A few weeks ago, Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on the east coast of the United States. I was safe enough, inland in Virginia, but my husband had family very close to the coast near Jacksonville, FL, where landfall was expected. They did not manage to evacuate, in part because one of those stranded was his 91-year-old great aunt. My mother-in-law was very distressed, and asked if I would attempt a protection spell to keep them safe through the storm, and I promised I would do my best.
There was just one problem. The storm was being powered by the Wild Hunt, and they do not take kindly to outsiders interfering in their work.
So, I turned to a friend with some excellent Wild Hunt connections via Gwyn Ap Nudd. Initially I asked her if she would just present my case to Gwyn and ask his advice. What would I need to do to get my spell let through? I knew I could make a decent spell, but I was worried about being able to send it south to get to them, and I was worried about anchoring it. I needed this to be a spell cast and set, not something I’d need to constantly pour energy into, because the storm could be there for days.
My friend went journeying to see Gwyn, and came back with a somewhat unexpected answer: he’d allow my spell through, but only if my friend went to bat for me. She would need to give offerings, give my spell her essence, and stand guard throughout the storm. I was hesitant, not wanting to put that much pressure on her, but Gwyn had made it very clear that this was the only way. She agreed, much to my relief, and gave me directions. I was to enter her place of power and take away a goo-like material gathered in a pool there, and use it in the Otherworlds-side part of my spell.
That required a journey on my part, so I found a quiet place to lie down, and let myself drift into my Waystation. From there, I left by the portal door and ended up in a dark forest, where it was an autumn night. I followed a path up a hill and then down stone stairs cut into a cliff face, to the mouth of a cave. Once inside, I intuitively made my way to the cavern where I knew I would find the pool. Although I normally glow somewhat in dim light Over There, I did not disturb the blackness of the cave, because my clothes had adjusted to be something like black-out curtains. Even my face was veiled and my hands were gloved – I moved without seeing where I went. Once I found the place, I briefly lifted my veil so that just the dim glow of my face could be seen – the place needed to know who I was, needed to recognize me, so that I could take some of the goo without mishap. I could vaguely see or feel someone back towards the wall ahead of me, though as I was the only source of light, I could not see them clearly. At first I hesitated, wondering if I would have to prove myself to this being, but whoever it was, they simply watched, perhaps making sure I was not taking more than I had agreed to, and that I wouldn’t overstay my welcome. I bent down, uncertain how I was going to scoop up some of the goo when some of it jumped out, a droplet the size of my fist. I held out a belt pouch to catch it in, and the goo landed but bounced back up once, twice, three times before settling, and then I closed the bag. I put it back on the belt at my waist, lowered my veil again, and made my way out the way I’d come in. Once I was outside the cave, my clothes became my usual airy dress, and this time, instead of heading up the stairs, I leapt into the water at the base of the cliffs. I used the water as a portal, leading me through to the water of my own Waystation, where I emerged. Once out of the water, I headed for my temple, in which I do most of my offerings and spellwork in the Otherworlds. I transferred the goo from the belt pouch to a glass jar, where it bounced around in a vaguely annoyed manner – I got the feeling it didn’t like being cooped up, but I wasn’t yet ready to add it to my spell and I needed to put it somewhere for the meantime! Then I ended the journey, coming back to myself in this realm.
Once I was grounded and back to my usual self, I set about readying the Over Here portion of the spell. I selected a jar, cleaned it out and dried it and set it on the counter. Then I found a square of paper – one with waves, from my one-a-day coloring book desk calendar. On the reverse side I wrote the address of the place my husband’s family members were staying, in red ink. I then crossed it with the word “safety” three times in blue ink, folded the paper towards me twice, and put it at the bottom of the jar. On top of that, I put sand from a bucket we’d gotten at a gem mine. There weren’t any large pieces, but any small pieces that went in with the sand I promised in offering to the Wild Hunt. Once I dismantle it, those will likely go on my faery altar. On top of that, I poured just about a half a container of sea salt. Next time I think I’ll use a narrower jar! Into the sea salt I stuck the handle of a small folding knife, with the blade close to and facing the edge of the jar. Behind the knife I put in a seashell, given to me by my husband from his collection.
While I was doing this, my husband went to the store to get some stew meat, for an offering to the Hounds and the Wild Hunt. When we returned, we selected three pieces and put them on a plate on the balcony, making it clear to the spirits who and what it was for with a short invocation.
Then it was time to head back to my Waystation. Again, I found a quiet place to lie down and once I had drifted to my Waystation I went to the temple where I had taken the goo. I brought the jar with me, solidifying it’s existence in that world, too – although Over There it was in a much prettier and larger jar. Once it was solid, I focused first on the paper at the bottom, the address. I visualized it on the map, visualized my husband’s family in the condo, and saw it protected, anointed, covered in the paper that would keep it safe. Next, the sand: I imagined sand bags circling the building, the sand of shore and coastline buffering the waves and stopping the storm. Then, the salt: protection of the highest degree. Protection for them, protection for the spell, the glue holding everything together. Kin to the ocean water, that it would not be seen as foreign, but a natural barrier. Lastly, the shell, encasing it all, keeping it safe, keeping them safe inside a bubble of protective energy. The blade I visualized parting the wind, breaking the storm winds around them so that the brunt of the storm was elsewhere, so that the condo was in a calmer pool of air and water. Finally, I uncorked the jar of essence goo, and added that – it smelled of my friend, and then she was there, claiming it, and the storm raged fiercely in the jar and she met it just as fiercely, tooth and blade, claiming her area as beyond its destruction. The storm truly parted, then, and the bubble I had made was encased in an additional bubble of this essence, of her power, and my husband’s family members were made safe.
Back to myself, I stood and closed the pickle jar then, and on top I placed a tea light, and lit it, so that the work I had done would be sealed and it would come to pass as we had willed.
They will weather the storm, I thought to myself.
And I was not wrong. A whole day passed as the storm raged, and I heard it batter against our protections. A second night passed, too, before it becalmed. Then we heard word from those stranded: they were safe, they were fine, they had weathered the storm alright. The spell’s work being done, I released it, though I did not dismantle it right away in case I had need of it again. But the storm passed and did not return.
[If you’re interested in doing a similar spell, yourself, contact us and I’ll be glad to give you more concise instructions. Or, if you’d like to pay us to do spellwork on your behalf, contact us and we’ll talk!]]