May 11, 2003, is the day that an extraordinary wise man, my teacher and mentor, died. I can see the moment it happened, as if frozen in time and space. I was staying at the house I once lived in just outside of Buxton on the ancient land of Arnemetia, the goddess of the water and the grove. It was a beautiful day and I decided to climb to the top of the hill to connect to the spirits of the land. As I stood on the ancient boundary line from the sixth century AD between the Anglo Saxons and the Celts (Britons), I sensed a profound shift take place. A cold shiver ran down my back and I felt lightheaded. Then it was as if the top of my head had been opened up and all this energy came pouring in. I sat down, overcome with both sadness and joy. It was a very strange feeling indeed. As I walked down the hill, I noticed my friend calling to me.
“You need to call Margaret,” she said. “It’s about Swein.”
I knew right away what was wrong. Before she could say anything else, I said, “He’s passed.”
“How did you know?” she asked. I told her what happened to me. It was a very sad day for me when the wheel of fortune turned and I took on the mantle and responsibility of the Highland Seer.
I think back now to when I met Swein for the first time, with his long white beard and hair. Standing in front of me was an amazing man who could see and predict people’s lives and knew what was going to happen to them. Throughout my teenage years into my late twenties, I spent most of my evenings going to Ceilidhs. Those nights of music, dancing, stories of ancient beliefs, and poems told by the local tale-tellers were a part of my life that I will never forget.
It’s also true that Swein’s life was not an easy one. For the most part, he was his own worst enemy. He loved his “wee dram” and his women. Every time I visited him with my friends in my teenage years, he always had the ladies around him. Then he married and had two sons. Eventually Margaret came into his life and became his companion.
Working with the gift of two sights is not easy, for Swein was always plagued by spirits both living and dead. He drank a lot because of this curse, as some would call it. Walking between the two worlds and seeing both at the same time is like walking on a tightrope. You have to be in total control at all times. You need to know your boundaries and when to say no. Tradition states that the Highland Seer is given their sight by the people of the other worlds.
I remember telling Swein of my experience at Tomnahurich when I met the faery queen and asking him if it had been just a dream or not. He just looked at me and smiled, saying, “It’s okay, lass; all will be revealed in time.” Of course, I always wanted the answers there and then and it was the same when I travelled the world seeking answers, as you might have. When I met the shaman medicine teachers in the Americas, they would say, “You already know what you need to know; it’s all within.” It used to drive me mad. Now in my early sixties, I have a greater understanding and appreciation of the value of experiencing rather than just being told something.
You may well be going through a testing time or have had the most incredulous experiences without having anyone to hold your hand and guide you through them. This journey has many pitfalls from people who belittle you and call you mad or crazy to family that will stop at nothing to ensure you do not follow your soul’s chosen path. Everything you have ever experienced is your truth. All of us have different gifts and abilities. It’s knowing how to hone and develop them that helps us understand and make the best use of them. To this end, there are many different tools at our disposal, from intuition to imagination; the difficult part is trusting them and letting go of all the brainwashing that society inflicts upon us. It would be wonderful if there was a Hogwarts in every town—then we would not have the problems we are still seeing today with those whose second sight has not been recognised. So many people today who have these gifts are either given tablets to suppress their abilities or made to change their belief system. Imagine what would happen if all the belief systems were stripped away and we were forced to believe only one thing. Life would be so different if we could follow the path we each truly believed in. I was indeed blessed, not cursed, because I had Swein, who ensured I would not lose the gift of seership.
I call the path of the seer “the path of knowing.” It does not happen overnight. It takes years and years of working within your chosen field of work—from the learning and understanding of what you are experiencing to applying it in your work. It’s not something you pick up and put back down again, it’s a way of life. It is the path of initiation. The most important thing for working with witchcraft is laying down your foundations. You will not be able to jump straight into spellwork if you don’t know how to work with and comprehend divination and the magick that lives within it. You need to experience both the power of magick and awakening of your psychic abilities through divination to enhance your inner magickal core.
I remember going to the Arthur Findlay College back in the 1980s to develop my mediumship skills. I had a natural gift for working with the spirits and I thought attending the college would help me. What it did, though, was damage what was naturally inherent within me. It stripped away all that Swein taught me, and like a game of snakes and ladders, I ended up back down at the bottom. Why? Because it was all directed through logic instead of intuition and imagination. It took me many years to unlearn how they had taught and brain-washed me; it was their philosophy, not mine!
