Of Selkies & Hag Stones
“Isn’t it strange, the way time moves? I could stand here and watch the sea crash beneath me for hours and it would feel like only minutes had passed.”
~ Sjana Elise Earp
“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.”
~Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Last week I took a little break. It was much needed. The week before, I’d hosted a group of my obeah students and we went camping in the woods near my home. It was a great night filled with friendship and magick, not to mention ritual and just connection to nature, but I was so tired afterwards! Between that, writing and the other commitments, I really needed to just get away. To stop and just be, and so off we went to Norfolk for five days.
Norfolk is on the East Coast of England. I’ve been there a few times, before when my kids were younger. Like most of the seaside places in the UK, there’s your usual attractions, you know the kind; fairgrounds and arcades. Those tacky shopping straits full of shops selling knock off clothes, buckets and spades. The traditional seaside tattooist. Those things are fun...for a while, But for me, well, give me an empty windswept beach any day of the week. Norfolk has those too.
This particular beach, the one in the picture above (#nofilterneeded) is a favourite of mine. Just far enough away from the seaside attractions to make it seem unworthwhile to other holidaymakers. The cold North Sea laps this shore, that choppy stretch of water that spans the English Channel, separating England and France.
If I’m honest, I’ve never really felt that connection to the coast, have never really been fussed with the sea, at least not from a pagan or witchcraft perspective. I mean, I hear so many witches and pagans discuss how they feel about the ocean, the power they draw from it and whatnot, but I never really got it. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I’m not a particularly strong swimmer and the fears that come with that realisation, who knows. I also think that for the most part, trees and woods, the forests, are my thing.
But on this holiday, I got it. Needless to say, there were beach meditations, journey and ritual. Obviously. Maybe these things helped.
You can see seals at the coast. Perhaps not the most exciting of marine life, but charming nonetheless. There are loads of them. If you have a mind to sit still and just watch, which I might add, is just so easy to do, the sea has a hypnotic quality, then you will see them. Popping their heads up above the waves to scan the shore. Playing. Sometimes just seemingly relaxing. Like I said, not the most exciting, but there is something quietly glorious about watching a wild creature in its own habitat. Watching without being seen. Having no impact, simply observing.
Of course, when one thinks of seals, one can’t help but think about that folkloric creature, the Selkie. Folklore and stories about the Selkie can be found all over the British isles, particularly across Scotland, Ireland and the East coast. Often referred to as the seal people, folklore tells how they are half human half seal creatures. When in the ocean they appear with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a seal. When on land however, they take the form of humans, and beautiful ones at that as we humans always seem to fall in love with them.
In order to come ashore, the Selkie must first of all shed their animal skin and hide it. In order to marry a Selkie, one must first find where the skin has been hidden before hiding in it themselves. There they await the Selkies return, upon which the Selkie must marry them.
There were hag stones galore on the beach too.
Hag stones, holey stones, adder stones, witch stones, and serpent eggs are all names for the same thing — stones with naturally occurring holes, usually created by the elements, particularly water.
Hag stones are steeped in folklore, myth and legend. In Pliny’s Natural History, he writes that such stones are formed by a mass of twisted snakes, tied together by their ‘saliva and slime’ and that their venom erodes the stone and causes the hole. In Russian folklore, it is believed spirits called Kurinyi Bog (roughly translating as chicken god) reside in the holes while in Irish folklore, the stones, when thrown into water, transform into eels. In Celtic mythology, it is believed that looking through the hole of a hagstone will make visible the fae, spirits and other magical beings.
Whatever your belief, there’s no doubt that hag stones are magic, that the power that causes the hole is stored within the stone.
Because of the folklore and associations of these holey stones, they are often used in folk magic to create charms of protection. To make a hag stone charm, you will need:
A hag stone
Red cord
A key, either an old one you no longer use or an ornamental / craft one.
If you wish to craft this charm in a ritual setting, then do so, setting up your working area as you normally do. If you are new to working magic then simply cleanse the area using spray or smoke, light a candle, burn some incense and sit quietly for a moment meditating, visualising a protective orb all around you and your ritual area.
When you are ready, take the red cord and fold it together and push the looped end through the hole until half of the length of the folded cord is through the hole. Take the loose ends and push them through the looped end and pull tight so that the stone is secured. Add the key to the cord so that it hangs against the stone and tie the ends of the cord together.
Folklore can tie us to places and things, even those that seem distant and far away. Through the stories passed down through the generations, we can connect with one another, with the land. Folklore allow us to reconcile our differences and examine our similarities, hopes, fears and dreams.
However, you are spending your summer, whatever your fights and struggles, take some time to connect with the land and with nature. Self-care is resistance.
EMMA KATHRYN
Emma Kathryn, practises traditional British witchcraft, Vodou and Obeah, a mixture representing her heritage. She lives in the sticks with her family where she reads tarot, practises witchcraft and drink copious amounts of coffee.
You can follow Emma on Facebook.