Alraun Crafting

August 05, 2010

Horned Dandelion Alraun

An alraun is a herbal root found in human form, or carved to be, and

used as a magical talisman. The most famous of such roots being
Mandrake, but many other roots have been used in history as well
including bryony, dandelion, thistle, as well as tree roots. Don’t snub
humbler roots than Mandrake (whose reputation was significantly
blown up by medieval herbalists to charge a large sum). Did you
know the oft-hated dandelion belongs to the dark goddess Hecate
and has powers of divination and summoning spirits?

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In Germanic folklore, it was the local village wise woman who
created alrauns. The word alraun itself is derived from “rune” which
is an old Germanic and Celtic term for mystery, magic, and secrets
(1). In 1700s Germany there were witches who called themselves
Alrune believing it was the name of a goddess of the crossroads (3).
Once an alraun is made it belongs solely to the maker or the
receiver and is not to be seen by any other soul. It was once
common in both Pagan and early Christian times for alrauns to be
passed on within families at the owner’s time of death. The alraun
was considered the protector of the family. Alrauns, being made
from chthonic roots, provide a link to the ancestors and deities of
the underworld. They act as confidantes, advisers, seers, as well as
familiar spirits. Alrauns are called upon for love, fertility, help during
childbirth, divination, good health, prophecy, protection, as well as
cursing and harm.

How to Make an Alraun

You will need:

• A digging stick or gardening gloves

• A libation or offering

• A sharp ritual knife

• A wand, staff, or a sigil powder

It is best to craft an alraun in winter or spring as that is the best time

for transplanting without shocking the plant. To make a plant root

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alraun, seek out your intended plant after the new moon and draw a
circle around it in the dirt with your finger, wand, or with a sigil
powder. Let the plant know you are a witch and make your intent for
it to come across strongly so it readily agrees. Then carefully dig up
the whole plant without breaking any of the roots or bruising any
leaves. If there are any separate root offshoots, carefully break
them off and leave them behind leaving a live plant in place of the
one you took. If not, leave a suitable offering. Some plants prefer
whisky, wine, or mead while others may simply prefer water or a
physical object. Pour the libation or bury the offering in the hole
you’ve made without looking and walk away without looking back.

Fresh Dandelion Roots

You can either take the live plant home or take it to where you will
be transplanting it. If your root doesn’t already have a human shape
to it, carve it into the opposite sex of yourself with your ritual knife. It
can also be carved into a hermaphrodite. Be careful not to remove

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any of the small roots at this time and don’t over carve the root or
you will kill it. A rough semblance is good enough. Now it is time to
transplant. It is best to plant an alraun near a crossroad, but if this
isn’t possible your garden or a pot will do (2). Water the plant after
transplanting and leave it be for three weeks to a month or more. If
the original leaves die, do not despair, it is because all its energy is
going back to the root to heal from your carving – the root is still
alive and growing. Once a week, before you dig it up again, feed it
either a mixture of milk and honey or milk and a drop of your own
blood if you will be keeping it for yourself.

On the next dark moon, dig up your root, and again leave an
offering behind in the hole without looking. Now you can take your
root home and wash it. Remove any excess hairs or growths that
distort its human shape. Loosely wrap it in a cloth of natural fibre
inside a paper bag and leave this somewhere warm and dry. In a
month you should have a perfectly dried alraun. Wrap it in black,
red, or white linen, wool, or silk and place it in a small box. The cloth
is its funeral shroud and the box its coffin. Hide the alraun away in a
dark place until you call upon it. When you do, offer it milk and
honey, or wine, or blood depending on your purpose. Treat the
alraun as a beloved child or family member. Speak to it sweetly. It is
incredibly dangerous to throw one away or sell an alraun for less
than you bought it for. It is a sentient familiar spirit and not a curio to
be tossed aside. The alraun has the power to bless or curse its
owner so think carefully on your intent before making one.

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Alraun Coffin Interior & Shroud

Alraun Coffin Pyrographed with Dandelions

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References & Resources:

1. Houghton Mifflin Canadian Dictionary of the English Language.

Markham, Ontario: Houghton Mifflin Canada Ltd, 1980.

