The tradition of folk magic is based often on the principle of observation, much has the doctrine of signature is well know in western Herbal Medicine. The folk magician by keen observation and tradition applies the use of naturally occurring objects and signs to provide a way of accessing the unseen (to those without the sight) forces that control our worlds.

the hidden symbolism which transverses both time and place have a deep place in our physic self and perhaps in the realms of all nature. If we take the the subject of danger many plants and animals have colouring that indicates it is dangerous to consume.

like wise plants often tell us there usefulness by their shape and form, Is this the hand of god bearing in mind we have in relatively recently being able to perceive and these plants date back into the mists of time.

Therefore perhaps these hidden symbols speak of a language that exists outside human form a common language of nature which humans are slowly recognising and the animal world and others have know since our ancestors sheltered in the caves.

It is perhaps the ritual specialists that inhabit these in between worlds that developed a communication that began to understand this hidden vocabulary, creating the earliest ritual and healing methods.

Back to our subject what turns a plant into a talisman or a stick into a wand?
It is both an observation of its shape size colour texture smell and the unexplained feeling you have when you hold it. what associations do you get that jump into your mind. It maybe the conditions under which you found it was you thinking about a problem and this caught you eye.

Did a bird or a insect take you to a object, remember the inhabitants of  fairy realms often take animal or insect form when in the view of humans. Or did it fall into your hands or drop on your head.

Anything can and to some degree has magical properties in nature, it is just a matter of unravelling its meaning we can use books, google or more effectively our intuition without doubting our own abilities remembering keen observation is the key to understanding.

Hi this is a recent interview I gave on a visit to Scotland it is quite long but starts to get interesting about 30 mins in.
I was interview by Thomas Clough Daffern who is a lovely man and a great mind with a passion for learning and for peace he is a prolific writer on a wide range of subjects and i enjoyed my visit to his institute and home.


http://youtu.be/1PtT3-Ql218

Hi All being some time since I last posted have had an eventful time of change and meeting new and old friends.
Last couple of months I have been catching up with people and setting time aside to work on new and old projects both in terms of writing and teaching which is bringing me back to my own practices.
I have found that it is in the role of teacher that I learn the most about my crafts and about myself, it is always been my belief that those who teach are there to guide others in their understanding and practice not to create a dogma or rule set.
It is in this process of guiding the student that we learn about their needs and strengths and how best we can support them by encouragement and praise. In this process we reawaken our own minds and spirits to the adventure of learning and discover afresh that which through time and familiarity we perhaps have forgotten.
I have two important principles set in mist for people i teach/guide
1. We must unlearn all we have being taught.
2. Those we guide are our teachers.

A little bit of info for people for next weekend , I wrote this many years ago for one of my groups so please forgive the grammar. My plan is to post something on each of the seasonal festival this year.

Candlemas / Imbolc
Candlemas is celebrated on the 2nd or 4th February and is often called Imbolc which is taken to mean “in the belly“ and is associated with the goddess Brighid who represents the maiden of Spring; the Crone transforming into the Maiden of the flowers; the Mistress of the Hunt. Another name more used these days in pagan circles is Oimelc meaning ewe's milk, since by the beginning of February, the lambing season would normally have just started, something that has changed with our milder climate and modern farming methods.

This festival was called St Brighid’s Day / Imbolc is associated with the beginning of spring. The first flowers will often appear at this time; snowdrops for example. It was also thought that serpents would now awake from a winter slumber to creep out of the earth. This symbolistic tradition relates well to my brand of craft which uses serpentine dragons to represent the plant and animal aspect of life force.
Although this is spring in winters clothes the snow often still blanketing the land but shoot and bud show themselves awaiting the melting tears of the goddess sleeping eyes as her consort grows stronger in the sky.

