Two very special wands ...

As promised, I've added the two wands which were crafted on the Spring Equinox, also known as Eostre or Ostara.
Above and below: Willow Ostara ogham wand which is crafted from naturally twisted willow wood, a rarity! It is carved with the ogham alphabet, following the twist and has an Ostara Sun added to the handle celebrating the new life at this time of year.

Above: Detail of the Willow Ostara ogham wand
Below and also, the top picture of this blog post: Wild Honeysuckle Ostara wand which is crafted from wild honeysuckle wood which has a naturally deeper coloured core which is exposed in natural patterns. The honeysuckle was gathered and crafted on the Spring Equinox, also known as Eostre or Ostara, and the resulting wand feels full of that wild spirit so noticeable in Nature at the time.
Plenty more new items left to come ... :~)

Eostre greening and woodland walks

What a beautiful week Eostre has been! We were blessed with sun, warmth and bird song :~) As you can see, Andy has been busy crafting ... so busy in fact that I'm having trouble keeping up with the photographing and listing! I've still got another couple of wands to be added in that wonderful, wild style that seems everywhere at the moment ... so full of energy! There are also some Stonehenge Wayfaring Tree staves in a birch bark box, several other stave sets and numerous pendants all waiting their turn to be added.

The pendant above is Bran's Raven. Crafted from warm-coloured alder wood, it marries three traditional associations: alder wood which is connected with the Celtic god Bran and Bran's totem bird, the raven. Bran is an interesting character with links to the Tower of London and the Ravens who live there. You can find some excellent information out about him here.
Another pendant which is newly listed is the Sunwheel shown above, carved from the deepest black Celtic bog oak. You can find both pendants listed here, each with an instant purchase option.

Above is a wand, carved on the equinox and celebrating the sun ...
Walks in Eostre week found such beautiful sights ... Silverweed and lichen ...
... primroses too, all bathed in the warmth of spring. It's been unseasonably warm in England this week and it's a welcome end to the winter.

Above is the finished Eostre ogham wand which will hopefully be listed on the website later on this week. Below, you can see the pussy willow looking so soft against the blue sky.

Softest moss for Faery beds and our faithful big hound the colour of dried Winter grasses ...

... little hound with her spotty bandana, sniffling and snuffling and wagging her tail ...

... ladybirds, venturing out after their winter hibernation and hover flies on primroses ...

... clumps of violets and even more primroses, dotted across the whole of the woodland floor.

Everywhere at the moment, new leaves are breaking out in so many different shades of green. Greening, greening, everywhere ... bliss! :~)

Native Corresponding Runes ... One set available!

Imbolc has been and gone ... did you have a good one? It was very grey here ... and still is! Blustery, stormy and just very, very grey! One of our customers in a recent email described the sky as being "grey as a mouse" ... I like that description very much.

I must admit though that this year I feel very grateful to have this kind of weather after seeing so many countries on the news suffering so much. It really brings home the sheer power of Nature ... Australia seems to be being battered by everything at the moment :~(

I think a little of our English grey has even seeped into the photos a little this time as the light was just so poor but I couldn't bear to wait to photograph them! Over the last few months we've had many, many emails about when the Native Woods corresponding rune sets will be available again. We're hoping to gather some new materials for them at some point in the (fairly) near future to make them available for regular ordering again but, for now, Andy (Spirit of Old's craftsman) has gathered the pieces for a one-off set complete with its own rowan bark box.

I'm in the process of adding a few new items to the website over the course of today/ tomorrow but just wanted to post a little note on here first so that if you've been patiently waiting to grab a set you can let me know before anyone else orders it first ;~) If you are interested, you're welcome to email me (Lou) at enquiries@spiritofold.co.uk or you can wait until it's on the main website and I'll add an instant buy button.

Above and below: Native Woods Corresponding Rune set with Rowan Bark box. Item number D113. Price: £90 plus usual P+P. When it's been uploaded the set will be listed here.

Above and below: Wild Honeysuckle Imbolc wand with Ogham Core. The honeysuckle was gathered and crafted on Imbolc and the resulting wand feels full of that wild spirit so noticeable in Nature at the moment ... Item number: W493. Price: £60 plus usual P+P. When it has been uploaded, this wand will be listed here.

Above and below: Avalonian Ogham wand with Mugwort Core. The handle of this wand is hollow and filled with dried mugwort which was respectfully gathered from near to Stonehenge. A neat plug permanently seals the mugwort safely inside and the ogham alphabet scrolls around the wand. Item number: W494. Price: £50 plus usual P+P. When it has been uploaded, the wand will be listed here.

Dreams, divination and buy now buttons ...

