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Sorcellerie - Blog Posts
The Herbs of Saint John
Before sunrise this morning I went out and took part in my first bit of French-Canadian folk magic (ie Sorcellerie). Since I’m really bad at timing things properly and planning ahead it was a little haphazard but overall I’m proud of myself for connecting with my ancestry.
I’ll provide links below but the quick and easy rundown is this: herbs are most magically potent on Saint John’s Eve and must be gathered between midnight and sunrise on Saint John’s feast day (June 24th). The herbs vary from place to place except for Mugwort (which sadly I haven’t found near my home), but I did find that yarrow grows in my yard which I find very exciting. The herbs must also be protected from sunlight for 24 hours before being dried and stored/used. If any of the herbs I’ve gathered this year remain by next Saint John’s Eve they must be discarded because they will have lost all power.
As I said before I harvested Yarrow from my yard but I was also able to gather some Bittersweet Nightshade, which for me has a special connection to The Great Earth-Indweller.
I added some Fayerieism flare to the gathering by performing a Plant Swaying Charm over both plants that I harvested from.
Blessings to you all
*the lighting is my porch light*
Of Toads and Toxins
Warning: This post is super rambley and I’m sorry
(Shout out to Courir le loup-garou for being an amazing resource)
Three things have been on my mind a lot lately: ancestors, malefica, and the toad. So imagine my happiness and surprise when reading a blog post about Toads in French-Canadian folklore/folk magic being poisoners.
Since discovering French-Canadian sorcellerie via courir le loup-garou I have been trying to incorporate parts of it into my practice as a way of connecting with my Québécois roots. I’ve even recently found a language learning app that offers Canadian French/Québécois so I plan on learning the language as a way to further connect. Very very exciting!
I’ve also been slowly getting into using poisons more in my practice, specifically working with the plants spirits as allies and less working directly with them in herbal preparations. I’ve been particularly drawn to mandrake and foxglove. Foxglove specifically for its link to the fayerie folk so it makes sense to work with as someone who follows Fayerie Traditionalism.
~(I blame Coby of The Poisoner’s Apothecary for the poison path focus lol)~
In connection to the poison path is malefic magic. The idea of the witch as a poisoner, a blighter of crops, a caster of curses. Not that I’m someone who wants to just throw hexes around like they’re nothing but I’m more interested in studying them and researching how they operate magically.
The toad spirit has been one that has floated in and out of my craft for YEARS never fully leaving but not always being of high importance. I think that’s really because I’ve never figured out how to work with this spirit in a way that makes sense to my and my craft. Reading the blog on toads in French-Canadian folklore has given me some possible inspiration. I’m hoping to commune with the spirit of Toad to learn more of cursing and malefica and to employ my toad imp to carry out any curses or hexes that I may weave.