folk charms

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 folklore and daily life. For centuries, Scottish folk have whispered of the malicious power carried by envious glances, capable of withering crops, souring milk, or striking down livestock. Rooted in both Gaelic and non-Gaelic traditions, the evil eye, air-an-cronachadh has been blamed for misfortune, illness, and mysterious deaths, making it a central theme in Scottish folk magic. From rowan charms to self-deprecating blessings, generations have crafted rituals and protections to ward off…

I have discussed the Frith – Gaelic divination charm practice before but omitted the augury signs which i have included below. Scottish folks had many ways of finding things outside of the second sight. One of these techniques is called the Frith. Frith translates in gaelic “to find”. Macaplpine describes it as “an incantation to find whether people at a great distance or at sea be in life.” The place the objects we see in the person casting the “vision” let us know the outcome or fate of the one we seek. The Frith is religious in character and is…

The weave, the weft and wool are part of our Scottish Heritage. It’s no wonder the use of wool made it into our folk magic heritage. The use of using three knots on a thread for the purpose against the evil eye was called a Snaim – the Three Knot Charm. (Compare Snaim with the words snaidhm, a knot, also meaning a marriage and snaidhm ne péiste which literally translate as knot of the worm and also a knotted charm for curing folks and cattle). These were used by folk practitioners and country folk to cure all manner of ills. Often…

Well, the first Scottish Radical Herbal Gathering is almost upon us and I’m very excited to be delivering a talk with them this year on scottish folk magic with a free chapbook provided. The programme for the weekend looks amazing and I look forward to hearing the contributions from others talking with anticipation. For me, it will be the first time I have talked at length about the subject of scottish folk magic and herbalism so I’m excited and perhaps a little nervous about it in equal measure. (Que the chamomile tea and kava perhaps!) As part of the presentation…

Those following along on  social media will know I have been discussing divination for a while and researching the below bit of Audio exploring authentic Scottish Prayers or charms to use as part of my divination practices. I happened across the below recording from 1950’s of a spoken charm from Uist for the Frith (I think). The Frith was undertaken on quarter days and this charm refers to that process at least I think it might do. There are many forms of divination used in Scotland and the Hag of the hills website has some great information about the different forms…