Using Botanicals to Dye Magical Textiles

{I had originally posted this over at the Unfettered Wood blog, but I figured some of the nefaeria readers might enjoy it too.} 

A few days ago I did some natural dyeing, so I thought that I would share a wee bit about that in case other folks would be inspired to give it a go. Please keep in mind that there are different ways that one can dye textiles with botanicals, this is just they way that I have been comfortable with.

There are a few things that all methods have in common:

1. Extracting colour
2. Fixing colour
3. Transferring colour

I would highly recommend people going through the resources that I will put at the end of this post to get more ideas to see what works for them.

The whole purpose of me doing this was to infuse the magical properties of the plants into the textiles, as well as obviously leave some colour on them as well.

  

For this batch the actual magical properties of the plants were of more importance to me than the colour. I wanted something that could be a good general purpose textile and wasn't quite sure how the colours would turn out. In one of the extra resources at the bottom of this post, there is a list of different plants and the colours they give off.

For fresh ingredients this is not necessary, but berries apparently benefit having a soaking in vinegar before simmering. This is a good time to do a blessing over the plant materials should you wish to, or to "charge" them with intent.

Using cold water is best to add for the vinegar, and after simmering giving the fabric a good rinse in cold water {water it runs clear} is needed. Other methods call for the fabric to be wet before putting it in with the dye wash, so this takes care of both the fixative and that step. Other fixatives are sometimes added to the actual dye wash or used to treat the textile afterwards. Learn more about fixative in the resources below.

Other methods call for a lower simmering time, depending on the materials being used. Sometimes fixatives, such as salt are added at this stage.

This is probably not a must, but it will make stage six a whole lot easier. As you will see in the follow photos, I did not strain all of the plant material out; some of it stuck to the fabric, which I just shook off outdoors once I was finished drying them out. I put the strained off bits into the compost.

The textile I used was a natural coloured cotton linen and I left it in the dye wash for a couple of hours. I shifted it around every once and a while with a pair of tongs. If handling, it is best to used a pair of rubber gloves so you don't dye your hands!

Before removing from the dye bath, carefully squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can. To get the concentrated veins of colours, I left my fabric bunched in a pile on a dish drying rack {made black rubber, no risk of it staining!} over night. Then I dried out flat on our clothesline.



Extra resources:

Using Natural Plant Dyes by Kate Aimson {from White Dragon Magazine}
Natural Dyes: Their History and How to Make Them by Varenya
Making Natural Dyes from Plantsfrom Pioneer Thinking {has a great list of plants and the colours they give off}

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a comparison of my linen before dyeing {top} and after dyeing {bottom}

It was exciting to see what the finished product would be and I am quite fond of the yellows, rusts and browns that came out in the linen. I will be using some of it in an upcoming project that I will post about later, as well as using some for charm bags and pouches.

For those who don't want to make your own, but would like some magical textiles, I will be listing some of this batch in the Unfettered Wood shop and I am happy to take custom orders.

Sláinte!

Laurel

The Healing

I thought that this was a neat little witchy film. :)

Irish Charms & Spells

{This is an post for the Pagan Blog Project}

Below are a few traditional Irish spells and charms; the first two I have changed to suit my personal situation, the last one is in its original form. All of these charms and spells are from Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Francesca Speranza Wilde.

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To Attract Bees

{photo by Umberto Salvagnin}

Gather on Midsummer {the original calls for this on Bealtaine/May Day, so the change I made is due to the climate that I am in}:

foxglove
raspberry leaves
wild marjoram
mint
chamomile
valerian

Mix them in butter that is also made on Midsummer {original calls for Bealtaine/May Day}. Boil them altogether with honey. Rub the mixture on a small clay pot and place in the bottom of a bee box and the bees will soon come.

*********

Against Enemies

{royalty free photo}

The three things are of my evil adversary:

An evil gaze;

An evil tongue;

An evil mind.

The three things are of my Gods:

The merciful word;

The singing word;

And the good word.

May the power of these three sacred things be on all of those that I hold dear.

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A Charm for Safety

{photo by Dan Zen}

Pluck ten blades of yarrow, keep nine, and cast the tenth away for tithe to the spirits. Put the nine in your stocking, under the heel of the right foot, when going a journey, and evil will have no power over you.

*********

Sláinte!

Laurel

With the Stirrings of Spring Comes Mirth & Work

Happy Spring to you in the North & Happy Autumn to you in the South! :D

We got hit by a real warm spell last week and the snow is all gone. It seemed like just over night all of feathered friends were back and our green friends in the garden were starting to wake up.

