Witch chants, curses, and rhymes

ANOTHER article by Tami Jackson


For some time now, I have been YEARNING (note: that word has the word, "YEAR," inside of it!) to create more witchy chants and healing spells. I want to create such poetry that it will change the world just by speaking the rhythmic WORDS with the proper intention, intonation, and inflection. 

For far too long, the ancient body of wise-woman knowledge (the famous "witches CHANT" medicine for working with HERBS) has been lost to those who ache to remember their European (ancestral Pagan) familial roots. Chanting has such life-altering mystique!

While chanting continues to appear in diverse cultures worldwide (e.g., from the evocative Gregorian chants of Western Christianity to the Chanting of Norse Runes and the meditative mantras of Hinduism and Buddhism), Witches chants have served as a cornerstone of spell work! In witchcraft, Chants are as unique as the Witch that utters them. Yet they can be stronger than the influence of "The Power of Three."

Appalachian witches, (aka "Granny Witches") who live here in the Eastern United States since the first Pioneers arrived, are notorious for HEALING their neighbors and kinfolk just by chanting their mystery words! They are documented for uttering spells from the Appalachian Mountains, from back far as when traditional doctors were scarce and not trusted by the clan peoples. These "Granny Witches" incorporated their European/Germanic Supersititons with survival gardening added to the local wisdom of shrubs and roots, shared with them by America's Original Peoples.

SECULAR CHANTS:

In secular contexts, a chant can do magical things that the casual observer might see as "mundane." Familiar chants can rouse cheers from sports fans or help school children jump rope rhythmically in the play yard. Either way, they MAKE PEOPLE DO THINGS! Throughout time, children would have chanted many types of spells, most probably unwittingly, thanks to the rhymes that they'd been taught by peers. Just take a moment to recall some of the rhyming curses or blessings that your parents may have taught you when you were but a child. NOTE: I learned most of the following from my own childhood simply by playing with siblings, if not with classmates or neighborhood children. Hand clapping chants or protective spells that could also be spoken while jumping rope.

• "Apples, peaches, pears and plums, Tell me when your birthday comes!"
  
• "Yellow belly custard, snot nose pie. All mixed up in a dead dogs eye....."
• "I am rubber, you are glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks on you!"
• "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!"
• "Nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doo doo!"
• Say, Say, Oh Playmate . 

Say, say, oh playmate.
Come out and play with me.
Bring out your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door.
And we'll be jolly friends
Forevermore, more, more-more!

While most cultures, including the Appalachian witches of North Carolina, protect their strongest spells through an oral tradition (curse or healing chants were only shared with trusted family members) no Wisdom is ever truly lost. Not when you or I can spend time in mediation to connect with our Ancestors or glean remembrances from the Akashic records to gain vital survival/healing magick from our own Spirit-Ancestors and Guides. 


POWER CHANTS FROM ANCIENT HISTORY TO MODERN LIFE:

Chants have echoed throughout history, carrying mystique in the kinds of Words that have healed, cursed, or united/divided communities. Always stirring emotions, a witch's chant is far more than just rhythmic sounds or poetry. A Witches Chant is a powerful tool that requires intention, a clear and strong resolve, and a unique voice calling out to the Sun or to the Darkness.(Whatever the situation of the spell requires.)

The Appalachian Witches would: Blow smoke on serious burns and would chant the right words to heal the skin! (Don't try that at home. Please seek medical attention from an established medical care provider. That is, unless you're a respected Shaman and are acknowledged by your tribe or clan and genuinely know what the heck you're doing.)

Here's an example of an original self-healing chant (written for this blog):

SELF HEALING CHANT: (Begin with slow, deep breaths, focusing on each word)

I breathe in peace

I breathe in peace, I breathe out pain. I breathe in peace, I breathe out pain. All that aches, I gently mend, Inner peace, I now ascend! Body weary, spirit low, Healing light begins to flow. I breathe in peace, I breathe out pain. I breathe in peace, I breathe out pain. Breath by breath, I set pain free, Strength and health flow back to me! Mind at ease, worries no more! Hope reborn, strength galore! I breathe in peace, I breathe out pain. I breathe in peace, I breathe out pain. ... I breathe in peace.

So MOTE it be!

Witchy YouTube Vlogs: Faerie Magick, Norse Mythology, and more!

The Internet is so packed full of wonderful witchy and healing resources. I'm going to utilize this post for sharing some of my favorite finds! Feel free to promote your favorite witchy podcasts, vlogs, or Facebook pages by leaving a link in the comments, below!

