The fireplace has long been regarded as the magickal portal of a home. It was through this opening that Witches were said to fly away on their broomsticks, and in modern mythology it is the opening through which Santa Claus comes and goes. The fireplace once was the center of home life. In it food was cooked, clothes washed, and by its light, families gathered to visit and tell stories. Due to its vital importance, people developed ways to protect the fireplace, such as tossing a handful of oak leaves, cloves, holly, rosemary, frankincense, cinnamon, or nettles onto the already smoldering fire.
Setting a Witch's besom (broom) near the fireplace or crossing the andirons were also ways of blocking negativity from entering the house. Keeping a cauldron boiling on the hearth was another. Some fireplaces were decorated with three concentric circles above the opening. This probably harkens back to a very old belief that the Triple Goddess protected any home wherein a fire was kindled. The sun god Lugh could also be called upon to protect the hearth by hanging a pouch containing the first grain of the harvest on the mantle. This was also a charm for fertility.
Other herbs were often hung to dry near the hearth, the heat and dryness curing and preserving the plants until they were ready to be used. These herbs could be enchanted and hung up as an additional talisman of protection.
Scrying by hearth light is a relaxing pastime, and gazing softly into a roaring fire to catch glimpses of visions is an age-old practice. You can predict the future by the manner in which the coals, peat, or wood burns.
The fireplace can be as magickal as your imagination will allow. Here you are working directly with the transformative element of fire, and how you choose to utilize it is up to you and your inner self.
