Kate West - The Real Witches’ Garden - Spells, Herbs, Plants and Magical Spaces Outdoors

Whilst I have given some plant suggestions I am aware that, with a readership which includes the whole of the English-speaking world, you may not be able to grow the same things. So I have tried to give ideas of the types of plant rather than always being specific. It is my hope that, whatever your kind of soil type, climate, landscape, etc, you will be able to make use of this book. I also hope that you will try to do so using plants native to your area, as these are the ones with a magical connection to your land, your Goddesses and your Gods.

Let me also say that, in my life I have had the pleasure of keeping gardens of all shapes, sizes and conditions. These include a moderate-sized rural near-idyll, a walled but landscaped and shared green patch, many windowsills, 30 square feet of shaded concrete in an area of heavy industrial pollution, a landscaped, gravelled and decked modern travesty of the concept of contact with the earth, and just recently over 180 square metres of untended land given over to thistles! I’ve also worked in gardens where the concept of natural growth has been allowed to run riot, those with enough clay to start a decent-sized pottery, others where the half inch of topsoil covers several tons of concrete and rubble, and even one where the soil was made of, just for once, real growing-type earth! I’ve also shared my garden with dogs, cats, ardent sunbathers and various other life forms.

In this book I hope to incorporate ideas for all types of garden, or growing area, in ways which are compatible with having a full and busy life. Ways of being at one with the land, of sharing it with our near and dear, and still being able to work it in honour of the Goddess and the God. I will include lists of plants and herbs, not so that you can rush out and buy them all, but so that you can choose those which are most applicable to your life, your needs and your Craft.

And just as you can use your garden to celebrate and enhance your Craft, so too you can use magic to enhance your garden. Not everyone, not even those who practise the Craft, is blessed with ‘green fingers’, so here I shall also look at the magics you can work to enhance your ‘green life’: the seasons and times for the best results; spells for sowing, planting and growing, to protect delicate plants, to deter pests and even to influence the weather a little; the Goddesses and Gods who might look more favourably on your piece of the earth. This book is not intended to be the ultimate answer to all your gardening queries, but rather a starting point to blending what you have with what you would like.

As with all the other Real Witches’ books this one is written for real people with real, busy lives who probably don’t have huge amounts of time or money to spend on their gardens but who still want to become closer to the earth. Even if you have no interest in the Craft at all I hope that this book will be of interest to the gardener who seeks a more natural approach to what is, for some, our only work with nature.

Blessed Be

Kate

I call on Earth to bind my spell , Air to speed its passage well . Bright as fire shall it glow , And deep as ocean’s tides shall flow . Count the elements fourfold , For in the Fifth the spell shall hold . Blessed Be .

Why Witches and gardening? Witchcraft is often described as a nature-based spirituality but what does that mean? Well, early Witches would have worked and tended the land, cared for and healed the people and the livestock. Their daily lives and their magical work would have been for the prosperity and the future of their community. Indeed, it is in part from this that the traditional festivals, the Sabbats, came about. For in amongst the meanings of those festivals is a strong and continuing link to the Wheel of the Year and the seasons which form its basis. For me this was one of the key attractions of the Craft.

One of the ways of looking at the Sabbats is to refer them directly to the passage of the seasons. Very simply we can say that:

Samhain (31 October) marks the start of the resting season and is the harbinger of Winter whilst Yule (21 December) marks the onset of that season. Imbolg (2 February) brings the first buds and shoots rising through the frozen earth as a promise of the Spring which begins in earnest at Oestara (21 March). Beltane (1 May) when the hawthorn blossoms presages Summer and Litha (21 June) marks its beginning. Lughnasadh (1 August) is the first of the harvest, which reaches its height at Madron (21 September), the start of Autumn.

In the Craft we refer to the Sabbats collectively as the Wheel of the Year. In addition, each of these festivals is linked to the yearly cycles of the Goddess and the God. The Triple Goddess moves from Mother to Crone at Samhain, from Crone to Maiden at Imbolg, and from Maiden to Mother at Beltane. The God as her Consort moves alongside her through these changes as well as being the Oak and Holly Kings which preside over the lightening and darkening halves of the year from Yule to Litha and Litha to Yule, respectively.

Not only do we celebrate the passage of the seasons but we draw our magical energy from them; Spring is a time of beginnings, Summer a time of development, Autumn the season of reaping and Winter is the time of rest. Of course from an agricultural perspective, that same seasonality tells us when to sow, tend, harvest and rest the soil. Whether from the perspective of the Witch or that of the gardener, the cycles which Witches celebrate as the Wheel of the Year and the phases of the Moon link everything together. There is a proper time for everything, and everything has its season.

The Magics that Witches work now, as in the past, draw their energies directly from the elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, all of which are required to create growth and which, when imbued with the fifth element of Spirit, form the foundation of the Craft as well as our magic. Even the most non-natural magic, such as a working to keep your car on the road, derives its power from the energies of the elements. As the spell at the start of the chapter states, the elements are the key to working magic. Without true knowledge and understanding of them it is not possible to work effective magic or to be an effective Witch. And there is no simpler or more natural way to gain that knowledge and understanding than by working with the elements in their most immediate form. For Witches, these are not just the external elements as seen in nature – wind, sun, rain and soil – but also the way those elements are part of ourselves and everything we do. Air is our thoughts, Fire our passions and enthusiasms, Water our emotions and Earth our physical selves. Spirit is the essential ‘self’ as well as the Goddess and the God both within and without. For us to understand and care for ourselves and each other, to develop and grow as individuals, and to work the magics which enhance the lives of our loved ones and our own community, we must harness and balance these elements, both within and without. This is a path of personal exploration, understanding and development which Witches use in all aspects of their daily lives, but perhaps nowhere more so than in their tending of life, whether it be in plants and the soil or in their relationships with family, friends and their wider community of the Craft.