I found purslane (finally!) this week in my garden. Other plants in my garden and yard: mullein, plantain, ground Ivy, Virginia creeper, mulberry tree saplings, milkweed, white goose foot, California geranium maybe(?), and a few others I didn’t note down prior. I’m still learning the properties.
Brothers of one mother, two maple trees I planted in me garden couple years ago. ‘Ve been taking care of them from the day I found their saplings in a volleyball field I was cleaning with sum other fellas. Cheeky bastards grew so quickly.. Feels loike yesterday when I was covering them with glasses just so they’d have easier times surviving winter. Bloody hell.. ‘Nyway the two of ‘em are quite similar really. Though one is just a wee bit more proud and smooth while the other one is but more scrawny but that’s ‘bout it.
So the plants that I didn't know before from our garden and found out through an app are: feverfew, lady's mantle, Canadian goldenrod, swamp violet and swamp geranium. Which I already knew beforehand, and we have in the garden: A large sage plant, lavender, rosemary, thyme, lemon balm, sedum, oregano, spearmint, horse mint, sweet blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, aronia berries. I bought these plants myself: 2x cistus and one each of lemongrass, lemon verbena, clary sage, olive herb, jenny's stonecrop, Cretan oregano, Barbara herb, heal all, small agrimony, verbena, mugwort and hyssop
A reminder for my country witches: remember to make sure most of your body is covered if you’re going to heavily overgrown areas to protect yourself from ticks :)
Not just ticks Sumac and other poisonous plants could be lurking out there also depending on the area Basically try to know what area you are going into and what problems you might encounter
City dwelling witches dont despair. Industrial areas are surprisingly magical. Oftentimes they are unpopulated by residents. Animals know this. Creatures are everywhere in these areas. Disturbed areas are full of what most people consider weeds but many are useable for magic and herbalism. And depending on your "flavor", old train tracks, abandon lots, bridges, and architectural man made places, are perfect for communing with gods, loa, orisha, or whatever your pantheon is!
One of the most powerful plant spirits actually, I tend to find most in urban esp industrial areas. Datura Strammonium, only once found 'wild' and that was by an observatory. Been on a low one lately, and lo! Dat growing out the mess by Tesco superstore when walkin by. Made near tears to a smile for the day. Our spirits really are where they're meant to be always.
@@SombreroPharoah when I was living in Florida the news was whipped into a frenzy over teenagers "doing angel trumpets". Not saying they cant be toxic but I think the local news sensationalized them a bit 😆
This reminds me of the time I found an entire family of foxes playing near an industrial area in California. I'm originally from Colorado and felt disconnected from nature while in CA, but seeing those foxes made me realize the city has quite a bit of wildlife too if I just know where to look.
as a city witch, I make a little offering to Hecate, goddess of crossroads, whenever I drive or go over a bridge! It may not be "traditional", but I think it fits ^_^
a while back I was asking the spirits of a graveyard for some graveyard dirt. in that exact moment, a big swarm of magpies scared the shit out of me by starting to scream and fly away. SO.... that was a "no" for me. I apologized and left. So guys, you will understand when nature says yes or no
As a scientist, I would encourage people to use INaturalist. Your observations are reviewed by researchers and used to study things like climate change.
I would like to add that for those of us with disabilities or energy limiting chronic illness, that this could also take the form of looking out of the window, maybe with a wild window box or seeds for birds... Taking, or asking someone to take, a high quality picture of a local natural area can also be used, zoom in look for patterns, plants, animals to identify and connect with; play spot the difference with photos of the same spot a couple of weeks apart, it won't feel the same as actually being there but with intention you can still make a meaningfull connection even if getting out is hard or impossible. Love, light and spoons to anyone else out there unable to get out into nature as much as they would like.
I am lucky enough that my own chronic illness doesn't consistently slow me down (I've got fairly well managed Crohn's) but I can seriously advocate for bird feeders being their own helpful way to connect with local nature. It can be almost more meaningful to be enjoying a drink like tea or something on the couch on a bad day and be visited by little feathered friends.
Thank you for this! I’m getting ready for a kidney transplant and lately it’s been very hard to walk and get out and had a bit of a gloomy view on my inability to do things, but your ideas shed some much needed light on this. Sending witchy, spoonie hugs and thanks again ❤️
As a very introverted person I have indeed been told to “touch grass”, but now as a practicing witch, touching grass is just another way I connect myself to the earth
@@heartnsoulintodeglocc9975 😄 this! It's like I've been told all my Life that I have my head in the clouds and then I'm the most logical, practical and problem-solving around 😁
Ditto for being called a tree hugger-I do. But I’ve also held “hands” with them by touching my fingers to the branches. They drain your stress and are far older and wiser than us. The elder ones have seen it all, several times.
I know you mentioned land guardians being large trees but I like to think the local cryptid is one. It's a much larger then normal owl that's been around for far longer then a normal owls life span we've called Gargoyle. She's not hostile to anyone but she seems to just kinda watch. She's been around since my dad was a kid(50+ year old) yet she's still around watching and always seems curious.
I was thinking about how we personify forces and realized that even if you don't believe in spirits, talking about forces as if they are conscious beings makes more sense to us as humans because of our humanistic perspective. It helps us connect to the land and that's never a bad thing. I decided to lean into that way of thinking instead and it's made things very interesting.
I could write a paper on how beneficial it is to think this way for both humans and nature, and how damaging the loss of this mindset has been for the modern world. The disconnect we’ve created between us and nature is incredibly damaging for both parties and most people have no idea what they’re missing
I really like this, it’s the basis of animism and I agree even if you don’t believe in spirit respecting nature as if it’s a conscious and powerful entity is significant and if everyone had that state of mind I feel we’d respect the environment a lot better and the world would be better off
My favorite offering is packing out garbage so thanks for the reminder to bring plastic bags. 🤣 Sometimes I forget. But people who litter often "helpfully" leave plastic bags with their garbage (diapers, chip wrappers, aluminum cans, etc.) Thanks, Olivia for promoting plants for pollinators too 🦋🐝🦇
I see cleaning up trash as one way to give back. Only living here for 10 months and we already notice less littering. Maybe our neighbors seeing us clean up after them has helped.
SO glad someone else feels that "culture shock" feeling of not knowing the land or wildlife in a new place. I moved from New England to the MidWest and am honestly really struggling with this.
When i was on vacation in Arizona it was a shock seeing all the cacti. My dad is from there though, and he knew most of their names, so I would ask him about them. Coming back to NYS i almost cried bc i saw all the familiar trees again
I'm in Switzerland, even one mountain to the other. In very humid places, there's "allium ursinum" and in other places close to the wineyards, we have prickly pear. It feels like traveling when we just took the car for less than one hour.
I could write a whole essay on the plant ID apps (I also prefer Picture This! of the ones I've tried). I never knew how blind I was while walking even just around my normal area until I started to learn what I was looking at, and how many names I recognized. These weren't foreign mystery plants from the plant nursery factory, they were names I recognized, but didn't know how to identify while they were still growing. The difference in connection while walking either down my (very suburban) street or through a forest or oak savanna trail now is night and day. Or more like walking through a crowd of strangers versus a room of acquaintances and friends.
I use Picture This! As well, and while I love the app, and it’s usually spot on, I have had a couple of misidentifications. So be sure to always double check with another source! I like to use local plant life books that include pictures and descriptions. These are usually around $25.
I love Picture This! In the last few weeks I’ve identified dozens of edible and medicinal plants on my very own property that I never even realized were here.
Please be VERY careful trusting plant apps. They are far from perfect and can be fooled by lookalikes. Stay safe and don't consume anything unless you are 100% sure of the identification!
Been doing this since I was a child, but I've never delved into land guardians, and now certain trees I know make a lot more sense! Thank you for this video, you're really inspiring♥️
Can we all take a minute to appreciate the breakfast club energy in the thumbnail? ✊ Also, I love this topic. It's so important. Our paths all vary and that's beautiful, but something we should all have in common, witchy or not, is taking care of the land and honoring our ancestors and that includes ancestors of the land we live on. 💚 I love all the scenery b-roll
I started using a plant ID app just for the plants in my front yard, and after finding out that a lot of them are medicinal plants and local flora, I've been trying to encourage their growth!
Oh, nice, fellow front ranger here. I think there are many of us connecting to the land around here. I just get that feeling from some other hikers and I’ve stumbled upon some ritual offerings before. One time someone left a mandala made of roses and corn, it was really beautiful. I was sitting by it, glad there were people spiritually engaging with the land, when a fox came over to also check it out. She got spooked when I got up. The wild flowers are really starting to bloom up over 8,000 feet now so I recommend a walk or hike up there.