There are three memories that stand out from my dreams, premonitions, and visions. I remember when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I asked my ancestral spirits to show me the date when she would pass. I had never asked this before, even though I knew from a dream when my dad would die. I had visited him in the hospital and he was covered in a white fine mist. I was only fifteen years old when he passed, and I did not know what a shroud was. I had seen a similar appearance when my great-grandad had passed as well, but until I had met Swein, I had no one to explain what things were.
Spirit gave me a date of July 26, so I knew we had nine months. I said to my mum, “Let’s travel to your favourite places.” We did just that and we had an amazing time—she loved every minute. We spent a couple of weeks in the USA then made our way to Ireland. We were staying in a beautiful castle that I knew would please my mum. We had just checked into our room when she fell in the bathroom. I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. I knew then that the time was near. She was flown over to Inverness and taken into the local hospital. I sat with her all night, and as the light started to show on the horizon, I looked at the sun and said, “Welcome.” Then I looked at my mum and said my goodbyes. The date was July 26.
The second memory is about a vision I had of a work colleague. Every time she came on the phone to speak to me, I saw her driving her car over the Severn Bridge into Wales. As she did so, I saw a lorry swerving from the other side of the road, crashing through the barrier and hitting her car. I did not tell her. Then one day I went to the dentist, and as I was looking up to the ceiling while lying in the dentist chair, I saw the vision on the ceiling with a voice saying, “This is the third time we have shown you.” With that, I went straight back to work and called her and explained what I had seen. I could feel her, the location, the car she was in, the colour of the lorry, but not the date. Then after about two years, I received a phone call from her. Everything I had said happened. She was driving across the bridge, remembered my warning, looked at the other side of the bridge, and saw the lorry. With that, she put her foot down and moved from the fast lane, overtaking everyone before moving into the slowest lane, furthest away. The lorry crashed through the barrier, missing everyone. A vision given, a gift of life received.
The third memory is about not listening to my premonitions. I had dreamt three times about Swein falling off his tractor and hitting his head. I had chosen to ignore them. I had told Margaret what I had seen but we had agreed not to say anything. The next thing I knew was Margaret calling me to tell me that Swein was in hospital. He had fallen off his tractor and hit his head badly. I felt terrible, so I spent the whole time beating myself up for not saying anything. I visited him in hospital and was so upset, saying I was so sorry over and over. Swein just looked at me and said, “Lass, maybe you will act upon your visions from now on.” To this day, I still wonder: had I have told him, would it have changed the outcome? Three different stories, three different outcomes. It is a great responsibility that we take on board as seers.
Over the centuries, many stories have been spoken that describe the gifts and powers of a seer. When we look back at history, we find that a seer is spoken of in the Bible. There are over twenty-three biblical verses containing the word. This was then changed to “prophet,” meaning one who spoke directly with God. Stories abound of seers from ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Greece who interpreted dreams to predict the future. The seers known as mantis in Greece were experts in the field of divination and were highly regarded educated members of the elite. They played an important role in the day-to-day life of political, military, and daily life. Whenever the ancient Greeks went to war, so too did the seer. Greek myths spoke of a seer called Mopsus who took part in the search for the golden fleece and of Tiresias, who had been blinded by the gods and gifted the power of augury.
Before Christianity, seers were honoured and revered as wise men and women with a great gift. Then everything changed and suddenly the gift became the curse. When the Scots travelled to the lands of the Gaulish Celts, the seers and magickians held political power and were advisers to the kings. These vates held the knowledge of the ancient ones passed down from century to century, ensuring the direct line of seership. There are stories of the druids travelling to ancient lands to learn about and practice prophecy. The Highlands and the islands of Scotland are renowned for their seers too. The Highland word for a seer is taibhsear. Those with the “gift seen as a curse” called their practice taibhsearachd. It was said that those who carried this curse were either mentally impaired, deformed, or disabled from childbirth or as a result of an accident. What’s interesting to note is the same similarities also exist for one born into the shamanic world. It is known that the shaman undertakes a similar experience as the witch seers of the Highlands and many other cultures.
Scotland’s most famous seer was known as the Brahan Seer and was a seer of the Clan Mackenzie. He lived around the same time as Nostradamus in the early part of the seventeenth century. Stories abound of him falling asleep on a faery hill and finding a blue and black stone with a hole in it in his pocket. There are so many different stories about how he found the stone; however, what was very clear was the prophecies he predicted, including his own death. He was born on the Isle of Lewis and worked on the farm as a labourer for the Mackenzies, a clan of Scottish noblemen. His predictions came true many times, including the battle of Culloden, the Highland Clearances, World War II, Scotland having its own parliament, and the Channel Tunnel, to name but a few.
