The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2017
Tools of Use
Embrace Your Own Power
Discovering the Green Witch
Because green witchcraft isn’t an organized path, there are no required tools or equipment you must have in order to follow it. There are, however, important items almost every green witch uses in her practice.
HERBS AND PLANTS
With so much emphasis on working with natural energies, it is not surprising that herbs and plants immediately come to mind when one thinks about a green witch and the things she uses or interacts with. In fact, many natural objects form a part of the green witch’s tool kit and supply cupboard. Chapter 5 looks at common trees, flowers, and plants used by the green witch.
YOUR HANDS
A green witch’s hands are her most valuable tools. With her hands, she touches and takes in information. With her hands, she dispenses caring. Her sense of touch is a keen one. We rely heavily on sight, but our sense of touch carries great power and conveys equally important information that the green witch knows to take into account. Touch also allows us to sense energy and forms an immediate link between the green witch and that with which she communicates, whether it be absorbing information from a plant about its energy and potential uses or laying a gentle hand on the forehead of a sick child. You use your hands to tend and harvest your herbs and plants, prepare them for storage, and blend them together. Your hands can become a physical extension of your thoughts and your will.
JOURNAL
Recording your explorations, field notes, recipes, rituals, and research is of great importance because this record forms the main body of lore to which you will refer again and again in your work. Note that this journal is not a Book of Shadows, which is a term used by occultists and Wiccans to describe a record of spells and rituals and magical information. Your green witch journal will contain some magical information, yes, because the green witch understands that magic is simply another method of touching the energy of the earth; but mainly it will contain recipes, sketches, maps, experiments, observations, and accounts of your work and other experiences. Over time, you will fill many journals, and they may be messy and haphazard. That’s not a problem. Your journal is not meant to be perfect. It’s meant to be a real-life snapshot of your thoughts and evolving knowledge.
Recording what you learn and do means that your information will probably be organized by date. You will thus remember and understand what you did when and why; the journal provides a context for your evolution. Don’t worry about the apparent mishmash of subjects you write about. As the green witch path is an organic one, it makes sense to allow your journal (like a daily diary) to meander from topic to topic. Some green witches like to separate their work into books of recipes, plant lore, and so forth so they can more easily track down information when they need to refer to it. I suggest that you put everything down in your main journal first, then copy out recipes or rituals or plant lore into another book once you’ve perfected them so you will have a clean and organized copy as a useful reference. It’s good to have a place where you can write everything down without editing as you go: those first impressions of plants, trees, elements, and situations can be invaluable. Recopying this information later can also help you firm up your impressions and familiarize yourself with it. You will also continually be clarifying and adding new information and research.
When you ramble in field or forest or go for walks through your neighborhood, make sure you have your green witch notebook with you. If carrying your main journal is difficult because of its size, you may wish to have a smaller field book in which to make notes while you are out. Transfer information you have picked up on your treks into your main journal when you get home again. Your green witch journal will prove important and helpful to you in months and years to come.
CUP
A simple cup (ceramic is ideal) is a useful item for the green witch. Water is one of the four physical (and metaphysical) elements, and green witches often like to have a representation of each element nearby as they work. A cup reserved exclusively to hold water in this way honors the element of water. In addition, the cup is useful to drink from in a ritual setting. While the green witchcraft practice isn’t heavy on ceremony or formal ritual, a familiar tool such as a cup can lend a certain energy to your work if it is reserved only for your green witch use. Some green witches use any cup from the cupboard they feel like using at the time, because it’s what’s in the cup that counts.
MORTAR AND PESTLE
A mortar and pestle is invaluable for crushing dried herbs, seeds, or resins and for blending materials for a variety of projects. Although mortar and pestle sets are available in other materials, stone is the easiest to keep clean and has the weight and strength required to crush things like resins. Metal is sometimes thought to taint the energy of the herbs you crush, while wood will absorb oils and juices and be almost impossible to keep perfectly clean. Although you may like the look of a small mortar and pestle, or want to save money by buying a smaller size, do yourself a favor and don’t get a tiny one. They’re hard to manipulate, and if you use the mortar to blend mixtures you’ll be limited to a teaspoon or two. The standard size mortar is approximately 5 inches high by about 5 inches wide, with a slightly tapered pestle of about 4 inches by 1 inch. You really shouldn’t use anything smaller.