I love this. We moved onto a fairly wooded lot a few years ago and the previous owners didn’t care much for the land so the property hadn’t been selling. We looked at it as an opportunity to heal the land and have been gradually cleaning up all their waste they left behind. These past years we’ve become more aware of wild flowers/“weeds” and much more appreciative of them. Always discovering new thing the earth has given back for our efforts. I love looking at something and confidently saying “Look I found -insert “weed”/plant here”-. I’ll definitely have to start becoming more in tune with the local spirits on the property and leaving more offerings. Thank you for sharing!
it is nice to see a younger person speaking of such things, especially nowadays the younger people ( I am 60yrs old so pretty much everyone is young around me but at the same time I am not saying I know more than them I always do my best to learn new things from everyone and everything) , the younger people have their heads in their phones and not noticing all the life everywhere around them, so many things going on that they are missing because they are not present in the moment and caught up elsewhere possibly in someone else living on the Net with their heads down in their phones :( an example is last night at my job working security I was in my car and people were outside talking away looking at one person's phone on the net and I noticed a shadow coming from the bright light on the wall just behind and above them,so I get out of my car and notice it is a small bat flying catching the bugs that were attracted to the light, but these people were all caught up o something on the net not in the present. I later asked one of those people if they have ever seen a bat and he said never lol, it isn't just animals and plants it's insects like fly's, dragons fly butterflies ants, spiders, and other creepy crawlies doing their job keeping the balance
@@Faeriefungus that is part of the thing its more of a feeling that words cannot discribe, like the music of a song can capture you and yopu cannot discribe it to others at how it affects you . for myself I just went with the true feeling and opened up to it . Mind you I have been practicing Tao Chi Chi kung which uses, senses feeling,energy, but then even before I learned those 30 years ago and I was the outcast the weirdo because I could feel and sense things others seemed to not notice ,I think this was because they were to distracted or unconcerned with noticing those types of things. everyone is unique and does things their own way, and I could go on forever doing my best explaining what I kind of have a grasp for but it is just out of my reach ,like my finger tips can feel its warmth but I cannot touch. I dont want t oput up another wall of words so I will stop there
I have a ton of wild chamomile in my area, and I never even realized it was chamomile until the last year or so. It grows like CRAZY along the hillsides by where I work. I wave to it every day when I take my breaks. I feel a little funny about foraging it just because there's a gas station right next door and...I don't know what all has leeched into the soil. But it's lovely to look at and hang out with. Such a serene and calm energy.💚
In two of my languages (French and Welsh) there's different verbs for knowing things vs knowing places/people (savoir/connaître and gwybod/nabod). I know it's technically not grammatical to say I personally know the plants around me, but it feels a lot more natural to say I know these things as friends rather than facts. It's been a really nice way to connect to my new home ✨
Growing a relationship with the main Spirit of one of the local forests I wander around often was actually one of the best things to ever happen to me. No idea how to describe it, but it’s just a different sort of relationship entirely when you are lucky enough to have a Spirit commune that you’ve been welcomed as part of their land, it almost feels like being adopted by a very old very kind and very subtle caregiver. I never stop thanking my good fortune for being born in the mountains, these woodlands are my home
I've had dogs my whole life and they're the perfect excuse to be out in nature daily. If you need a push to get out there and it's feasible, get yourself a rescue dog! Bonus points with Hekate if you work with her too.
I happy to see that you also incorporating ancient baybayin writings in your practice. There are also practioners here in Philippines who uses the same ancient writing system as a divinatory tool and they are also keeping the ancient folk animism alive.
One of the most interesting land guardians I’ve met was a GIANT tree that sat in the corner of our previous family friends very wild and overgrown private property. It had clearly been struck by lightening before, maybe multiple times, but was still alive and growing leaves. It’s limbs were huge around, and they swept along the ground and curled in all sorts of odd ways, so you could sit/lie down on/walk up them. The plant life around the tree grew to thick for me to get through (I sometimes wondered if that was intentional by the land😅 the property was a huge refuge for wildlife, and a little before this some people started illegally trespassing/hunting on it) and eventually we moved away, but I think of it with fond memories.
This was a really well researched and presented video- thanks for sharing! I grew up in the southern Appalachian region. My dad and grandpa taught me an appreciation and use for plant allies like Sassafras, Ginseng, blackcaps, and the nearly extinct American Chestnut. Now I live in NYC, and see some of the same plants in a totally different environment. I find Mugwort in so many places, (growing out of cracked sidewalks, along entire paths in Prospect Park, etc.) and I use it frequently since it’s invasive. As a result, I’ve learned more about its ties to the moon and feminine, protective energy. It’s now one of my favorites to work with! I’m really enjoying exploring the city for plant allies and learning just how adaptable they are.
I have done this for years and it has always restored me. Little did I know that I was being prepared for my witch practices. I am starting my witch journey and I am excited to learn as much as I can. 🥰
The part about land guardian sparked a thought within me. Ever since I was a child I have been coming across tress that had somewhat ancient feeling about them energetically. This kind of feeling made me imagine they are the wise guardians of the forest/ specific area. There used to be one tree that had a deformation of its tree bark that looked like an eye back in my cabin area. I thought that the tree oversees the area and takes care of it. Now when I come across similar trees/ objects I talk to them in a respectful way that acknowledges their wisdom and beauty.
This is so wild, I JUST went to a local nature walk and documented all the plants I could find and their properties and significance because I wanted to know what kinds of local plant life is around for spell purposes. The timing on this video was insane lol and I also like the tip about bringing a bag to pick up litter
Also, the comment about "weeds not being weeds anymore" is my favorite thing ever. My pet peeve is when people get so pressed about having (and this is a very light example) dandelions or clover in their yard because they're "weeds" but honestly all plants are equal and they're not hurting anyone by being there
I totally agree with what you said about moving and needing to get to know your new environment. I moved a year ago and it was so hard to let go of my old forest and come to my new one. It took us a while to become friends but now I lover her so much (the new forest) 💚
I don't know why the youtube algorithm landed me on witch content tonight, but I really enjoyed this video. It is super-relaxing and approachable (even for someone like me, who has very little existing context). Thanks for making a cool, encouraging video!
I'm pretty new to this, but that thing about "weeds won't be weeds anymore" rings so true. Everywhere I go, now, I see tea. Abundant tea! It's beautiful!
I clicked on this as an outsider hoping for a peak into a culture I was unfamiliar with. What I got was an incredibly wholesome reminder to take nature walks, and to be mindful, environmentally conscious, and plugged-in to the world around me. It isn’t hard to see how old religiously-based practices led to sciences like botany, entomology and alchemy/chemistry. Not to mention the wonders this must do for someone’s mental health, to be emotionally closer to nature and feel comfortable with the world around them. I even heard recently that the lateral eye movements made while walking helps the brain to deal with trauma. All while getting a little exercise. Really cool stuff.
Very interesting and timely! I recently found the guardian for the forest around my home; she's a beautiful battered stump of an old tree right next to two HUGE old-growth tulip poplars, some escapees from the settlement of the area that survived replacement of the forest around them. She looks like a woman sitting, with an arm or leg outstretched that curls around in a perfect little cup to place offerings, and the front of her is also hollow.
Having a weird moment because literally 10 mins ago I was outside looking at the plants that border my new house and thinking about how much I wanted to learn about them, then I come back and the first video I click on of yours is this one 😮
I'm still new to the practice, as I'm not really practicing, just observing and learning things from a distance... But it really happened that once in a park, I found this beautiful pinecone that I wanted to take home. (I had found a feather already). But once I picked it up from the soil I was invested by a huge gust of wind... It was a windy day but it took me by surprise. I didn't think it was a coincidence, but, just to make sure... I laid it down. The wind stopped. And as I picked it up again the wind started being crazy again! That's when I realized something was really there and... it really cared about that pinecone somehow lol. I left the pinecone under a huge tree, bowing awkwardly as I was trying to show I was paying respect.
I'm also starting to believe that the city fountain in front of my apartment is holding a spirit. Rome isn't exactly a clean city and sometimes I try to pick up the litter I find around the fountain. I noticed there's always a crow coming from time to time to take a sip from it and there are many birds as well. It's beautiful to see it all clean. I wish I could do more for the rest of the neighborhood but the fountain is always my starting point. Just sharing my experience about the matter, lol
I dug the whole vibe of this, the message, it kind of feels like a more solidified thought on stuff I was considering anyway (picking up litter, identifying plants, bringing a small bag with "just in case" things but definitely also a journal). I need to leave the house to walk my dog anyway, who also enjoys the "smell the roses" pace, and something about this helped me appreciate that even those of us living in more urban spots, there are definitely pockets of nature for us to appreciate and watch over. Thank you for inspiring me. I do want to get to know the local life in my area, everyone should get in touch and aspire to even be a sort of warden. A lot of buildings are definitely abandoned around me, and nature is claiming space back.
