Angelica (Hvönn)
- Hidden name: "Angel-root," "Holy Ghost plant"
- Uses: Powerful protection, strength, removing curses
- Why: Tall, strong-stalked, grows in harsh conditions
- Preparation: Carry root, burn as incense, add to protection sachets
Attraction Herbs (Togatjurtir):
Rose (Rós)
- Hidden name: "Heart-opener," "Love's signature"
- Uses: Love, friendship, beauty, emotional healing
- Colors: Red for passion, pink for gentle love, white for purity
- Preparation: Petals in honey jars, rosewater for anointing
Yarrow (Vallhumall)
- Hidden name: "Warrior's woundwort," "Love divination"
- Uses: Love, courage, psychic powers, protection
- Why: Used to staunch warriors' bleeding, hence "draws" things to it
- Preparation: Carry for courage, use in love sachets, tea for psychic opening
Meadowsweet (Móðir)
- Hidden name: "Bride's herb," "Queen of the meadow"
- Uses: Love, happiness, peace, harmony
- Why: Sweet scent, historically used at weddings
- Preparation: In love workings, peace water, harmony jars
Cinnamon (Kanill)
- Hidden name: "Fast luck," "Money draw"
- Uses: Wealth, success, speed, passion
- Why: Expensive spice, symbolizes luxury
- Preparation: Powder in money work, whole sticks in prosperity bowls
Cleansing Herbs (Hreinsunarjurtir):
Pine (Fura)
- Hidden name: "Forest cleaner," "Renewal"
- Uses: Purification, healing, renewal
- Preparation: Needles in baths, resin as incense, branches for sweeping
Birch (Björk)
- Hidden name: "New beginning," "Purifier"
- Uses: Fresh starts, cleansing, fertility
- Why: First tree to leaf in spring, symbolizes rebirth
- Preparation: Bark in baths, twigs in besoms, leaves in renewal work
Lavender (Ljúffur)
- Hidden name: "Peace-bringer," "Sleep's friend"
- Uses: Calming, cleansing, peace, protection
- Preparation: Smoke cleansing, sachets, baths, peace water
Power Herbs (Mátturjurtir):
Nettle (Þistill/Brenninetla)
- Hidden name: "Warrior's courage," "Hex-breaker"
- Uses: Courage, protection, breaking curses, male vitality
- Why: Stings to defend itself, grows aggressively
- Preparation: Dried in strength sachets, burned for courage, tea for empowerment (carefully)
Dragon's Blood (Drekablóð)
- Hidden name: "Power resin," "Protection-blood"
- Uses: Power, protection, potency, sealing
- Why: Red resin, named for dragons, ancient and primal
- Preparation: Ground into ink, burned as incense, added to oils
High John the Conqueror Root (Sigurvísir rót)
- Hidden name: "Master root," "Victory root"
- Uses: Success, power, confidence, luck
- Note: Not Nordic in origin but adopted into Northern practice
- Nordic equivalent: Angelica root serves similar purpose
- Preparation: Carried whole, fed with oils, added to power bags
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V. Tölur og Tímar — Numbers and Sacred Times
The Mathematics of Magic
The Norse mind understood that number carried power, that time was not linear but cyclical, and that certain moments thinned the veil between worlds.
Sacred Numbers in Trolldom:
Three (Þrír)
- Significance: The Norns (Urð, Verðandi, Skuld), past-present-future, beginning-middle-end
- Uses:
- Speak incantations three times
- Knock three times
- Fold papers three times
- Three knots in cord magic
- Three days for certain workings
- Why it works: Completion of a cycle, the divine trinity present in most cultures
Nine (Níu)
- Significance: The most sacred number — nine worlds, nine nights Odin hung, nine in Norse cosmology
- Uses:
- Carve runes nine times
- Tie nine knots
- Repeat charms nine times
- Work for nine days or nine nights
- Nine herbs charm
- Nine pieces in a charm bag
- Why it works: 3 x 3, completion of completions, the number of mysteries
Seven (Sjö)
- Significance: Seven days of the week (named for gods), seven classical planets
- Uses:
- Seven-day candle work
- Seven knots
- Seven herbs
- Note: More common in Christian-influenced folk magic but adopted into Nordic practice
Thirteen (Þrettán)
- Significance: The full moons in a year, the number of lunar months
- Uses:
- Lunar magic
- Women's mysteries
- Witchcraft workings
- Why it works: Unlucky in Christian culture but powerful in the old ways — the number beyond completion, the wildcard
Sacred Times (Helgi Tímar):
Dawn (Dögun)
- Power: New beginnings, clarity, purification, road opening
- Planetary hour: Sun's first light
- Best for: Cleansing, new ventures, clarity work, petitions to sky gods
Noon (Hádegi)
- Power: Full strength, maximum solar power, banishing
- Planetary hour: Sun at zenith
- Best for: Success work, empowerment, charging talismans
Dusk (Rökkur)
- Power: Threshold time, between day and night, liminal
