Out of the dark and turmoils of January emerges the first light of 2026 – my offering for Imbolc:
Box, lasered with the image of the reborn goddess carrying the sun, surrounded by the first flowers of the season, while Lupercalia are lurking in the distance…
Soon it is time to sow the new seeds.
The box includes: -handmade sweetgrass doll – white cloth blessed under the February full moon – Ametrine, rutilated quartz (venus hair quartz), moss and tree agate – Imbolc incense – 3 beeswax candles – birch bark, for drawing spells upon – witch hazel phytograph (nature print) with Imbolc seal drawn on the backside
As this year’s circle is about to come to a closure, and with Samhain approaching, I felt inspired to write a summary of my research on the wheel of the year.
The wheel of the year is based on the nature observations of our ancestors. It follows natural cycles* and fixed times, such as the solstices and equinoxes, which devide the annual circle into four quarters. Together they form a solar cross, in which the four arms mark the four seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter (which are characteristic for Europe, as it was once covered in rainforests resulting in a relatively stable climate). This solar cross can be devided further into four lunar cross-quarter events: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. These in-between times were considered magical and as doorways to and for the spirits. They fall on the respective full moon of the months of February, May, August and November. For convenience today it is usually on the 1st of these months, when official celebrations of these liminal times take place. The magician may utilize both the full and the new moon, and partake in social activities on the fixed dates.
The celebrations surrounding the solstices are sometimes helt over the cause of 12 sacred nights. The Celts considered Samhain as the beginning of the new year. In Norse religion it is the dark half of the year when the motion of the annual wheel slows down and finally stands still on the winter solstice. It then takes the strength of the golden boar Gullinborsti, who by the end of the Rauhnächte slowly sets the wheel of the year into motion again.
The appearance of the sun cross in Bronze Age religions coincided with the introduction of the spoked wheel. As part of the solar chariot it replaced the solar barge. This sun wheel bears resemblance to the medicine wheel petroforms of native American people as well as the dharmachakra of Indian religions. In his books W.D. Storl refers to it as the European Medicine wheel and links it to our sylvan Celtic origins.
The first appearance of spoked wheels dates to 2000 BCE: Caucasian horsepeople, who travelled with spoked-wheel war chariots deep into the Greek peninsula, joined the mediterranean peoples living there and eventually helped form classical Greece. Celtic people enhanced the spoked wheel with an iron rim in 1000 BCE. Likely, spoked wheels were introduced to China from the West between 2000-1500 BCE.
The horse-drawn chariot, horses and wheels played a special part in Germanic and Slavic divination rituals (hippomancy). They believed their deity rode on the horse or drove the chariot and gave answer through the horses’ behaviour. For example Slavic people would let a blindfolded horse walk in a circle divided by wooden spokes or speersand it was observed whether it stepped on one. The sacred horses (often white, seldom black) were kept seperately.
Apart from being a milestone in the development of humans, the spoked wheel also has connections to deities of weaving and spinning, such as Frau Holle (Dame Hulda), who is the embodiment of an ancient omnipotent earth goddess. Her symbol is the spinning wheel, her sacred herbs and trees open up the realm to the world of the spirits all year round.
Engraved with my Mabon sigil, this box celebrates the beginning of autumn and the harvest of the season. It is perfect for storing smaller sacred objects such as paper sigils, stones, crystals, amulets, beeswax candles etc. E.g. I fill seasonal boxes with sympathetic objects and place them beside the bed for inspired dreaming. This box measures ca. 14 cm x 16 cm x 3 cm and comes including:
1x Lughnasadh Incense
1x Mabon Incense
1x Samhain Incense
In addition are included seeds, fresh from the end of Summer ’24 gathered by Bussardflug and by myself:
Atropa belladonna
Aconitum napellus
Bryonia dioica
Conium maculatum
Datura stramonium
Digitalis purpurea
Hyoscyamus niger
Solanum dulcamara
Angelica archangelica
Artemisia absinthium
Foeniculum vulgare
Opoponax chironium (rare!)
Ruta graveolens
Salvia apiana
Salvia mellifera
Symphytum officinale
Comfrey seeds with little bones found in the soil beneath…
Along with the box can be ordered a custom pendant / herbal amulet filled with rare witch herbs and paraphernalia. Please e-mail me along with your purchase to discuss the details.
