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Cailleachs Herbarium
Exploring Scottish Folk Practices and Traditions
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The Keg of Butter, or don’t trust anyone at Christmas.
It’s the time of year when we are around family and we celebrate the holidays and the winter moves in. As the winter comes fast and hard we huddle with our nearest and dearest and folk we might not have seen for…
Herbal dry cough tea and cough drop recipe
Cough cough sputter its cough season in our house. Both myself and my better half have caught a wee cough and so it was time to bring out the good old cough cures! In Celtic times it was thought that…
Foraging in December in Scotland’s Lothians
As I get deeper into the woods I hear the cry of a Common Buzzard above me, I think it’s telling me I’m on its turf as it circles me above the trees. I see great tits and chaffinches darting between the evergreens and I rest for a bit in a pine needle covered clearing. I can see the white resin of the Scots pine running down a few of the trunks and have a scratch at it, releasing that fresh pine scent as it sticks to my fingers
Nicneven – A Wild Witch Chase – In search of the Scottish Hecate –
It’s the time of the year when I start thinking about the more witchier side of life and the name Nicneven and Hecate starts to be whispered of. Wrapped in warm blankets, looking out across to Fife and beyond as…
Audio Tales for our times – Lore of the land *all episodes
Recordings of a radio show about the Lore of the land, discussing folk lore and tales of the land in and around the UK, including Scotland.
Rowan Berry “Wine” Recipe, or Diodgriafel.
Ah the majestic and humble Rowan Tree. I have to say this is one of my favourite trees, its flowers in May, and the way its leaves turn fantastic colours of red in autumn. Rowan is best known for its…
Valerian Hot Chocolate
With the Blood Harvest Moon tonight it got me thinking about autumn and Valerian hot chocolate. The leaves start to turn their beautiful shades of red and golden yellows and the mornings start to become crisp, my head and heart…
What is Scottish Witchcraft (or not)? – the role of the wise women
In a earlier post, I discussed the Cailleach and her associated role in Gaelic culture. She represents a power as vast and as wide as the Scottish landscape but a role that is also nurturing and intimately fruitful as the…
The Cailleach – A Tale of Balance Between Darkness and Light (Part Two)
The Cailleach is a very interesting figure in Gaelic even possibly Celtic myth and beyond.The above video represents some of the Cailleach’s folk stories, the first about the priest who tries to count the bones in her house and dies of…
The Cailleach – A Tale of Balance Between Darkness and Light (part one)
As we move into the winter months I can’t think of a more appropriate force and mythological figure to write about. The Callieach is someone very close to me, and a reason why this website is called as it is. Recently I have noticed with interest posts written about her, some accurate some not so much, so I thought I would offer my humble opinion on this fascinating figure.
Lùnastal – the first sorrow (part 2)
This is the Second part of the Lunastal Post. (Part one can be found here).
The Clever Apprentice (or the downfall of a pretentious man)
On my travels through both life, herbalism and academia I have the pleasure of meeting a lot of people, on the whole everyone is delightful, down to earth, filled with wit and mirth, splashes of brilliance and amazing to be around, but there is on occasion, a time when you meet someone who makes such haughty claims to things mundane, that i just can't help to ...
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones – Herbal Bone balm ( for care of bone ornaments)
Our bones that we have on display need as much care as the bones in your body but in a different way. For this is I have created what I’m terming a Bone Balm, and this blog looks at how it is made, the ingredients that are part of it and how to apply the balm for best care.
Folk practitioner tools vs. Witchcraft tools – A discussion on history
We have grown up with this myth that broomsticks, athames, crystals and the like are synonymous with witchcraft. However, this is not really the case in folk magic practices and these tools are, if seldom, mentioned in the trials of folk magic practitioners that we have access to. I hope this post might help in understanding where some of these ideas come from and how, in fact, they might not be as synonymous as people think they are to practicing folk magic in Scotland or for that matter witchcraft.
Spin the wheel and seal your fate – Spinning and weaving in folk magic practice
Island Spinning Song Hullamackadoo, hooravahee Hoorovahinda, hoorovahinda, Hullamackadoo, hooravahee, O dicko-o-deck-o-dandy When will someone come to me? Will he come by land or sea Will he my own lover be? O, tell me truly, wheel. Wheel o’ fate what is’t…
Bealtainn, and May Day Renegades.
On first glance Bealtainn and May Day might not have very much in common. One a celebration and the other a political action but I don’t see them as different at all, sadly just the numbers they attract. Bealtainn: The clarion call to a summer’s promise, the adversity of winter has come to an end and the promise of a warmer, easier and fitful time is upon us. Celebrating this festival is a highlight of the Edinburgh City “night life”, over 6000 people gathered together on Calton Hill.
The Beltuinn Bannock, Bonnach Bealltainn.
Traditionally a Bealltainn/Beltane/Beltuinn bannock (a ‘bannock’ is a whole oatcake, whilst a ‘farl’ is a quarter) is made and eaten on Beltane morning, to ensure the health of your crops and your herds. This involved a simple ritual of sorts where the bannock is separated into nine ‘knobs’, each one dedicated to something they felt preserved their livestock or perhaps the agent of their destruction (usually a wild animal). Facing a fire...
Airmed – herbal working ancestor – an inspiration
The inspiration for this site and what we are attempting to achieve came from a number of ideas that had been ruminating for a long time. One of these stories is about a Airmid from the Tuatha de dannann.