Witch's Signature

When an artist paints a picture or a writer finishes a manuscript, they finish it off with their nom de plume, better known as their pen name.  I, as a practitioner of spells, leave my pen name on all my work.  Creating a spell, gris gris, or spirit bottle for an individual is like creating a piece of artwork.  You choose your colors (the situation in which the item is needed), you choose your medium (the type of item the person is needing) and then you begin to paint (doing the spell work that is needed)  The Witch’s Signature is something put on the end of the spell that is personal to you as a practitioner; it could be a sigil or herbs or feathers, something that invests your pride and energy into the work that you have done.  

I personally use three different plants as my Witch’s Signature, I use the Blackberry Leaf, Honeysuckle Leaf and/or the Sassafras Leaf. These are three plants that I feel a personal connection with.
The Blackberry Plant has a brilliant green leaves and has a deep purple berry that taste like a warm summer day. I can remember Grandma and I picking them in between the colonial cobble stone fence.  They tasted so sweet and each berry was picked with more excitement. You can’t think of anything but smiling when you reflect back on the taste of your first ripe blackberry.  It is fruit is filled with seeds allowing it to replant in areas for its own survival.  It is a stolid vine moving over, around, and through any obstacle that gets in blackberry’s way.  The Blackberry bush also has thorns, which protects the plant from predators which are trying to hurt the vine. These are all attributes I find important in my life, to be sweet and protective, also to not allow obstacles to get in my way, and to protect the very base and core of my being.

The second plant I like to use is the leaves from the Sassafras Tree.  The Sassafras Tree is a tree with a thick bark protecting it from the elements and turbulent weather.  The entire tree from root to flower, is aromatic, attracting bees and animals to come and pollinate and taste from it’s leaves and blooms.  The leaves when crushed and bruised give off a fruity aroma.  I remember my Dad showing me the tree when I was a child, him plucking two of the leaves showing me one was like a mitten and one was shaped like three fingers.  I remember when he crushed the leaves how they smelled like juicy fruit gum; since then I have shown other children about it . They have a yellow five pointed bloom which is highly aromatic attracting bees to pollinate the plant.  It produces seeds covered in a dark purple fruit, which causes birds to swallow and drop the seeds throughout the forest.  I am a person who feels protective when it comes to harsh times.  I try to send out an aura of acceptance and a harbor for people to come for security and nourishment.  I am also the person who gives people the wings to fly, to give them enough encouragement to plant themselves where they need to be.

Last but not least, is the Wild Honeysuckle, the fragrant marker of Southern Kentucky Summers.  In the Summers of Western Kentucky you can not walk anywhere without smelling the sweet scent of the Honeysuckle blossom.  It’s white and yellow blossom stands out from the green leaves attracting bees and butterflies.   The vine is an overpowering vine crawling over everything and growing very fast, often taking over man’s creations.  The flowers are filled with a sweet nectar; which even humans can partake of its sweetness.  I remember my Mom and I walking along the Jersey Shore and she showing me the vine.  She plucked a tiny white bloom and pinched the end, and pulled the stamen through the back releasing a tiny drop of sweet nectar.  IOccassionally during the Summer, I take a Oshun Power Water Bath using a mixture of Rose Water and Honeysuckle Water. After the bath I feel cleansed, rejuvenated, and I feel like Royalty. (I often call it my Qarth Bath for you Game of Thrones People)  

While posting this I have come to a conclusion that my Witch’s Signature is not only the power of the plant, but the powers of my memories and parental energies.  My Witch’s Signature is a culmination of memories and  the power of the plants.  I learned today  that the essence of Rootworking is family energies in a symbiotic relationship with the Earth.  Listen to the world and it will speak, listen to the voices of the past, they are still relevant.

 Ase  -Papa O