Aaaah the Cailleach and her Winter Hags came for an early visit on the Equinox weekend.

I ran, literally, to great them. “Why you usually come in October” I blurted ….. she coyly rasped, almost a secret shared,  “We have no schedule that rules us, we do what we will”.

I liked that! She’s right. Who says anyone needs a season. I mean, I was always a witch at Halloween, then when I got older I realized I could be one ALL YEAR!

There’s magic in fog. Some may curse it for what it obscures, the cars ahead on the freeway, the address of a house you’re looking for, but as a photographer I relish it. The sight of morning fog sends me scurrying outside with my camera, eager to discover new ways of looking at ordinary things!

It’s like moving in and out of time. Liminal walking. Taking it all in, loving every moment, because you know, like a good sunrise or sunset, it will be gone before you know it.

She crouched like a wild beast ready to spring,

She of the long nails, she of the long teeth,

She ran through the hills like thunder.

In Scotland, the Cailleachan or ‘old women’ are also known as The Storm Hags, and seen as personifications of the elemental powers of nature.

Magic abounds in nature. The fiercer, the more inspiring.

Fog Magic 

Charging the Fog: Take the expanse of fog before you. Charge it with a specific emotional value: hatred, joy, love, frustration, fear, peace, see these emotions leaving your body. Step into the that fog and feel the effects it has on you.  Charge the fog bank in front of you.

Protective Fog: When you find yourself out walking through the fog, visualize it swirling around your body counter-clockwise, forming a tight cocoon of brilliantly shining white light.

A Fog Visualization: When you feel your mind being invaded, or when you sense that someone is trying to read your thoughts, visualize a thick, impenetrable fog swirling counter-clockwise within your head. See its dark constantly moving mass. This will effectively stop any psychic eavesdropping as long as the visualization is maintained.

A Fog Magical Exercise: To develop your powers of concentration, and also as an excellent demonstration of power, stand in the fog in a place where you can see it. Stare directly ahead of you into the fog while relaxing.

Witches, both historical and fiction harness fog as a powerful tool. In popular lore, witches were said to summon fogs to roll across the lands to protect fleeing mothers and children during wars to hide from invaders.

In other tales witches would summon fog to protect traveling royalty or heroes who were on a quest to reach lands. At some other times fog was related to the “witching hour” , meaning it was a time the supernatural were out and witches were casting their spells.

Traditionally and theatrically fog is often used to represent the Veil between worlds and afterlife, often used in settings of literature and movies by covering graveyards before something supernatural happens or by filling the streets at night when magick is about to begin.