Brighid is the goddess of poetry, magic and smithery and the smith would often be particularly busy with the winter thaw setting in, ploughs would be mended and swords and spears made ready for travelling and any battles with other tribes that the thaw and therefore greater freedom of movement may bring. Bards would be given specially consecrated bells at Imbolg to attach to their walking staffs in Brighid’s honor. Their courtly love songs are thought to represent the devotions of the bards to the goddess in her Brighid form. To symbolise the awakening of spring, the goddess was often personified in the form of a corn dolly or cross that would sometimes be made from corn or rushes taken at the last harvest.

These were at times placed in a bed of earth or straw that was called Bride’s bed, and in some areas a phallic symbol would be laid in the bed to encourage a fertile year and would take on a divinatory aspect depending on any movement of the objects in the night.
This is Brighid in her aspect of the Goddess as patron of the hearth and home; an aspect that was particularly strong in Scotland.
In Scotland she is also seen as the one who ousts the Cailleach Bheur who takes the form of a blue-faced hag representing the winter period, who loses her power at the appearance of Brighid, sometimes this was seen has the return of the intrapped spring goddess set free fromm her winter prison in the mountains

. Brighid is sometimes equated with the goddess Brigantes, since she is also associated with water and pastoral activities. Brgantia was the area which covered much of northen englands during the celticperiod and was named after their goddess later to develop into Britainia. The far flung nature of celtic relations is perhaps reflected in the fact that she was also worshipped by celts in portugal (‘Braganca)and in Austria (Bregenz)

Brighid was later assimilated into the cult of St Brigit, who was a historical figure who founded the first nunnery in Ireland in the sixth century in Kildare it was know by the name Chapel of the Oak grove. This very druidic name suggest along with the sacred flame a marriage between the old celtic and the new religion which was coommon at this early stage of christianityThis community is said to have had a perpetual fire which is believed to have remained until the Reformation. In a folk story she is said to have led the troops of Herod away from the infant Jesus by wearing a crown of candles. A praise of Brigit can be found in the Carmina Gadelica:

Womanhood of Brigit or Praises of Brigit
Brigit daughter of Dugall the Brown
Son of Aodh son of Art son of Conn
Son of Criara son of Caribre son of Cas
Son of Cormac son of Cartach son of Conn

Brigit of the mantles,
Brigit of the peat-heap,
Brigit of the twining hair,
Brigit of the augury.

Brigit of the white feet,
Brigit of calmness,
Brigit of the white palms,
Brigit of the kine.

Brigit, woman-comrade,
Brigit of the peat-heap,
Brigit, woman-helper,
Brigit, woman mild.

Brigit, own tress of Mary,
Brigit, Nurse of Christ -
Each day and each night
That I say the Descent of Brigit,

I shall not be slain,
I shall not be wounded,
I shall not be put in cell,
I shall not be gashed,
I shall not be torn in sunder,
I shall not be despoiled,
I shall not be down-trodden,
I shall not be made naked,
I shall not be rent,
Nor will Christ
Leave me forgotten

Nor sun shall burn me,
Nor fire shall burn me.
Nor beam shall burn me,
Nor moon shall burn me.

Nor river shall drown me,
Nor brine shall drown me,
Nor flood shall drown me,
Nor water shall drown me.

Nightmare shall not lie on me,
Black-sleep shall not lie on me,
Spell-sleep shall not lie on me,
Luaths-luis shall not lie on me.

I am under the keeping
Of my Saint Mary;
My companion beloved
Is Brigit..

Thus were the many facets of this important saint and goddess combined in common folklore in Scotland. It is interesting that the early church should have allowed the candle-burning that was considered an important part of this festival to continue in the saint’s day ritual. Candlemas the festival of light was traditionally celebrated by the lighting of torches and fires; sometimes kindled with the Yule Log. It is also a festival of purification and the Yule decorations were taken down and discarded or burn as part of this festival.
candlemas had its own symbols the burning candle sometimes worn has crowns even today in some european countries and the talismans of Brides cross often made from straw these been made from the previous harvest in some areas they would take the form of the ancient swastika symbolising the turning of the agricultural seasonal festival rather then the solar festivals. Ribbons were sometimes worn after being left out on candlemas night to receive the goddess/saints blessing.