This is exactly what I was hoping you would do! I try to do this at my local park whenever I can. The animals can also bring you messages. I also pick up trash, and not just on Earth day🌎 I was living in Colorado back in the 80's. Completely and madly in love with the State. Miss the mountains terribly. Thank you for the walk. Also my favorite bookstore carries field guides. ❣️🤸💚
Thank you for this gorgeous video Olivia ❤ i admire your photographic art 🎨 and you inspired me to take my walk at a local nature spot instead of just my neighborhood today. I recently moved from an urban city life to an urbanish desert life, so learning about the native plants has been super interesting and has helped me connect to the land. Thank you for being here to inspire ✨️ us.
Thank you for reminding me to always be connected to nature. I live in a city but in what we call suburbia. I like to walk or ride my bile in the nearby creek. A few moths ago I even drove to a small national park not so far from where I live How I enjoed the organ pipe stuctures of nature the flora and I even spotted a colourful beatle. I agree that to be spritually connected, appreciate the parkland near your home if you live in a city and when you have the opportunity go to the outskirts and beaches. We cannot always be stuck within four walls even if we like where we live.
I’ve been following you channel for a while now. I can’t even begin to explain how much you have helped me and my craft grow. Now this video was very helpful because I grew up in Florida. So I was externally familiar with all of the plants and and fauna aroround me, but I recently moved to Tennessee and I feel out of place. Like I’m on a different planet, plants and animals are so different, even the weather. The mountains. So thank you for this video. It is very helpful. Thank you.
Raccoon will show you. Follow a little at a time to find the steps up to Wonder, and at the edge of the grassy shore a secret for you. The Storm is also watching.
This video is exactly what I was looking up today. I needed offerings that worked better than what I was doing and the trash pick up and craft objects resonated SO strongly.
You're always so inspiring Olivia , thank you! I'm in the Arizona desert now, and we do offer loads of flora and fauna... Although it's been reaching 110f these days, it's a challenge to go collecting... Obvious reasons.. Heat stroke, rattlesnakes, sunburn etc! My dog and I walk a neighborhood park twice a day early and late, tho and was gifted some fallen Eucalyptus branches.. Excited to get Picture This!
After watching this video I got the app, found a local walking trail I like and am now going to start walking once a week after work! I had my first walk today and loved it!
This video has me ready to take the rest of the day off and go explore the Florida plant life. Even if it is 1000 degrees 🥵. The energy I could feel from the forest you were in with the giant trees was amazing. Also your bed head actually looks really cute.
I’ve only just found your channel and I’m so grateful for this video. I’m going to study horticulture and the beauty of plants. So when you mentioned picture this I was happy, but then to top it off, you’ve informed me of the plant identification on iPhone. Never knew this was a thing until today, I tried it out and wow am I impressed. So, thank you!! Will help me along my journey so much! Sending love from the UK 💕
I have a local park near my house that I visit very frequently, I've loved getting to know that land and recognizing and working with the plants that grow there. This past summer I discovered a wild grape plant and I'm so excited to grow that relationship this summer!
Hey Olivia this little video had really inspired me and given me direction. I must confess I’ve been flagging lately but this has reignited my desire to get out there again and start foraging ,researching and reconnecting with nature again in the best way so just want to say thank you so much 🥰
My family has a beautiful blue larkspur plant in our back garden, and I recently asked if I could use some of it for a self love charm. I could, but first I got the strong feeling that I had to clarify I wasn't doing a baneful working with it (larkspur is toxic, and I think it knew I knew that). Not sure if it's larkspur as a species or just that particular plant that really didn't want to be part of doing harm.
I was actually listening to this video while on my nightly walk around the neighborhood and hanging out with the local family of skunks that come out at night! Ive recently started working with the big tree in my front yard that I climbed all the time as a child and it’s wonderful. I also took a gorgeous small rock (after asking) from a mountain I climbed last time I was in Denver and it’s so potent for me. Great video, Olivia!
This is lovely! I’ve been enjoying some “weeds”-wild lettuce in my yard, some are taller than I am! I eat them raw in salads or cooked. Lots and lots of interesting fungi and mushrooms around here that I don’t forage, but do observe. Plenty of biodiverse fauna by the tidal creeks, marshes, and the ocean. Drastic differences in soil, wind, and moisture conditions at each of those, and they’re all only a few miles apart. Endless fascination!
I feel like picking up trash is such an underrated offering. It seems like if some people see trash around already they feel like it's okay for them to drop trash as well so by keeping trails tidy it actually seems to help prevent people littering who might not have done if they hadn't unfortunately seen there was already trash. I've been collecting resin to make my own incense and like to leave a bit of fertilizer or compost for the trees I collect from. Working with materials from you're local environment just ads so much connection to your practice. I've also recently learned that along with white sage and santo palo the trees whose resin is most popular for incense, frankincense, myrrh, copal etc., are also being over harvested and they actually intentionally damage the trees to collect the resin, so making your own is more sustainable. You can substitute resin from whatever conifers are local to you choosing whichever best suits your purposes.
I lived in Michigan until my twenties, moved to British Columbia for several years, then moved back to MI. What you said in the first few minutes about returning to old friends, with new perspective and appreciation is spot on. I appreciate my home on profoundly new levels than a decade ago.
I gather fallen sticks from the trail (never off trail - don't want to disturb habitats) and I am always sure to bring fruit to offer to the animals of the woods. I think of them as messengers for the spirits of the environments I visit, and hope by supporting them I support the spirits as well.
I always have a squirrel in my pecan tree. But Jackrabbits choose me & my home. They come & sit close to me for a while every day & I spend a little time just sitting & talking gently to them. This year I had a Momma Jackrabbit move under my trailer to have her babies.
I needed this because I moved to Arizona about a year ago and at first I was a little sad because I had the mentality that there isn’t anything that I could connect with here other than cacti lol but I’ve started to notice there is a lot of hidden beauty here I just need to take more time to see them but I will definitely try to give offerings more I didn’t think about that as a great way to really connect💚 Thank you!
The music is 🤌🏾mwa, chefs kiss. It gives such a nostalgic feeling of an era & time of Witches & Magick that we never got to experience; truly magical✨. The way you discussed everything in this video was truly inspiring🙌🏾. I recently found your channel & Love your content🩷.
I've just moved somewhere that has a reserve close and accessible for me where I can mostly use my wheelchair, but I now have the most amazing backyard too so I can just go a few steps outside
Glad you posted this Olivia, it inspires me to learn and to try to find ways to pay respect to the land and form a healthier relationship with the world around me. Thank you! Thank you!
There is so much truth in what you say. I´m born more or less in the woods in the mountains in germany. As a child I was playing in the woods. The trees were our companions, our sitters, our friends and our mothers... Mom told us to come back before duskt, but we never did. The trees were taking care about us, gave us shelter and lot of freedom. I never thought deeply about this, but since I´ve relocated from the place I´m born many years, I try to find peace, but it´s impossiple. I´m a very sensitive person and I can feel all the energies around me. My alianation from home brought me to a point, were I´m recogniced that we are working against our inner voice so often. My land ist calling me, I fill my home with plants, everyone feels so compfertable with it, but I´m still here, longing for the voice of my soil, my mother earth and my trees, which I´m missing. The more I ignore this voice, the louder it screams, the older I get, the urgent the call is. I have to go home to find my peace and I hope y'all can come back to your place too! Peace my friends.
This was a beautifully edited video. Well done beautiful lady. And a great message as well. I’m very lucky to live off-grid in the woods so I wholeheartedly agree with getting in touch with and learning about your biosphere. Big love to you x
Video idea & request for Olivia (plz consider them bc i love ur videos they're so calming yet informative) : moon magick, water magick (i loved the collab you did but id love to see a water magick in ur regular format), maybee even spells for success/small business owners, and an art magick video! (I.e. casting spells via painting, etc) I love all your content and learning from you so i hopefully you read this!! Thanks for creating, inspiring, and informing. You are appreciated!!
This video really seemed serendipitous for me: after a long break, I finally have the mental space to pick up my practice again. Just discovered I have all kinds of cool local plants in my new backyard (like Virginia creeper!) That being said, if anyone has any suggestions on how I use some of the fleabane growing back here, I'm all ears.