One day Lady Isabella called him to her to ask what her husband was up to in France. He was reluctant to tell her, but she forced the truth out of him eventually—her husband was seeing another woman. Isabella was so upset that she had the seer burnt in a barrel of tar. As he was being dragged off to meet his fate, he made his last prediction. He cursed the family of MacKenzie, saying that the house of Seaforth would come to an end. These last words came true exactly as he had foreseen. Today, a plaque with his name at Chanonry Point House on the Black Isle reads: “This stone commemorates the legend of Coinneach Odar, better known as the Brahan Seer. Many of his prophecies were fulfilled and tradition holds that his untimely death by burning in tar followed his final prophecy of the doom of the House of Seaforth.”
All the information about the Brahan Seer has been handed down and collected from oral Gaelic traditions and then written down and published. The first publication was in 1877 and told many different, conflicting accounts reaching back over two hundred years. What we have left are the predictions that came true and the incredible insight that was given that changed many lives, some for the better and some for the worse. Have you made predictions that have come true? Do you know things that you want to tell people but are afraid to? We are lucky today that we will not be put into a barrel of tar or burnt at the stake. Fortunately for those of us that see, feel, and know things, those times have past. However, we are still ridiculed by those who think they know better. I recall being told by a friend of mine that they were told they could not be a healer if they wanted to be a medium. I hear this sort of nonsense all the time! People try to separate others’ gifts. We all have gifts and all work in different ways. Don’t let anyone ever put you in a box. It’s your life, your gift! You are in charge of your life, your beliefs. As Albert Einstein believed, imagination is more important than knowledge, because it is the language of the soul. And if you pay attention to your imagination, you will discover all you need to be fulfilled.
I remember having many visions, premonitions, and dreams as a child. I was told that my imagination was not to be trusted and that it was false by my school teachers and parents. I was always seeing pictures of people dead and alive, places I did not know, and past lives. I compare it to when I nearly died, seeing all my life in pictures flashing across my internal vision. I see things in pictures, never words. Those who are visionaries see the message through visions or in the dreamtime. Many who are called clairvoyant can see what is hidden from others and is actually destined for them. Their gifts and abilities can see through people, places, and situations. Seers use their imagination to be able to see into other worlds and realities. They use the eyes of their soul to guide them to a higher perception. Some call it a gift, others a burden.
Seers use their imagination for their work in connecting with the spirit realms, healing, and to facilitate a bigger picture. This amazing tool creates what we want to experience. It’s beyond thinking, it’s a knowing, a feeling that attracts life’s future outcomes. Our imagination and our thoughts create our future. Listening to storytellers stirs our imagination and evokes new memories. This ability to picture oneself is to conceive something that does not already exist.
The seer uses their imagination as a tool to see into the person they are working with in the past, the present, and their destiny.
Swein taught me that the magick within us is an art form. We are given a blank canvas to work upon. Is your picture a masterpiece or have you still to paint your magnum opus? The magick that lives within each of us is drawn from the source of our human soul, our connection to the spirit in all things. It is creation in form, so that every magickal act is creative. Once the nature of magick is understood it transcends the universal law of cause and effect. That magick combined with your level of understanding creates the wise man or woman. Being a witch, a wise one, is about defining and mastering personal power coupled with a profound understanding of the ancestors, fae, and spirit in all things. Divination is now introduced to you as the next level of understanding.
Divination of the Ancients
Often going hand-in-hand with seership is divination. To learn this sacred art of divination first you must know the history behind it, who created it, and why. All the great mystery schools first taught the origins of where a skill or art came from. They were the ancestors who went before us, who gifted us with this sacred wisdom. They risked everything so that we could inherit this ancient wisdom, albeit slightly diluted from its original teachings, so that we can carry on the line of this sacred art. It’s amazing how divination and most of its forms have stood the test of time, considering the persecutions, banishments, and deaths that were inflicted on the unfortunate souls who believed in this way of life.
Divination is used to predict and see events that are about to happen or to gain answers or ask questions. It usually involves using natural objects such as weather, feathers, bones, shells, and many other tools. The use of interpretive tools or objects can help assist your imagination. You have all the tools, which is the paint, and your imagination is the paint brush. When you have a clear canvas, meaning you get out of the way, then the real work begins.
Remember, your work is to protect the people and ourselves from unseen harm, whether from the spirits or humans. It is guarding and stoking the fire within, knowing when to open the door and when to keep the door closed in every thought, word, action, and deed. It is about the containment of the magick within and without and then being able to go out with it to assist and help others. When you are fully living in and aware of your true power, you know that you don’t need any physical ritual tools to assist in your work. You are the magick, you are the powerhouse, the fire that only needs the spark (spirit) to ignite you.