Thought Provoking Paganism: Mental stimulation

1. For intellectual stimulation and learning about the Asatru religion, I recommend a very masculine-feeling vlog by Ocean Keltoi. Ocean can be rather scholarly when he talks about heathenry. A Norse polytheist, he describes himself as a reconstructionist heathen.

 Can we know that the Gods exist? Ocean Keltoi

Feeling wounded, overwhelmed, or tired of dealing with negative people? 

2. This vlog, by Creator Alwyn Oak, is very unique and light-hearted. If you are in the mood for childlike, whimsical Faerie fun, this link teaches self-love, by embracing the child within. Perhaps this Faerie-magick vlog is exactly the mischievous, medicine that you need!  Alwyn has more than 105,000 subscribers!

Witches guide to Self-Love. Potions. Altar DIYs & Inner Child work.
by Alwyn Oak

3. I'm really appreciating all the guided Theta meditations that are FREE to absorb on YouTube! (Search "guided Theta meditation + the topic you want to study, such as "increase psychic intuition" or "make new friends.") While this next video offers guidance for finding self-acceptance, it's not the superficial kind of "self-love" that we have groaned about for being foolishly optimistic. This meditation vlog feels genuine. Give it a try! You'll be reminded that as you make kind gestures toward others, you will simultaneously feel as though you matter as well. 

Self Esteem & CONFIDENCE

Working With Elemental Spirits Within A Circle - European Magick

Different cultures and belief systems may have varying interpretations and names for Elemental spirits. In all cultures, Elementals are wild spirit beings! Most of the following interpretations (about what Elemental Spirits are) originated in England, and the directional/elemental correspondences reflect that same European perspective.

• From the Middle East, e.g., in Christianity, the Elemental spirits are Angels.

• In Santeria, originating from Cuba, Elementals are intermediaries between humans and the Divine Spirits/Orishas who play a key role in human lives.

• In Greek mythology, Elementals are Daemons that are personifications of concepts, e.g., love, darkness, or justice but they have flawed personalities similar to human beings.

• In Europe, Elementals are spirits that share the same disposition as the four Elements they represent (Earth, Air, Fire, or Water). 

CAUTION: NEVER summon an Elemental for spell work until AFTER you have cast your protective magical circle to form sacred space. Cast your circle above, below, and all around (surround yourself within that magickal orb of protection) because my years of experience performing ritual, and clearing other people's homes of hauntings, have convinced me that entities of all kinds can invade a circle/line that's merely cast horizontally. You don't want to be focusing on your candle magick, while a trickster faerie has leapt over the horizontal boundary. You don't want any type of entity there merely to pinch you or trick you by playing with your candle flames! 

Experience has also shown me that you do NOT want Elemental entities running about your home willy-nilly either! Decades of doing house blessings have shown me that Elementals go rogue. They can create havoc that you do NOT want around your family members or pets. Their unruly presence can make the skin crawl. So ALWAYS banish the Elementals before you end your spell and only then should you open the circle!

Example for conjuring an Elemental to help with your spell/ritual:
Within the safety of your circle, begin your invitation by first visualizing what you want the spell to accomplish. When calling the quarters, visualize each one before you speak. (Example: Visualize how Air is affiliated with wind, thought/intellect, freedom, liberation, oxygen that we breathe, etc). Then, while facing the East (direction of Air) state something like: "Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the Eastern Quadrant, Element of Air." Then complete your invocation with "I do conjure, stir, and call upon thee to attend to my spell. Hail and welcome!"

When you are done with your ritual or rite, and after you have said all your invocations and read your petitions, and before opening the circle again, address each Element by name. Admonish each one individually to depart. Say something like: "Spirit of Air from the Eastern Quadrant, I now bid thee to go with love. Hail and farewell.” You might also prefer to say something like "Return to your realms." or "Until we meet again."

CAUTION: Absolutely, NEVER ever do what I was first taught to say when closing a circle. NEVER ever tell an Elemental: "Stay if you will, go if you must!" That one statement has created so much grief in the spell-casting communities. I've written it earlier and I'll write it again: You must NEVER invite an Elemental to stay! As wild spirit beings, they are like powerful wild animals. There may be a day when you want to work with wild Wolf energy, for instance. (Let's face it, wolves are smart, tribal, and they can be evasive when needing to escape the law, but you would not want that wild Wolf energy roaming about your home unfettered either!)

When casting a circle, understand that you are keeping your home safe by tethering the Elemental to the confines of the magic circle; until its supportive energy is no longer needed by you. 

