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The beauty of that meadow reminded Hannah of the reasons to live in the world, and the reasons to mistrust those who saw wickedness in others, but never in themselves. The natural world was at the heart of her craft; what grew in the woods could harm or heal, and it was her obligation to know the difference. It was part of old Norse tradition, Seidhr, that had been brought to England in the ancient times. This was green magic, visionary in nature, blending the soul of the individual with the soul of the earth.
Holly should be burned to announce the end of winter. Rowan, sacred to witches for protection for making spindles and spinning wheels. Hazel will lead to water. Willow is sacred magic, transporting the soul. Yew signifies life, death, and rebirth, used for bows. Beware: the seeds are poisonous. Ash is sacred and healing, the leaves make a tonic for horses. Apple is the key to magic and is used for medicine, love spells.
Birch, write spells on strips of bark and they will reach their intended. Pine tree sap is a salve for pox and spotted fever. The leaves of the larch tree boiled as an ointment for wounds and cuts. Hemlock will cure swellings and sores.
This cannot harm you on this day. When you walk, you walk away. When you return, all your enemies will burn.
“Remember one thing,” Hannah told Maria. “Always love someone who will love you back.”
Candles. Essential oil. Lavender for calming. Sage to purify. Rosemary for remembrance. Rose for love. Salt, garlic, stones, thread, talismans for fortune, love, luck, and good health. Always meet and depart from inside a circle. Honor the twelve full moons in a year from December until November: Oak, Wolf, Storm, Hare, Seed, Dryad, Mead, Herb, Barley, Harvest, Hunter’s, Snow, and the thirteenth moon, always most special, the Blue Moon. Silver coins, pure water, willow, birch, rowan, oak, string, knots, mirrors, black glass, brass bowls, pure water, blood, ink, pens, paper. Nettle will give
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This was true magic, the making and unmaking of the world with paper and ink.
Do as you will, but harm no one. What you give will be returned to you threefold.
For Love Boil yarrow into a tea, prick the third finger of your hand, add three drops of blood, and give to your beloved. Never cut parsley with a knife if you are in love or bad luck will come your way. Salt tossed on the fire for seven days will bring an errant lover home. Charms for wandering husbands: feather, hair, blood, bone. Prick a candle with a pin. When the flame burns down to the pin, your true love will arrive. To win the favor of Venus in all matters of love gather a white garment, a
dove, a circle, a star, the seventh day, the seventh month, the seven stars.
There are secrets that must be held close, and most of these have to do with the wounding of the human heart, for sorrow spoken aloud is sorrow lived through twice.
For Health Wash your hands with lye soap before treating the ill person. Horehound, boiled into a syrup, for coughs. Tea of wild onions and lobelia to soothe. Beebalm for a restful sleep. Vinegar elixirs stop nosebleeds.
Eat raw garlic every day and a cup of hot water with lemon and honey. For asthma, drink chamomile tea. For chills, gingerroot tea. Licorice root gathered from the riverside for chest pain. Dragon’s blood from tree bark and berries of the Dracaena draco, the red resin tree from Morocco and the Canary Islands that can only be found in one market in London and can cure nearly any wound. A live snail rubbed on burns will help heal the blisters. Feed a cold, starve a fever.
Wrap a red candle on which his name and yours is written on red paper, soak in dove’s blood and burn through the night. Saying the words:
Love conquers all, so it must be. Let him burn with love for me. My lover’s heart will feel this pin, and his devotion I will win. There’ll be no way for him to rest or sleep, until he comes to me to speak. Only when he loves me best, will he find peace and with peace rest.
For Revenge A wax figure cast into fire can cause damage or death. A curse thrown to bind a man to the place where he stood. Nightshade, wolfsbane, foxglove, yew, fire. The bones of a bird baked into a pie of thorns.
Yarrow and black nightshade, wolfsbane with its purple hooded flowers, foxglove that could slow a heart, yew, lords and ladies laden with poisonous berries, all went up aflame, their dark fumes breathed in by the very men cheering on the blaze.
want can be a hundred times stronger than need, and a thousand times stronger than common sense.
There were other spells, not medicinal treatments, but spiritual, ancient enchantments that began with the Hebrew word Abracadabra, I create as I speak, taken from the even earlier Aramaic chant, Avra kadavra, It will be created in my words.
For Love Gone Wrong
Vervain eases the pain of unrequited love. A cobweb on a door means your beloved has been untrue. To bring about passion: anise seed, burdock root, myrtle leaves. Amulets for luck are made of blue beads, dove feathers, mistletoe, wishbones. All spells increase with the waxing moon, decrease with the waning moon. Place two eggs under the bed to cleanse the atmosphere—destroy afterward. Do not eat or you will swallow bad fortune. A mirror beside you reflects back the evil eye. For protection against love: black cloth, red thread, clove, blackthorn.
Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did My heart fly to your service.
For Sea Travel Hyssop tea will rid a man of worms. Basil will preserve fish. Borage can heal abscesses. Ginger and vinegar for sores. Mint for toothache. If the cat on board sleeps in a coil, the weather will be bad. If the sun rises red, there will be rain.
Do not take salt from another person’s hand at the table, or you will both have bad luck. If salt spills, throw a pinch over your left shoulder. Blue thread sewn onto every piece of clothing, for protection.
Curaçao Cures Soursop tea made from a glossy green tree with yellow-green flowers, cures insomnia, infections, and keeps away lice. Mampuritu, a slender weed for tea to cure for nausea and cramps. Kleistubom, a creeping weed with an
extract helpful to ease prickly heat.
Lamoengras for fever. Caraway cures the bites of poisonous scorpions and centipedes. Wandu helps with an easy delivery of a baby, also good for the blood and improves memory and strength. Tawa-tawa, a tea made from the hairy plant found in the grassland, a cure fo...
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You are not mine, I am not yours, you have no power, I walk where I wish, my heart is protected.
Love Potion #9 9 oz. red wine 9 basil leaves 9 rose petals 9 cloves 9 apple seeds 9 anise seeds 9 drops of vinegar
Combine all ingredients on the 9th hour of the 9th day of the month. The effect is strongest when performed on the 9th month of the year. Stir nine times. Let the one who drinks this wine grant me true love divine.
Boston Remedies Honey and milk for worms. Salt and molasses for cuts. Huckleberries boiled for stomachaches. Balm of Gilead buds boiled into a paste for wounds. Dark blue violets as a tincture for mouth sores. Chickweed prevents toothaches. Table salt and vinegar, fermented, for colic.
Castor oil, milk, and sugar for a children’s tonic.
What belonged to you once, will always belong to you. Be grateful if you have walked through the world with another’s heart in your hand.
The water is wide, I cannot get oe’r it And neither have I wings to fly Give me a boat that will carry two And I shall row, my Love and I. Love is handsome and love is fine And love’s a jewel while it is new, But when it’s old, it groweth cold And fades away like morning dew.
There are none who can fight as fiercely as a mother and a daughter, and none who can forgive more completely.
These are the lessons to be learned. Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirit. Feed a cold and starve a fever. Read as many books as you can. Always choose courage. Never watch another woman burn. Know that love is the only answer.