I live in Colorado too! Just 20 minutes from Denver. I've felt so isolated the past few years because I've lived in the same house for most of my life and I moved out here from Florida so I totally understand that shift that you experienced. But all of my friends moved away after high school so life has been so lonely and living in the same neighborhood for so many years has made it really hard for me to want to go on walks because I know my neighborhood like the back of my hand and I don't have anyone to go explore somewhere new with me..
So cool to get to watch this video right now. I'm living in MT right now and I've just started taking photos of flowers and plants so that I can ID them and learn about them. I'm working as a guide right now so this has initially been because people ask questions when I'm guiding... But I'm noticing my growing excitement in discovering things that I normally ignore past noticing their beauty. I currently am using the iNaturalist app to ID as well as books for local flora. I must share my beginner excitement at discovering Arnica and Camomile! I still want to cross reference for confirmation but this is so exciting to me and it feels so joyful to walk amongst the plants and know them by name. Such a gift. Just recently discovered your channel and I'm giddy to devour all of your episodes. I am new to embracing my witchiness but realizing that I have dwelled here my whole life... Just denied it trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be. Now I'm beginning to fill my own skin and experience the world differently and I am excited. Thank you for your content. So excited.
I have moved around quite a bit for the past 20 years. It was kind of hard to form and maintain a relationship with the land since my environment changed often. But ever since I practice connecting with the land in my local area, I feel at home in my town. It's crazy. Can't stress this practice enough. It's so beneficial! I always carry water with me! I love the idea of picking up trash. I also only take from the land of I really need something. The spirits in my area are very generous. 😊 Noone ever said no. I want to visit my grandma in my original home town soon. Haven't seen her or the land surrounding her in a few years because of COVID... And I'm so excited to see my beloved pine trees and the immense amounts of heather plants growing there. I wasn't practicing when I visited her last time in late 2018.
Such a beautiful soul and video I just found you in my home page today and am newly subscribed! Love growing into more witchy woman world! Thank you for being! Much love and light to all 💖
Thank you so much for this video. I am searching for my spiritual path. I really connected with what you said about being able to feel the energy when you’re in your local nature spot. I have so many stories that I can’t share with anyone I know. They would think I’m crazy.
Im actually moving places now and I’ll definitely be able to do so! Perfect timing for me! Your videos are always so well made, it does inspire us to try things out!
Thank you for this lovely introduction. I'm someone who is just now looking into folk magic as a practice, but I'm also realizing I've been participating in some without always realizing it. For example, I was a queer child of neglect and @buse so I almost never go back home, but when I do I always end up outside in my old nature nooks and gardens. I feel like I'm coming home to my nurturers with the fauna more than I do with my bio family. I have decades of relationships with specific trees and valleys.
Fortunately I do live in a witchy cottage in a forest 😉 Since living here and with the help of my plant app I can now recognise and name a lot of what’s around me. Obviously I’m still learning (if you think you know it all then you’ve missed the magic in my opinion) There’s so many different varieties of trees and plants here, I’m always coming across ones I hadn’t noticed before too. My connection and appreciation of Mother Earth has deepened since living here too. 💚💚💚
I grew up in Alaska and learned all of the plants and trees here, which honestly isn’t much when you go other places. I felt that “culture shock” with plants when I left after delving into my love for herbalism. Right when I think I have a good handle on things the universe proves to me that I don’t know anything! Lol. You are the coolest!
I moved from the south all the way up to the Pacific Northwest. Talk about culture shock! I have folklore and Craft info that people up here are trying to say I'm appropriating (my ancestry??) I normally can't find most of what I used to use, so now I have to improvise or make my own. I love the hiking trails out here and love that I feel like I've been welcomed by the spirits out here.
I moved from California to the woods in North Carolina and it feels like there is soooo much more life here. 70 ft+ tall oaks. Every summer it just explodes and feels like a jungle, and I now have a whole collection of arthropods that passed away fully intact that I just stumble across quite often when out walking the dog. Every autumn there are large orb weavers that make webs right outside the windows of the house. We even had a piebald deer around for a while. It's awesome.
I go out to my forests here but if I can't...I've got my potted plants, wild birds, giant crows, squirrels, javelina and mice etc and some stray kitties that I feed as well as my pets lol. I go for walks when I can. I LOVE our ponderosa trees and milk thistle. I respect the elementals over here.
Truly inspired me to get closer with nature. I used to do this very often this past fall but had been very busy in the Spring. The relationship with the land has been one of the key elements in my practice. Thank you for the inspiration
This video…just made me realize that I met a land guardian in a meadow once. It was the first deliberate attempt to meet a spirit that I successfully did. Didn’t even know or think of it as a land guardian spirit until now.
Theres a overgrown graveyard near my hime that seems to have been abandond and theres a big willow tree that grows right next to it and over the area and it is always a marvel to me that sort of magnetizes me. I dont know much of spirits but every now and then when i go there i bring flowers and leave them at the gate
Thank you for this. Every day I walk a nature trail along a stream just outside my house. It is surrounded by a train and highway on one side and suburbs on the other and yet when I’m in that narrow strip of forest the magick is amazing. Everything you said resonates. This trail has been a beautiful and magickal treasure in my life. It provided me the perfect place to cultivate a relationship with the spirit Lilith and the natural world as the rest of the world of man did what it did in 2020🤪. I feel like I know every snake, turtle, heron, hawk, owl, and chipmunk in this forest. I’ve lately been given over to touching the trees as I enter the forest to greet them and let it know I’m there in a personal way. I like to hum and chant to the forest to raise its vibe. Speaking of protective tree spirits I did a double take last night during my evening walk because this big tree on the other side of the stream looked and felt like a big tree “troll.”The more I “scryed” the tree I saw a face. I’ve walked the trail for years and only yesterday saw this. Amazing…If you give yourself to the forest it will give itself to you. Even if you cannot be in an actual forest or natural setting - send yourself and your love deep into the ground and up into the sky. Nature/Gaia is all-encompassing. If you cannot talk to the trees and animals talk to the entire Earth! I love this video! Subscribed🤘
Thanks for making a video like this! And I like how you kept saying “you” makes me feel like it’s a task worth trying. (Even I’m already an explorer) but for people who are in more urban areas and to help people get off their phones and explore.
What kind of local plants do you know in your area? What kind of properties do they have?
I found purslane (finally!) this week in my garden. Other plants in my garden and yard: mullein, plantain, ground Ivy, Virginia creeper, mulberry tree saplings, milkweed, white goose foot, California geranium maybe(?), and a few others I didn’t note down prior. I’m still learning the properties.
I have a bunch of aster flowers, calendla, yarrow, thistles, lots of varieties of phlox. When hiking/camping theres a bunch more ive come to know!!
Brothers of one mother, two maple trees I planted in me garden couple years ago.
‘Ve been taking care of them from the day I found their saplings in a volleyball field I was cleaning with sum other fellas.
Cheeky bastards grew so quickly..
Feels loike yesterday when I was covering them with glasses just so they’d have easier times surviving winter.
Bloody hell..
‘Nyway the two of ‘em are quite similar really. Though one is just a wee bit more proud and smooth while the other one is but more scrawny but that’s ‘bout it.
Mullein, yucca, nopales, chicory, pine resin I use alot in the front range. Many more up in the mts
So the plants that I didn't know before from our garden and found out through an app are: feverfew, lady's mantle, Canadian goldenrod, swamp violet and swamp geranium.
Which I already knew beforehand, and we have in the garden: A large sage plant, lavender, rosemary, thyme, lemon balm, sedum, oregano, spearmint, horse mint, sweet blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, aronia berries.
I bought these plants myself: 2x cistus and one each of lemongrass, lemon verbena, clary sage, olive herb, jenny's stonecrop, Cretan oregano, Barbara herb, heal all, small agrimony, verbena, mugwort and hyssop
A reminder for my country witches: remember to make sure most of your body is covered if you’re going to heavily overgrown areas to protect yourself from ticks :)
Yes! And always do a tick check when you go back inside!
Not just ticks
Sumac and other poisonous plants could be lurking out there also depending on the area
Basically try to know what area you are going into and what problems you might encounter
Yesss! I've got chronic Lyme, ticks are no joke! Thankfully I'm doing a lot better than I was even a few years ago
absolutely.. for some reason I can be totally covered and still pick hella ticks off of me 😒
And also take caution in overgrown areas during the warmer seasons. Snakes are always my biggest concern.
