottish Witches’ and ‘the Witch of Auldearn’, Isobel Gowdie was a woman whose confessions of witchcraft have gifted us perhaps greater insight into Scottish folkloric beliefs and the folk magic practices of her time than any other account accessible to us.

A is for ‘Apple’: Mythology & Magical Correspondences of the Apple

Few fruits are as familiar to us as the apple. The many varieties of genus Malus are grown around the world. The species of Malus Domestica (the tree of the common ‘eating apple’) finds its roots in southern Kazakhstan in Central Asia, hailing from the Malus Sieversii, a wild apple tree whose fruits are near identical in appearance to the domestic apple. Thousands of years of cultivation later and the apple is easily one of the most recognizable fruits in the world, appearing in children’s alphabet songs, in some of the most famous works of art mankind has yet produced, and in lore and fairytales throughout the ages.

FolkloreKeziahMarch 25, 2022apple lore, apples in magic, apples in witchcraft, apple mythology

A is for Apple: Thirteen Magical Ways to Use Apples

The almighty apple – so commonplace, yet its uses are endless. It has countless magical correlations and applications around the world. The small, too oft unnoticed apple bears significant religious connotation as well – a fruit that has been historically used in invocational offerings to no less than a dozen deities and has gained symbological infamy. From its use in fertility and romance magic to its association with death and immortality, there seems to be very little the apple cannot do.

Celebrating Yule: A Midwinter Festival

There are many ways to celebrate Yule. Although the Yule celebrations of pre-Christian history lend themselves primarily to modern Heathen observations, the holiday itself has evolved into many different midwinter traditions. These rituals and traditions are observed by witches and Pagans of all traditions and backgrounds, and the many variations of Yule ritual reflect this.

Exploring Yule: A Wintertime Festival

Yule is a well-loved holiday in both the magical and Pagan communities. It is a Germanic Pagan holiday which is still observed by modern Heathens and is also included as a fixture on the Wheel of the Year (a calendar of holidays popularized by practitioners of Wicca and observed by many members of the magical community). Today, Yule is typically celebrated on the Winter Solstice and is viewed either the beginning of or high-point of the winter season (depending on the beliefs of the practitioner).

Holidays & Traditions, FolkloreThomasinDecember 10, 2021yule, yule history, pagan yule, pagan holidays

Animal Spirits in Witchcraft & Magic

Practitioners of magic and witchcraft often forge special relationships with the animal realm, whether the animals they work with are physical beings, spiritual presences, or representations of. Our affinity for animals—in our homes and in nature—can be a big part of our magical and spiritual identities. But how can we utilize that to empower and improve our magical crafts?

Free Printable: Record of Signs & Omens

Our Record of Signs & Omens printable is specifically designed to go beyond merely helping practitioners keep track of omens. Its fields and format are intended to help the practitioner to consider an omen from many different angles (taking into account the regional, cultural and personal significance of a symbol), to learn to distinguish between commonplace encounters and genuine omens, and to keep track of recurring events easily. It is a useful tool for organization as well as for learning.

How I Collect & Use Graveyard Dirt in My Magical Practice

Within this type of traditional magic, true graveyard dirt—that is, soil that is collected from a cemetery—is considered magically significant both because of its connection to the dead and the spirit world, and due to the connection of the cemetery itself to the church. Historically, cemeteries existed in the churchyard, in the space between the church gates and the church itself. Thus, graveyard dirt calls upon the holy forces of the church, as well as the spirits of the people who were accepted by the church and buried within its gates. It can be used for holy purposed, such a protection, banishment and exorcism.