BOWLS
Also essential to your work are bowls in which to mix and hold ingredients or components while you work on various projects. An assortment of small ceramic ramekins will do for many projects, as you won’t be mixing large batches of things. Make sure you have a couple of large glass bowls for larger, messier projects like mixing potpourri. Do not, however, use plastic bowls. Plastic absorbs oils and scents. Glass or glazed ceramic bowls are best.
JARS AND CANISTERS
To store your herbs, incenses, and other ingredients, glass or ceramic jars or canisters are ideal. Like your bowls, these can range in size from small spice jars to large canisters. Colored glass or an opaque material will help protect your dried herbs from fading and losing their beneficial oils. If you use clear glass, then store your jars in a cupboard to protect them from the light, or make paper cylinders to slip over them.
KNIFE OR SCISSORS
An essential green witch tool is the sharp knife used to harvest herbs and other plants. This knife must be kept extremely clean and always be sharp, for a dull blade is dangerous to both the one who uses it and that which is being cut. If you are uncomfortable using a straight knife to cut stems and leaves, you may prefer to use a pair of good sharp shears or scissors instead, reserving the knife for chopping and preparing the herbs at home on a solid and flat surface such as a table. Scissors and secateurs are easier to handle than a straight knife for some people, myself included. Again, sharpen them frequently and keep them extremely clean. Like the cup, you may use any knife that you feel drawn to using.
STAFF
A staff or walking stick not only helps you as you ramble through the natural world, but it also serves as a symbolic “world tree,” which connects the material and spiritual realms. The world tree is a concept found in shamanic practice in numerous cultures around the world. The world tree is like the world’s spine, serving as a support and a connection between the otherworlds and the world of humankind. In the Nordic lore, this tree, said to be an ash tree (or sometimes a yew), was called Yggdrasil. In Celtic mythology, there were several world trees, which were hazel, oak, and other woods. In shamanic practice, the world tree is often represented by a tent pole, above which are the stars of the otherworld. This tent pole is “climbed” by the shaman’s consciousness through a series of meditations and other methods.
The tree is a remarkable symbol. We perceive trees as being strong and offering us shelter or support, and yet we also see them as being flexible, for some trees bend in the wind. The roots of a tree can reach deep into the earth for stability and for nourishment. Its branches reach high into the sky so that the leaves of the tree may absorb as much sunlight as possible and further nourish the tree. A staff or walking stick symbolizes all this in miniature. It is a symbol of the tree, carries a tree’s energy, and reminds the green witch of the connection to both earth and sky.
Some books refer to a “stang,” which is a forked staff. It is sometimes described as a sort of altar whose long single end can be thrust into the ground, leaving the forked end at the top, ready to be decorated by the green witch as desired. Garlands, sachets, bunches of herbs or flowers, and ribbons are all common things draped or tied onto stangs. The stang itself can be reused, while the decorations may be disposed of respectfully once your ceremony or action is complete.
It is interesting to compare the staff and the knife. The staff supports and serves as a connection, whereas the knife (or other blade) severs and harvests. They are two archetypal symbols, opposite and complementary. The green witch uses both and honors both the archetypes of connection and severing, unity and separation, for these are intrinsic to the cycle of life and the cycles found within nature.
COTTON OR GAUZE
A roll of natural cotton about 6 to 8 inches wide and a couple of feet long is a useful item to carry with you when you walk in forest or meadow. It may be used to roll herbs in, instead of putting them in a bag, and can help preserve more fragile cuttings. It’s also good for first aid use, should you cut yourself, scratch yourself, or incur other minor damage along the way. (A small, portable first aid kit is always good to have on hand when you go out walking and exploring, and of course you should have one at home as well, either in the kitchen or the bathroom.)
POWER BAGS
As a green witch, you will over time develop a personal connection to little objects such as stones, acorns, pinecones, or fetishes, and you may wish to carry them with you. Sew up or buy a small bag to hold them, and slip it into your purse or backpack when you travel. By doing this, you carry the natural energy of those objects along with you so that they influence your own energy. You also maintain the contact with their emotional and personal meanings, which strengthen you in a different way. Together, these items form a personal power source for the practitioner. Make sure your bag isn’t too big, however: if you find yourself carrying too many magical objects, it’s time to sort them out and decide which are most important. Leave the items you have removed from the bag at one of your personal shrines at home in order to maintain a different sort of contact with them (see more on shrines later in this chapter).