City dwelling witches dont despair. Industrial areas are surprisingly magical. Oftentimes they are unpopulated by residents. Animals know this. Creatures are everywhere in these areas. Disturbed areas are full of what most people consider weeds but many are useable for magic and herbalism. And depending on your "flavor", old train tracks, abandon lots, bridges, and architectural man made places, are perfect for communing with gods, loa, orisha, or whatever your pantheon is!
One of the most powerful plant spirits actually, I tend to find most in urban esp industrial areas. Datura Strammonium, only once found 'wild' and that was by an observatory. Been on a low one lately, and lo! Dat growing out the mess by Tesco superstore when walkin by. Made near tears to a smile for the day. Our spirits really are where they're meant to be always.
@@SombreroPharoah when I was living in Florida the news was whipped into a frenzy over teenagers "doing angel trumpets". Not saying they cant be toxic but I think the local news sensationalized them a bit 😆
This reminds me of the time I found an entire family of foxes playing near an industrial area in California. I'm originally from Colorado and felt disconnected from nature while in CA, but seeing those foxes made me realize the city has quite a bit of wildlife too if I just know where to look.
@@SombreroPharoah There's so much Datura where I live; found a huge flower right outside a burger restaurant, which caught me off guard. 😆
as a city witch, I make a little offering to Hecate, goddess of crossroads, whenever I drive or go over a bridge! It may not be "traditional", but I think it fits ^_^
a while back I was asking the spirits of a graveyard for some graveyard dirt. in that exact moment, a big swarm of magpies scared the shit out of me by starting to scream and fly away.
SO.... that was a "no" for me.
I apologized and left.
So guys, you will understand when nature says yes or no
THIS IS SO FUNNY LMAOO
Plenty of time later for some graveyard dirt. :)
Ah. Eheh, noted.
Why do you need graveyard dirt?
@@te9591 protection spell mostly. but I use it for various rituals and spells.
As a scientist, I would encourage people to use INaturalist. Your observations are reviewed by researchers and used to study things like climate change.
Also, other naturalists can confirm or correct your identification so you don’t have to rely on AI alone :)
I would like to add that for those of us with disabilities or energy limiting chronic illness, that this could also take the form of looking out of the window, maybe with a wild window box or seeds for birds... Taking, or asking someone to take, a high quality picture of a local natural area can also be used, zoom in look for patterns, plants, animals to identify and connect with; play spot the difference with photos of the same spot a couple of weeks apart, it won't feel the same as actually being there but with intention you can still make a meaningfull connection even if getting out is hard or impossible.
Love, light and spoons to anyone else out there unable to get out into nature as much as they would like.
Thank you for adding this🫀
I am lucky enough that my own chronic illness doesn't consistently slow me down (I've got fairly well managed Crohn's) but I can seriously advocate for bird feeders being their own helpful way to connect with local nature. It can be almost more meaningful to be enjoying a drink like tea or something on the couch on a bad day and be visited by little feathered friends.
Thank you from a spoonie witch 🦄
Thank you for this! I’m getting ready for a kidney transplant and lately it’s been very hard to walk and get out and had a bit of a gloomy view on my inability to do things, but your ideas shed some much needed light on this. Sending witchy, spoonie hugs and thanks again ❤️
@@sabinaibanescu3113 I hope that everything goes well for you and that you don't have to wait too long for your transplant...
As a very introverted person I have indeed been told to “touch grass”, but now as a practicing witch, touching grass is just another way I connect myself to the earth
Maybe that's why it's a common insult. Funny how the people who say it could very well be the least connected to Earth
Wait, you’ve been outside!?
@@heartnsoulintodeglocc9975 😄 this! It's like I've been told all my Life that I have my head in the clouds and then I'm the most logical, practical and problem-solving around 😁
Ditto for being called a tree hugger-I do. But I’ve also held “hands” with them by touching my fingers to the branches. They drain your stress and are far older and wiser than us. The elder ones have seen it all, several times.
I know you mentioned land guardians being large trees but I like to think the local cryptid is one. It's a much larger then normal owl that's been around for far longer then a normal owls life span we've called Gargoyle. She's not hostile to anyone but she seems to just kinda watch. She's been around since my dad was a kid(50+ year old) yet she's still around watching and always seems curious.
I was thinking about how we personify forces and realized that even if you don't believe in spirits, talking about forces as if they are conscious beings makes more sense to us as humans because of our humanistic perspective. It helps us connect to the land and that's never a bad thing. I decided to lean into that way of thinking instead and it's made things very interesting.
I could write a paper on how beneficial it is to think this way for both humans and nature, and how damaging the loss of this mindset has been for the modern world. The disconnect we’ve created between us and nature is incredibly damaging for both parties and most people have no idea what they’re missing
@@8176kitten preach
I really like this, it’s the basis of animism and I agree even if you don’t believe in spirit respecting nature as if it’s a conscious and powerful entity is significant and if everyone had that state of mind I feel we’d respect the environment a lot better and the world would be better off
It’s a lovely accessible shamanic Way of thinking actually! As stewards of the planet connected to nature!
And who knows, when you begin to respect something it might answer back
My favorite offering is packing out garbage so thanks for the reminder to bring plastic bags. 🤣 Sometimes I forget. But people who litter often "helpfully" leave plastic bags with their garbage (diapers, chip wrappers, aluminum cans, etc.) Thanks, Olivia for promoting plants for pollinators too 🦋🐝🦇
I see cleaning up trash as one way to give back. Only living here for 10 months and we already notice less littering. Maybe our neighbors seeing us clean up after them has helped.
Giving the moths some love too 🤎
SO glad someone else feels that "culture shock" feeling of not knowing the land or wildlife in a new place. I moved from New England to the MidWest and am honestly really struggling with this.
It’s possible to adapt, it’s tough though, like learning a new language.
When i was on vacation in Arizona it was a shock seeing all the cacti. My dad is from there though, and he knew most of their names, so I would ask him about them. Coming back to NYS i almost cried bc i saw all the familiar trees again
I'm in Switzerland, even one mountain to the other. In very humid places, there's "allium ursinum" and in other places close to the wineyards, we have prickly pear. It feels like traveling when we just took the car for less than one hour.
I grew up in the Midwest and have since moved. I’m so excited for you to get to know (and hopefully love) that land as I do :)
I could write a whole essay on the plant ID apps (I also prefer Picture This! of the ones I've tried). I never knew how blind I was while walking even just around my normal area until I started to learn what I was looking at, and how many names I recognized. These weren't foreign mystery plants from the plant nursery factory, they were names I recognized, but didn't know how to identify while they were still growing. The difference in connection while walking either down my (very suburban) street or through a forest or oak savanna trail now is night and day. Or more like walking through a crowd of strangers versus a room of acquaintances and friends.
Yes I needed this🙏🏼
I prefer that app as well! I'll be putting it and Olivia's suggestions to use after my move.
I use Picture This! As well, and while I love the app, and it’s usually spot on, I have had a couple of misidentifications. So be sure to always double check with another source! I like to use local plant life books that include pictures and descriptions. These are usually around $25.
I love Picture This! In the last few weeks I’ve identified dozens of edible and medicinal plants on my very own property that I never even realized were here.
Please be VERY careful trusting plant apps. They are far from perfect and can be fooled by lookalikes. Stay safe and don't consume anything unless you are 100% sure of the identification!
Been doing this since I was a child, but I've never delved into land guardians, and now certain trees I know make a lot more sense! Thank you for this video, you're really inspiring♥️
Can we all take a minute to appreciate the breakfast club energy in the thumbnail? ✊
Also, I love this topic. It's so important. Our paths all vary and that's beautiful, but something we should all have in common, witchy or not, is taking care of the land and honoring our ancestors and that includes ancestors of the land we live on. 💚 I love all the scenery b-roll
I started using a plant ID app just for the plants in my front yard, and after finding out that a lot of them are medicinal plants and local flora, I've been trying to encourage their growth!
Oh, nice, fellow front ranger here. I think there are many of us connecting to the land around here. I just get that feeling from some other hikers and I’ve stumbled upon some ritual offerings before. One time someone left a mandala made of roses and corn, it was really beautiful. I was sitting by it, glad there were people spiritually engaging with the land, when a fox came over to also check it out. She got spooked when I got up. The wild flowers are really starting to bloom up over 8,000 feet now so I recommend a walk or hike up there.
Hey fellow Colorado witch!
@@HighLow_Milo hello there!