{sweet woodruff, unidentified fern, lemon balm and comfrey}

In mid-March I started the first of our seeds including two different types of poppies, balloon flowers, white and blue and double pink columbines, scotch thistle, datura, swamp rose mallow, pink and double hollyhocks, and sweet williams.

All of the them {save the columbines} started germinating ahead of schedule. I will be starting another batch at the end of March and another in the beginning of April. I haven't quite figured out where they are all going to go as all of the prime window sill real estate is almost gone.

{"light purple" datura}

The inevitable Spring cleaning has been going on around here too. We have started to tidy up the yard and get it ready for the new beds to be dug out. The house has not escaped The Great Cleansing either.

During the waning of the Moon I made another batch of a "clearing wash". I am pretty sure that I shared the recipe here before, but I can't seem to find it. So, I will post it again for those who might want to give it a whirl.

{Herbs steeping in water}

This recipe calls for a tablespoon of each:

Sweet Woodruff
Rowan berries
Birch bark {please only harvest from fallen trees or naturally shed bark!}
Juniper berries
Cedar
Lemon Balm
Peppermint
Sweetfern
Thyme
Dandelion root
Witch Hazel
St. John's Wort
Sage

Boil 3 cups of water and pour over ingredients in a glass mason jar. Let it steep for 3 hours. Drain liquid through cheesecloth {I dispose of the plant material in the compost once I am done with it}. Put tea mixture in with cider or white vinegar into a clean glass jar that has a non-metal lid. Keep in a refrigerator {should last to 3 months with no issues}. To use mix with 3 parts water in a spray bottle or mop bucket.

*********

Recently I have added some new contented over at the Unfettered Wood blog that may be of interest to some of you:

Wonderful Maple Syrup: Some Lore & Customs

&

Poetic Weather Forecasting

I am also currently working on some other posts for that blog including one on traditional charms to ward off nightmares and on lunar and astrological gardening.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Luverly of the Week: Alraun by Matthew Venus

{Alraun by Matthew Venus}

While definitely meant for use, this alraun is truly a work of art!


This beauty can be found at the Etsy shop of Spiritus Arcanum. There you can also find many other magical wares as well.

Sláinte!

Laurel

this is my kind of sunday sermon

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Happy Lughnasadh & Lammas!

{royalty free photo}

On Tuesday of the feast at the rise of the sun,
And the back of the bountiful fruits to the east,
I will go forth with my basket under my arm,
And I will pluck up the fruit.
While the harvested fruit is in my grasp,
I will raise mine eye upwards,
I will turn me on my heel quickly,
Rightway as travels the sun
From the airt of the east to the west,
From the airt of the north with motion calm
To the very core of the airt of the south.
I will give thanks to the Hosts of grace
For the growing crops of the ground,
They will give food to ourselves and to the Tribe
According as They disposeth to us.
Macha, Airmid, Flidais and Bride,
Gods, Ancestors, and Nature Spirits kind.
~ {Laurel's} adaptation of a Reaping Blessing from Carmina Gadelica

May you all enjoy the bounty of the season!

Sláinte!

Aymi & Laurel

Luverly of the Week: March 2011 "Super Moon" by Sigurd R

Photo by Sigurd R

Consecrating Seed

Royalty free photo

Last night I dusted off my little book that I write my gardening rituals and the like in to yank out this simple adaptation that I made a few years back of The Consecration of the Seed found in Carmina Gadelica Vol. 1.

Traditionally "three days before being sown the seed is sprinkled with clear cold water, in the name of Father, and of Son, and of Spirit, the person sprinkling the seed walking sunwise the while."

So on the Tuesday before I plant seeds outside on Friday, I will do a little ritual like this. I will lay all my packages of seeds that will be planted at that time, and take one of each type of seed out as a "representative" and sprinkle spring water on them. {If I have any seedlings that will be going out at this time, I will add them to the ritual too.} Instead of doing this in the name of the Christian Trinity, I do it in the name of my Gods, Ancestors, and local Land Spirits.
I should mention that this is a ritual that was probably carried out mostly on cereal crops. I do this with all seeds that are being planted directly in the ground, so this is a ritual I generally do 3 times: the first time around the beginning of April, the second around the end of May, and the third time around mid August.

On the Friday before planting the seed, I will say the following incantation:

I will go out to sow the seed,
In names of Them who gave it growth;
I will place my front in the wind,
And spread a gracious amount on the ground.
Should a seed fall on a bare rock,
It shall have no soil in which to grow;
As much as falls into the earth,
The dew will make it to be full.
Friday, day auspicious,
The dew will come down to welcome
Every seed that lay in sleep
Since the coming of cold without mercy;
Every seed will take root in the earth,
As the Rulers of the elements desired,
The braird will come forth with the dew,
It will inhale life from the soft wind.

