Spindle&Root Magical Shop

Here in New York we are in the midst of maple syrup season! 🍁🌙🍁

This weekend is one of our “Maple Weekends” where you can visit local farms to see how maple syrup is made, have a pancake breakfast, and eat a bit of sweet maple candy.

As a folk witch, I enjoy connecting with the local land and its lore, as well as learning about the magical properties of the beautiful plant spirits who are part of my ecosystem. I wanted to share with you the Mohawk legend of maple syrup to honor the beautiful maple trees who give us this delicious treat this time of year and my Mohawk ancestor Ots Toch. After all, we should not forget that it was the Native Americans who taught European settlers how to tap maple trees and make the syrup we all love! 🍁

MOHAWK MAPLE SYRUP LEGEND:

“Long ago, when human beings were new in the eastern part of Turtle Island, they barely lived through the long winters, their bodies and spirits weakened by the cold and dark. Though they worked to gather and preserve enough food for the winter it was not enough to keep them well and strong. The Creator saw the sadness of the people so he decided to ask the tree nation if there was something which could be done to restore their happiness.

The leader of the trees, the maple, offered to give its blood to the people so they may be restored to good health. So it was, that at the end of the winter months the sap flowed freely from the maple. The sap was dark and sweet, a syrup which the people drank after putting basswood tubes into the trees so the precious fluid went into their pots almost without effort. Satisfied that the people were once again happy and strong the Creator left to attend to his duties in other worlds.

Some time passed before the Creator was able to return to this world. It was once again the end of winter with snow still on the ground. He went to one of the villages only to find it empty, the longhouses cold with only ashes in the fire pits. He saw that there were tracks leading into the nearby woods which he followed. Soon he came upon a maple bush and there, scattered about on the ground were the people, with wooden tubes connecting the maples and their mouths. They were drinking the syrup from the trees until they could no longer stand. Even their dogs were laying on the ground, their paws raised to the sky with their own tubes into the trees. The Creator saw that the people were ragged and the children uncared for. He was very upset

He aroused them from their slumber and said that he would change the way in which the syrup was to be taken from the trees. No longer would it flow brown and thick but the people would have to make offerings to the maples, tap its sap and then work to make it into syrup and then sugar. By doing so they would come to appreciate this great gift.”

George-Kanentiio, Doug (2011, May 10). A Mohawk Legend: The Origins of Maple Syrup and Sugar. https://gcvblogblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/02/a-maple-syrup-origin-story/

MAPLE MAGIC:

I also wanted to share the special magical properties of maple. Maple trees are said to protect against evil spirits but also to have a gentle and loving nature. Maple branches are often used to make talking sticks because of their gentleness.

Maples are considered to be very wise, provide spiritual healing, open doors to the unseen worlds, and help with decision making. Maple is used in love magic, moon magic, abundance spells, healing spells, and divination. It can be used like honey or sugar for sweetening jar spells.

When I connect to maple, she feels like a friend I could tell my troubles to. Someone who would have an open ear, a kind word, sage advice, and a sweet embrace – if not a bit sappy in the best of ways!

Try connecting with the spirit of maple or maple syrup for yourself to see how this ally can best be employed in your spell work. Folklore is a wise guide but direct experience with the spirits of the plants and trees you seek to use in magical workings can give greater insight into your personal connection and relationship with that spirit and therefore how that spirit works with you.

MAPLE SYRUP RELEASE SPELL:

One idea for maple syrup in your magic would be to lovingly ask the spirit of the maple syrup to soothe something that is troubling you and shift it into something sweet – a positive outcome.

Get a small glass vial (Visit the Dollar Tree for a pack of small vials for only $1.25).
On a small piece of paper write what is troubling you or draw a symbol for it.
Roll up the small piece of paper, put it in your vial and fill the vial with maple syrup. Maple syrup is expensive – hence the small vial!
Close the top tightly and take the vial in your hand.
Place it right against your heart and firmly speak your troubles to the beautiful spirit of the maple. Ask her lovingly to shift what is bothering you or to provide you with the healing, wisdom or change in perspective needed to move forward. Ask that what is sour is transformed into something sweet like the maple syrup.
Thank the loving and gentle spirit of the maple syrup. Take a moment to pour your love into the vial as an offering to the beautiful spirit of the maple tree who gifted the sap to make the syrup.
Place the vial on your altar and feed the spirit of the maple syrup through lighting a candle (you can get a 7-day candle also at the Dollar Tree for $1.25) for at least three evenings (a couple of hours each night should do it – don’t leave the candle lit overnight). Continue to set your intentions and give gratitude each day you light the candle.

