Keeper of the autumn moons

Teach me how to read these runes

Brew me steaming broth of bone

Tell me tales, you skull-faced crone.

Danielle Dulsky

It’s said that during a full moon the hags are the most active.

The Witch in everyone knows what it means to come home to the wilds, to seek, find, and remove all obstacles when need, and find and claim their ancestral inheritance, that is their freedom.

Hags were horrible witches of wicked intent and ancient origin, dark fey tied to primal forces whose foul magic and mysterious malevolence haunted fairy tales and nightmares.

If a positive thing could be said about hags it would be that they were extremely imaginative, and when it came to travel, the stories of their odd methods of conveyance were largely true. 

Once each month, on the night of a full moon, hags took part in the vile ceremony, which started an hour before midnight and ended an hour after.

Hags had no desire to be tied down by others, taking pride in their independence from the rest of the world, including from other hags. Nonetheless, despite how different they could be, all hags recognized each other as kindred spirits, members of a kind of sinister sisterhood by which they were undeniably connected.

The Hags are considered keepers of the Old Ways as they are among the few survivors of the barbaric Witch Hunt in the Old World. 

The Hag is seen as ruling the winter, but some say the Hag is said to grow younger and more powerful throughout the winter until the spring feast at Bealtaine.

In folklore, hags are sometimes benevolent, wise, beautiful and perpetually young. 

Trading in their humanity for access to powerful magic, and the transformations they undergo infuse their entire beings with some element of that power.

Hags have been around for a very long time.

In fact, hags feature prominently in myths and stories. The hag is a complex character. On one hand, hags are healers who are especially useful to women during childbirth. But on the other hand, hags can be fearsome destroyers of life, as well.

Hags are among the more powerful deities in mythology. They are wise and cunning. They can command the elements—earth, wind, water, and fire—and control the weather. In the Spring, they sometimes bring destructive thunder and wind storms if they are angered. They can bring tremendous cold and snow in the Winter. The ground would instantly freeze with just tap of a hag’s walking stick. Wildfires, hail storms, and flooding are said to be the works of hags. 

The hag’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma.

In Scotland, the New Year custom of Hogmanay, stems from the pagan Yule celebrations. “Hogmanay” comes from Hagmenai, or Hag’s Moon, signifying the last night of the old year.

From the Old Norse, there is hagi, a “sacred grove,” and haggis, or “Hag’s dish,” which is a mixture of organ meats that is still served today.

In England, a hag is a hedge enclosing a field or pasture.

Babaroga

Rivaling Krampus Babaroga (which roughly means “old lady with horns”) refers to a Croatian bogey who is said to be an ugly old woman not unlike a hag, who stalks the night seeking ill-mannered children by which to spirit away in frightening ways. 

Babaroga may either snatch her victim and put them in a bag dragging them to her cave to be devoured, or she may reach out and snatch the child through cracks in the ceiling. Regardless of how this terrible witch commits her deed, the outcome is almost always seen as a grisly demise for her victim. 

Like all bogeymen, Babaroga is mainly used as a tool to try and scare children into good behavior, such as ensuring they go to bed on time and respect their elders.

Spell

I end with a simple rune candle spell that acts as a broom to sweep off the everyday energetic filth and cleanse the home or environment from negative energy clusters….

• Get rid of bad energy
• Dispose of accumulated anger and negative emotions;
• Absorb the negative energy of evil eye, ill wishes

In Norse mythology the central symbol of this candle – the rune Hagalaz – is attributed to the deity Hag. She is the infamous witch helping to destroy all the negative energy, jealousy, grudge and anger that we accumulated or that others have sent towards us.

Carve the rune or draw on candle and dress with oil or herbs of Rosemary, Basil and Juniper.

Rosemary: in magical use, burn rosemary to rid a home of negative energy, or as an incense. Hang on door to keep harmful or negative people from entering.

Basil: in tradition magical rituals of various nations basil is used for warding off evil spirits, cleansing energy fields and fighting negative influence of surroundings.

Juniper: Since ancient times juniper has been used to protect from and ward off evil spirits. It protects the aura from aggression, helps to quickly find a proper way from any difficult situation.