I will come round with my step,
I will go rightways with the sun,
In name of the Gods that are mine,
In name of the Ancestors and the Nature Spirits kind.

Gods, Ancestors, and Nature Spirits
Be giving growth and kindly substance
To every thing that is in my ground,
Till the days of harvest shall come.

You can see the full original Consecration of the Seed here.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Welcoming the New Moon

Photo by MShades

Hail unto thee,
Jewel of the night !

Beauty of the heavens,
Jewel of the night !

Mother of the stars.
Jewel of the night !

Fosterling of the sun,
Jewel of the night !

Majesty of the stars.
Jewel of the night !

~Queen of the Night from Carmina Gadelica

The 2011 Daydream List {Growing Edition}

photo by Jacki Dougan

I have been spending way too much time daydreaming about various gardening and homestead projects {another post to come} and about what I want to grow this year. Thank the gods that it is not too long before I can start putting them into action! :D
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you will probably notice that there are varieties on here that I have grown in previous years. I love my "olde faithfuls" and they are staying. That said, I do want to challenge myself a bit this year and try growing somethings that I have avoided in the past {such as melons!} because I was scared that they wouldn't make it. I am still scared that they might croak, but I might as well give it a shot. ;)
I also want to expand the "witchy" plants that I grow and some of them present their own challenges too.
So, here she is {not listed, the gaggle of perennials already in the ground that have been listed previously}...
Fruit & Veggies:
Beans {Bush}
Contender, Black Valentine, Orca, Jacob's Cattle, Black Turtle, Ireland Creek Annie
Beans {Pole}
Tender Green, Northeaster, Kentucky Wonder, Purple Mustache, Scarlet Runner, Blue Lake
Beets
Detroit Golden, Kissing Booth, Kissing Booth Tokens, Early Wonder, Chioggia
Cabbage
Experimental Deer, Storybook Peacock, Red Acre
Carrots
Scarlet Nantes, Bicycling {white, red & yellow}, Cosmic Purple, Atomic Red
Chard
Fordhook Giant, Ruby Red, Rainbow
Corn
Hopi Blue & Golden Bantam
Cucumbers
Marketmore & Lemon
Greens
Arugula, Deer Tongue Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Royal Oakleaf Lettuce, Freckles Lettuce, Buttercrunch Lettuce, Flame Lettuce, Garden Cress, Early Mizuna, Giant Red Mustard
Kale
Dinosaur & Red Russian
Melon
Noire des Carmes Cantalope & Moon and Stars Watermelon
Onions
Evergreen Bunching, Red Baron, Rossa di Milano
Parsnips
Hollow Crown
Peas
Laxton's Progress, Peas for Peace, Norli, Golden Sweet
Peppers
Lipstick Sweet, Hungarian Black, Little Bells, Joe E. Parker
Potatoes
Gold Rush, Chieftan Red, Irish Cobbler, Russet Burbank
Pumpkins
Small Sugar, Jarradale, Knuckle Head
Radish
French Breakfast, German Giant, Cherry Belle, Crop Circle, Black Spanish
Raspberries
Boyn Summer Bearing
Spinach
Bloomsdale Longstanding & Samish
Squash {Summer}
Yellow Pattypan & Black Beauty
Squash {Winter}
Uchiki Kuri, Strange Squash from Outer Space, Table Queen Acorn, Waltham Butternut
Strawberries
Wild & Alpine
Tomatoes
Yellow Pear, Black Krim, Costoluto Genovese, Eva Purple Ball, Green Zebra, Principe Borghese and Old German
Turnip
Hobo & White Egg
Flowers & Herbs {and other plants!}:
Culinary
Nasturtiums {Dwarf Jewel & Black Velvet}, Dill, Basil {Purple Dark Opal, Genovese, Cinnamon, Lemon}, Cilantro, Stinging Nettle, Oregano, Mint {Chocolate, Pineapple, Ginger}, Lavender {Munstead & Hidcote}, Tarragon
Magical/Medicinal
Wild Rose, Mullein, Wild Tobacco, Sweetpeas {Cupani & Gradiflora}, Forget-Me-Nots, Black Hollyhock, Bittersweet Nightshade, Foxglove, Lily-of-the-Valley, Milkweed, Snapdragons {Black Prince}, Cornflower {Black Gem & Jubilee Gem}, Borage, Meadowsweet, Elecampane, Cowslip, Sweet Willam, Flax, Monkshood, Thistle, Irish Moss, Evening Primrose, Agrimony, Moneywort, Eyebright, Datura, Maiden Hair Fern, Yarrow, Vervain, Moonflower, Sweetgrass, Larkspur, Butterfly Weed
Ornamental/Other Use
Cosmos {Seashell & Mona Spangler}, Sunflowers {Evening Sun, Henri Wilde, Teddybear, Russian Mammoth}, Chinese Lanterns, Cup and Saucer Vine, Morning Glories, Poppies {Pizzicato, Ladybird, Black Peony}, Coleus, Southern Ground Cedar, Orstrich Fern, Common Polypoddy, Northern Beech Fern, Blue Bead Lily, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Northern Blue Violet, Trout Lily, Wintergreen, Amaranth {Red Garnet}, Multicoloured Broom Corn
What are you all planning/hoping to grow this year?
Sláinte!
Laurel

