Cailleachs Herbarium
Exploring Scottish Folk Practices and Traditions
Recent work
Purchase Mill Dust and Dreaming Bread: exploring Scottish Folk Magic
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Saining not Smudging- Purification, Blessing and Lustration in Scottish Folk Magic Practice
Saining is the Scottish Folk magic act of purification – a way…
Scottish folk magic and the dead (an introduction)
Dondering around the countryside, sauntering through glen, dirt track, woods and burns.…
The Ugly One With all the Jewels – A tale of Scottish Appropriation
I’ve been struggling with ideas of Scottish appropriation from our culture for…
Scottish Cultural Appropriation – Revisited
I have written a lot about my views on Scottish spirituality and…
Explore Scottish Folk Tradition
Airmed – herbal working ancestor – an inspiration
The inspiration for this site and what we are attempting to achieve came from a number of ideas that had been ruminating for a long time. One of these stories is about a Airmid from the Tuatha de dannann.
The Beltuinn Bannock, Bonnach Bealltainn.
Traditionally a Bealltainn/Beltane/Beltuinn bannock (a ‘bannock’ is a whole oatcake, whilst a ‘farl’ is a quarter) is made and eaten on Beltane morning, to ensure the health of your crops and your herds. This involved a simple ritual of sorts where the bannock is separated into nine ‘knobs’, each one dedicated to something they felt preserved their livestock or perhaps the agent of their destruction (usually a wild animal). Facing a fire…
Bealtainn, and May Day Renegades.
On first glance Bealtainn and May Day might not have very much in common. One a celebration and the other a political action but I don’t see them as different at all, sadly just the numbers they attract. Bealtainn: The clarion call to a summer’s promise, the adversity of winter has come to an end and the promise of a warmer, easier and fitful time is upon us. Celebrating this festival is a highlight of the Edinburgh City “night life”, over 6000 people gathered together on Calton Hill.
Spin the wheel and seal your fate – Spinning and weaving in folk magic practice
Island Spinning Song Hullamackadoo, hooravahee Hoorovahinda, hoorovahinda, Hullamackadoo, hooravahee, O dicko-o-deck-o-dandy When…
Folk practitioner tools vs. Witchcraft tools – A discussion on history
We have grown up with this myth that broomsticks, athames, crystals and the like are synonymous with witchcraft. However, this is not really the case in folk magic practices and these tools are, if seldom, mentioned in the trials of folk magic practitioners that we have access to. I hope this post might help in understanding where some of these ideas come from and how, in fact, they might not be as synonymous as people think they are to practicing folk magic in Scotland or for that matter witchcraft.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones – Herbal Bone balm ( for care of bone ornaments)
Our bones that we have on display need as much care as the bones in your body but in a different way. For this is I have created what I’m terming a Bone Balm, and this blog looks at how it is made, the ingredients that are part of it and how to apply the balm for best care.
The Clever Apprentice (or the downfall of a pretentious man)
On my travels through both life, herbalism and academia I have the pleasure of meeting a lot of people, on the whole everyone is delightful, down to earth, filled with wit and mirth, splashes of brilliance and amazing to be around, but there is on occasion, a time when you meet someone who makes such haughty claims to things mundane, that i just can’t help to …
Samhradh Samhradh – Là Bealltainn – May Day
Its the first of May, Happy Bealltainn! One of the best days of the year in my humble opinion…its coming indicates its time to go out searching for wildcrafted herbs and fresh young shoots of plants. So what are your plans for today? Why not start it off by listening to this amazing traditional song by The Gloaming calling in the Summer (Samhradh means summer in Irish gaelic). I have provided a the lyrics and a translation after the video.
Lùnastal – the first sorrow (part 2)
This is the Second part of the Lunastal Post. (Part one can…
Worth Reading
Saining not Smudging- Purification, Blessing and Lustration in Scottish Folk Magic Practice
10th February 2019
/ plant communication, Folk Practices, Kin based medicine, Saining
Scottish folk magic and the dead (an introduction)
14th October 2017
/ Folk Magic, Ancestors, Animism, dead, halloween, necromancy, samhain, second sight
The Ugly One With all the Jewels – A tale of Scottish Appropriation
26th March 2019
/ appropriation, Folk Tales, Kin based medicine
Scottish Cultural Appropriation – Revisited
13th March 2023
/ appropriation, Commodification, Folk Magic
Plant Communication | Animism & Genius Loci | Terroir & Phenomenology.
I have recently been reflecting about a conference I spoke at a while ago. A few people were discussing a problem they felt they had in getting to know plants. What is plant communication, the delegates…
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Featured Video
wildcrafting
Radicalising the Ancestral Scottish Diet
The ancestral scottish diet is not all haggis, neeps and tatties! Scotland is…
Ancestors
Spin the wheel and seal your fate – Spinning and weaving in folk magic practice
Island Spinning Song Hullamackadoo, hooravahee Hoorovahinda, hoorovahinda, Hullamackadoo, hooravahee, O dicko-o-deck-o-dandy When…
The woven Land Network
The Sacred Circle of Home and Hearth
Our homes were round once – a sacred circle. Imagine. A home…