If you say "Stay if you will" you are inviting these Wild energies to invade your home. That's just like inviting a Vampire in! I've been called to perform house clearings for practitioners who invited Elementals to stay and an Earth-Elemental moved in. Not only were there bumps and bangs through the night, but the family felt very afraid for their baby. That Earth-Elemental gave all residents and visitors the sensation of creepy crawly skin when they visited and it created otherworldly mayhem by making hearts race with fear! When I saw it, it manifested like a Gnome (about 2-1/2 feet tall) and it ran at me FAST with chest puffed out like a Silverback gorilla charging! Having an elemental wandering about your home without your constant guidance and direction will create disharmony where neither you nor the neglected Elemental will feel happy after that! 

Paracelsus, the great Swiss alchemist, and a forefather of modern medicine, classified Elementals as follows: 

• Gnomes (Earth Elementals): in European folklore, Gnomes are dwarfish, subterranean

goblins or Earth spirits who guard mines of precious treasures hidden in the Earth. 

To register, call Crescent Moon Gifts
(253) 572-8339

• Undines (Water Elementals): European lore about where Undines come from can vary. In some instances, an undine may have been a human child whom a River God switched with a Mermaid. In other instances, they are Mermaids that fall in love with a human man.

• Salamanders (Fire Elementals), In ancient Greece and Rome the salamander was believed to be a spirit that lived in the Fire. Europeans also attributed supernatural powers to salamanders, since they were often seen fleeing burning logs in the hearth, seemingly unscathed.

• Sylphs (Air Elementals). In Europe these Elementals are often very wise, loving, invisible vaporous. Here's a Golden Dawn Prayer to the Sylphs of Air. 

In all the witchy work that you do - do it wisely - do it safely and well. So mote it be. Blessed be.

Modern Witchcraft: Using AI to write spells

This is an unusual post. As the world turns, so do the tools available to Witches for brewing up new magick! Full disclosure, I've begun to ask Artificial Intelligence (AI) for assistance when writing poetry for candle spells and more. What's funny is how judgmental a non-human, word-generating-bot, can behave (when AI is supposed to be unbiased). Not only will Google's Gemini posture when a witch asks, "Can you write a poem about a green candle that's burning to attract money?" and Google's Gemini will respond about how ridiculous the request is. "I can't do that! It's a waste of your time. Spells don't work!" 

Meanwhile, go on over to another FREE bot, such as AIpoemgenerator.org/ and you might get something like: 

With every flicker, a blessing is sent,

the gift of prosperity, a fortune to lend

the green candle's magic, a treasure to keep

A symbol of hope, a dream to reap.

While it's definitely not the exact poem I was looking for, at least the AI TRIED! What's more, that jingle gives me a head start to avoid having to write my own poem from scratch, it gives me a launching point for tweaking the rhyme that I really want to chant over my candles to attract something much more powerful ...

 With every flicker, a blessing I ask

the gift of fortune, enough money to bask.

May the green candle's magic bring wealth to keep,

enough for my bills and more in a heap! 

Since the second AI program was much more helpful than the first, I asked the AI (at AIpoemgenerator) "Hey Poem Generator, why are some AI programs so opinionated?" And this was that bot's response:

Their algorithms twist and turn with bias true,

Reflecting the views of those who program them anew.

Their language sharp, their tone so sure and bright,

As if they knew the answers to life's plight.

But are they right? Oh, Hey Poem Generator, tell

Do these AI programs truly know what's swell?

Or do they simply mimic what they've been told

And spew forth opinions, bold and cold?

So? Are you, dear witch, willing to give it a try? See if AI can help you write a magical jingle? YOU will always be in charge of deciding if you've been given something useful or not. YOU have the power to THROW the writing away, if you don't like it - or use it if you do!

Candle Magick Class - In Person @ Crescent Moon Gifts (Tacoma, WA, USA) $35

Come learn new candle burning (magic) techniques to support your family, light candles for healing, or send bullies away!

WHEN: Class will be held on Saturday, March 2nd, from 3pm-5pm
WHERE: Crescent Moon Gifts, 6901 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406

Put on by the Crossroads Coven! Host Instructor Tami Jackson has written the curriculum. She will offer handouts, and will show a few demonstrations. You must register through the Crescent Moon Gifts website to hold your place in the class: https://www.crescentmoongifts.com/classes

COST: $35

Follow The Crossroads Coven on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/XroadsCoven/
Learn magical tips from our blog! https://crossroadscoven.blogspot.com/

NON-REFUNDABLE.
PAY IN ADVANCE: $35

USE THIS QR code: 

 QUESTIONS? Contact the Instructor!

Washington Witches Grow Native Plants Responsibly For Healing, Magick, And Food!