Divination Journey Exercise
To awaken your imagination, I want you to find a place that is quiet where you will not be disturbed. Turn off your phone. As you read this journey, it will evoke a deeper understanding of the fact that nature’s signs are all around you. This is a story that will show you how to exercise your intuition and how many people may miss the signs in life. Now read the following:
It’s a beautiful sunny day and it’s your first day off in a long time. You are feeling exhausted and no longer have the certainty or focus to make important life decisions. Life at the moment seems like an illusion, so you decide to seek nature in order to gain a bit of clarity and healing. Before you head off, you make a hot drink in a china cup that once belonged to a now-deceased relative. As you relax, you have a quick read of your horoscope in the newspaper, which reads, “Good luck surrounds you today. Time to be patient and ask for guidance. Your sensitivity and perception are heightened as you seek direction and confirmation to the questions you ask. Time to interpret the omens and signs communicated to you today. Take a gamble, your destiny awaits you.”
Upon finishing your drink, you observe a strange shape made by the remnants of your drink in the bottom of your cup. As you grab your car keys, you notice a little bird tapping on the kitchen window. You find it rather odd, as he has been appearing every day for the past week. You nearly trip over a black cat walking across your path on your way to the car, and as you switch on the ignition, the clock reads 11.11, a number combination that you seem to keep seeing lately.
You have no plan of where you are going and just head along the road until somewhere takes your fancy. Eventually you come across a sign that reads Caution—Slow Down, and as you do, you see smoke rising from a fire in a nearby field. Ahead, you recognise an entrance to some woodlands that you used to play in as a child and haven’t visited since. So you drive down the quiet, leafy lane. You feel rather fortuitous that you have the woods to yourself, because often when it comes to being amongst the energy of other people, you become quite fragmented as your personal power fades.
Walking slowly through the beautiful woods, you duck as a flock of birds sweeps past you. You follow their direction deep into the forest, and just as you are wondering which path to follow, you notice animal footprints. You follow them and are so glad that you did for you have been led to a delightful glade, rich in the abundance of delicate flowers and a crystal-clear pool of water. You sit next to it, muse at how fate has brought you to this very spot, and glance at your illuminated reflection staring back at you.
Mindlessly, you pick a daisy and start to pull the petals off as you chant, “He loves me, he loves me not,” just as you did as a child, and laugh at the spontaneity of the moment. You haven’t felt this way in such a long time. How you wish you could leave your current situation and forge a successful career of your own choosing, one that suited your talents and creative side. You close your eyes and gently lie back on the soft grass, dreaming of fulfillment.
Suddenly you are startled by the cawing of a crow who circles overheard. You realise that you must have been asleep for a while as the light has begun to fade. As you look up into the sky, you notice big rain clouds—one in the shape of an angel. As you stand there, a white feather floats down in front of you, and you recall that this has become a regular occurrence recently. A fork of lightning and a large clap of thunder prompts you to run back to the car. But you laugh all the way as you become drenched in the rain, just like you did in those happy childhood days.
Once home, you decide to make yourself chicken soup to warm yourself up. You come across the wishbone and laugh aloud. You recall how you used to pull the wishbone with your favourite relative, now deceased, and you suddenly realise how much you miss them. This person was always telling you tales, telling you about nature, the power of herbs, the weather, and so much more. They were called the local witch, with many people knocking on the door for charms, remedies, and the occasional spell. You look over to the sideboard and smile at the framed picture of them. You take out their belongings from a drawer and retrieve their wedding ring, which is wrapped in an old hankie. You hold the ring and smell the hankie as the tears fall. Suddenly you jump as you hear a noise. A book has fallen off the shelf.
Cautiously you pick it up and notice it was one of your relative’s favourite books on divination that she had left to you. A card falls out of the book. It’s a thank you card from your relative with a message to you, which reads, “Always be authentic. Don’t let anyone project onto you their beliefs, falseness, anger, or bitterness. Every day, affirm to yourself that you are beautiful. Look for the messages given to you every day in nature by people and things around you. Remember all that I have taught you. Enjoy this book of divination and embrace the mystical omens around you. Let your prayers be carried on the wings of time to the Summerlands. I will be waiting. I love you. XXX. P.S. Enjoy the book.”
You notice the date on the card. It’s the same as today’s! It’s the anniversary of their birthday. With a feeling of love for them in your heart, you look through the window and witness a shooting star lighting up the night sky. You take the book to bed, light a candle, and ask your grandmother for her help, for you are so unhappy and wish for assistance in your life purpose. Your dream is to be set free and to do what really makes your heart sing. As you read through the pages of the book of divination, suddenly it becomes clear. You have been given messages all day long!
