There is a charm for almost everything. Whether it works is sometimes another matter entirely.
A troublesome cow, an aching tooth, a sudden misfortune, a difficult birth, an unwelcome visitor or simply the turning of the year. Scottish folk have no shortage of customs, charms and peculiar ways of setting things right. Some are beautiful, some wonderfully practical, and others are strange enough to leave us scratching our heads.
Beneath these practices we often find something rather remarkable. An understanding of the world built upon relationships between people, plants, animals, spirits, places and the powers moving amongst them. Everyday objects can become instruments of healing or protection, while ordinary actions carry meanings far beyond the task at hand.
Here, I explore Scotland’s folk magic and customary practices, drawing upon historical accounts, oral traditions, archival fragments and the occasional experiment in making things with my own hands.
I am interested in how these traditions work(ed), what people believe they are doing, and what their survival, transformation or disappearance might tell us. Not everything old deserves to be revived, of course, but much deserves to be understood.
Pull up a chair. There are knots to untangle, charms to examine and a good few curious things to discover.
Our homes were round once – a sacred circle. Imagine. A home with no corners. A roundhouse. Folk say the Romans made houses rectangles and introduced the cross-cutting corners of
In Scottish cosmology, sacred waters such as our sea and rivers are more than elements; they are animated by their own spirits and present to us gateways to profound wisdom,
In the mountainous highlands and rugged borderlands of Scotland, the ancient belief in the evil eye, known as the “uncannie eye” or “ill eye” still lingers, casting a shadow over
Fastern’s E’en or Fasterns Een is a festival in Scotland, held on the Tuesday before Lent, otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday. Fastern E’en comes from Scots. Fastern’s E’en is also
Scottish healing wells or stroopie wells hold a deep and long history. Stroopie comes from the Gaelic word tobar-shrùbaidh meaning healing well the last word shrùbaidh sounds like stroopie. We
Dàir na Coile is a fascinating tradition one we have very little written about. Dàir na coille I have come to love though. Its a counterpoint to consumerism – an
Marysmass, Mary’s mass, Féil-Moire (Mary’s day) the Big St Marys Feast or the Assumption day happens on the 15th of August. Personally, I think it’s a great example of the syncretic
There is a strong tradition of taking the waters or drawing the water from a sacred spring or clootie wells at certain times of the year, or for traditional charms
scapulimancy – Slinneanachd – Slinnairachd – divination by shoulder blade in Scottish Folk magic an exploration of the evidence and method.