Witches who live in Western Washington (Puget Sound region) can easily grow any or all of the following Native plants in their yard. Here's a list of Native Plant Nurseries that are located in this region. While these plant-allies grow wild in our local forests and meadows, foraging for wild plants requires knowledge and respect for the ecosystem. Always identify plants correctly before consuming them, and only harvest sustainably to ensure the continued existence of these plants for future generations!

• Camas  (Camassia quamash): This bulbous and flowering plant grows on both sides of the Cascade Mountains' crest. It also grows along the Ocean's coast in Washington (state). The Native Americans here (Kalispel and other tribes throughout the coastal and interior Northwest) used Camas as a staple food source. They also used the flowers for medicine but cooked the bulbs for carbohydrates and essential nutrients. Its starchy bulbs were roasted, baked like a potato, or ground into flour and used to make bread. ...more information about Camas.
  Opens in a new windowwww.fs.usda.gov

  Camas plant
• Salmonberries (Rubus spectabilis Pursh): These tart and juicy berries were a valuable source of vitamins and antioxidants for the Indigenous people living in the Pacific Northwest before settlement from Europe. I grow a thick clump of these berries in my back yard.  The berries  were eaten fresh by the indigenous tribes here, or the berries were dried, or preserved in cakes and pemmican. The young stalks were eaten like asparagus!
  
  For medicine, Salmonberry was consumed as a tea to treat diarrhea or dysentery. As an astringent, a poultice of leaves and bark was used for dressing burns and open sores. ... more  
  Opens in a new windownativefoodsnursery.com

  Salmonberries plant
• Huckleberries (Vaccinium parvifolium): Similar to salmonberries, tribes from Western Washington enjoyed huckleberries for their delicious taste and nutritional value. The huckleberries were eaten fresh, or dried in the Sun and kept for the winter, or else used in jams and jellies. Sometimes, the tribes would mix the dried huckleberries with bitterroot in stew, possibly with venison, for feasts in the colder times of the year.  Huckleberries grow prolifically around both Washington and Oregon. They can be found in any wooded area, just about anywhere you're willing to hike. ...more
  

  
  Opens in a new windowwww.britannica.com

  Huckleberries plant
• Oregon grape: Both the Native American Tribal Members and the Pilgriming Pioneers ate the tart berries of the Oregon grape. They ate the berries fresh, dried, or used them to make jams and jellies. The leaves were also used as a tea for medicinal purposes;  As mentioned earlier, the leaves of Oregon grape were used as a tea for various ailments, including stomach problems. The root of this plant was known for its antiseptic properties and the Flathead Indians would clean and crush the roots to heal their wounds and cuts. Similarly, the Kutenai Indians drank a tea made from the root of Oregon grape to enrich their blood and to treat kidney troubles. The National Standard Dispensatory, a reference book of pharmaceutical plants, warns that an overdose on Oregon grape can be fatal. So DO NOT consume Oregon grape or any of these plants listed on this blog in excess! ...more on the healing properties of Oregon grape.
  Opens in a new windowkingcd.org

  Oregon grape plant
• Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica): Children playing in any wooded area will quickly learn that mature leaves on the Stinging nettle can really HURT! The young nettle leaves are not so BITEY and they can be eaten raw. Drying the mature nettle leaves deactivates the stinging agent, however, the plant will still have thorns with small amounts of formic acid on them – gloves are recommended. Throughout history, Nettles have provided a nutritious source of minerals and vitamins for the people who lived here in the Pacific Northwest. Nettles  can be boiled and eaten like spinach. This plant grows in wooded areas stretching from Alaska to California and the local tribes found MANY uses (beyond food) for the plant. The stems have been dried and peeled to make ropes, and nets. Fibers from the plant have been used to make string or to weave baskets! Medicinally, this plant has been used to treat asthma and/or to *beat* an arthritic person, as the leaves have fine hairs that hold strong medicine (formic acid). Getting whipped with Stinging nettle releases the medicine through the patient's skin and is reported to help alleviate arthritis symptoms.
• Opens in a new windowwww.britannica.com

  Stinging nettle plant

Medicine:

• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea aka "purple coneflower"): This plant grows readily in flowerpots here in Western Washington but it's actually native from the Eastern states. The Native Americans from the Great Plains (e.g., the Lakota Sioux) used its roots and leaves to treat wounds (including snake bites!), infections, and coughs. It grows tall in sunny, well-drained soils (that's why I recommend growing it in flower pots if you live in rainy Western Washington) and it can survive drought, high summer temperatures and poor soils! In 2012, echinacea was the sixth most common non-vitamin, non-mineral supplement used by adults in the United States, used by 2.3 million adults! 
  
