My relationship to my locale is literally physical. I live here. I work here. I was born and raised here. I express the physicality of my love of the land in my traditional witchcraft by connecting very sensually to the material – spiritual presences of place. So much of traditional witchcraft is so rooted. When I confront the sensibility of most traditional witchcraft, the base of it is old world. I’m here in America, but of Celtic heritage and so I approach my Pacific Northwest home with a fey wonder and let it communicate to me.
On a walk with my dog earlier this week, I spied a special stone with a hole naturally occurring through it. I collect these bored stones from all over, but this one is from my neighborhood. I sing a charm of thanks to the stone and it’s spirit, spontaneously composed – based loosely upon one from Aradia for when happening upon such treasures.
I brought the jagged rock home and kept it in my bed. These holey stones are a dream charm and I was pleased to find my dreams more vivid and meaningful than they have been lately. The dreams carried messages about how this particular bored stone might be used magically. A lot of life changes and holidays had led to a bit of burnout for me. The new rock helped me get my mojo going.
Sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough go home. Well for me at least touching base with my family and tying those bonds tight has given me strength. I really needed a strong rock and to return to my roots so my dad and I took a road trip to my mountain. We loaded up the rugged four-wheel-drive and ventured north. The quiet strength and glory of my beloved Mount St. Helens provided me a point of center. Through everything the volcano is mighty and proud. Despite the current great peace of Saint Helens, she is a fire inside. Local legends of the mountain spirit always refer to her peace, beauty and fire power.
It’s a remarkable contradiction to stand in feet of snow on a volcano, but that is the profound power of our land to contain all possibilities. With my body in contact with all these extreme elements at once: rock faces, ice, wind and ash on the mountain little is left but wonderful calm.
At the boundary of the blast zone where Mount Saint Helens blew in 1980, I made my solemn offering and took in the awesome view. The paper company has an interpretive center there and I found some beautiful fallen alder branches I could use for heart healing magic. The land is a teacher and friend to me as a witch – sometimes a terrifyingly awesome guide in the case of the ring of fire the cascade range expresses.
This is home and where the heart is and so the land of home is ideal for when your heart is broken to find solace in healing. If you are like me, you need some times to actually hug a tree, lay in the grass meadow, put your lips to the cool stones are your toes in some cold water. The land we live upon is a blessing and may it be blessed.
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