Pocket Witch Dolls

So today is the 1st of October and for many people, mostly those in the northern hemisphere, it is a month of spooky and magical things in the lead up to Samhain or Halloween and the beginnings of Winter.

I however live in the southern hemisphere and here we are entering a month leading up to Beltane. It couldn't be more different and yet the weather here has been rainy and overcast of late and admittedly it does get lonely trying to follow the seasons when it feels like you are going against the whole world.

So as a sort of mash-up between what I am experiencing and what it feels like the whole rest of the world is experiencing, I made these pocket witch dolls. Little not so spooky but still very magical witchy dolls but with a spring floral twist.

These little pocket witch dolls are very small, the standing witch in her pointed hat is about 7cm tall and the witch on her broomstick is only about 5cm tall. Overall they feel like a good compromise to the season I am experiencing and the season most everyone expects it to be. To read more about how these were made you can visit my post here.

Wheel of the Year - Ostara

While most people living in the northern hemisphere are currently experiencing the Autumn Equinox, I am living in the southern hemisphere and here we are now entering the Spring Equinox. And although the weather had been getting warmer, today was very much a cold and wet day, not at all the celebration of Spring I might have hoped for.

Wheel of the Year (Southern Hemisphere)

Despite the colder weather felt today, it is most definitely Ostara, otherwise known as Easter. Although it feels as though I am the only one to acknowledge this as it seems to me most people where I live prefer to follow the seasons marked by the northern hemisphere and not by the actual seasons outside our windows here in the southern hemisphere.

Above are all eight of my seasonal beads, you can read more about how I made these by visiting HERE. The beads for this season are pictured below with the Ostara card from my Witches' Wisdom Oracle deck. Although I tend not to use this deck for the oracle deck that it is, but more for display purposes, it is still a lovely deck that I enjoy using along with my seasonal beads.

Witches' Wisdom oracle cards - Ostara

Ogham - Sail

Sail (sahl) Willow Tree          S
ogham name (pronunciation) ogham meaning              symbol                       letter

Sail = Willow Tree 'dirty, grey'
Tree Association = Willow

Green Man Tree Oracle - Willow

Kennings: 1 Morainn mac Moin (MM), 2 Maic ind Oc (MO), 3 Con Culainn (CC)
1 Pallor of a lifeless one OR Hue of the lifeless
2 Sustenance of bees OR Strength of Bees
3 Beginning of honey OR Beginning of loss, that is, willow

Auraicept Translation: "The colour of a lifeless one i.e. it has no colour, owing to the resemblance of its hue to a dead person."
Auraicept Notes: Willow in the forest.
Notes on MM: Hue of the lifeless, i.e. hue of one dead, so that he is not living but is dead: or that is Sail, willow.
Notes on MO: Activity of bees, that is willow, for its bloom and for its catkin.

Associations and Cultural Context: The pale hue of the tree and its leaves; some associations with bees and willow pollen.

My Interpretation of the Kennings: Willow Catkins
1 willow catkins become off-yellow in colour once pollinated allowing fertility/new life from death of the old, also the 'dirty grey', off-white/bluish-grey colour of underside of leaves and sallow grey appearance of the bark.
2 willow catkins provide pollen and nectar to sustain bees, enabling growth and reproduction.
3 willow catkins provide pollen and nectar to bees enabling the creation of honey through their own demise, demonstrating the cycles of life.

My Keywords: Cycles, Flow & Intuition

 

Ogham Home

Ogham - Fern                                                                                              Ogham - Nin

The Kennings, Auraicept Translation, Auraicept Notes, Notes on MM and Notes on MO are all found in Auraicept ne N-Eces The Scholars Primer. An online copy of this book can be found HERE.

My Interpretation of the Kennings and My Keywords were formed from information found in the Auraicept ne N-Eces The Scholars Primer as well as researching the meanings, history, lore, folklore and attributes of each ogham as described in the Kennings.