I love this. We moved onto a fairly wooded lot a few years ago and the previous owners didn’t care much for the land so the property hadn’t been selling. We looked at it as an opportunity to heal the land and have been gradually cleaning up all their waste they left behind. These past years we’ve become more aware of wild flowers/“weeds” and much more appreciative of them. Always discovering new thing the earth has given back for our efforts. I love looking at something and confidently saying “Look I found -insert “weed”/plant here”-. I’ll definitely have to start becoming more in tune with the local spirits on the property and leaving more offerings. Thank you for sharing!
watching this made me feel warm and fuzzy, like “wow, i love witchcraft!!!”. your videography is truly inspiring!!! well done olivia!
it is nice to see a younger person speaking of such things, especially nowadays the younger people ( I am 60yrs old so pretty much everyone is young around me but at the same time I am not saying I know more than them I always do my best to learn new things from everyone and everything) , the younger people have their heads in their phones and not noticing all the life everywhere around them, so many things going on that they are missing because they are not present in the moment and caught up elsewhere possibly in someone else living on the Net with their heads down in their phones :( an example is last night at my job working security I was in my car and people were outside talking away looking at one person's phone on the net and I noticed a shadow coming from the bright light on the wall just behind and above them,so I get out of my car and notice it is a small bat flying catching the bugs that were attracted to the light, but these people were all caught up o something on the net not in the present. I later asked one of those people if they have ever seen a bat and he said never lol, it isn't just animals and plants it's insects like fly's, dragons fly butterflies ants, spiders, and other creepy crawlies doing their job keeping the balance
How did you learn this practice? I’ve always been drawn to these things but had no clear wording to describe the draw
@@Faeriefungus that is part of the thing its more of a feeling that words cannot discribe, like the music of a song can capture you and yopu cannot discribe it to others at how it affects you .
for myself I just went with the true feeling and opened up to it . Mind you I have been practicing Tao Chi Chi kung which uses, senses feeling,energy, but then even before I learned those 30 years ago and I was the outcast the weirdo because I could feel and sense things others seemed to not notice ,I think this was because they were to distracted or unconcerned with noticing those types of things. everyone is unique and does things their own way, and I could go on forever doing my best explaining what I kind of have a grasp for but it is just out of my reach ,like my finger tips can feel its warmth but I cannot touch.
I dont want t oput up another wall of words so I will stop there
@@alwayscuriousalwayslearnin appreciate your response. Any tips on understanding if someone is using magic against me? I feel like my x was a witch
I have a ton of wild chamomile in my area, and I never even realized it was chamomile until the last year or so. It grows like CRAZY along the hillsides by where I work. I wave to it every day when I take my breaks. I feel a little funny about foraging it just because there's a gas station right next door and...I don't know what all has leeched into the soil. But it's lovely to look at and hang out with. Such a serene and calm energy.💚
Mmm love pineapple weed it was the first plant ally my just walking daughter at the time learned to befriend!
In two of my languages (French and Welsh) there's different verbs for knowing things vs knowing places/people (savoir/connaître and gwybod/nabod). I know it's technically not grammatical to say I personally know the plants around me, but it feels a lot more natural to say I know these things as friends rather than facts. It's been a really nice way to connect to my new home ✨
Growing a relationship with the main Spirit of one of the local forests I wander around often was actually one of the best things to ever happen to me. No idea how to describe it, but it’s just a different sort of relationship entirely when you are lucky enough to have a Spirit commune that you’ve been welcomed as part of their land, it almost feels like being adopted by a very old very kind and very subtle caregiver. I never stop thanking my good fortune for being born in the mountains, these woodlands are my home
Life is truly beautiful when you connect to Mother Earth 🌎
I've had dogs my whole life and they're the perfect excuse to be out in nature daily. If you need a push to get out there and it's feasible, get yourself a rescue dog! Bonus points with Hekate if you work with her too.
I happy to see that you also incorporating ancient baybayin writings in your practice. There are also practioners here in Philippines who uses the same ancient writing system as a divinatory tool and they are also keeping the ancient folk animism alive.
I just learned about something that I never knew existed! Thank you.
One of the most interesting land guardians I’ve met was a GIANT tree that sat in the corner of our previous family friends very wild and overgrown private property. It had clearly been struck by lightening before, maybe multiple times, but was still alive and growing leaves. It’s limbs were huge around, and they swept along the ground and curled in all sorts of odd ways, so you could sit/lie down on/walk up them.
The plant life around the tree grew to thick for me to get through (I sometimes wondered if that was intentional by the land😅 the property was a huge refuge for wildlife, and a little before this some people started illegally trespassing/hunting on it) and eventually we moved away, but I think of it with fond memories.
This was a really well researched and presented video- thanks for sharing! I grew up in the southern Appalachian region. My dad and grandpa taught me an appreciation and use for plant allies like Sassafras, Ginseng, blackcaps, and the nearly extinct American Chestnut.
Now I live in NYC, and see some of the same plants in a totally different environment. I find Mugwort in so many places, (growing out of cracked sidewalks, along entire paths in Prospect Park, etc.) and I use it frequently since it’s invasive. As a result, I’ve learned more about its ties to the moon and feminine, protective energy. It’s now one of my favorites to work with! I’m really enjoying exploring the city for plant allies and learning just how adaptable they are.
Yes! I love my plant allies!
I have done this for years and it has always restored me. Little did I know that I was being prepared for my witch practices. I am starting my witch journey and I am excited to learn as much as I can. 🥰
The part about land guardian sparked a thought within me.
Ever since I was a child I have been coming across tress that had somewhat ancient feeling about them energetically. This kind of feeling made me imagine they are the wise guardians of the forest/ specific area. There used to be one tree that had a deformation of its tree bark that looked like an eye back in my cabin area. I thought that the tree oversees the area and takes care of it. Now when I come across similar trees/ objects I talk to them in a respectful way that acknowledges their wisdom and beauty.
This is so wild, I JUST went to a local nature walk and documented all the plants I could find and their properties and significance because I wanted to know what kinds of local plant life is around for spell purposes. The timing on this video was insane lol and I also like the tip about bringing a bag to pick up litter
Also, the comment about "weeds not being weeds anymore" is my favorite thing ever. My pet peeve is when people get so pressed about having (and this is a very light example) dandelions or clover in their yard because they're "weeds" but honestly all plants are equal and they're not hurting anyone by being there
I just found a book "Weeds of the West". I cannot wait to use this book to know my area better!
I've been wanting to do this. There's a lake litteraly down the road from me. Thank you for the gentle push to do this.
I totally agree with what you said about moving and needing to get to know your new environment. I moved a year ago and it was so hard to let go of my old forest and come to my new one. It took us a while to become friends but now I lover her so much (the new forest) 💚
I don't know why the youtube algorithm landed me on witch content tonight, but I really enjoyed this video. It is super-relaxing and approachable (even for someone like me, who has very little existing context). Thanks for making a cool, encouraging video!
I'm pretty new to this, but that thing about "weeds won't be weeds anymore" rings so true. Everywhere I go, now, I see tea. Abundant tea! It's beautiful!
I clicked on this as an outsider hoping for a peak into a culture I was unfamiliar with. What I got was an incredibly wholesome reminder to take nature walks, and to be mindful, environmentally conscious, and plugged-in to the world around me. It isn’t hard to see how old religiously-based practices led to sciences like botany, entomology and alchemy/chemistry. Not to mention the wonders this must do for someone’s mental health, to be emotionally closer to nature and feel comfortable with the world around them. I even heard recently that the lateral eye movements made while walking helps the brain to deal with trauma. All while getting a little exercise. Really cool stuff.
Very interesting and timely! I recently found the guardian for the forest around my home; she's a beautiful battered stump of an old tree right next to two HUGE old-growth tulip poplars, some escapees from the settlement of the area that survived replacement of the forest around them. She looks like a woman sitting, with an arm or leg outstretched that curls around in a perfect little cup to place offerings, and the front of her is also hollow.
Having a weird moment because literally 10 mins ago I was outside looking at the plants that border my new house and thinking about how much I wanted to learn about them, then I come back and the first video I click on of yours is this one 😮
I'm still new to the practice, as I'm not really practicing, just observing and learning things from a distance... But it really happened that once in a park, I found this beautiful pinecone that I wanted to take home. (I had found a feather already). But once I picked it up from the soil I was invested by a huge gust of wind... It was a windy day but it took me by surprise. I didn't think it was a coincidence, but, just to make sure... I laid it down. The wind stopped. And as I picked it up again the wind started being crazy again! That's when I realized something was really there and... it really cared about that pinecone somehow lol. I left the pinecone under a huge tree, bowing awkwardly as I was trying to show I was paying respect.