The following morning you wake up with a sense of inner peace. As you open the pile of mail, you come across a letter advising you that you have been awarded a large amount of money—enough to pay off all that you owe and to invest in the business that you have been wishing for. Wow! You realise what an auspicious day yesterday was, as you recognise all that you encountered were signs, omens, and messages from spirit all around you. From now on, you will ensure that you pay attention as you watch, look, and listen to the spirits all around you.
What this highlights is that the spirit within everything purposefully reaches out to us in this way every day. It’s just that we have been trained not to notice, to disregard these messages and put them down as “coincidence,” if indeed we even notice. We come across countless people who have ignored fallen feathers. They regret it the very instant they realise that they might have inadvertently ignored a message from spirit. One that has literally fallen right in front of their nose! This was not the case for the seers throughout history. From the moment they rose to the time they went to sleep, they saw everything as a message from the world of spirit. They would wake up and ponder on the dreams they had, knowing they were messages that the spirits wished to impart. They acted on prophetic auspices and gave thanks for the gifts given to them by means of prayers and offerings at the purpose-built temples and groves throughout the lands. In return, they were gifted with frequent signs and omens.
The word “divination” means “to foresee” or “inspired by the gods.” Recorded on ancient crude-form tablets, means of divination were taught to those who were believed to have been chosen by the gods to represent them, such as kings and pharaohs. Oracles, seers, and prophets from the ancient lands of China, India, Babylon, Assyria, Israel, Egypt, Greece, and Rome travelled far and wide to further their knowledge and become educated orally in the sacred arts of divination. They journeyed to our magickal lands and gifted us their knowledge and wisdom as told in the storytellers’ songs of old.
In ancient Greece, oracles and seers were believed to be the conduits for the gods on earth. Their visions and prophecies were understood to be the will of the gods, verbatim. In ancient Rome, official colleges for augurs and the study of divination were built. No wars were fought, no laws passed, unless the augurs or seers were consulted. There were hundreds of different forms of divination used throughout the known world in this period of time. These forms of divination lasted thousands of years to the benefit of those both who served and who received the divine messages.
So, what happened? Why do we not consult great oracles and recognise the divine messages within signs and omens that cross our path? Fear is what happened! No longer could augurs speak for the gods, for they were replaced by bishops and priests who spoke on behalf of a singular god. Christianity emerged and fully became the religion that replaced pagan beliefs; priest and diviner were one. Divination, however, was tolerated in early Christian years. In order to bring about control and manipulation, religious acts were passed to bring about separation from the gods. The oracles and augurs were no longer allowed access to the creator gods. It was forbidden to foresee or foretell future events, to discover hidden esoteric knowledge and read the ancient writings of the former gods. They were not allowed to interpret omens, connect with the spirits of the dead, or use intuitive perception or the gift of second sight.
Wise ones also used weather and crop divination to assist in the community. Today this is a lost art due to modern technology. We rely on machinery to do our bidding. In return, our natural intuitive abilities have been replaced by something man-made and not of nature’s way. Divination was used to assure an abundance of crops, a bounty of fruit, and fish of plenty in the lochs and streams. The wise one would connect with the elements in order to gain insight and to “see” how to proceed that day, that month, that year. Interpreting weather patterns gave good indications for making plans for planting and harvesting. With a comprehensive and working knowledge of herbs and plants, wise ones became the medicine men and women of the community, helping heal and cure ailments and disease. This awareness, that all is sacred, that all has its perfect place, is the way of the Scottish wise woman or man. Sadly, humans have become arrogant in believing that they have dominion over the world, forgetting that we share it, not own it.
Weather Witching
Witches have been used throughout history to manipulate and control storms both on seas and on land. It is possible that Jacquetta and Elizabeth Woodville did just that when they whipped up a storm so powerful that the boats could not get into any port in France for days, which resulted in the Earl of Bothwell being tried for witchcraft on the sinking of the ships of King James I (and VI of Scotland) on their passage from Copenhagen to Scotland. One of the well-known Scottish witches, Isobel Gowdie, could call up the winds just by banging a stick against a wet cloth on a stone or rock. They even said Queen Elizabeth I used Dr. Dee and other witches to call upon storms. Magickal folk have been doing weather magick since ancient Greece and I’m sure before that.
All over the world you can find charms and spells that have been used in many different cultures. In Scotland, the Scottish broom is gathered to whip up the winds and call them forth; they could also be used to bring the rains in. Wild heather (Calluna vulgaris) was also used to bring forward the mists and rain. In Orkney, sailors bought wind strings with knots from the weather witches for a sixpence so they could have a quick passage. The witches would go to the top of the highest mountains in Orkney and tie the different winds from different directions in knots, usually three.
