Magic Of Bilberries Folklore And Witchcraft

The bilberry, known as mustikka in Finnish, blåbär in Swedish, and in old Nordic tongues by names that meant simply "forest berry", is one of the most ancient inhabitants of the northern woods. It grows close to the earth, unhurried, spreading through root networks that have threaded beneath forest floors for centuries.

Unlike the blueberry bred for markets and convenience, the bilberry is a wild thing. Its flesh is stained deep blue-violet all the way through. It marks the hands and tongue. It cannot be mistaken for something cultivated. It is wholly itself.

Transcript

Hello friends! I hope you're all doing great today, And if you're not doing great, I hope you are feeling great in the nearby future. Today we are going to talk about bilberries and the magic of bilberries. Bilberries are very common berries. Bilberries are very spread out berries, So we can find a lot of myths about them from different cultures. And here in Finland, The moment that I am filming this, The woodlands are filled with bilberries. And very good ones as well. In witchcraft, Bilberries have been associated mostly with harvest. If you had a lots of bilberries in the forest, It would have indicated that there was going to be a great harvest in the autumn. So the amount of bilberries have been an indicator what kind of harvest is going to be. So bilberries are great for all kinds of harvest and autumnal magic. In the Celtic tradition, Bilberries have been berries of the other world. And when people would pick bilberries, They would do this around dawn, Just when the sun was about to come up. And it was believed that this mystical atmosphere in the forest during the dawn would also enhance the power of the bilberry and also make it a magical plant for the forest spirits. Spirits and the fairies and this magical power of the other world also enhanced the magic of bilberries so they would have more healing powers. The leaves were dried and turned into tea and the tea would be used for divination and to communicate with the spirit world. There is a Greek story about the bilberries and how bilberries came to be, Because everything in the plant world usually has a Greek origin story as well. It's a little bit on the longer side, So I'm just going to read it from my laptop. Pardon me. Myrtilis was the charioteer of king Oenomaus. All the Greek listeners, I apologize if I butchered these names. Oenomaus had been given a prophecy that he would one day be killed by his own son-in-law. To prevent this he decided to prevent his beautiful daughter Hippodamia from ever marrying by challenging a resuiter to chariot race. If the suitor won, He got Hippodamia, But if he lost, Oenomaus killed him. Since Oenomaus' chariot was pulled by horses gifted to him by the war god Ares, No one could possibly win. Then came Pelops. Hippodamia fell for him immediately. She went to her father's servant, Myrtilus, Who secretly loved her himself, But was too afraid to ask for her hand. He asked him to sabotage her father's chariot. The king's chariot by replacing the bronze linchpins with fake ones made of beeswax. In the ensuing accident, Oinomaus lost his life, Cursing Martialis with his dying breath. Then came the second betrayal. Shortly afterwards, Martialis tried to sleep with Hippodamia, Who ran crying, Who ran crying to Pelops. Till Martialis protested this was part of the bargain, The enraged Pelops murdered Martialis by casting him into the sea. Sea. The waters, However, Bore his body back to the shore, And his father, Hermes, The messenger of the gods, Transformed him into a bilberry bush. The stretch of the sea where he was thrown became known as the Mertian Sea in his honor. As he died, Myrtallius cursed Bellops, And his curse was said to have haunted the house of Atreus for generations. The Bilberry is thus quietly connected to the great tragic cycles of Greek myth. Give me a Greek myth that does not have a tragic cycle. In Ireland, Bilberries are associated with the harvest festival Lughnasadh, And Bilberry is known as a fraghan. I hope that's even a little bit close. I studied Welsh for a year, But I don't know if it helps me with Irish. In Ireland, Bilberries were gathered in the last Sunday of July, And it was called Bilberry Sunday, And the berries were gathered for Lugnasán. In the olden days in Ireland, July was called the Hungry Month, Because it usually meant that the food was running out, It started to become rotten, And then the fruits of the new harvest hadn't been picked yet, So the first food that people picked were the bilberries. So the bilberry represented the end of this hunger month. We have something similar in Finland when August in the olden days was called Mataku, Month. It was so hot, The air was hot, So a lot of the food became rotten. And from Ireland we find markings about Lughnasadh where people have eaten, Married, Danced and sang and made garlands from bilberries. The names of the berry usually refer to its color. Was it then the blue color or the black color? Juice in the berry is blue, Sometimes it is more red, Sometimes it's more violet or purple. We have the name blueberry which is this related to bilberry. Bilberry in Swedish is blåbär, Which literally means a blueberry. And then in Finnish the berry is called mustikka, Which means the one that is black. Musto means black. Very literal. So the names are very literal and refer to the chewies of the bilberry. In European witchcraft, Bilberries have been used for good luck and protection and abundance. Bilberry chewies has been used for dying fabrics and threads. Also people have made wine, Juices and soups from bilberries. It's also one of those berries where the juice is notoriously difficult to get rid of if you spill it somewhere. Fun story! I lived in the UK for many years. I went to university in Wales and then I moved back to Finland after I had graduated and had been at home maybe for a week and I was having a lunch in the summertime. I had a glass that was filled with blueberry soup and I had this plate that had a little pile of Karelian pies. And I had this moment like, This is the most Finnish lunch I've had for years and years and years. Bilberry is very common berries in Finland. The elements of bilberry are water and earth. Planet is Saturn. And bilberries are also associated with the moon. If you enjoy doing moon magic, You might want to incorporate bilberries in your practice. Seasons are summer and autumn and Lughnasadh and all kinds of harvest festivals. Bilberries are connected with protection, Abundance, Good luck, Otherworld communication and divination. They can also be used in love magic. There are not any particular deities associated with bilberries. From that Greek story, Hermes can be associated with bilberries. Hermes is the messenger between the gods, So that would fit with this idea that bilberries connect human world with the other world. I would say any deity that is associated with the harvest could be also associated with bilberries, And maybe deities that are associated with the forest. In Finnish mythology, I would say Akka, The earth goddess, And Mielikki, The forest goddess, Could be associated with bilberries as well. But also different kinds of nature spirits that hang around in the woods can be associated with bilberries. If you would like to use bilberries in your witchcraft, Here are some tips for any kinds of psychic work. You can eat bilberries before rituals if you're not allergic. You can also leave bilberries as sacrifice to nature spirits. You can include bilberries in your altar or just bilberry leaves. Turn bilberry leaves into tea. You can bake bilberry pies, And you can use them for baking, You can use them in foods. Bilberry tea can also be used for spirit communication, Ancestral work, And leaves can be used in prosperity spells and for good luck. In divination, If you like to do tea leaf readings, Interperations are good for looking signs from the other world, From the spirit world. And to enhance your psychic abilities. Those were some of my thoughts about beer berries. I hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thank you so much for watching guys. I will see you next time. Take care and make good choices. Moi moi!