I'm also starting to believe that the city fountain in front of my apartment is holding a spirit. Rome isn't exactly a clean city and sometimes I try to pick up the litter I find around the fountain. I noticed there's always a crow coming from time to time to take a sip from it and there are many birds as well. It's beautiful to see it all clean. I wish I could do more for the rest of the neighborhood but the fountain is always my starting point.
Just sharing my experience about the matter, lol
I dug the whole vibe of this, the message, it kind of feels like a more solidified thought on stuff I was considering anyway (picking up litter, identifying plants, bringing a small bag with "just in case" things but definitely also a journal). I need to leave the house to walk my dog anyway, who also enjoys the "smell the roses" pace, and something about this helped me appreciate that even those of us living in more urban spots, there are definitely pockets of nature for us to appreciate and watch over. Thank you for inspiring me. I do want to get to know the local life in my area, everyone should get in touch and aspire to even be a sort of warden. A lot of buildings are definitely abandoned around me, and nature is claiming space back.
This is exactly what I was hoping you would do! I try to do this at my local park whenever I can. The animals can also bring you messages. I also pick up trash, and not just on Earth day🌎 I was living in Colorado back in the 80's. Completely and madly in love with the State. Miss the mountains terribly. Thank you for the walk. Also my favorite bookstore carries field guides. ❣️🤸💚
Thank you for this gorgeous video Olivia ❤ i admire your photographic art 🎨 and you inspired me to take my walk at a local nature spot instead of just my neighborhood today. I recently moved from an urban city life to an urbanish desert life, so learning about the native plants has been super interesting and has helped me connect to the land. Thank you for being here to inspire ✨️ us.
Thank you for reminding me to always be connected to nature. I live in a city but in what we call suburbia. I like to walk or ride my bile in the nearby creek. A few moths ago I even drove to a small national park not so far from where I live How I enjoed the organ pipe stuctures of nature the flora and I even spotted a colourful beatle. I agree that to be spritually connected, appreciate the parkland near your home if you live in a city and when you have the opportunity go to the outskirts and beaches. We cannot always be stuck within four walls even if we like where we live.
I’ve been following you channel for a while now. I can’t even begin to explain how much you have helped me and my craft grow. Now this video was very helpful because I grew up in Florida. So I was externally familiar with all of the plants and and fauna aroround me, but I recently moved to Tennessee and I feel out of place. Like I’m on a different planet, plants and animals are so different, even the weather. The mountains. So thank you for this video. It is very helpful. Thank you.
Raccoon will show you. Follow a little at a time to find the steps up to Wonder, and at the edge of the grassy shore a secret for you. The Storm is also watching.
This video is exactly what I was looking up today. I needed offerings that worked better than what I was doing and the trash pick up and craft objects resonated SO strongly.
You're always so inspiring Olivia , thank you!
I'm in the Arizona desert now, and we do offer loads of flora and fauna... Although it's been reaching 110f these days, it's a challenge to go collecting... Obvious reasons.. Heat stroke, rattlesnakes, sunburn etc!
My dog and I walk a neighborhood park twice a day early and late, tho and was gifted some fallen Eucalyptus branches..
Excited to get Picture This!
eucalyptus is such a healing scent! I don't think I've ever encountered an actual eucalyptus plant though. :) Very cool find!
After watching this video I got the app, found a local walking trail I like and am now going to start walking once a week after work! I had my first walk today and loved it!
This video has me ready to take the rest of the day off and go explore the Florida plant life. Even if it is 1000 degrees 🥵. The energy I could feel from the forest you were in with the giant trees was amazing. Also your bed head actually looks really cute.
I’ve only just found your channel and I’m so grateful for this video.
I’m going to study horticulture and the beauty of plants. So when you mentioned picture this I was happy, but then to top it off, you’ve informed me of the plant identification on iPhone.
Never knew this was a thing until today, I tried it out and wow am I impressed.
So, thank you!! Will help me along my journey so much! Sending love from the UK 💕
I have a local park near my house that I visit very frequently, I've loved getting to know that land and recognizing and working with the plants that grow there. This past summer I discovered a wild grape plant and I'm so excited to grow that relationship this summer!
bro I have no idea what this is about I feel like I just slid into an alternate dimension
Hey Olivia this little video had really inspired me and given me direction. I must confess I’ve been flagging lately but this has reignited my desire to get out there again and start foraging ,researching and reconnecting with nature again in the best way so just want to say thank you so much 🥰
My family has a beautiful blue larkspur plant in our back garden, and I recently asked if I could use some of it for a self love charm. I could, but first I got the strong feeling that I had to clarify I wasn't doing a baneful working with it (larkspur is toxic, and I think it knew I knew that). Not sure if it's larkspur as a species or just that particular plant that really didn't want to be part of doing harm.
I was actually listening to this video while on my nightly walk around the neighborhood and hanging out with the local family of skunks that come out at night! Ive recently started working with the big tree in my front yard that I climbed all the time as a child and it’s wonderful. I also took a gorgeous small rock (after asking) from a mountain I climbed last time I was in Denver and it’s so potent for me. Great video, Olivia!
Magic people in Mexico actually use long sleeves in the forest, some spirits can touch you directly and grab your energy , Also for the sun heat ✨🌞
This is lovely!
I’ve been enjoying some “weeds”-wild lettuce in my yard, some are taller than I am! I eat them raw in salads or cooked. Lots and lots of interesting fungi and mushrooms around here that I don’t forage, but do observe. Plenty of biodiverse fauna by the tidal creeks, marshes, and the ocean. Drastic differences in soil, wind, and moisture conditions at each of those, and they’re all only a few miles apart. Endless fascination!
I feel like picking up trash is such an underrated offering. It seems like if some people see trash around already they feel like it's okay for them to drop trash as well so by keeping trails tidy it actually seems to help prevent people littering who might not have done if they hadn't unfortunately seen there was already trash.
I've been collecting resin to make my own incense and like to leave a bit of fertilizer or compost for the trees I collect from. Working with materials from you're local environment just ads so much connection to your practice. I've also recently learned that along with white sage and santo palo the trees whose resin is most popular for incense, frankincense, myrrh, copal etc., are also being over harvested and they actually intentionally damage the trees to collect the resin, so making your own is more sustainable. You can substitute resin from whatever conifers are local to you choosing whichever best suits your purposes.
This video has kicked off a series of wonderful and powerful events for me in the last week. I sincerely thank you for that!
What a beautiful video! So much respect, poetry and simple things. Thank you for this piece of art Olivia!
9:25 looks like Sunset Bay in Oregon
I lived in Michigan until my twenties, moved to British Columbia for several years, then moved back to MI. What you said in the first few minutes about returning to old friends, with new perspective and appreciation is spot on. I appreciate my home on profoundly new levels than a decade ago.
I gather fallen sticks from the trail (never off trail - don't want to disturb habitats) and I am always sure to bring fruit to offer to the animals of the woods. I think of them as messengers for the spirits of the environments I visit, and hope by supporting them I support the spirits as well.
Another nice offering is some kind of plant food to help growth of trees/ flowers/other plants!
i love this! i think this should be titled "every person should be doing this". so much love in connecting with nature
I always have a squirrel in my pecan tree. But Jackrabbits choose me & my home. They come & sit close to me for a while every day & I spend a little time just sitting & talking gently to them. This year I had a Momma Jackrabbit move under my trailer to have her babies.
I needed this because I moved to Arizona about a year ago and at first I was a little sad because I had the mentality that there isn’t anything that I could connect with here other than cacti lol but I’ve started to notice there is a lot of hidden beauty here I just need to take more time to see them but I will definitely try to give offerings more I didn’t think about that as a great way to really connect💚 Thank you!
Welcome to AZ - I hope you've found a beautiful and diverse flora ecosystem around you!
The music is 🤌🏾mwa, chefs kiss. It gives such a nostalgic feeling of an era & time of Witches & Magick that we never got to experience; truly magical✨. The way you discussed everything in this video was truly inspiring🙌🏾. I recently found your channel & Love your content🩷.
Your woodworkings/-offerings are incredibly beautiful! :)
I have so found my “tribe”!!! I got chills and a surge of energy when you said bring a bag to pick of litter. 🥰🥰
She has an excellent point that walking and being curious is really beneficial and healthy
I've just moved somewhere that has a reserve close and accessible for me where I can mostly use my wheelchair, but I now have the most amazing backyard too so I can just go a few steps outside
Glad you posted this Olivia, it inspires me to learn and to try to find ways to pay respect to the land and form a healthier relationship with the world around me. Thank you! Thank you!
