In honor of the adorable little clump of moss that I found when hiking last weekend, I thought that I’d write about the different folk tales, cultural significance, and magical properties of these awesome little plants.
Before I do, I do want to point out one thing that’s pretty funny: A lot of the plants we consider/call “moss” aren’t actually moss at all. Some of them aren’t even the same kind of organism. Oakmoss (Evernia prunastri), for example, is a source of fragrance and often considered to be a grounding ingredient that’s associated with the element of Earth. However, it’s a lichen — a composite organism of fungi and cyanobacteria or algae species — that spends its entire life in trees. Reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina)? Also a lichen. Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is neither lichen nor moss — it’s a flowering plant related to those spiky little air plant guys you find glued to magnets at gift shops. Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) is algae. The other Irish moss (Sagina subulata) is actually part of the carnation family. You probably get the idea.
So, for this post, I’m limiting myself to the “true” mosses. These short, spongy little members of Bryophyta occupy a unique place in magical traditions and folklore.
Moss Magical Properties and Folklore
In a Cree legend, Wisagatcak the Trickster attempts to catch the Great Beaver. His attempt backfires when the Great Beaver gets muskrat to bite Wisagatcak in the backside. Seeking revenge, the Great Beaver begins to flood the whole planet. In response, Wisagatcak made a great raft to wait out the flood waters. Moss began to grow on the raft’s damp wood. As it grew, a wolf on the raft ran around and around, working magic to expand the moss and cover the Earth in land once again.
A Salish story tells about a Chief with a very beautiful daughter. When she came of age, he wanted to make sure that she married well, so he held a race: The man who had the strongest legs could marry his daughter. Many creatures showed off their physical prowess. Coyote was swift and cunning, Deer was strong and graceful, and Bear was powerful.
And then there was Blue Jay, with his twiggy little bird legs. He thought this whole competition wasn’t fair, so he hid behind a tree and covered his legs in moss and clay. He sculpted false muscles into the moss and clay, so, when he came out of his hiding place, he looked like he had the most powerful legs of all. (He also brought gifts of beautiful feathers, which certainly helped.)
Blue Jay won the girl, scooped her up, and carried her to his home across the river. Unfortunately for him, the river water washed away his fancy moss-and-clay legs. When he emerged from the water with his little skinny bird legs, everyone laughed.
German folklore talks about the moss people, or Moosleute. These are a kind of forest fae that are said to be about the size of human children, but gray, old-looking, and clad in moss. In some tales, they’re said to be taller and beautiful.
These creatures are similar to the Irish sidhe, in that they can be capricious — on one hand, they may ask for help from humans and reward them generously for giving it. On the other, they’re really easy to anger by either scorning them or their gifts, or trying to give them caraway bread.
Moss people are often, though not always, the objectives of the Wild Hunt.
Lada (also known as Ladona or Lelja), is widely regarded as a Baltic and Slavic Goddess of spring, harvests, love, marriage, and fertility. She’s a deity akin to Freyja, Venus, or Aphrodite. She’s sometimes said to scatter moss as she passes, bringing new life and fertility to the soil. (Interestingly, she may have been invented by medieval Christian scholars in an attempt to malign local folk beliefs and Pagan practices, but opinions on this are divided.)
One common bit of modern myth involves painting with moss. It’s said that you can get moss to grow anywhere you want by putting it in a blender with buttermilk, then painting the slurry on fences, walls, et cetera. In fact, the buttermilk isn’t necessary — it doesn’t feed the moss in any way, because moss doesn’t take up nutrients from its substrate. Moss doesn’t even have roots. It has rhizoids, which allow it to draw moisture and nutrients from its surface. Give moss moisture and a flat place to grow, meet its lighting needs, and it’ll happen.
It’s often said that you can navigate with moss, because it only grows on the north side of trees. While this can be true in specific circumstances, it’s not true often enough to be useful. In the northern hemisphere, the north side of anything generally receives the least sun. This means that the north side of a tree is likely to be the dampest, coolest, and shadiest side. However, if there’s anything around the tree to provide shade (like buildings, other plants, or even just the tree’s own leaves and branches), then moss will grow wherever it pleases.
Traditionally, moss is associated with healing, resilience, persistence, and rejuvenation. It’s not a fussy plant and will grow in places many other things can’t. Even when it’s removed, as long as conditions are right, it’ll come right back.
Using Moss
The hardest part about working with moss is figuring out what’s actually moss. The first step, then, should be to learn to identify local moss species. Avoid going by common names, as these can be misleading. This isn’t to say that the plants-that-are-called-moss-but-aren’t-actually-moss don’t have their own special properties, but there’re quite a few differences between a terrestrial, non-vascular, spore-producing plant, and a tree-growing colony of fungus and algae!
You can include bits of dried moss in sachets or amulets for protection and stability.
Beds of moss are great decorations for outdoor altars. They’re soft, beautiful, and provide an effective and tactile way to connect with Earth energy.
Moss is also a good offering for faeries and nature spirits. In some cultures, moss is considered a source of their power. Some members of the faerie realm are also said to use moss to camouflage themselves from human eyes.
If you do practice moss painting, you can use it to place protective sigils around your property.
Moss is a beautiful, unique, and resilient little plant. It survives where other things give up, and doesn’t really need much to thrive. Whether you use it as a magical ingredient, or just view it as a source of inspiration, it’s a really lovely thing to work with.
Marble Crow 