2. Huson, Paul. Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for

Witches, Warlocks, and Covens. New York: G.P. Putnam’s
Sons, 1970.

3. Pennick, Nigel. Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition.

Leicestershire, UK: Thoth Publications, 2002.

4. Thompson, C.J.S. The Mystic Mandrake. New York, University

Books, 1968.

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On Circle Casting and the World Tree

August 04, 2010

Whether you call it circle casting, treading the mill, or the compass
round, the intention of this practice is to create a ritually purified
space to open a protected doorway between worlds so that the
ritualist(s) can commune with the deities or spirits from the other
realms. The circle casting method, as it is done today in Wicca, is
based on that of the Golden Dawn and also the Key of Solomon.
“Circles” have been used for magic long before Wicca, but not using
the Wiccan method of invoking the four elements and the extra
element of spirit by drawing invoking pentagrams with an athame.
Despite its younger age, this Wiccan method is very effective and a

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good standard practice for ritualists and magicians whether they are
influenced by Gerald Gardner, Paul Huson, or itself. Good
resources to draw upon for Wiccan circle casting are by Paul Huson
and by Janet and Stewart Farrar.

What most modern Witches and Pagans today don’t realize is that
in casting a circle they are actually accessing the universal World
Tree or . Circle casting is actually a misnomer. It isn’t a circle or ring
being created but instead a perfect sphere with one dome rising
above the earth and the other below. In my personal opinion, when
one casts a circle invoking the four elements and the extra spirit,
one is only creating half the sphere. This is the half accessing the
upperworld of the Gods and ignoring the realm of the dead below.
Casting a circle is an act of duplicating the World Tree or accessing
it as the axis mundi. This intention is found in all Pagan cultures
across the world of both polytheistic and animistic beliefs. For
example, the Egyptians and their djed of Osiris which is considered
the god’s spine and axis mundi of the world just like Legba of both
African and Haitian belief is associated with the poteau-mitan of the
‘s peristyle which is also considered to be Legba’s spine and the
World Tree. This poteau-mitan is used to draw down the lwa or
draw up the ancestors known as the ghédé.

The Norse and Scandinavians also had centre poles in their

wooden temples and places of outdoor worship. These poles were
made of wood or were live trees and were where rituals took place
as this pole was their representation of – the Norse world tree.
When the Vikings sailed to settle in Iceland, they brought their
carved centre poles with them and threw them into the sea believing
if the poles floated ashore it was a sign the land was blessed and

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they should settle there. They also believed that to commune with
the gods they must reach them through the World Tree and it was
the same for the spirits of the dead and the gods of the underworld
Hel. The Mayans, Aztecs, Sumerians, Assyrians, Celts, Greeks,
Hindus, as well as animistic Native tribes all have a world tree or
“tree of life” as well. In some cases the World Tree is a “World
Mountain” or a colossal standing stone instead.

In some pagan cultures, the axis mundi is itself a god who is

believed to guard the gates between all realms and instead of
casting a circle, the god is called upon through the use of a tree,
pole, pillar, staff, or wand which the World Tree god is believed to
inhabit or be drawn into. In many cultures this representation is
then danced around while chanting to induce trance. Then this deity
is propitiated with offerings and asked which gate (to the upper or

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under world) the participants would like the deity to open. The Norse
called upon Heimdal or Odin, the Greeks upon Hermes, the Gauls
upon Esus, the Haitians upon Papa Legba, and so on. Depending
on the culture, there were also deities who specifically guarded a
gate either to the realm of the dead or the realm of the gods. An
ancient Roman necromancer would’ve called upon Hecate rather
than Mercury to open the gate to the underworld.

