Charm for Cutting Peat from a Bog

Peat has been used for millennia for fuel, and made it possible for those on more marginal land to survive. There are fewer peat bogs today that can be harvested, but some still take peat and burn it. It is also a good source of fertiliser for the fields, especially if you have hard clay soil that needs to be broken up and mixed with composting matter.

Bogs are sacred to Nerthus. In ancient times, sacrificial victims were thrown into bogs, as they were considered sacred places between the world of the living and the world of the dead; myths abound that describe fens as magical and transitional places where wanderers could meet powerful beings or get sucked in and never seen again. Thus, before any peat is cut, Nerthus must be propitiated with this prayer:

Erce, Erce, Erce,

Mother, let us take your sacred flesh,

Mother let us cut power from your doorway

And let the dead stay in their realm,

And look out at us with favour.