Half Way 'Til Spring

I was hoping to do a post on the lore behind Imbolc, but I guess that will have to wait til next year. Instead I have been really busy the last little while painting, cleaning the house, and do all sorts of other things in preparation for and in celebration of Imbolc.

While across the pond the first stirrings of Spring must be happening by now, we are only half way through the deep freeze of our Northern Ontario Winter.But according to a few groundhogs, including Shubenacadie Sam and Wiarton Willie, it might just come early this year. If you ask me, it can't come soon enough!

I painted my kitchen, which was a pain in the arse, but the new colour is luverly, methinks.

I also cleaned the house from to to bottom. I made a "spiritual cleaning tea" with a mix of plant pretties that have excellent magical cleaning and protective properties. Below is the recipe:

Sweet woodruff, rowan berries, birch bark {fallen!}, juniper berries, cedar, lemon balm, peppermint, sweetfern, thyme, dandelion root, witch hazel, st john's wort, and sage. Boil water and pour over ingredients in a glass jar. Let it steep for a few hours. Drain liquid through cheese cloth {and I put the plant stuff in the compost after}. Mix tea in with cider vinegar and keep in a clean jar. It can be refrigerated for about 3 months no problem. To use mix with 3 parts water in a spray bottle.

On the eve of Imbolc I got our altar set up and ready for our ritual the next day. Before going to bed I left some colcannon and whiskey outside as an offering and a piece of ribbon in for Brigid to bless.

I got up in the hours before dawn {best cure for too much whiskey the night before: strong coffee and a cold shower!} to get everything else ready for the day. I baked bairín breac to be used as offerings with a little left over for us to nom. I also scored some local homemade Amish butter for the same purpose, and of course the obligatory whiskey and honey too.

I have been promising a couple of our blog readers for some altar peektures for a while now, and looky, I am finally living up to that promise. ;)

{Deities' altar}

{Brigid's altar, which is temporary} {Ancestral altar}

I did the house blessing ritual that I usually do on the cross quarter days and I also made a new rowan and red thread charm. This one is just a very simple one of bunched leaves and berries and I hung it over the house door way.

Oh, I suppose I should mention that this bunch was found on the ground by a tree that is in one of the places I frequent for wildcrafting. It is traditionally bad form {and bad luck!} to cut a rowan outside of the "two days of Bealtaine", which I am in agreement with Seren of Tairis who thinks that this is between the new date of Bealtaine {May 1st} and the old {probably May 5th}. As she points out as well, there seems to be no lore against picking the berries outside of this time.

Sláinte!

Laurel

You Can Count on the Poets

Photo by Liam Quin

Finding lore on appropriate practice can sometimes be difficult for Reconstructionist Pagans and Traditional Witches alike. That’s why I squeal like a school girl when I stumble upon the right books.

I recently bought a yummy, yummy book from one of our local thrift shops {perhaps the last pockets where one can find something of value for next to nothing, without breaking the law!} called 1000 Years of Irish Poetry edited by Kathleen Hoagland.

It is a pretty thick book and I have already spent hours getting sucked into it. I love a lot of the poetry in it, but the two following pretties are good examples of why I was extra giddy to find this book:

Song of the Forest Trees

O man that for Fergus of the feasts dost kindle fir,
Whether afloat or ashore burn not the king of woods.

Monarch of Innisfail’s forests the woodbine is, whom none may hold captive;
No feeble sovereign’s effort is it to hug all tough trees in his embrace.

The pliant woodbine if thou burn, wailings for misfortune will abound,
Dire extremity at weapons’ points or drowning in great waves will follow.

Burn not the precious apple-tree of spreading and lowsweeping bough;
Tree ever decked in bloom of white, against whose fair head all men put forth the hand.

The surly blackthorn is a wanderer, a wood that the artificer burns not;
Throughout his body, though it be scanty, birds in their flocks warble.

