By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram: @thewandcarver Or, in my second language, Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ur! I have been away for two months, my deepest apologies. I don’t want to sound like a child making excuses but I have truly been busy! And, I am hoping once I get the new blogs rolling out you will know how much I love all of you! You will find new Wortcunner’s Cabinet blogs and new Magickal Trees blogs, as well as a new lot I am working on explaining Gods and Goddesses and some how-to blogs. And, there will be the occasional free spell along with some of the new things that ..read more

Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram: @iseabail_witchwriter Sometime shortly after 6 pm… 6.30 pm to be exact, judging from my last text to my friend Liss where I had just gotten the word on BBC News as I was finishing my message to her.. where I could only say, “She is dead.” Little did I realise until later is that the clouds opened and a double rainbow arched over Buckingham Palace 20 minutes before the announcement of her death. And then I howled. Long, guttural howls of grief. I am sure the same was going on at Liss’ house. And likely all over the country, the world even. Most of us have neve ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter If you have visited our Etsy shop, you have probably seen a stang or two being sold there.  Perhaps you wonder a bit about what they are and why they are used.  That is normal because not every witch walks the hedge path – which, by the way, is translated in many different ways I’ve seen from my online travels and many are not correct. Author and Artisit Unknown  Firstly, a Hedge witch is often a necromancer, or at least one who practises astral travel for his or her personal reasons.  As explained in a past ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter Red Poppy ~ Norfolk Wildlife Trust As it is nearly October, I felt it is a fitting time to talk about Poppy.  It is the flower representing firstly the lives lost in WWI and in succeeding wars.  It is a talisman to spark the memory of others to pray for our troops in the here and now, and to buy a Poppy these days means you support those troops and their families.  No matter how you feel about war, be grateful we have trained men and women who will protect us come what may. End of my Poppy Appeal.  Let us mov ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter A blessed Mabon to all.  Depending upon where you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you may begin your celebrations on the 22nd, in the UK it is the 23rd.  Either way, it is a time for the last harvest rituals which set us up for the winter months. Not everyone farms any longer as may have been the case in years past. But the idea would be that everyone put by all the food they could to last through the cold harshness of winter.   We can still do our own version of this if we have small gardens or by simply st ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter “To make a countryman understand what feuille-morte­ colour signifies, it may suffice to tell him, it is the colour of withered leaves in autumn. “ — John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690 My favourite time of the year – Autumn! She is on her way! And the trees coming alive with colour; the freshness in the air signifies the Autumnal change from a fairly sweltering Summer.  Funny how I would think the trees are coming ‘alive’ with colour when in fact, they are dying, the leaves are that is.… but I think t ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter The Bodhi tree doesn’t seem to be mentioned much in witchcraft and that may be down to its religious connotations.  It even has religiosa in its name, i.e., Ficus religiosa which means “sacred fig”. Can you eat the figs from the Bodhi Fig tree? As best I can tell, yes. But for the most part, the figs we eat usually come from the Common Fig [Ficus carica] tree.  And, here is a little fig fact for you [although, you might decide to give up eating this delicious fruit when you read the following] Figs Are Not Vegan Becaus ..read more

By Isabella @The WandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter Now, for something a little different.  Most of us won’t have a Baobab [Adansonia] tree growing in our back gardens unless, of course, we live in say, Madagascar, Australia, the African mainland, or the Arabian Peninsula.  The Baobab tree can live up to 3,000 years and grows quite huge  reaching heights of 5 to 30 m [16 to 98 ft] and have trunk diameters of 7 to 11 m [23 to 36 ft]. The Baobab trees in the southern part of Africa began dying off the early part of this century with the cause not certain, however, i ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter Pair of Crape Myrtles ~ thebritishgardner.com The Crape Myrtle [Lagerstroemia indica] tree is native to China and grows well in sandy, chalky, or loamy soil as it must be well-drained. And it likes sun.  In frost-prone areas, grow against a warm, sunny wall, or overwinter in a cool or temperate greenhouse. In warmer climates, grow as specimens, in group plantings, or as a hedge or screen.  I am lucky to live in a so-called warmer climate in the south; therefore, I have at one time had one of these beauties growing on a ..read more

By Isabella @TheWandCarver Instagram:  @iseabail_witchwriter Foxgloves can both ‘raise the dead and kill the living’. The Digitalis purpurea is, as you may suspect from the name, a common heart medication ingredient.  I can remember when many the elder folk in my family spoke of someone on “the digitalis”.  I did not know at the time that the beautiful Foxgloves my Nana raised right outside from where I was sat were the plants responsible for so many lives saved.  Not her personal plants, obviously, but you know… Still, at the same time, I was cautioned never to touch the s ..read more