WyseWitchUK

Lavender is much beloved by insects, humans and faeries. In high summer lavender bushes are literally humming and thrumming with honeybees, bumblebees and butterflies. Yet it is despised by mosquitoes meaning that its oil and dried bunches of it can be used as a handy mosquito repellent! Its name is said to either come from the French Lavandre which in turn comes from the Latin Lavare meaning 'to wash' or from the Latin Livere meaning 'Blueish'. Lavender is one of the mint family. Lavender comes in a variety of colours; its purples range from silvery blues to royal purple, but it also comes in pinks and even white. Traditionally lavender is considered the Queen of Herbs and is so loved by faeries and elves that one of its old folk names is 'Elf Leaf'. Wherever lavender grows, there you will find faeries so if you are looking to work with faeries, do plant some lavender in your garden/window box. Even the scent of lavender in the form of dried flowers

The Summer Solstice is a time of great power for this is when the days are at their longest and the Summer Sun is at its strongest. This is the sacred time of the great Sun Deities of the Northern Hemisphere such as the Celtic Lugh/Llew, the Irish Àine, the Saami Beiwe, the Norse Baldr and Sol, the Baltic Saulė, the Romano-British Sulis, the Chinese Xihe, the Japanese Amaterasu and many more... In modern Paganism this is also the time of the Green Man or Jack in the Green who looks out at us still from churches and woodlands with his foliate face showing his connection to the fertility of nature at this time. These are the final glory days of the great Oak King who rules over the light half of the year, before the Holly King gains in power and takes over as the light wanes again. The Goddess moves from her maiden phase into her mother phase as she now carries the God's child to be born again in Winter. The Summer Solstice is also a very important day in the Faerie Cal

  “The horned poppy with the yellow flower... groweth upon the sands and banks of the sea.” John Gerard, Elizabethan Herbalist. Like many others I am participating in the 30 Days Wild Challenge by the UK Wildlife Trusts throughout June to get my butt out into Nature as much as possible, though as  Witch I like to do that anyway, the challenge just helps give me added impetus and to participate in something far bigger. This morning, as I walked along the beach, I was greeted by these bright, happy sun-like flowers and naturally was wonderfully cheered by them. Their pale colour appeared to be particularly glowing and resplendent today perhaps aided by the shimmering white mist that was flowing in from the sea. Sea Poppies are the beaches', and Sea Witch's, version of the red field poppy which have also begun to flower and add colour to the land, but their energies are very different. Traditionally Sea Poppies are solar flowers linked with the power and potenc

This week is Green Week, an ancient Slavic Fertility Festival, also known as Rusalka Week ( русальная неделя) in Russian because during this week the Russian Water Nymphs, the Rusalki, are said to be at their most dangerous and powerful. These days Green Week runs from midnight Pentecost Sunday to the midnight that heralds Trinity Sunday, so its dates move each year. Originally the Rusalki (singular Rusalka) were Fertility Faeries, Nymphs or Spirits who rose out from the lakes, rivers and streams in which they lived during Springtime to water and bless the land with fertility. As they walked on land for this one week of the year, especially through the growing rye or hemp fields, they watered it, for as they passed for their hair and clothes dripped with the water from their home body of water. They were one with Nature, working with the phases of the Moon, and able to control the weather. They were said to be in charge of the spring rains that watered the crops, and to ke

There are many and varied superstitions when it comes to those annoying tickly itches that we all get from time to time. When it comes to superstitions the idea is that the itch is a message, it is trying to tell you something, and just what that may be depends on where the itch strikes. Of course, you don't have to believe in superstitions, but the idea of them is quite fascinating. Head - An itchy head is believed to be an omen that you will soon get a great idea or a promotion, as long as your hair doesn't have any visitors. Eyes and Eyebrows - On the right it indicates a meeting with an old friend, on the left with an old enemy or someone you'd really rather not encounter for whatever reason. Ears - If your right ear gets an itch it means that someone is talking well or highly of you, but if the itch is on the left ear it means conversely that someone is speaking ill of you - same as for cheeks. Cheeks - If your right cheek gets an itch it means that someone i