The mist the dew, the dew the mist The mist, the dew, in the eye of my love In the eye of my love, Thou who didst open the young eye Close it tonight in the sleep of death In the sleep of death – the road to the isles 1927 This series explores our ancestors experience with the dead and folk magic. Veneration of the dead was born from encounters with the Neolithic landscape, dualism of Roman and later Christian thinking and smatterings of Norse fatalism and anglo-saxon pragmatism. All Scottish folk magic stems from this cultural intertwining. The role of the …

It is the familiar spirit of the place; It judges, presides, inspires Everything in its empire; It is perhaps a fairy or a god? (No, in fact it was a cat, ed) – Charles Baudelaire (the flowers of evil, 1857) The call of the desolate, dank and dead. Twilights veil settles thickly on a resting landscape. Nightfall’s gloaming orange light catching the harl, billowing mist unrolling like a generous feather duvet. Vapour peaks and troughs captured by the sinking Valium sunset form a myriad of grotesques as they rise and fall from sight. Unrelenting drizzle frames Scotland in driech endless …

 Introduction I introduced a series of writing exploring the role of the oft neglected dead in Scottish folk magic. If you haven’t read it I suggest you have a wee read. It sets the tone of the rest of the series. Due to the amount of lore and other related bits of information this article is quite dense. A fuller exploration of the subject of funerary customs, death and folklore requires more writing than I feel I’m capable of in a web format. (and maybe more than you’d like to read- It needs chapters). To keep the flow a little …

Dondering around the countryside, sauntering through glen, dirt track, woods and burns. Battling the wind and falling leaves. Passed graveyard and sacred stones. An idea presented itself. To write a series of posts embracing the theme of the season. The dead. There’s a lot of information kicking around already about the dead and their relationship to Scottish folk magic traditions and lore. Some populist and modern, others older or academic. Most of it focussed on the dead as a secondary or tertiary concern to Scottish life. However, there is a different role the dead and the Sidhe/Sith play. A more …

Trying to find a moment’s peace. Well, that’s trick in itself for most of us. Trying to find a time for ourselves, to relax and just be peaceful is a gift for most parents and busy folk these days. But non the less peace is important both at home and globally. There is so much tension in the world these days.  We could all use a little peace & quiet.  A little respite and repose. What better day to celebrate peace, both at hearth and home and across the world than on the International Day of Peace today (21st September) with a cup …

I have recently been reflecting about a conference I spoke at a while ago. A few people were discussing a problem they felt they had in getting to know plants. What is plant communication, the delegates were asking? What does it feel like? I didn’t have any answers for them as a lot of this tends to be subjective and I’m not an expert on this area at all. We discussed expectations and experiences though. What did they mean? What was their understanding of communicating with plants? I said in summary “If you’re a herbalist you are already connecting but …

The ever-changing colours of the seasons and hue of the year is something that’s always fascinated me. When I lived in cities it was something that didn’t seem so clear. I would catch the greening and browning of trees and the spectacular autumn hues of leaves. A sign of the seasons in itself. Anything subtler was lost on me. Now I can’t imagine missing the colours of the wild hedgerows. Summer starts turning them foamy white, as they are saturated with Hawthorn blossom. The subtle shades of the amazing purples of the Highland Heather in bloom. The dark purple of …

There is nothing more ubiquitous as the Blackberry or Bramble. Sméar Dubh or Smearagan in Gaelic, meaning black berry. Dris, druis bramble. The bramble was much valued by the old Highlanders, and where not indigenous was cultivated. The fruit was used for food, the root for dyeing, and an infusion of the leaves was used for medical purposes. Alone, and in combination with the ivy and the rowan, the bramble was placed above the lintel of the byre door to ward away witches and evil spirits. It is spoken of as ‘an druise beannaichte‘–the blessed bramble. It is said that a branch of …

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 …