For those who follow the Wheel of the Year, Imbolc is approaching! Imbolc is the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is celebrated on February 1st or 2nd. Historically, this Celtic festival marked the approach of spring in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The name “Imbolc” means “in the belly,” and ewe’s milk, both images of pregnancy and new life. During the cold months of January and February, food was scarce in times past and the risk of starvation very real for those living on the British Isles. Imbolc was a reminder that hidden in the belly of the Earth was new life. This festival provided assurances that the cold of winter would soon give way to spring.

Imbolc was (and is) a time for preparing the land to be sown with new seeds. For this reason, water from holy wells was poured on land, as was milk, to bless the land ahead of it being sown. Imbolc is also associated with hearth and home. It is where the idea of “spring cleaning” originates.

The Celtic Goddess Brigid, a powerful triple goddess, was honored on Imbolc, as was St. Bridget– her Christian form. Brigid is associated with fertility, the protection of hearth and land, and is a goddess of poetry and craft. On Imbolc, food and drink were left for her as an offering.

The festival of Imbolc is also associated with another goddess – Cailleach – the goddess of winter and weather. It was believed that on Imbolc, Cailleach would venture out to collect firewood for the remainder of winter. If the day was sunny and pleasant, she would extend winter longer and use her firewood; but if the weather was bad, she would remain asleep through Imbolc and spring would soon come. If this reminds you of Groundhog Day on February 2^nd – you would be correct! Weather divination was common during this time of year throughout Europe. That being said, Groundhog’s Day is Germanic in origin while Imbolc is Celtic.

This Imbolc, I plan to prepare my land for sowing my personal seeds for the year through performing a land blessing and healing. It is easy to forget that our home and land needs to be energetically clear and well for the seeds of our personal intentions to have a nurturing and healthy place to grow and thrive. Our home and land are sacred spaces where we think, laugh, rest, play and dream our lives into existence! It is much harder to grow our intentions into strong vibrant realities if our home or land is heavy with unsupportive energy, conflict, or unhealthy dynamics that do not feed and support us. While we cannot control everything and everyone – we can take time to clear our land of any energetic gunk so that the ground is fertile for new growth.

Imbolc is a perfect time to do this – before we get too far into our year!

But how do we energetically prepare and bless our land so that it germinates our energetic seeds of harmony, good health, a happy home, and personal fulfillment? Well, like so many things in the intuitive and energetic world – it is best to do as you feel called. But that being said, before deciding what you are called to do – ask your land and home what it wants and needs to be a high vibrational and harmonious place for all who reside there – human, plant, animal and spirit – to thrive. Then do what your home or land asks – as well as what your intuition calls you to do

In all shamanic cultures there is a belief in “sacred reciprocity.” To the Andean shamans it is “ayni” and in the Northern European Shamanic tradition it is a “gift for a gift.” Our land and home gives to us daily, as does Mother Earth, and asking what it needs (and then doing what is asked) is a way to show gratitude, love and respect for your home, land and Gaia. It is just good manners! If we support and tend to our land and home – it will support and tend to us. Our best energetic home protectors (along with our ancestors), are our land and home spirits! If we feed them – they will protect our homes from unsavory energies and spirits.

My land was very specific as to what it wanted this year. My land spirits asked that I boil bundles of fresh rosemary in water and pour it on my land in different locations. This is to bless the land and spirits on it for the year ahead. I also plan to do a “spring cleaning” with strong intentions to clear out old stagnant energies that have accumulated over the cold winter months; and to re-assert my commitment to remembering my land spirits through leaving offerings throughout the year. Life gets busy but I really have no excuse not to leave out a bit of bread, a small bowl of milk or mead, or a cut up apple with honey. It is not grandiose acts that are required – only small, sincere offerings of love and gratitude!

So, Happy Imbolc to all! And if called, please leave a comment on how you blessed and honored your land and home this Imbolc.

Maple Syrup Magic & Lore

Clearing & Blessing Land on Imbolc Ahead of Sowing Seeds for the Year