Mrch in the Wheel of the Year Part 1: The Start of Spring and Flower Magic - By Lucya Starza
The sight of flowers helps lift my mood when everything else seems grim, and March is when my garden starts to bloom with colour after the drabness of winter. As I write this, I see yellow daffodils, pink primroses and the buds of red camellia flowers as I glance out of my window.
Daffodils
Daffodils are the birthday flower for those born in March, they are the national flower of Wales and worn on March 1 for St David’s Day. They are also associated with the Spring Equinox later in the month. Magically, daffodils are associated with love, luck, and fertility. Put them on your altar when doing spells for those things, and put bunches anywhere you like in your home just for their bright yellow cheerfulness. Don’t eat them, however, as they are poisonous. As an added precaution, avoid treading on daffodils when you are out and about because gardening folklore says trampling them will bring bad luck, whereas leaving them alone brings good luck. In Wales, a saying is that if you spot the first daffodil of the year you will find more gold than silver in the months to come.
Primroses
The name comes from the Latin prima rosa, meaning ‘first rose’ and they are steeped in folklore and magical custom. Primroses are a fairy flower. If they grow around your home they are said to protect those dwelling within from malicious fae. They are also supposed to help people see fairies or things rendered invisible by them, and even open enchanted doorways. In Germany they are called the ‘key flower’ (schusselblume). Historically, primroses were sometimes worn on the lapel in the belief they would ward off mental illness. I know just seeing them helps cheer me up, but obviously this is a folk remedy rather than medical advice. Primroses are associated with love too, and can be used in romance spells.
Camellias
Camellias originally came from China, where they’ve been cultivated for thousands of years, after a Chinese emperor found that an infusion of camellia sinensis leaves was his favourite drink. This became known as tea. The tea plant and ornamental camellias are closely related, but not the same. The beautiful spring flowers we see are magically associated with wealth and abundance. Having a shrub in your front garden is supposed to ensure prosperity. If you save some petals, you can use them in wealth spells. I have to remind myself that prosperity can mean things other than money. My own camellia shrub has never brought me huge riches, but I do feel blessed in many other ways.
Planting Seeds and Scarecrow Magic
March is also when many types of seeds are sown after the last frost in my part of the world. Scarecrows are traditionally made to protect seeds and young plants. You could make a scarecrow as a guardian for anything you plant this spring – both in the garden and in the sense of magical workings. Mini scarecrows can be created for window boxes or to put on your altar. Here’s a spell you could chant while making one:
Scarecrow, Scarecrow
Guard my seeds
Keep my plants
For me and the bees
Protect my loved ones
And my wishes too
Scarecrow, Scarecrow
I can count on you.
The Start of Spring
For me, living in England, March is the first month of spring. There are many ways of measuring the seasons. The astronomical one, which many pagans use, measures spring as starting at the equinox, which in 2022 is on Sunday 20th of March in the northern hemisphere. However, the Meteorological Office in England measures the seasons as each covering three entire calendar months, with spring starting at the beginning of March. Personally, I use the Met Office method because that most closely matches what I’m observing in my own garden. As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts, I’m very much a witch who likes see what’s happening in nature when celebrating the seasons even though the standard Wheel of the Year festivals are useful guides. The next festival is the Spring Equinox which I’ll be blogging about later.
This is part of a series of posts I’m writing for the Moon Books Blog on the theme of the Wheel of the Year. They will be compiled and edited into a book: Pagan Portals – Wheel of the Year. Other books by Lucya Starza in the Pagan Portals series include Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, and Scrying. Lucya edited the community book Every Day Magic – A Pagan Book of Days.
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