Moving someone else's spell

[PetitAlbert]

My local wood is regularly covered in gunk on the trees. I am *pretty* sure they are spells left by other witches - they have odd things tied to them, they seem ritualistic, they always show up after holy days.

I take them down because red plastic rope has no place in a forest - but what should I do with them next? I do want to honour the original intent of the other witch, and dispose of them in a way which doesn't mess with their thing any more than it has already. Right now, I have a large pile of rope and odd trinkets in my space; and I'm very conscious that messing with work I do not understand is not wise, and not necessarily something I want in my room.

What do I do with them? I'm thinking of some little ritual to send them on their way peacefully, or weaving them in some way, formally acknowledging their purpose before binning them. Something that doesn't get me tangled up in their spell, since I don't know what they are for or know/trust the person that made them.

An alternate thought was keeping them to do my own work with, but that might not be wise; or sending some message back through them to protect the wood next time.

Glad for any pointers

[RandallS]

What do I do with them? I'm thinking of some little ritual to send them on their way peacefully, or weaving them in some way, formally acknowledging their purpose before binning them. Something that doesn't get me tangled up in their spell, since I don't know what they are for or know/trust the person that made them.

This could be iffy as you don't know what their purpose is nor how they were created. Personally, unless the energy coming off them seemed tainted in some way, I'd likely just bin them.

An alternate thought was keeping them to do my own work with, but that might not be wise...

I definitely would not do that as it would likely get you all tangled up in whatever they were used for before.

[PetitAlbert]

This could be iffy as you don't know what their purpose is nor how they were created. Personally, unless the energy coming off them seemed tainted in some way, I'd likely just bin them.

Wise thoughts, thank you. I confess, I am not able to sense energy, so binning is likely the best route.

[Laveth]

Wise thoughts, thank you. I confess, I am not able to sense energy, so binning is likely the best route.

 
Kudos for cleaning up the woods!

[PetitAlbert]

Kudos for cleaning up the woods!

 
Cheers My only regular devotional practice is a weekly walk in those woods. I find that rubber gloves and a carrier bag are a must whenever I go into natural places - otherwise I find myself "revering" nature, but stepping over things which actively threaten it.

[Laveth]

Cheers My only regular devotional practice is a weekly walk in those woods. I find that rubber gloves and a carrier bag are a must whenever I go into natural places - otherwise I find myself "revering" nature, but stepping over things which actively threaten it.

 
I hear you there, it's kind of a buzzkill going to a natural space and finding it overrun with plastic and litter.

[MadZealot]

I find that rubber gloves and a carrier bag are a must whenever I go into natural places - otherwise I find myself "revering" nature, but stepping over things which actively threaten it.

Y'know, as devotional practices go, that's pretty neat.

[PetitAlbert]

Y'know, as devotional practices go, that's pretty neat.

 
Thank you, you are most kind

Honestly, I think it's because my Proper Witch skillz suck, and I'm looking for things I can do which doesn't require intuition, magic, or any of those. But you're right, and I must keep with these small things even if other skills do develop in the future. The temptation might be to focus on Doing Pagan Things (circles, and spells, and tarot oh my!) at the expense of being in the natural world.

[Medulla]

My local wood is regularly covered in gunk on the trees. I am *pretty* sure they are spells left by other witches - they have odd things tied to them, they seem ritualistic, they always show up after holy days.

I take them down because red plastic rope has no place in a forest - but what should I do with them next? I do want to honour the original intent of the other witch, and dispose of them in a way which doesn't mess with their thing any more than it has already. Right now, I have a large pile of rope and odd trinkets in my space; and I'm very conscious that messing with work I do not understand is not wise, and not necessarily something I want in my room.

What do I do with them? I'm thinking of some little ritual to send them on their way peacefully, or weaving them in some way, formally acknowledging their purpose before binning them. Something that doesn't get me tangled up in their spell, since I don't know what they are for or know/trust the person that made them.

An alternate thought was keeping them to do my own work with, but that might not be wise; or sending some message back through them to protect the wood next time.

Glad for any pointers

 

I would definitely NOT use them to do any work (other than whatever you feel may be required to dispose of them). That just sounds unwise since you don't know what it's been used for.

I'd think that maybe respectfully binning them, perhaps also doing something to acknowledge their purpose, would be enough. When people leave behind things like offerings, I'd assume that it means that whatever happens to those things next is out of their hands. If I was doing a ritual that required the objects used to remain intact for a set amount of time or until the purpose came true or something, I'd keep it somewhere near me, not in a public space in full view. Everything that might happen to stuff left behind somewhere public, like being disposed of or rearranged by a gardener, eaten by animals, destroyed by the elements, etc. is only to be expected.

I also think you could try to get the word out into your local community. You could ask your local occult shop to put up a poster or give out flyers, especially around the dates when it tends to happen, or you could post on your local pagan message boards if there are any. Even if the people doing it don't see it, they might hear about it from friends. An event better idea could be to leave a note at the site (make sure it's somewhere visible to them and in a way that won't get misplaced or destroyed before they see it) asking them to not do it. Either way, it would be helpful to give out information and explain why. It's amazing how many people do these things, not out of genuine intent to cause harm, but just because they never thought about it. I know that when I was just starting out I've left behind things I probably shouldn't have, nothing that would kill trees thankfully, but not that great an idea either though it was probably harmless. If you feel comfortable with it, you could also add that you're a fellow Pagan and get why they'd be doing it but also suggesting they look into alternatives.