Meanings: return of the sunlight, first of the spring festivals
Imbolc signifies the beginning of lactation in sheep and thus the first fresh nourishing milk after a long dark winter. Imbolc is also translated as “in the belly” (since now the ewes turn pregnant) or alternatively as “allround ablution”, denoting perhaps a great baptism rital. The feast day of Imbolc is rooted in agricultural traditions of Ireland. In the Mediterraneans this time of the year was associated with the Lupercalia in ancient Rome and with Candlemass since the rise of Christianity.
The Romans named the month Februarium, from Latin februum, which means “purification” (the English word fever also refers to this). The Roman Februa was a purification ritual held on February 15 = the full moon in the old Roman lunar calendar.
Other names of February include the Old English Solmonath= “mud month” and Kale-monath – named for cabbage. The February full moon is also called Snow Moon, Storm Moon and Hunger Moon.
Even though the sun is gaining strength and the first signs of spring are emerging, winter is still reigning. The month of February is therefore a month of divination and preparation. In some regions, such as the South of Germany, Austria and Switzerland the female Perchta and her hosts are still roaming about, which is reflected in the Perchtenlauf traditions in these areas, where people dressed in goat fur and wearing scary beastial or demonic masks walk around villages with rods, bells and drum beating.
Similar traditions that fall into February are Carneval and Fastnacht. The custom of wearing costumes, drinking strong beer and acting lascivious goes back to Roman times. It was condemned by the Christian church. But not even the Nazis could ban the tradition. According to Christian lore, Fastnacht is the last night before Aschermittwoch, which marks the beginning of the Lenten season (Fastenzeit). However, according to Wolf Dieter Storl the term Fastnacht originally had nothing to do with what today is understood by “fasten” (fasting) but comes actually from high German faseln (middle German vaselen), meaning to “thrive” and to “fertilize” (the earth).
Rituals:
oracles and pronouncing wishes
honoring the goddess in her Maiden aspect
ablution, cleansing, purification, initiation and fertility rituals
blessing and lighting candles (especially white and green candles)
planting first seeds (e.g. pre-culturing vegetables and herbs)
baking bread
drinking and offering milk
crafting / blessing “Brigid’s Crosses” and grain dolls
burning previously crafted straw figures, e.g. from previous summer
binding vices, mental problems, sickness or enemies via sympathetic magic unto straw bundles and burning them ritually
forecasting weather, celebrating groundhog Day
dressing up for Fastnacht, Carneval etc.
Colors: white + green, also yellow and purple
Tools: grain figures, Brigid’s crosses, ribbons, candles, stones, evergreen wreaths or smudge herb bundles, sun discs, chalice, cauldron, matches
Symbols: birch, primrose (=keys to heaven), snowdrops, violets, bear, white cow, ewe, amethyst
Deities: Brigid as Maiden riding on a bear or white cow, Februa (Roman goddess), Mary as Maiden, Perchta, Frau Holle
Around this time of the year, the third and final harvest is celebrated. In October grapes and root vegetables are due. It is also global pumpkin season. Herbs gathered after this point were considered bitter and useless. Trees are finished with sugar production and shed their leaves during the wet season, providing less windage to autumn storms. Simultanously, rainwater now pours down unhindered along branches and stems, straight towards the roots and deeper. Trees turn barren, fields turn brown. November brings storms and cold, muddy weather. The nights are cold, and the first hoarfrosts are about to put nature to sleep. Yet, the grayness is lit up by colorful branches and fruits such as the purple beauty berry, orange firethorn, dark blue sloes, black privet or red holly berries, which provide food to overwintering birds.
In spiritual terms, the moon wins over the sun and the earth mother (vegetation goddess) returns to the underworld, where she resides besides Herne, the black hunter, who has captured the sun. It is Samhain, or modern Halloween.
Samhain probably comes from proto-Celtic samoni – meaning “reunion” or “assembly”. This could refer to an assembly of people, an assembly or renunion of the living and the dead. It could also simply refer to an assembly of harvest or the coming together of the months of the year, since Samhain marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year.
Now begins the darkest time of the year.
In need for light, warmth and protection against the dark, lanterns are set up around homes and properties. Whatever has been gathered up to this point and has not been processed yet, is being cooked, bottled up, stored or crafted into useful things. The ancestors are revered and the gods of the underworld are appeased.
