Hawthorn Berries whole (Crataegus laevigata)

How to Use It

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Protection: a sprig of whitethorn or a string of haws hung by the door, window or cradle to keep harmful spirits out.
• Fairy offerings: haws, milk or honey left at the foot of a hawthorn when asking the Good Folk for favour, and never a branch taken from the tree.
• Love and May: may blossom was gathered on May morning for garlands and love divination; haws carried in a pouch keep that bond through the rest of the year.

A Simple Working

• Thread a needle with a long piece of red thread.
• String a handful of dried haws onto it, one at a time, naming a part of your household with each.
• Knot the ends to make a loop.
• Leave a few spare haws and a little honey at the foot of a hawthorn, asking for the tree’s protection.
• Hang the string of haws above the main door of your home.
• Return it to the earth under a hawthorn the next May Day and make a new one.

Pairs Well With

• Rowan berries for the classic red-berry protection charm.
• Elder berries for land spirit and protection work.
• Red thread for stringing protective charms.
• Rose petals for love work.

What You Receive

Whole dried hawthorn berries, available in 1 oz, 2 oz and 1 lb.

Origin & Lore

Hawthorn is a thorny tree of European hedgerows, planted for centuries to make hedges that kept livestock in. Its berries, called haws, were eaten in hard times, made into jelly and wine, and traditionally used in country herbalism.

In Ireland a lone hawthorn in a field is a fairy tree, and in 1999 a road scheme in County Clare was rerouted rather than cut one down.

In Roman myth the goddess Cardea, keeper of hinges, places a branch of whitethorn at a window to drive off the striges, night-birds that preyed on infants. In Britain and Ireland, bringing may blossom into the house was widely held to be unlucky, even though it was welcomed on the doorstep on May morning.