Witch on Fire is pleased to introduce a guest post today by my dear friend, Epona Petra, an extraordinary Witch, horsewoman, and High Priestess of our coven this year. For some stable magick, Epona offers this spell working for the dark moon, using naturally shed horsehair. This technique is a simple and effective means to release your worries while these pandemic times are so tough. ~Heron
Shedding Your Cares with Horsehair
By Epona Petra
Are you a worrier? Have trouble just “letting go”, and end up lying awake for hours, ‘stewing’ over every little thing? There are little worries that are not worth obsessing over (or so you tell yourself), and there are big worries that carry real fear with them. The Covid-19 Pandemic has been one of those. And as if it is not serious enough a health concern of its own, it carries in its train a host of related worries about loved ones, jobs, money, security and more.
Here’s the thing, though: worry about that which you can do nothing accomplishes nothing beneficial and it’s destructive to self and others. And no, we can’t always avoid worry. But we can take breaks, so to speak, and put the burden of worry down for a time.
Animals live in the present. They are attuned to natural rhythms and the seasons, taking each in its time and adjusting accordingly. One of the signs of Spring, for horses, is the shedding of the winter coat. The hair comes off gradually at first, and then in great clumps; a “shedding blade” is standard equipment in horse barns for this purpose. The old hair falls away to the floor, revealing a shiny, darker coat of new hair underneath. My horse feels good about shedding, because he grunts with appreciation and leans into the brush as his old, dull winter coat, no longer wanted or needed, falls away.
Stable Magick Ritual for Banishing
To that end, I offer here one of my Stable Magick rituals, because this is the best time of year for folks to secure some of that unwanted winter coat for banishing purposes.
Take care, however, that you only use hair that is shed, or hair that has been released by the animal, and not some that was cut off. And it’s only polite to give a gift for a gift; an apple or carrot would be most appreciated.
I would recommend that this ritual be done on a windy day on or before the New Moon. Like all my stable magick, not much is required; you only need clear intention, and the hair itself. You can use as much or as little hair as you like.
If the horses you know happen to have shed most of their winter coat by now, check brushes or run your fingers through the coat to loosen enough to gather. The basic technique is to spin widdershins, like most tornadoes in the northern hemisphere, while releasing the hair, and your cares, to the winds.
You can use a simple rhyming chant like this:
This hair of horse, no longer needed,
Like cares of mine, no longer heeded.
I cast away, the winds to carry,
My heart is light, and back to Merry!
You can bind the worries to the hair by holding it and reciting the first two lines repeatedly to build up energy.
Note: be sure to do this somewhere out of the wind, because this horsehair is very fine and can slip through your fingers in a hot minute.
Then, go outside where you won’t be disturbed and hold the hair close to your body, and recite the entire chant while turning widdershins, slowly at first and then with increasing speed. Turn and repeat, turn and repeat, until you become a whirlwind of your own making and release the hair when you feel about ready to burst.
The work is done! Be sure to ground afterwards by touching earth, and get something to eat or drink afterwards.
A further note: notice which way the wind is blowing, because you really don’t want the hair coming back on you!
Blessings!
~Epona Petra
For an additional Dark Moon spells to banish worries by Heron Michelle, check out this Worry Jar Binding Spell.
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