Witching

“Hey you.” I said to the young bracken leaves passing by the slope full of them. 

“You were supposed to be blooming.” continued talking to a plant. And yes, I know that bracken does not bloom or have any kind of flowers for that matter. In the Baltics, we have this ancient pagan tradition to look for the blooming bracken on the summer solstice night. The one who finds it will be lucky and happy for ever. There are o lot of witching stories created around this tradition. Due to this legendary reputation, I felt like talking to this plant.

“They actually could burn a woman for talking to a plant in those old witch hunt days.” I talked to myself this time.

In my defence, I had good reasons for talking to the bracken. I was looking for it for medical reasons. In ancient medicine bracken was used  to clean the body form the toxins. In Japan it was used to strengthen the immunity and even as a long life elixir. Especially it is useful fo the people who spend a lot of time in front of the screens. And lately I was doing that due to the amount of pictures I had to edit. Still, bracken can be very poisonous if not prepared correctly. So, I was talking to it. Hoping that it will help me to make friends before I use it.

But all this talking with got me thinking. 

Witching. Good or bad? 

Legends say that witches are the servants of the devil and that their power comes from pure evil…black magic, blood, live sacrifices…

However, coming from the parts of Europe, which were the last ones to adopt Christianity, I have always had other view of witches or fairies as they are often called in pagan stories. These women were one with the surounding nature. They knew their herbs, mushrooms, and berries. They took care of animals and birds. They walked in the forests. They danced in star and moonlight. They were emotional and free. And it was beautiful. It was the essence of femininity.

Later, when people disconnected themselves from the nature, they started to burn women for being feminine…How messed up is that? 

So, call me a witch if you want to, but this summer I will get to know my herbs, I will be talking to animals and plans as much as I want to, I will dance under the stars.