The noble willow burn not, a tree sacred to poems;
Within his bloom bees are a-sucking, all love the little cage.

The graceful tree with the berries, the wizard’s tree, the rowan, burn;
But spare the limber tree; burn not the slender hazel.

Dark is the colour of the ash; timber that makes the wheels to go;
Rods he furnishes for horsemen’s hands, his form turns battle into flight.

Tenterhook among woods the spiteful briar is, burn him that is so keen and green;
He cuts, he flays the foot, him that would advance forcibly drags backward.

Fiercest heat-giver of all the timber is green oak, from him none may escape unhurt;
By partiality for him the head is set of aching, and by his acrid embers the eye is made sore.

Alder, very battle-witch of all woods, tree that is hottest in the fight---
Undoubtedly burn at thy discretion both the alder and the white-thorn {hawthorn}.

Holly, burn it green; holly burn it dry;
Of all trees whatsoever the critically best is holly.

Elder that hath tough bark, tree that in truth hurts sore;
Him that furnishes horses to the armies from the sidh burn so that he be charred.

The birch as well, if he be laid low, promises abiding fortune;
Burn up most sure and certainly the stalks that bear the constant pods.

Suffer, if it so please thee, the russet aspen to come headlong down;
Burn, be it late or early, the tree with palsied branch.

Patriarch of the long-lasting woods is the yew, sacred to feasts, as is well-known;
Of him now build ye dark-red vats of goodly size.

Ferdedh, thou faithful one, wouldst thou but do my behest:
To thy soul as to thy body, O man, ‘twould work advantage.

~translated by Standish Hayes O’Grady {by an anonymous poet, 13th century}.

The following are different types of love magic that what I presume mostly women and girls might have tried.

The Midnight Court

…After all I have spent upon readers of palms
And tellers of tea-leaves and sellers of charms.
There isn’t a plan you can conceive
For Christmas or Easter or All Saint’s Eve,
At the moon’s eclipse or the New Year’s chime
That I haven’t attempted time on time.
I never would sleep a night in bed
Without fruit-stuffed stocking beneath my head,
I would steep my shift in the millstream deep
And await the vows of my spouse in sleep,
With broom I brushed the barn as bid,
My nails and hair in ashpit hid,
Beneath the hearth the flail I laid,
Below my pillow placed the spade,
My distaff in the graveyard’s bed,
In lime-kiln low my ball of thread,
The flax I strewed amid the dust,
A cabbage-head in bed-straw thrust…

…A potent charm as I have heard
Is putrid herbs well stewed and stirred,
I know the sort and will proceed
To make it aid me in my need.
A subtle spell that succour brings
Is orchid’s leaves and dung fly’s wings
And root of figwort powdered well
With more besides I may not tell.
‘Twas wondered everywhere of late
How yonder maid secured a mate,
At Shrove her secret she confessed
And Hallow E’en has seen her braced,
For water-spiders soaked in beer
And withered grass formed all her fare…
~by Brian Merriman, 1780 {excerpts from the poem}.

I am off to read some more. ;)

Sláinte!

Laurel

Recommended Reading: Becoming a Modern Peasant {Hedgesteading}

Over at the Alchemist's Garden blog there is a fantastic post called Becoming a Modern Peasant: Hedgesteading that I think many of our readers will enjoy.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Magic With Weeds

Edit: Thanks to Medusae for pointing out that one should be careful when harvesting Queen Anne's Lace, as it could also be Poison Parsnip, which can cause nasty rashes and burns.

Traditional Witchcraft Recommended Websites

Necromancy...

Imbolc Pretties on Etsy

I was going to make a Treasury over at Etsy, but I don't feel like waiting around for a few hours for just the right moment where there will be room for mine {they only allow a certain amount at a time}. So, I will just post the pretties here instead for you all to enjoy. ;)

Brigid's Cross from Vermorlian

Imbolc Table Runner from SpelledWithaW

Imbolc Ritual Incense from Moonlit Herbals

Goat's Milk Sheep Soap from Lost River Rags

Brighid of the Hearth from The Mickie Mueller Collection

Rowan & Red Thread Cross from Wands of Avalon

Highland Cow Print from Stephanie McDowell Fine Art

Brigit Icon from Spirits Craft

Snowdrop Necklace from Wychbury

Burning from Washburn Photography

Four Metal Torc from Celt Smith

Fire Light from Spalenka

Imbolc Altar Kit from White Magic

The Secrets of Falling Poetry Book from This Blank Page

Felted Saint Brigid of Ireland from Saintly Silver & Sewing

Sláinte!

Laurel