I don't even practice or believe in witchcraft anymore but your videos are so claiming and interesting
Im so glad you enjoy them! Happy to have you here~
Thanks for thinking of the moths and reminding us to do so!
There is so much truth in what you say. I´m born more or less in the woods in the mountains in germany. As a child I was playing in the woods. The trees were our companions, our sitters, our friends and our mothers... Mom told us to come back before duskt, but we never did. The trees were taking care about us, gave us shelter and lot of freedom. I never thought deeply about this, but since I´ve relocated from the place I´m born many years, I try to find peace, but it´s impossiple. I´m a very sensitive person and I can feel all the energies around me. My alianation from home brought me to a point, were I´m recogniced that we are working against our inner voice so often. My land ist calling me, I fill my home with plants, everyone feels so compfertable with it, but I´m still here, longing for the voice of my soil, my mother earth and my trees, which I´m missing. The more I ignore this voice, the louder it screams, the older I get, the urgent the call is. I have to go home to find my peace and I hope y'all can come back to your place too! Peace my friends.
I wanted to tell you I love your videos. I learned a lot from you and I'm shy but thank you for sharing your life with us.
This was a beautifully edited video. Well done beautiful lady. And a great message as well. I’m very lucky to live off-grid in the woods so I wholeheartedly agree with getting in touch with and learning about your biosphere. Big love to you x
Video idea & request for Olivia (plz consider them bc i love ur videos they're so calming yet informative) : moon magick, water magick (i loved the collab you did but id love to see a water magick in ur regular format), maybee even spells for success/small business owners, and an art magick video! (I.e. casting spells via painting, etc)
I love all your content and learning from you so i hopefully you read this!! Thanks for creating, inspiring, and informing. You are appreciated!!
As someone who moved from CO to AZ the cultural shift with the spirits is very interesting to feel and experience as they attempt to teach you too
Welcome to Arizona! 🥰
I love this video so much! As a gardener and hiker it absolutely fits my journey. I'm glad you have found happiness on this path.
I used to do things like this so much more often. Thanks for the reminder to get back to it. I really appreciate your videos, thanks so much for them!
This video really seemed serendipitous for me: after a long break, I finally have the mental space to pick up my practice again. Just discovered I have all kinds of cool local plants in my new backyard (like Virginia creeper!) That being said, if anyone has any suggestions on how I use some of the fleabane growing back here, I'm all ears.
I live in Colorado too! Just 20 minutes from Denver. I've felt so isolated the past few years because I've lived in the same house for most of my life and I moved out here from Florida so I totally understand that shift that you experienced. But all of my friends moved away after high school so life has been so lonely and living in the same neighborhood for so many years has made it really hard for me to want to go on walks because I know my neighborhood like the back of my hand and I don't have anyone to go explore somewhere new with me..
Being grounded and getting to know the land around me might be the best part of the practice for me.
So cool to get to watch this video right now. I'm living in MT right now and I've just started taking photos of flowers and plants so that I can ID them and learn about them. I'm working as a guide right now so this has initially been because people ask questions when I'm guiding... But I'm noticing my growing excitement in discovering things that I normally ignore past noticing their beauty.
I currently am using the iNaturalist app to ID as well as books for local flora.
I must share my beginner excitement at discovering Arnica and Camomile! I still want to cross reference for confirmation but this is so exciting to me and it feels so joyful to walk amongst the plants and know them by name. Such a gift.
Just recently discovered your channel and I'm giddy to devour all of your episodes. I am new to embracing my witchiness but realizing that I have dwelled here my whole life... Just denied it trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be. Now I'm beginning to fill my own skin and experience the world differently and I am excited.
Thank you for your content. So excited.
I have moved around quite a bit for the past 20 years. It was kind of hard to form and maintain a relationship with the land since my environment changed often. But ever since I practice connecting with the land in my local area, I feel at home in my town. It's crazy. Can't stress this practice enough. It's so beneficial! I always carry water with me! I love the idea of picking up trash. I also only take from the land of I really need something. The spirits in my area are very generous. 😊 Noone ever said no.
I want to visit my grandma in my original home town soon. Haven't seen her or the land surrounding her in a few years because of COVID... And I'm so excited to see my beloved pine trees and the immense amounts of heather plants growing there. I wasn't practicing when I visited her last time in late 2018.
Such a beautiful soul and video I just found you in my home page today and am newly subscribed! Love growing into more witchy woman world! Thank you for being! Much love and light to all 💖
Thank you so much for this video. I am searching for my spiritual path. I really connected with what you said about being able to feel the energy when you’re in your local nature spot. I have so many stories that I can’t share with anyone I know. They would think I’m crazy.
Im actually moving places now and I’ll definitely be able to do so! Perfect timing for me! Your videos are always so well made, it does inspire us to try things out!
Thank you for this lovely introduction. I'm someone who is just now looking into folk magic as a practice, but I'm also realizing I've been participating in some without always realizing it.
For example, I was a queer child of neglect and @buse so I almost never go back home, but when I do I always end up outside in my old nature nooks and gardens. I feel like I'm coming home to my nurturers with the fauna more than I do with my bio family. I have decades of relationships with specific trees and valleys.
Fortunately I do live in a witchy cottage in a forest 😉 Since living here and with the help of my plant app I can now recognise and name a lot of what’s around me. Obviously I’m still learning (if you think you know it all then you’ve missed the magic in my opinion) There’s so many different varieties of trees and plants here, I’m always coming across ones I hadn’t noticed before too. My connection and appreciation of Mother Earth has deepened since living here too. 💚💚💚
I grew up in Alaska and learned all of the plants and trees here, which honestly isn’t much when you go other places. I felt that “culture shock” with plants when I left after delving into my love for herbalism. Right when I think I have a good handle on things the universe proves to me that I don’t know anything! Lol. You are the coolest!
I moved from the south all the way up to the Pacific Northwest. Talk about culture shock! I have folklore and Craft info that people up here are trying to say I'm appropriating (my ancestry??) I normally can't find most of what I used to use, so now I have to improvise or make my own. I love the hiking trails out here and love that I feel like I've been welcomed by the spirits out here.
I moved from California to the woods in North Carolina and it feels like there is soooo much more life here. 70 ft+ tall oaks. Every summer it just explodes and feels like a jungle, and I now have a whole collection of arthropods that passed away fully intact that I just stumble across quite often when out walking the dog. Every autumn there are large orb weavers that make webs right outside the windows of the house. We even had a piebald deer around for a while.
It's awesome.
I go out to my forests here but if I can't...I've got my potted plants, wild birds, giant crows, squirrels, javelina and mice etc and some stray kitties that I feed as well as my pets lol. I go for walks when I can. I LOVE our ponderosa trees and milk thistle. I respect the elementals over here.
Truly inspired me to get closer with nature. I used to do this very often this past fall but had been very busy in the Spring. The relationship with the land has been one of the key elements in my practice. Thank you for the inspiration
This video…just made me realize that I met a land guardian in a meadow once. It was the first deliberate attempt to meet a spirit that I successfully did. Didn’t even know or think of it as a land guardian spirit until now.
Theres a overgrown graveyard near my hime that seems to have been abandond and theres a big willow tree that grows right next to it and over the area and it is always a marvel to me that sort of magnetizes me. I dont know much of spirits but every now and then when i go there i bring flowers and leave them at the gate
Thank you for this. Every day I walk a nature trail along a stream just outside my house. It is surrounded by a train and highway on one side and suburbs on the other and yet when I’m in that narrow strip of forest the magick is amazing. Everything you said resonates. This trail has been a beautiful and magickal treasure in my life. It provided me the perfect place to cultivate a relationship with the spirit Lilith and the natural world as the rest of the world of man did what it did in 2020🤪. I feel like I know every snake, turtle, heron, hawk, owl, and chipmunk in this forest. I’ve lately been given over to touching the trees as I enter the forest to greet them and let it know I’m there in a personal way. I like to hum and chant to the forest to raise its vibe. Speaking of protective tree spirits I did a double take last night during my evening walk because this big tree on the other side of the stream looked and felt like a big tree “troll.”The more I “scryed” the tree I saw a face. I’ve walked the trail for years and only yesterday saw this. Amazing…If you give yourself to the forest it will give itself to you.
Even if you cannot be in an actual forest or natural setting - send yourself and your love deep into the ground and up into the sky. Nature/Gaia is all-encompassing. If you cannot talk to the trees and animals talk to the entire Earth!
I love this video!
Subscribed🤘
Thanks for making a video like this! And I like how you kept saying “you” makes me feel like it’s a task worth trying. (Even I’m already an explorer) but for people who are in more urban areas and to help people get off their phones and explore.