“I use [Blockhouse’s] energies, earth, and plant life within all of my Witchcraft Practices. Yes I am a Witch, and have been for the last 30 years.
My story starts about 7 years ago when I started to get interested in the power of plant magic and medicine. I went on a day course to learn more. A part of the course was to take part in a meditation to speak to a plant or tree spirit that you feel connected to and I chose one of the beautiful Hawthorn Trees in the Park.
I know this story sounds a bit woo woo, but I did manage to speak to the Spirit of the Tree and as it spoke it asked me to put ribbons in its branches and in return it would let me use its energy to heal. So since that day every Sabbat or special celebration I tie a ribbon around one of its branches and when I do I reconnect to the Tree Spirit and request it’s help in healing my clients. What’s so lovely is that ever since I started doing it, I’ve noticed other people have been adding ribbons to the tree too!
Adding ribbons to Sacred Trees is a very ancient practice. Originally it started with the Shamans of Siberia. But it was once common across the British Isles and Brittany too.Here in Devon and Cornwall, the ribbons are actually called Clouties which derives from the local words for rags or strips of cloth. Clouties are left as gestures of acknowledgement and respect for the spirits of the land, and sometimes as prayers requesting general blessings or specific aid from those same spirits.
So if you’d like help from this beautiful sacred tree just add a ribbon to it and make a healing request. Hawthornes are particularly known as a healer of the heart – so it’s especially good to those who have a broken one.”
-Tamsyn, Stoke Resident, 2022