Juleigh Howard-Hobson
Made up, as it is, of shell and that which is inside the shell, the numinous duality of the humble bird egg has been put to folk magical use for centuries.
Because the egg has the magical ability to either bring forth good energy or to absorb negativity, it is often found in folk ritual used in conjunction with the phases of the moon (waxing moons bring, waning moons take away). As the round bright moon holds the sunny-side of reflected solar light, so the round bright egg holds the ‘sunny side’ of the contained yolk.
I will keep to hens’ eggs for the purposes of this article but be aware that with most magic, the harder or rarer an ingredient is to obtain, the stronger and surer the result will be. If you can get fresh organic “raw” eggs, particularly goose eggs, duck eggs, or peahen eggs …you certainly ought to use them.
To attract abundance into your life, bury a raw fresh egg outside in each corner of your land—or bury the eggs in large pots of dirt arranged in the four corners of your property. Alternatively, you can boil up 3 or 9 eggs, place them outside your front door and simply sweep them over your threshold to bring their ‘good and plenty’ energies into your life. You may eat the eggs after this, or you can simply offer them back to the earth by burying them respectfully (personally, I think it’s better to eat them….to do otherwise might seem ungrateful or wasteful).
If you add FEHU runes (in sets of three) to the eggs before you bury or sweep them, the strength of the abundance-attraction of each egg will be magnified.
The egg-tree or egg branch, decorated with blown-out hollow eggs shells is another effective method of attracting ‘plenty’—these days people use them inside as decorations for Easter, but they were originally designed for attracting springtime fecundity back to the land, which can still be done by hanging blown out eggs on bushes or trees in your yard or homestead. Dyed or not, the eggs shells will attract prosperity and bounty, but if you do decide to dye them—green and yellow are the best colors for attracting maximum abundance and wealth.
For those who do not live in places where whole egg magick can be prudently practiced, just sprinkling small amounts of egg shells into corners of rooms will ensure that a decent measure of prosperity is attracted there. (Note, egg shells have long been considered to be excellent mediums for conveying fertility in humans…so plan accordingly.)
Remember, perform these egg abundance rituals during the waxing phase of the moon for best results.
If you should need to get rid of any negative elements in your life, the best time to use egg magic to absorb the unwanted negativity is during the waning moon.
If you have a toxic person to be dealt with, write that person’s name nine times on an egg (a rotten egg is best, but use with caution) and bury the egg beneath a rock. As the egg decays so will the effect the person has on you.
If you need to break with something that is holding you back, boil three eggs. With a red marker, mark two eggs with the Iwaz Rune and one with the Berkana Rune. Smack the Iwaz eggs into each other, breaking them. Bury all three eggs together, either under a tree or in a special pot of dirt. The Berkana rune is the rune of rebirth, and the egg marked so will help with your fresh start as the two Iwaz eggs let it absorb all the pent up energies you have cracked open to get rid of. Iwaz is the rune of personal transformation. Do not eat these eggs—if you can’t bury them, dispose of them completely some other way.
And speaking of eating eggs, there are some who hold that if you leave half shells around after you break eggs for cooking, you are inviting trouble. Always crack up the shell halves to prevent them from becoming cup-like vessels for attracting and holding onto bad luck, which could tip onto you if you touch them later.
Finally, should you dream of eggs under any phase of the moon, good luck and prosperity are heading your way. The bigger the egg, the bigger the boon. May you avoid the Lilliputian nests of hummingbirds and always dream of geese and their golden eggs.