On the evening of 31 October, also known as All Hallows Eve and Halloween, the gates to the underworld open and the spirits of the dead are believed to visit the living. The event is luciously celebrated during the Mexican Day of the Dead. The oppulent celebration includes bountiful offerings, music and dance, to welcome the beloved dead and keep the dark dead out.
Christians celebrate and honor their saints and the souls of their dead during All Saints, All Souls and Totensonntag. Candles and lanterns are placed on graves and light up the dark places of the dead, which are in addition covered with evergreen twigs and colorful flowers.
Children dress up for Halloween and play trick or treat. There is also the tradition of St. Martin’s day, when children gather to walk up and down the streets with self-made lanterns, singing songs and reenacting the legend of St. Martin, who cut his cloak and gave half of it to a beggar, who was shivering from the cold.
Samhain is a cross-quarter day on the pagan wheel of the year (and was originally a Celtic quarter day). It is oriented by the moon’s phase and falls on the November or October full moon, respective the full moon that occurs closest to the midpoint between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, and when the sun moves into Scorpio. The October full moon is also known as Hunter Moon, Harvest Moon and Falling Leaves Moon. The November full moon as Beaver Moon and Freezing Moon or Frost Moon.
Main magical practices during this time are: protection magic, banishing magic, necromancy, black magic or nigromancy, rituals with masks and effigies, pact making and pact renewal (due the opening of the gates to the spirit world).
Here comes a another fresh batch of Samhain incense! This blend is was the first I created for the harvest festivals and closes the circle, being dedicated to the third and final harvest feast. At the same time it marks the beginning of the Gaelic New Year. On Samhain the living and the dead assemble and sacrifices are made. The blend is hence both protective and strengthening as well as suited for opening the gates to the spirit world and chthonic realms. It smells woody, herbaceaous and resinous.
Contains: amber, juniper, mugwort, pine + spruce resin from local forests, oak bark, rosemary, sage, thyme, vervain
Please remember my ordering deadlines for Samhain: 18 Oct. ’23 for international shipments 25 Oct. ’23 for orders within Germany
This incense blend is dedicated to seasonal feast day of Mabon, September feast days and the Autumn equinox in particular. It is part of the Teufelskunst “wheel of the year” incense series and is dedicated to the second of the harvest festivals (the first being Lughnasadh and the third being Samhain). It is all about the rituals of autumn, for example the celebration of the Autumn Equinox and blot rituals / harvest blessing and sacrificial rituals. It smells earthy, warm and sweet, but also resinous. It unifies dark and light aspects. It contains aromatic and warming ingredients, such as cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, precious saffron, storax bark and vetiver root. The resins in this fiery blend are powerful protective agents, such as dragon’s blood, dark copal and pine resin. Sweet myrrh, oakmoss and sticky labdanum in turn revere the scents of autumn and bind the herbs. Fragrant herbs such as mugwort and mullein complete this special composition. Lastly, freshly gathered nettle is included as a reference to the goddesses of spinning and weaving, but also enhances the protective qualities of this magical Mabon blend.
The sigil adorning the blend has been desgined especially for Mabon (read more in my next post).
I made new designs for them, especially for the qliphotic blends. Step by step I am also re-doing the feast day sigils. It’s a pile of work, but ultimately it will be easier to simply print and fill these than cleansing, labeling and packing up glass jars, which also always meant more packing waste. Also, the production of the silver foil labels wasn’t particularly environmental friendly either. So…
These are meant to be smelled and burnt.
I may still do special editions in glass jars every once in a blue moon. I have in fact been gifted a big pile of small miron violet glass jars…
But for now, it’s paper bags! How do you like them?
The autumn equinox marks the second annual harvest celebration. At the same time it is the last of the eight “wheel of the year” festivals. In modern witchcraft the feast day is called Mabon. As one of the four quarter days, it marks a time, when servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. The fruits of the season include grains, aromatic herbs, berries, grapes, apples, nuts, acorns, chestnuts and so on. Nature’s cornocupeia is filled to the rim. It is also rut and hunting time.