External Circle Casting for Individuals or Groups

There is more than one method to access the World Tree. One is
internal and one is external. For the external method, which is
shamanic in origin, the four directions are called (north, east, south,
and west), but they do not have elements corresponding to them.
Then, both the upperworld and underworld are called after the four
compass points making for a total of six directions invoked to
duplicate the World Tree and open the doorway to the otherworld.
When it comes to calling the four main directions one could call

upon the four

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dwarves associated with them in the Norse faith, the four bees of
the Mayan faith, or the four supernatural creatures associated with
the four directions in ancient Chinese belief depending on what
cultural tradition you practice. For the above and the below one can
use the terms for the realm of the Gods and the realm of the dead
used in one’s own tradition or cultural mythology. Drumming is also
a common method of summoning the six directions and many
images of the world tree and the cosmology of the earth are found
on the drums of animistic peoples. Drums were considered by
shamans to be horses or deer which allowed the drumming shaman
to travel up or down the World Tree or invoke the World Tree itself.
Frame drums are especially useful for this purpose. Coming up with
a chant for the six directions to sing while drumming is an effective
way to create the sphere and access the World Tree.

Below is a diagram of what the ritualist is creating along with two

common ancient symbols which reflect it. Think of the circle (the
sphere) as a metaphysical elevator that moves up or down the axis
mundi. Those practicing Traditional Witchcraft who are influenced
by the teachings of Robert Cochrane may notice the diagram is very
similar to Cochrane’s stang with the two crossed arrows hung upon
it and a wreath encircling them.

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If you practice within the umbrella of Traditional Witchcraft you can
use a stang or staff in your rituals to access the World Tree. For
ritual, the stang is struck into the ground outdoors (at a crossroad is
best). The part in the earth reaching down to the underworld like the
roots of a tree, the branch representing our realm, and the tines
reaching to the heavens uniting the three realms and opening a
doorway to the Otherworld. After calling upon the six directions the
gods or spirits may be drawn down or up through the stang to be
petitioned or communicated with during the ritual. A live tree or staff
can be used in a similar manner.

Those with an interest in etymology may find the old meanings of

stang very interesting indeed. In the Scottish and Anglo-Saxon

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tongues it most commonly means pole, staff, stick, or shaft, such as
a hay fork, distaff, walking stick, the beam of a plough, or the axle of
a car. If one digs a little deeper into the varying meanings, stang
was also used to mean key, phallus, arrow, serpent’s fang,
intoxication, or “a means of stimulating the conscience” ().
Interesting no? It certainly explains the staff usually found
accompanying shamans, cunning folk, sorcerers, and magicians in
history, folklore, and mythology. The word Völva, used for Norse
seeresses, translates as “wand bearer”. They were able to access
the spirit realms and commune with gods and ancestors for the
people of their communities.

Accessing the World Tree Internally

The internal method of accessing the World Tree is the elemental

method. If the World Tree is a spine then we can also look upon our
own spine as a miniature axis mundi. Many culture’s myths and
folklore say humans were created from trees, but perhaps we were

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created from the Tree? I believe in the three sacred elements of
earth (land), water (sea), and air (sky) and that fire is the extra
element that completes us and gives us our intelligence and
cunning – that fire is spirit. If I want to walk between worlds in my
body I go to a place where the three main elements are present
bringing the fire in my own body. When I wish to commune with my
deities and familiar spirits, or to leave my body, I call upon the four
elements contained within my own body while inducing trance in
order to cross between worlds. This is an internal method because it
is done without any external movement or actions besides possibly
chanting or breathing methods to induce trance. Within us all is a
doorway to the World Tree. Some can access it and some cannot.
Some just need to find the key. If you are in a tradition that is
influenced by the Kabbalah, the internal method may already be
very familiar to you. I don’t personally use the Kabbalistic Tree of
Life for this method, but it can also be very effective. Those
influenced by yogic practices may use the chakras to access their
internal axis mundi. These Eastern methods are not necessary to
achieve the same effect by those practicing within a different
cultural framework. The internal method is how the witch or shaman
accesses the road to the otherworlds and walks between them.
Some call this method astral travel, some flying, and others
hedgecrossing.

Let us bring the World Tree back into circle casting and not forget
the why and wherefore of what we do in ritual as witches, shamans,
druids, and magicians.

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