Trees 101: Rowan

The rowan is a tree of many mundane and magickal uses most of which revolve around its berries. Songbirds are attracted to them, thus giving the rowan a distinct association with music, poetry and the goddess Brigid. The berries are also used for incenses and spellwork as well as in a medicinal capacity. Rowan berry tea is used to treat intestinal disorders and being high in vitamin C, rowan is also used to fight respiratory ailments. The berries are used in jams, jellies and even wine and in ancient times were believed to grant those who consumed them a very long life.

In 15th and 16th century England, rowan berries were avoided by midwives and herbalists because to be caught with them was certain to get you branded a witch. Ever take a good look at a rowan berry? They have what appears to be a pentagram at their base, thus the belief that anyone who had them in their possession was surely practicing the dark arts.

Wear a sprig of protective rowan and faeries won't be able to kidnap you, despite the belief that the rowan tree originated in the faery realm. Planting a rowan near your front door will protect your home from evil spirits and lightning strikes. Rowan is one of the nine sacred woods of the sabbat fire and represents life.

The versatile rowan tree is excellent for protection rituals, safe astral travel, divination spells (its sticks were traditionally used to make runes) and to enhance psychic abilities, as well as in powerful healing spells. It vibrates with a feminine energy and to the elements of both earth and fire. It's ruled by the planets Saturn and Uranus, as well as the Moon and Sun.

Kitchen Witch

The kitchen is the place where we make simple, common magick every single day and while we are in there working, why not make sure both ourselves and our homes are protected?

Grow an aloe plant in the kitchen for protection from negative energy and accidents while cooking. Placing it in a sunny window is best, but if you can't keep one in your kitchen, having one somewhere else in the home is almost as good. Onions, garlic and peppers are also known for their protective properties. Hang a rope of any one of them in your kitchen to keep you and your family safe. If a whole string of them is too much for you, a single onion or a bulb of garlic placed on the windowsill will ward off negative, harmful energy. If you are using these as a protective measure, be sure to never use them to cook with. You don't want to ingest any of the negative energy they've been absorbing!

It's considered very bad luck to ever run out of salt in your kitchen and home. It's long been thought that to do so means certain bad luck, bad health or even worse, so be sure to keep an extra container of salt at the back of your cupboard that you never open or use and this will never be an issue for you.

Make yourself a Kitchen Witch Bottle. Take a clean bottle and place within it three needles, three pins and three nails. Fill the jar with salt and a pinch of dried rosemary, shake it nine times and drip red candle wax over the jar lid to seal it. You can say a brief protection incantation and make the sign of the pentagram over it if you'd like before you place it in the dark at the back of a cabinet where it won't be seen.

Stay safe while making your house a healthy, well-fed and happy home!

Photo courtesy of The Titus on flickr.

Trees 101: The Apple/Crabapple

Apples are an ancient fruit and have long been used in magick. The apple, as everyone knows, was represented in the story of Adam and Eve and is also associated with the Great Mother Goddess. In the folk tales of many cultures, eating an apple opened the gateway to another realm for the lucky person consuming the fruit. Apples symbolize illumination and knowledge and apple wood is believed to make a very powerful wand.

Apple is one of the nine sacred woods of the sabbat fire in which it symbolizes love. Apples are a common ingredient in Pagan ritual and spellwork. Slice an apple in half across its middle and what will you find? The seeds laid out in the shape of the pentagram. Apples are given as offerings to the dead at Samhain to aid them in the process of rebirth. And the game of bobbing for apples at Halloween was first played in ancient times: if you were lucky enough to win, it meant that you would be blessed by the Goddess for a full year.

Apples bring prosperity and the good life and are believed to be good for the digestion.

The apple tree is ruled by Venus and the goddess and its energy is feminine. Apple vibrates to the elements of both air and water. Besides being used for prosperity and a healthy tummy, apples can be used to attract a lover, to cross over into the faery realm and to foster strength and protection.

A Pentagram Rant

I have a real problem with the pentagram being given such a bad rap by so many people, especially when the beliefs they hold (and spread) about this symbol are misguided, wrong and frequently detrimental.

I enjoy watching a paranormal TV show that shall remain nameless, and while I find most of the show to be interesting and thought-provoking, I find that several of the cast members who are devout Christians of a specific faith regularly reference the pentagram as a symbol of devil worship, demon possession and something to be feared. And this really bothers me as it propagates the notion that those of us out of the 'broom closet' as it were, and openly wearing one at our throats, are evil, perhaps even satanic, and blatantly advertising it for all the world to see. It only serves to make our pagan lives more difficult than they already are when we are forced to defend or explain our beliefs to those who automatically assume we practice the Black Arts simply because of a small star enclosed in a circle.

The pentagram is a symbol of spirituality, with four of the points representing the four elements of earth, air, fire and water and the fifth representing the Spirit of the Divine. It has actually been in use since at least 3000 BC, where in Babylonia the five directions were astrological and represented the planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn and the fifth point, Venus, as the Goddess of Heaven. In Taoism the pentagram represents the five Chinese elements of earth, wood, water, fire and metal. Early Christians at one time used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Christ (the Mormons still use the symbol in much of their architecture) and it was even the symbol of the city of Jerusalem for a time.

But somehow, somewhere, probably in the 19th c when the occult and all its frightfulness and intrigue took hold of so much of the population, it became something to fear, something unsettling. And while there are some Satanists who use it reversed with the three points facing down to symbolize a rejection of the Holy Trinity, the majority of people who use a pentagram use it to honor Spirit and all that Spirit encompasses in this beautiful natural world. And while it can be symbolic of that which is magickal, as we use it so much in circle, from calling the quarters to decorating our altars, it shouldn't automatically be assumed that the magick it's used for is black and dangerous.

Close-mindedness and ignorance are never a good thing, and when coupled with religious intolerance, they are a very dangerous thing. I try very hard to remain gentle when questioned by curious or concerned strangers about my belief system, even when I feel threatened by their fear and anger. By being kind, even in the face of hostility and derision, perhaps I can teach the truth to a few people who hopefully might in turn enlighten others if the subject of the pentagram and devil worship ever arises again in their lives. In the meantime in my own life, I'll continue to be annoyed by people who should know better (read: people of any faith who are by profession paranormal researchers). Stop spreading hatred and fear. Please.