Storm witches are powerful beings who control the winds, the seas and oceans, the air, and sometimes fire to create havoc. They are intimate with the wild forces of nature. They love sitting outside in thunder and lightning storms with their wild hair blowing in the wind and their clothing sopping wet. They love to whistle to attract the nature spirits and create wind manipulation spells. It is known that many medieval witches cast spells just by whistling in nature. These storm callers, warlocks of Scotland, were used to stop the Vikings from landing on their shores. On Iona, the islanders saw the Viking ships approaching, went to the faery wells, and drew up the water. They used the water to create a violent storm that caused the ships to be torn asunder on the rocks of Iona beneath the faery hill. Any ship sailing on a Friday was thought to be doomed because the Goddess Frigga and her witches would whip up a storm.
Swein taught me cloud divination, known as aeromancy. This form of divining is probably one of the oldest. I would sit for hours on top of the hill behind Swein’s house and watch the clouds go by. I was instructed to observe the shape, the form, and the direction from which the winds were blowing. Most of us as children loved to watch the shapes and images they created. Of course, we all saw different shapes as our imagination ran riot. Once I knew the different winds, Swein asked me to start cloud bursting, or “busting” as it is also known by.
I was instructed to focus my attention on one area in the sky with clouds in it, and then I was instructed to focus on the sun behind the clouds and move the clouds away. I remember when my mother was alive and we drove down to Cornwall with my then-husband. It had been raining all the way from London and my husband said that we should turn back. I said “No, it’s okay. When we get there, we can do a little cloud busting.” In the distance, we saw the town and I focussed, as Swein had taught me, on the clouds. Sure enough, the clouds moved, and the sun came through. My mother just looked at me. She was an atheist and shook her head, but at the same time, she had a smile on her face.
Cloud Busting Exercise
Go outside on a cloudy day. Find a place where you can sit down in nature and relax. It’s important that you are not stressed. You can do a form of meditation by watching the clouds for a while and noticing the different shapes and forms. Once you feel relaxed enough, turn your attention to a group of clouds. You can get the clouds to form different shapes as well. It’s important that you believe that we are connected to all living things around us, the spirit in all things. Now focus on one particular cloud. Start with a small one. Totally focused, think what shape you would like to change it to or move for the sun to come through, or you can dissipate it completely. Don’t get stressed out trying to do this. It takes time. The most important thing is to believe that it will work and it will. Enjoy yourself, have fun as you deepen your awareness of divination.
I loved living in Inverness. It sits at the mouth of the Cromarty Firth. I worked for the airlines at one time, flying out of Inverness, and there were always problems with the winds suddenly changing. The wind that I remember the most is known as Gentle Annie or Annie. They say there is a gap in the hills near the Cromarty Firth and when Gentle Annie blows through that gap, she is not so gentle. Many times, we would be coming in to land only to suddenly have to abort the landing due to the wind, go around again, and land in the opposite direction.
Do you notice which way the wind is blowing? My dad would go out just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, known as Hogmanay, to see which way the winds were blowing. Once he had done that, he would wait for the bells to strike midnight and come in with a piece of coal and tell us what would happen in the year ahead. It’s important when working with the elements and the elementals of air to know your winds, so here is a list to help you:
The Twelve Winds of Divination
1. East wind is all about new beginnings and aspiring to new heights, a change of fortune, and good luck in business and home-life.
2. Southeast wind is about making plans, travel, and starting new ventures.
3. South-southeast wind is most fortuitous, having good luck and abundance.
4. South wind is about celebrations and focussing on your well-being.
5. South-southwest wind is about withdrawing from given situations that do not bode well, not a time for speculation.
6. Southwest wind is the “mother” wind; look to nurture and heal yourself.
7. West wind is about justice for all who seek it, removal of those in authority who are not just, but avoid confrontation at all costs.
8. Northwest wind is about shedding what is no longer needed in relationships and the removal of sticky situations.
9. North-northwest is about determination and strengthening your resolve to find a way through.
10. North wind is about caution with money and people. Be prepared to stand your ground.
11. North-northeast wind is about the perils of pleading ignorance, choosing to go against help, advice, and signs. Prepare for what may come if you decide to resist change.
12. Northeast wind is about making preparation for change, looking at what you can release and what you will take with you moving forward.