[Scales]

I'm quite late, but perhaps this will help in the future.

I don't have specific details, but I would do some sort of settling ritual- something to un-bind the spell from the objects, or (if I felt comfortable) redirect the energy back in to the wood as a broad guardian-type protection spell, or just to disperse the energy. I would just go by intuition as to what objects to bother doing this with- in some cases, the rope is probably just a mundane tool to hold things there, in others it may be the actual essence of the work.

That way, I would feel less as though I had wrecked someone's spell (even if it was badly placed) or discarded objects that might be charged.

Also, I'd place an add in your local classifieds (CL, paper, whatever) saying that to those doing religious rites in the wood, use biodegradable materials if they must leave anything behind. Alternatively, you could try to find the group and tell them this, or if you're interested in them, get to know them and be a good influence.

And I'm just re-emphasizing this

I also think you could try to get the word out into your local community. You could ask your local occult shop to put up a poster or give out flyers, especially around the dates when it tends to happen, or you could post on your local pagan message boards if there are any. Even if the people doing it don't see it, they might hear about it from friends. An event better idea could be to leave a note at the site (make sure it's somewhere visible to them and in a way that won't get misplaced or destroyed before they see it) asking them to not do it. Either way, it would be helpful to give out information and explain why. It's amazing how many people do these things, not out of genuine intent to cause harm, but just because they never thought about it. I know that when I was just starting out I've left behind things I probably shouldn't have, nothing that would kill trees thankfully, but not that great an idea either though it was probably harmless. If you feel comfortable with it, you could also add that you're a fellow Pagan and get why they'd be doing it but also suggesting they look into alternatives.

[Lionrhod]

My local wood is regularly covered in gunk on the trees. I am *pretty* sure they are spells left by other witches - they have odd things tied to them, they seem ritualistic, they always show up after holy days.

I take them down because red plastic rope has no place in a forest - but what should I do with them next? I do want to honour the original intent of the other witch, and dispose of them in a way which doesn't mess with their thing any more than it has already. Right now, I have a large pile of rope and odd trinkets in my space; and I'm very conscious that messing with work I do not understand is not wise, and not necessarily something I want in my room.

What do I do with them? I'm thinking of some little ritual to send them on their way peacefully, or weaving them in some way, formally acknowledging their purpose before binning them. Something that doesn't get me tangled up in their spell, since I don't know what they are for or know/trust the person that made them.

An alternate thought was keeping them to do my own work with, but that might not be wise; or sending some message back through them to protect the wood next time.

Glad for any pointers

Kudos to the OP and anyone else who goes into the woods (or anywhere) and picks up trash. Whenever I go hiking I take a couple trash bags with me for just that purpose. LOL I actually wrote a song about it years ago.

Personally I'm appalled that someone would leave their ritual detritus behind. But there are idiots everywhere.

Some further suggestions besides those you've already received:

If this woods-trashing is mostly found after a Sabbat, and this is a consistent pattern, then it probably IS related to the Sabbats, and any spells involved are probably not negative ones.

They're probably not ongoing spells either, since as someone stated above, if I had a spell I needed to keep going, I'd have it somewhere right under my nose where I didn't have to hike off to the woods to work with it.

Negative spells will most often (though not always) contain telltale markers such as black candles, items such as pins/needles/glass, black or red binding cord, etc. (Note of course that many non-negative workings such as a Samhain celebration or Dark Moon rites, might also use black candles.) If the spell does feel negative, be more cautious about how you clean it up. Shield yourself before touching the items.

It might be a fun and educational practice to examine the ritual areas and attempt to guess what the spell may have been for. That will help grow your own understanding of magick and spellcasting.

As for what to do with all the junk you've collected, I'd take it straight to a dumpster. They obviously don't care enough about it to take it home with them.

You are certainly within your right to do some sort of spell to help protect the woods. Consider doing one to give folks an aversion to leaving trash or to making the woods a more protected place.

On the mundane level, many of the pieces of advice in this thread are good ones.

1) Visit your local pagan stores and put up posters. While there, network with the store-owners and patrons to try to find out who is doing this.

2) If possible, put up a classified ad.

3) Just BEFORE a Sabbat it might be good to put up a few signs in the area leading to these woods asking people to be kind to nature and clean up their junk. (Naturally you'd want to police these signs so they themselves don't become a nuisance.) If these woods are on private property, consider locating the owners and asking for permission to post a sign on paths leading into the woods. If on public property, talk to whatever park/forest wardens are available.

4) Consider hosting an a Clean Up the Woods Day as a local event (advertise it at your local pagan shop and anywhere else appropriate) for a day following a Sabbat. This will not only get out the word that folks should be kinder to nature, but will also perhaps shame them into not making a mess. Plus it will mean more hands to do the cleanup work.

If you do get in contact with the folks leaving these messes, remember that you will get more cooperation if you approach them with respect and firmness. Name calling and yelling does little to get cooperation, and people may react with anger rather than the shame and understanding they would have when your request is respectfully stated.

Thanks again for being someone who is walking their talk and working to make the Earth a better place.