Horseshoe Magic
You may be lucky enough to find a horseshoe when you are out and about on your travels but what is all the fuss about them?
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There are a heap load of folk songs that tell us the devil resides at the crossroads but we don’t really need to worry about him…what we are more interested in is the belief that the crossing of two roads is a powerful spot. The crossroads is the centre of the four winds and the four directions. The centre point links the two worlds, that of the living and the dead – it is an ‘in between’ place. In some traditions you would go to the crossroads at midnight to meet Eshu/Elegba and in others it is the place sacred to the sun god Ra and the godsBhairava, Hermes and Mercury and the goddess Hecate. The crossroads is also a place where Hoodoo tricks take place and where spells can be buried to ‘do their thing’.
You may find in your local woods or even parks that there is a place where two dirt tracks cross or even where a bridge goes directly over a straight run of river or stream. That centre spot is an excellent place to work magic. It is also a good place to dispose of magic tricks and workings after you have finished with them including candle stubs.
...Every space whether it is your back garden, your living room, the city park or the middle of a field it all has its own unique energy and history.
I live on the edge of a large city in a terraced house. My house was built in 1920 but before that there was another house on the land and before that and before that. In fact as I also live near the sea, the city being a port it has attracted dwellings probably since man needed a roof over his head and somewhere nearby to catch food (i.e. the sea). The first recorded dwellings date back to the late 9th Century and we have apparently had Romans, Normans, Saxons and all and sundry living here. So the land itself holds a huge amount of memories and echoes from our ancestors, oh the tales it could tell…
...Lots of plants have thorns on them; roses, brambles and blackthorn spring to mind and these thorns can be used for magic. Think about what a thorn does, they are protection for the plant, they guard it against predators and they are sharp and defensive. They can pierce, they can cut and they can draw blood.
Folk lore says that blackthorn thorns were always used to curse but folklore says a lot of things that we have since twisted around to our advantage but if that is the choice you make…thorns (any type) are very good for cursing and hexing spell work, rose thorns work especially well in affairs of the broken heart.
...I am always being gifted with feathers when I am out usually pigeon ones but I have also been given crow and magpie ones too. If you are in the forest you may find all sorts of bird feathers and on the beach it will probably be seagull feathers. Whatever kinds they are feathers carry their own very special magic with them.
When I find a feather I usually take it home and pop it in the freezer overnight, just as a precaution really because the cold temperature will get rid of any nasties that might be lurking therein. Obviously keep the feather away from your frozen food! Alternatively you can place the feathers in a solution of five parts warm water, one part vinegar and one part witch hazel, leave them to soak for twenty four hours then dry them by laying out flat on a towel.
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