Though the equinox marks the point when the night wins over the day time, September days are still warm, due to a weather phenomenon known as “Indian Summer” and German “Altweibersommer”. Indeed, we are experiencing the third week in a row with day temperatures above 30°C. Only the lengthening shadows and the dew on the meadow give away that summer is coming to an end. And it is spider season! Sheet weavers aka money spiders, ride upon their silken threads and seem to be flying through the air. As their threads reflect the autumn sun, it was thought they resemble the hair of old women, which might have been the origin of the name “Altweibersommer”. But also, the art of weaving was once known as “weiben”. This time of the year is indeed also sacred to the goddesses of spinning and weaving. The end of the harvest season marks the beginning of the time spent indoors, with processing the harvest, crafting, spinning and weaving.
Now blooms the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), or meadow saffron, as it is also called. In German the plant is known as Herbstzeitlose, either because the plant has ‘lost’ its time (pertaining to its unsual time of flowering), or because it foretells (from Old German lose, meaning to divine) autumn and is thus the messenger of autumn. Another name for it is Michelsblume, since it flowers around Michaelmas.
Michaelmas is celebrated in most Western countries on the 29th of September. St. Michael is the patron saint of many holy places formerly sacred to the Germanic Donar/Thor. The archangel is believed to have defeated the dragon (Satan/Belial) during the war in heaven. The vision of Michael riding through the sky in the company of other angels is perhaps a reinterpretation of Wotan’s Wild Hunt and evokes similar associations of heavenly flight and the descent of demons. A British Michaelmas tradition is the preparation of the stubble-goose. Eating the goose was thought to guarantee money in the purse during the coming year. In some parts of Germany the Michaelsbrot is being baked. On this day is also sown the Michaelskorn (grain), from which the next bread will be made. Contracts would be made on this day and accounts closed.
Germanic tribes celebrated September as the blot month, associated with the blood of those animals, which had to be slain before the winter, either because they were too weak or too many in number in order to be fed through the cold season. They were sacrificed to the gods and their blood was used to bless the people attending the blot rituals. The German word blodsian means to ‘make holy with blood’ and is possibly the root of the English words blessing and to bless. According to Wolf Dieter Storl, the blot rituals were considered necessary for sustaining the natural order and ensured the return of the sun.
In September, the color red also becomes present in nature. The leaves of the trees take on an autumn coloring, as the sun light wanes and chlorophyll decreases. Some plants invest extra energy into the production of red pigments, which cause for example the fiery red fall coloring in some maple tree species and on cherry trees. The red pigment is not visible to herbivores, and so, while occuring as a vibrant martial signal to the human eye, is in fact a camouflage for the tree, making its foliage invisible to aphids. In addition, herbivores presented on a red leave are better visible to birds, which now have to eat and gain reserves, either for migrating or overwintering.
Besides, if you ever wonder, as to why there is no or little bird singing during this time; the birds are now resting, as they no longer have to defend their territory.
The connection between the beginning of fall and the Celtic myth about Mabon is relatively new. It was introduced during the 1970ies. The name Mabon may be a reference to Maponos, the Celtic god of the hunt.
Mabon is a figure in Celtic myth and features in the Arthurian legends. Apparently, a son of divine origin, he was separated from his mother only three days after conception. Mabon could only be found again with the aid of Arthur and another hero who was able to communicate with animals, namely a blackbird, a stag, an owl, an eagle, and finally a salmon, which ultimately carries the men to Mabon, who is incarcerated in a fortress. Finally, Arthur and his friends manage to free Mabon, who proves himself by winning the battle against a giant wild boar with the aid of some supernatural dogs. Mabon’s incarceration is sometimes interpreted as a form of initiation into the underworld and an apprenticeship in witchcraft.
Suggestion for a fiery Mabon incense:
coriander
dark copal
dragon’s blood
nutmeg
oakmoss
pine resin
red sandalwood
rowan berries
saffron
storax bark
sweet myrrh
vetiver root
Turning to the trees once more, this is also a good time to contemplate the world tree Yggdrasil: nowadays thought to be an ash tree, more likely a mountain ash or rowan, to Germanic tribes an oak or linden tree. Its branches hold the firmament, its fruits form the stars, its stem shapes the milky way, its roots hold the earth and reach down to the world of the dead. The squirrel Ratatosk runs up and down its stem, delivering messages between the realms. Four deer gnaw on its branches (probably they were Germanic star signs) and a giant eagle sits in its crown.
The star sign of September is Virgo. But the stars of Virgo also form the figire of a deer. The star signs of Auriga and Perseus together form the sign of the big deer named Durathor.
The September full moon is also called harvest moon and corn moon.
