Witchy Wednesday, witch, snails and shells! 🐌
 |
| Snail witch by Rémi Jacquot |
When thinking of Witches most people think of a large black Cauldron, broom, pointy hat and possibly a cat! Not everyone associates Witches and Snails! But snails and especially their shells have a long history in medicine and in witchcraft from being ground up to make potions, used for protection spells, threaded together to form a necklace to bring love or even kept as a familiar!
 |
| Offering a snail a tulip petal in my garden |
Having a small garden I have quite a few snails happily living under pots and tucked away in damp corners. Yes they can be annoying when they decide to chomp on my flowers but I decided many years ago to be a natural gardener and to embrace my miniature cows! And since I have I find them a fascinating creatures with very cheeky characters and their shells are quite distinctive so you can tell them apart. I have also over the years found a good way to reduce the carnage of a wet night feasting is to offer snails some extra food. Petals from flowers that have reached the end of their bloom or a nice plate of weeded garden greenery will keep them from munching everything in sight. Since doing this I don't have too many casualties. Plus snails are artist and leave the most amazing art trails! After a particularly damp night pop out first thing in the morning, especially if sunny, you will often see beautiful twinkling trails sometimes if you are lucky in magical patterns!
 |
| Look out for snail trails in your garden especially on garden walls. |
"The symbol of never-ending life is manifested in the curling of snail’s shell."
 |
| 🐌 Simon Le Snail who lives in my garden 🐌 |
Whilst doing research on witches and snails I found some wonderful articles full of interesting facts and stories on folklore of Witches, snails and shells!
Please visit these links
https://recipes.hypotheses.org/17507
https://witcheslore.com/bookofshadows/magical-creatures-bookofshadows/familiars/2491/
https://otherworldlyoracle.com/slug-snail-spirit-animals/
https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/object/snail-shells/
https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/object/snail-shells-2/
https://www.crowsbone.com/blogarchive/snail-shells
 |
| The Snail Witch. Ernst Barlach (Germany, 1870-1938) |
Because some folklore stories can be quite scary and disturbing with some adult content I would always advise visiting, reading and viewing links before showing or reading to younger children.