The way that Swein taught me to work with the winds and the directions was to stand and face them and feel. Everyone who does this feels different feelings. I would suggest that if you have the time each day, go stand in a different direction and let the wind share with you their feelings. I notice that when I stand in the west and north it feels very masculine and when I stand in the east and south feminine. I will leave it to you to experience the living winds. Enjoy.
Scottish Divination Revealed
Within the Highlands and islands of Scotland, an augur is known as a frithir and the divination is called a frith. They were used for locating lost animals, people, and objects. The frithirs were the hereditary state augurs of the kings of Scotland. They would stand barefooted and blindfolded before sunrise on the threshold of the castle and invoke an invocation. With hands on each side of the doorframe, they would invoke the local deities and ask for clear seeing. They would then make a prediction on what they saw when they removed their blindfold. This was then adapted for local people to do the same thing. What they saw were the signs of nature. If you live in nature, try doing the same thing. Stand with eyes closed and ask the spirits. Then when it feels right, open your eyes. All forms of divination work wonderfully if they are from nature. This is because they are imbued with the energy of the spirit that resides in them. By asking the spirits and forces of nature for advice and knowledge, we are directly linked to the questions and answers we seek. I would sit for hours at the divide of the River Ness in Inverness looking for signs and answers to questions I would have in my life. I would watch fires burning, look for their teachings, and observe birds flying from different directions. If a bird flew from left to right, it indicated that good news was coming, and if it flew from right to left, it meant that something sad was about to present itself.
I remember Winnie reading the tea leaves. I loved watching her preparing the “brew” in her grandmother’s tea pot. The water was taken from a spring or well and chants and prayers were recited before she boiled the pot on the hearth. She would leave the tea leaves under the full moon for three nights to imbue them with magickal powers. She had to have the finest tea from India, which my great-grandad brought her. He had a magickal old-fashioned corner shop, something just like out of Harry Potter. Once ready, she would place a headscarf on her head and bring the pot to the table. Once we drank the tea, she took our cups, shook out the remaining tea, and placed them upside down, turning the cup three times while singing a song. She would read us our present and future. It was exciting times listening to our future being told to us.
As a child, I clearly remember food being used for divination. Winnie used to bake bread with raisins and currants and put in all sorts of different things, such as rings, coins, and even thimbles. The idea was a bit like the Christmas pudding, and anything you found was considered lucky. This was another form of divination. My grandmother Meiklejohn who lived on a farm in Caithness near John O’Groats used to bake bannock bread at the fire festivals. I remember wanting to eat it when it came out of the oven and was always disappointed when she would walk out onto her land throwing bits of the cake over her shoulder, chasing away any bad spirits so that the chickens would be safe from any foxes around. I remember her telling me stories of when her grandfather used to use mutton shoulder bones to read signs before the lambing season. He would go to the local spea-wife to see what signs she could read for the future of his crofts and lands.
Reading the Signs Exercise
Do you experience precognition, a feeling of dread as if something is going to happen, or have visions or dreams of spirits? Do you think of someone and then they call? Have you always known you have a special gift? Did it scare you as a child? Perhaps now is a good time to take your gift further. By connecting to your inner witch, you are calling on your intuition combined with your inner power to join forces with the universal power that surrounds you. A wonderful way of working with spirit is scrying to get the answers. Scrying is a method of divination that commonly refers to using a reflective object or surface, but traditionally there are many other methods. It’s also great for meditation. The most important thing is to silence the inner critic, quieten the noise of the mind.
When we use scrying, we journey from our left logical brains used for work to the right hemisphere where our intuition and imagination is located. The right side of the mind is pictures and images, the left is facts and figures. You will never be able to connect to spirit in your left hemisphere’s work mode. Scrying brings forth the visions and messages by “seeing” into a crystal ball or other mediums to help you in your divination. When you reveal the unseen, you are in fact opening up your second sight to see beyond your five senses. Just choose something that feels right for you from the following list:
• Water scrying is ideally done on the surface of a running stream but can be done using a bowl of water or dropping ink into a bowl of water and watching the patterns or even dropping pebbles into a bowl of water and interpreting the ripples.
• Fire scrying is done by gazing into a lit candle with a mirror behind it or looking into the hearth fire at home or around a campfire.
• Crystal ball scrying is done by gazing into the crystal ball and focussing on your vision.
• Oil scrying can be done by dropping oil into a bowl of water and watching the different patterns emerge.
• Mirror scrying is done by staring into a mirror and observing what shapes and images appear. Dark mirror scrying is done in the same manner but by using a dark/black mirror, which can be bought in any good “witch-type” shop.
• Wax scrying is done by dropping wax into or onto a water surface.
• Cloud scrying is done by watching the clouds and their shapes and forms.