There are three new treats on the website (with more to follow!) ... all with "Buy now" buttons next to them to make things simpler - after all, if you're anything like me, you're juggling last minute Christmas shopping, finding decorations (I'm still looking ...) and all the usual everyday things on top so anything that can make things a bit quicker and easier are very welcome :~)

Above and below is a rowan wood Goddess dream amulet. She is filled with mugwort, a potent herb and also rests upon a bed of it within her rowan bark box. You can find full details of her here.


Below: Burr Oak Hare dream amulet. Hares are traditionally associated with the moon making this little treasure the perfect dream guide. She is carved from beautifully grained, warm-coloured oak burr wood and is stored within a rowan bark box. You can find full details about her here.

Above and below (and the picture further below too): Native Celtic Woods ogham staves with rowan bark box. As always, this set is crafted from the original twenty ogham woods, all carefully sourced and gathered from the wild in our local area. The picture below gives you a little hint of the range of colours and textures of the various woods and the energies from them are simply wonderful, perfect for divination. You can find full details of the set here.
Below: The staves stored within their rowan bark box.
Below: A closer picture of the Hare dream amulet, just because she's so lovely :~)
I'd be really interested in hearing what you all think about the whole idea of a more automated online ordering system on Spirit of Old (like the one here). It's something we've never really used before because it's nice to have that contact with customers when people order items but maybe it's something people would prefer after all. What do you think? Do you prefer to have email contact and place orders that way or is that too inconvenient? Would you prefer something faster and simpler?

If you'd like to share your views, please either leave a comment below or email me at enquiries@spiritofold.co.uk. Thank you :~)

New pendants with free postage!

New beads added to the main website - a selection of hare bone and oak burr ... perfect for Christmas gifts! Plus, if you'd like to order one and quote "BLOGGER" in your email, I'll give you **free postage** on the bead :~)

Huge selection of new knives!

Wow, I can't begin to tell you how busy we've been in the last couple of weeks between crafting, photographing and listing ... but I hope you'll agree, it's been well worth it because the new knives are both beautiful and wonderful to work with.

There are far too many to show them all here so I've just picked a select few ...

Above: Walnut Bushcarver Pro with rough out blade

Above: Bog Oak Bushcarver Pro with combination blade. The main blade is suited to rough-out work and the flattened tip is designed for finer detail. The handle is carved from ancient bog oak wood, naturally preserved for thousands of years and stained a warm, deep brown by the tannins.

Below: Burr Oak Bushcarver Pro with combination blade. I adore burr oak because of its simply stunning colours and markings.


Above and below: Rowan Owl Character Knife with detail blade. This Wildwood knife has a convex flat detail blade and a rowan wood handle which has been intricately carved with a beautiful owl, full of character.

Below: Another Character Carved knife. This time it's a Blackthorn Eagle Character Knife with detail blade. Can you see the colours in the handle? They range from pale creams through to rich red-browns.


Above: This is my favourite knife of them all from the news ones added. The handle of this Burr Oak Wildwood Carver with detail blade has such a wonderful range of colours and such depth to it that it's impossible to capture in a photograph. It's one of those rare pieces which would give you pleasure to work with every time you pick it up.

Below: Walnut Wildwood Carver with rough out blade and wonderful markings on the handle.


Above: Burr Wych Elm Wildwood Carver with rough out blade
Below: Bog Oak Wildwood Carver with detail blade

The prices for these knives start at £25 and they would make the perfect gift for the crafty person in your life ( ... or even for yourself ... !). Please don't forget though, if you're ordering from outside the UK you'll need to take the last recommended posting dates into consideration as they're currently around three weeks away for outside of Europe.

As always, if you have any queries regarding the knives please feel free to email me, Lou, at enquiries@wildwoodknives.com.

Thanks for looking :~)

Very special Ogham staves in boxes ...

It's been an absolutely beautiful day today - inbetween days of dreary greyness and seemingly neverending rain! We decided to seize the moment and skip off to the woods to enjoy the sun while it lasted and to also photograph these very special ogham sets with their rowan bark boxes. I love the way the woods look in the background of these pictures ... you can almost see the Fae folk flitting here and there!


These wonderful sets contain the original 20 ogham sticks, each one handcrafted from the traditional corresponding wood. Truly correct ogham sets are extremely rare, if not unheard of but we have gathered each and every type of wood to create these beautiful tools to divination.

We work and play in the ancient Celtic heartlands of Britain where the Durotriges and Atrebates tribes ruled in prehistory. These ogham staves are handcrafted ritual tools with real Celtic soul and they retain the feel of their natural spirit.

The staves are stored within a beautifully rustic rowan bark box. Bark has been used by many cultures throughout time to make containers and this sturdy box has been crafted with natural materials including cedar root which is used to sew the join.

Each set is priced at £100 plus postage and packing and you can find full details (including a list of the woods lower down the page) here.