The honeyed quest
When those harvest ghosts come creeping, we wrap fate’s golden thread around our traveling bundles and take to the otherworldly road. We sing soulful lullabies to the babe who sleeps curled inside the hollow belly of the bone-hag, and we embark upon the honeyed quest. Here, we hone our night vision and ready ourselves for what comes.
In this one-day, two-part immersion on the First Harvest full moon, we will name ourselves word-witch. We will hold the holy familiar in one hand and the wild unknown in the other, weaving word-charms from our personal myths, mythic dreams, and hidden desires.
recommended materials
You need a journal, writing utensil, and, most weirdly, 9 different stones to create your wild bundle.
Ideally, these stones vary in color and shape so you can tell one from the next. They should also not be too heavy, so you can wrap them all in a bundle and carry them with you as needed (save your 20lb geode for another practice). Beyond these parameters, there are no other specifications; river stones are fine, that piece of concrete on the sidewalk, yes, the beautiful piece of citrine gifted you by a dear friend, yes. Use your intuition and find those 9 “charming” stones. If you feel called to use it, it’s right.
If you’d like to also choose a piece of sacred cloth to wrap these inside when it’s time, feel free, or you might decide to choose the right wrap for your bundle after the class ends. Your choice.
important details
Both sessions take place on the First Harvest full moon of August 1st. Times are listed in ET. All is recorded for those who are unable to join live, and both recordings along with any additional resources mentioned will be posted here the evening of August 1st. The password for both events is “Harvest.”
Session One: Charm-writing and the honeyed quest
11am-12:30pm ET on August 1st, 2023
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session I ~
In the first session, participants will learn the basics of charm-writing, name their own guiding stories, sense what they’re being oriented toward as word-witch, and amplify their own word-palettes to source our spells. Using archetypal imagination, we will allow the charms to become energetic containers of power and meaning. We will work with “rhythmic writing” and oracular poetry techniques to invite the otherworld to dance with language, preparing to consecrate and empower the charms in ritual.
NOTES FOR SESSION I:
Pentagram of Understanding
1. Charms are spoken
2. Charms travel
3. Charms are alive and timeless
4. Charms gain power the more you use them in magickal containers
5. Charms are crafted and wielded with and through the Otherworld
Our 9 Charms
1. For Prosperity/Money/Abundance
2. For Home/Home Protection
3. For Travel/Safe and Easy Travel/Movement
4. For Healing
5. For Power/Courage
6. For Love
7. For Clarity
8. For Wisdom
9. For (Your Choice OR The Ancestral Gift)
Key Trinities
1. The bright, the foul, and the holy (This, That, All)
2. The 3 cauldrons (Goriath, Ernmas, Sofis)
3. The triple self (Young, Talker, Deep)
4. The 3 illuminations: Nature, Truth, Wisdom
3 Methods for Power-Word Gathering in Charm-Writing
1. The Memory and Vision as Muse Method
2. The Spontaneous Spiral
3. Pathworking
Session II: word spells and the oracular hunt
1pm-2:30pm ET on August 1st, 2023
~ Click Here to View the Recording of Session II ~
In the second session, participants will create a wild divination bundle from their charms, working with divinatory practices to see what we must see, to know what we must know. Rooted in the answers received, we will co-cast a spell using our charms to raise energy and invite the “crack in time.” We will end by discussing the versatility of the “charm bundle” created, possibilities for integrating the work into various containers, seasonal rituals, and spell types, and the boundaries around and opportunities for sharing this work with others.
Resources:
The Witch’s Art of Incantation by Roger Horne
Folk Witchcraft by Roger Horne
The Art of Celtic Seership by Caitlin Matthews
Cauldrons of Poesy by Eryn Rowan Laurie
The Poet’s Ogham by John Paul Patton
If you like this work, you might consider the upcoming Scripting the Wyrd book-writing class here. Payment plan option is available until August 15th.