• Smoke scrying is done by watching smoke rise from a fire or burning herbs.
• Eye scrying is done by gazing into another’s eyes and observing any patterns or images that appear.
• Shell scrying is done by listening to the ocean through a shell held to your ear and noticing any images it evokes.
• Paper scrying is done by burning paper then reading the ashes to see what letters are left or imagined.
• Book scrying is done by standing in front of your bookshelf and seeing which book jumps out at you. Or take a book and flip through it until it lands on a page that feels right for you and read the message.
• Stone scrying is done by watching pebbles on the beach being moved by the sea, by looking into water in a stream or lake and seeing the patterns, or by looking into a seer stone.
My first form of scrying was cloud scrying. Spending a day in nature scrying with mother Gaia’s gifts, such as leaves in the autumn, watching the wind blow through the trees, helps you to soften your focus to “peep” deeper into the world of scrying. Scrying is all about emptying your mind, removing the “inner chatter” of day-to-day things. It allows your inner sensing to develop and create a bond with the natural forms around you. It’s a bit like riding a bike. At first it’s not easy, but after a while you stop thinking about how to ride the bike and just go. That’s the knowing part of the right hemisphere, not the thinking part of the left hemisphere. I would recommend that you spend a day in a forest, by the beach, or in the mountains where you can be completely engulfed in the natural world. Switch off your phone and attune to your surroundings. Allow your senses to emerge with the life force energy that comes from all things natural. Once you have found a favourite spot, sit down or lie down and feel everything around you. Focus on your breath, and only your breath, for a good five minutes. Once you feel totally relaxed, open your eyes and stare softly at the clouds, the stream, the trees, or the pebbles on the beach. Feel the ebb and flow of nature. Allow yourself to hear, feel, see, and touch your inner senses, being at one with nature. Enjoy and remember you are connected to your inner knowing.
Indoors Scrying Exercise
You will need:
• A candle (colour of your choosing)
• A mirror (preferably self-supporting)
If you cannot make time to go outdoors, you can easily practice “seeing” indoors. The best time is dawn, dusk, or midnight. I also find when we just wake up, and are not fully in our left-thinking minds, is a good time as well. The best form of indoor scrying is at night. Place a candle in front of a mirror and sit in front of it. Make sure the room is in the dark and you will not be disturbed. Now sitting, focus your awareness on the candle and only the candle. Focus deeply on your breath, chasing away any thoughts about left brain activity. After five minutes of breathing deeply, focus on the candle, close your eyes, relax. Now open them again and softly gaze at the candle and mirror and allow the images and pictures to appear. You are tapping into an ancient art used by many great and gifted seers. Nostradamus, Dr. John Dee, and the Brahan Seer of Scotland, used these tried-and-tested ways of connecting with Source for the answers you seek.
Chapter Tips
A wise one needs the ability to weave between the worlds. To be able to walk a fine line between the material world and the spiritual world of magick and mystery is a great talent. To be seen but unseen and heard but silent, to feel but become unattached and to know but yet observe, is the art of the witch, so remember:
• Seers were honoured and revered as wise men and women with a great gift. Have you been recognised as a wise woman or man, and if so, who gifted you the name you use? Who have been your teachers and how do you honour them?
• Being a witch, a wise one, is about defining and mastering one’s own personal power coupled with a deep understanding of the ancestors, fae, spirit in all things, and the deities. What is your personal relationship with them?
• All forms of divination work wonderfully if they are from nature. Try to use natural objects like feathers, shells, pebbles, and bones as much as possible in your work, as well as work with natural sources of water and wind. Working with nature gives us clear, precise information.
• Witches have used weather witching throughout history to manipulate and control storms both on sea and land. One of the oldest forms is cloud divination. Consider practising this more often.
• When it comes to interacting with the twelve winds of divination it is good to get a sense of the difference between them, then you will discover which one you like working with as it can heighten your spellcasting too.
• Within the Highlands and islands of Scotland, an augur is known as a frithir and the divination is called a frith. They were used for locating lost animals, people, and objects. Many people have a gift for being able to sense lost items or even people. If you are one of those people, look at developing it further.
• Scrying is a wonderful way of working with spirit. When we scry, we need to switch off our logical left hemisphere of our brains, used for work and day-to-day chores, and engage our right hemisphere where intuition and imagination reside. The right side of the brain is visual, using pictures and images, whereas the left side far more practical and factual. Have you found it a struggle to weave between work and magick? Perhaps you overthink or analyse things too much, or maybe you feel too much and let your emotions override the situation too often. Practice balancing the two hemispheres; this will help both the ease with which you can do your craft and the quality of the outcomes.