- Planetary hour: Neither day nor night
- Best for: Communication with spirits, transformation, boundary work
Midnight (Miðnætti)
- Power: Deep magic, underworld connection, shadow work
- Planetary hour: Darkest point
- Best for: Binding, banishing, necromancy, working with Hel's realm
The Witching Hour (3:00 AM)
- Power: Veil at thinnest, spirit communication
- Note: Inverted trinity (3:00 opposite of 3:00 PM)
- Best for: Deep trance, dangerous magic, spirit work
- Warning: Not for beginners, requires strong protection
Moon Phases (Tunglskipti):
New Moon (Nýi)
- Power: Void, potential, planting seeds, new beginnings
- Best for: Setting intentions, planning, starting new ventures
- Avoid: Major workings (too little energy)
Waxing Moon (Vaxandi)
- Power: Growth, increase, drawing toward
- Best for: Attraction work, building, prosperity, love drawing
- Peak: First quarter to full
Full Moon (Fullr)
- Power: Maximum power, completion, fulfillment, illumination
- Best for: Any working requiring power, charging tools, consecration
- Goddesses: Freyja's time, women's mysteries
- Note: The seiðr practitioners preferred full moons
Waning Moon (Minnkandi)
- Power: Decrease, banishing, releasing, removing
- Best for: Cleansing, hex-breaking, binding, sending away
- Peak: Last quarter to dark moon
Dark Moon (Myrkur)
- Power: Death before rebirth, deep shadow work, underworld
- Best for: Banishing, binding, cursing (if justified), divination, crone wisdom
- Warning: Powerful but dangerous; not for the inexperienced
Days of the Week (Vikudagar):
Monday (Mánudagur — Moon's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Moon
- Best for: Psychic work, dreams, women's magic, emotions, tides
Tuesday (Þriðjudagur — Tyr's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Mars/Tyr
- Best for: Courage, justice, victory, warrior magic, legal matters
Wednesday (Miðvikudagur — Odin's Day/Mercury's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Mercury/Odin
- Best for: Communication, magic itself, wisdom, divination, trickery
Thursday (Fimmtudagur — Thor's Day/Jupiter's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Jupiter/Thor
- Best for: Protection, prosperity, abundance, strength, expansion
Friday (Föstudagur — Freyja's Day/Venus's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Venus/Freyja
- Best for: Love, beauty, pleasure, fertility, seiðr magic
Saturday (Laugardagur — Bath Day/Saturn's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Saturn
- Best for: Binding, banishing, endings, discipline, time magic, ancestor work
Sunday (Sunnudagur — Sun's Day)
- Planetary ruler: Sun
- Best for: Success, vitality, health, leadership, solar magic
Seasonal Powers (Árstíðir):
Yule (Jól) — Winter Solstice
- Power: Rebirth of sun, longest night, ancestor time
- Dates: December 20-23
- Best for: Divination, ancestor work, protection for the coming year
Imbolc/Dísablót — Early February
- Power: First stirrings of spring, honoring female spirits (dísir)
- Best for: Women's magic, purification, preparing for growth
Spring Equinox (Ostara/Várþing)
- Power: Balance, renewal, planting
- Best for: New ventures, balance work, fertility
Beltane (Valborgsmässoafton) — May Eve
- Power: Peak fertility, fire, passion, thinning veil
- Best for: Love magic, protection (bonfires), fertility
Summer Solstice (Miðsumar)
- Power: Peak sun, maximum light, fae activity
- Best for: Gathering herbs at peak potency, any solar work
Lammas/Freyfaxi — Early August
- Power: First harvest, honoring Frey, gratitude
- Best for: Prosperity, giving thanks, preparing for darker half
Autumn Equinox (Haustjafndægur)
- Power: Second harvest, balance, preparing for darkness
- Best for: Balance, completion, gratitude
Samhain/Veturnætur (Winter Nights) — October 31 - November 1
- Power: Veil at thinnest, ancestor communication, new year
- Best for: Divination, necromancy, honoring dead, protection
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VI. Litir og Merkingar — Colors and Their Hidden Speech
The Language of Hue
Each color carries galdr (magic song) in visual form, speaking directly to the parts of consciousness that existed before words.
Color Correspondences in Northern Magic:
Red (Rauður)
- Element: Fire
- Planetary: Mars/Tyr
- Meanings: Passion, courage, vitality, blood, life force, war, sexuality
- Used for: Love (passionate), strength, courage, victory, protection (aggressive)
- Candle work: Fast action, intense emotion, warrior spirit
- Thread/cloth: Binding lovers, courage sachets, victory banners
- Warning: Can be too aggressive; use with clear intent