Folcways

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• An amber necklace will ward a woman from illness.

• Wearing a Þunor's Axe pendant will warm a woman from harm.

• A bunch of ash keys carried in the hand is a ward against morðcræft.

• When creating a new graveyard, the first occupant will be the weard of the graveyard. To prevent a person being the weard, bury instead a black dog or rooster.

• A child born with the caul is naturally talented in magic working.

• Placing a four-leaved clover in your hat can grant the Sight.

• A “hollow” coin (one with a hole in it), especially of silver, carried in the pocket wards your wel.

• Always pay for a cradle before bringing it into the home.

• When a person dies in their home, open the doors to let their hyge depart.

• Painted or scribed decorations round the doorsteps and doorways to the home prevent maran, pūcan, scuccan, and other harmful wihta from entering.

• A carved daisywheel placed about the entrance to a building – be it door, window, chimney, or other such portal – prevents all kinds of harmful wihta or morðcræft passing through.

• Always wear at least one new item of clothing on Eāsterdæg.

• Every home should have the following without need for borrowing: a whetstone; a billhook; a hatchet; a spear; an ever-living flame.

• A yew-wood mantel or branch over the hearth protects the home from fire.

• An iron poker in the fire wards the home from morðcræft.

• It is welig to be born on the new moon.

• Garlic, hung in the home, is a ward against all kinds of harmful wihta.

• It is welig to keep a billy-goat on the farm.

• The heart of an animal that has died of sickness should be pierced with pins and hung in the chimney lest the rest of the herd also die.

• A used horseshoe hung “heel-up” above a doorway will prevent any who pass under it from using morðcræft against the home.

• Before building a house, a cow or ox should be slaughtered. Its skin and skull should be placed within the foundations, lest the builder dies instead.

• When a house is newly built, let a black rooster into it first as the first to enter a new house will die within the year. Then slaughter the rooster and bury it with an offering of gold under the hearth.

• When moving into a new home, before you move in, gift a meal for the hūswiht in the hearth.

• An axe-head, buried edge-up in the threshold will protect the home against threats.

• When visiting someone’s home for the first time, it is proper to give a gift.

• Carrying iron about one’s person wards against all kinds of harmful wihta.

• A blade should not be given as a gift between friend without some small recompense, ideally in silver, lest the blade severs the friendship.

• Hawthorn blossom, worn outside of the home, is said to protect the wearer from morðcræft.

• Adorn the outside of your home’s doorway with hawthorn boughs in blossom to enhance the wel of the home.

• If milk boils over, it should immediately be dashed with salt.

• Always cover the mirrors in a home when someone dies within, until the body has been buried.

• Mistletoe hung in the home brings wel. It should be replenished each Geōl. The best mistletoe is gathered from the oak tree.

• Bringing something into the home on New year before letting anything be brought out ensures wel will flow into the home in the coming year.

• Growing rosemary near the home is protection from morðcræft.

• The seventh son to be born to a couple will have a natural talent as a healer.

• The seventh son to be born to a seventh son will have a natural talent as a healer and as a charmer of all kinds of harmful wihta.

• Hang a hag-stone by a red thread or ribbon above the head of the bed to ward off nightmares.

• Hang a hag-stone by a red thread or ribbon above the door of a stable to protect the horse within from being hag-ridden.

• Hawthorn wards against lightning.