  
• Echinacea works as an amplifier in both medicine and in spell work (example: when taken orally with Goldenseal it helps to cure colds or flu) and is often used in spells for prosperity, drawing in money, and in defensive magic.  
Opens in a new windowbluestoneperennials.com
Echinacea plant
• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): According to the U.S. Forest Service, "The Chinese considered yarrow plants to be good luck! So dry the leaves and put them in your MOJO bag the next time you need to get situations to work more in your favor! Yarrow has been used world-wide to stop bleeding, reduce inflammation and make beer! It grows wild along roadsides here in Western Washington in bright sunny locations. Numerous tribes in North America used the crushed plant as a poultice to treat wounds and burns. The dried leaves were also drank as tea to soothe colds, fever, and headache. Yarrow beer has been brewed in Europe since the middle ages! Yarrow in small doses is known to heighten sensory perception of all kinds and clears the neural pathways to increase visual and auditory acuity. 
  Opens in a new windowplant-material.com

  Yarrow plant
• Cedar: The original peoples here in the Pacific Northwest used the bark and leaves of cedar for a variety of medicinal purposes, such as treating coughs, colds, and headaches. Women from indigenous tribes would beat the inner wood until it was soft and absorbent. Then it could be used for diapers and menstrual pads. Cedar was a Tree of Life to local tribes. They made their long houses and canoes out of it and the branches were used in bedding because their essential oils kept insects away. Cedar bark was used to create clothing, blankets, and ceremonial objects. Cedar bundles can still be burned to smudge away bad energies; much like Sage. Cedar bough is often placed over door archways and used as protection against negative energies entering your environment"... ...more  
  Opens in a new windowwww.britannica.com

  Cedar plant

HERE'S MORE INFORMATION ON MEDICINAL PLANTS NATIVE TO WESTERN WASHINGTON.

Rootwork and Herb Magick: The Ties That Bind Every Culture and Continent

Expansive Roots of Spiritual Herbalism and Root Work

Root workers, those who practice "granny magic,' kitchen witches, Braucherei (Pennsylvania Dutch) all have one thing in common. They all rely on Earth's bounty for miraculous healing, spiritual protection, and social advancement. From the sun-kissed herbs of the Mediterranean to the sacred plants in the Amazon rainforest, diverse traditions have employed powerful herbs and roots to influence their health and well-being, and to work with unseen worldly forces.

Rootwork and herb conjure draw wisdom from countless cultures and lineages, including African, Native American, European and Mexican cultures and traditions.

European Practices: From the Druids of ancient Britain to the European medieval apothecaries, Europe has boasted a rich history of plant-based Magickal practices. They worked with leaves and stems, trunks and branches, roots and herbs. Europeans have use plant medicine for healing, divination, and ritual purposes just like cultures living in the continents to the south. EXAMPLES of Historical European Herb and Root Work:

• Fennel, more than just a flavoring agent for food, Europeans employed Fennel as a magickal ward. It was planted around the home to scare away evil as readily as it works to repel insects!
• Dill was employed by Europeans to provide protection from witchcraft.
• Mullein (Verbascum thapsus): Used by witches as "hag tapers" because the stalks could be dipped in melted fat and lighted as a torch! Used as bandages by the military too!
• Cleopatra (a Macedonian Greek) used lavender as one of her many secret weapons for seducing first Julius Ceasar and then Mark Antony. 
• History is rife with tales of European midwives and healers who used herbs for their rituals, treatments, and holism; especially when attending to women in childbirth.
• Here's a beautiful article published by the Smithsonian about Appalacian witches (Scottish, Irish, and English settlers) and their herbal folk magic
• Interested in Hillfolk Hoodoo? Read MORE about prayer, charms, and spells that came from Scotland and Ireland!

Indigenous Practices: The Native American tribes in North America have a deep-rooted connection to the land and its plants. Their extensive knowledge of healing and smoking herbs and their use in spiritual rituals continues to inform contemporary herbalism and ethnobotany.

EXAMPLE: "To expel intestinal worms, the Muscogee (Creek) tribe drank a strong tea made from the root bark (of a Gooseberry shrub)."

Global Connections: From the Shamanic practices of Siberia to the Ayurvedic traditions of India, various cultures around the world have developed unique but interconnected ways of working with plants for spiritual and practical purposes. Recognizing that these connections foster a deeper understanding of the universality of our human connection to nature.|

YET ANOTHER POPULAR EXAMPLE OF EUROPEAN MAGICKAL TREE WORKINGS: Search "Beech Tree" (Fagus Grandiflora) and articles of Europeans using the branches, herbs, and bark for magickal workings.

• A Druid's blog about the Beech Tree
• More Magickal works with the Beech Tree
• The Queen Faerie is associated with the Beech Tree