Petrified Wood

Petrified Wood

I know it doesn’t look like much, but this stone used to be a piece of wood! Since I seem to be on a theme of transformation right now, it’s very fitting that I take a closer look at petrified wood. Just like the lava rock, this stone was created through one of nature’s miraculous transformations, yet you can still feel the spirit of the tree embedded deep within this stone. The stone itself is very cold and hard with a surprising weight to it, considering that once upon a time it would have floated on water as a piece of fibrous tree branch. Petrified wood comes in many different shapes and sizes, so don’t be surprised if you find petrified wood that looks very different from the one in my picture above. I have several pieces, and some resemble their predecessor wood more than others.

Petrified wood has a wonderful latent energy that can be harnessed in magickal workings. I’ve read in a couple of Pagan books that it could be used in health and protection magick, but I tend to disagree with that. I don’t see it as having healing or protection properties as such as having the energetic properties of grounding and dormancy. You see, the tree itself was buried beneath the ground for a hundred years or so before it became a solid rock. Yes, it did transform, but slowly over time – the minerals binding themselves together as the tree’s organic material decayed away.

While it is true that transformation involves the breaking away from one’s original form and that process can be very healing, but I don’t think that this stone has healing energy per se, but more an energy to allow oneself the time and energy to be reborn. This stone reminds me of nature’s ability to transform life beyond death. The tree had fallen and died, but over time the stone was created from that death. Nature always seems to have a way to return balance to the world.

This stone could serve several purposes for a Wiccan or Witch. This stone would work well on the altar in Samhain rituals, because it represents life, death and rebirth. It could also be given as a gift for someone recently initiated/elevated in a coven or experienced some other rite of passage, because it represents transformation. It could be present in rituals to honor ancestors or nature. It would also be an appropriate gift to the fae or fairy folk – leaving it for them as an offering after a ritual - because they should recognize that it was once a living creature itself. It could be left as an offering for any ritual involving the Greenman and/or Queen Mab as well.

Personally, I love including petrified wood in my rituals, because it reminds me that transformation may take a long time (like magick), but in the end something wonderful will emerge.