As I write this, it is mid-February, a week or so past Imbolc, here in the Arkansas Ozarks; the weather is unseasonably warm today and the jonquils are starting to bloom. Spring is on its way. When I step outside, the air feels "troubled," as my grandpa would say. He meant that we were likely in for a stormy afternoon and evening. After a couple of meteorology classes, I know that "troubled" air means an unstable atmosphere, which does indeed mean the possibility of severe weather.

Arkansas is not typically thought of as part of tornado alley, but I assure you we are. While we may not get the numbers of strong tornadoes that Oklahoma and Kansas see in a typical year, we have had our share of them. The first one I can call to mind is the February 5, 2008 EF4 that hit my hometown as part of the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. When I walked out to go to campus that morning, it was 70 degrees at 6am and the air definitely felt "troubled." So, before I took off that morning I took the time to do a quick protection spell on my property since I was already running a bit late, but I was worried about my elderly parents being home and not knowing what was going on.

The spell was simple enough; I took a branch from the large oak tree in my yard and dipped it in some rainwater I had on the front porch. Then I drew a clockwise spiral three times on my front door, while visualizing a net of protective energy appearing over my farm, covering my house, barns, animals, and land.

When I got out of class at 4pm that day, I checked the radar loop that I had running on my office computer and saw that a massive supercell thunderstorm had formed southwest of my county, and the tell-tale hook echo of a tornado was starting to form. The hook echo is the radar signature of precipitation, air, or even debris being sucked into the rotating mesocyclone of the supercell. As I headed out the door to my car, my phone started going off with the tornado warnings for my county showing that my hometown was right in line with the track of the storm.

Driving home, I saw the tornado form off the west end of Petit Jean Mountain and start heading on a characteristic northeasterly track. By the time I got off the highway, the tornado was already an EF4 and it was crossing the lake south of town. I knew if it stayed on track, it would be heading toward my farm.

As I sped up the state highway toward my house, I kept an eye on the tornado, which was now about 4 miles to my east following a track that paralleled the highway I was on. When I made it home, as I expected, my parents were comfortably ensconced in their recliners watching the Western Channel while the weather radio in the kitchen was blaring alarms. I herded them and the dogs and cat into the bathroom. Then, like a true tornado alley amateur meteorologist, I decided to go watch the funnel approach. While I was standing there, I kept sending energy for the protection spell I had set that morning. Thankfully, it worked. The storm took a turn to the east, heading through some timber company land, missing my farm and the others in my area.

I tell that story to illustrate the idea that some magic doesn't require any special tools. It just takes what David Eddings called in The Belgariad "the Will and the Word." Many times, I find myself needing to do magic on the spot, so don't have time to prepare much in the way of formal tools. Protection magic for severe weather sometimes has to be done without much warning. In other cases you might have several days to prepare for weather events. I thought I would share with you some of the things I do to prepare for our severe weather season here in Arkansas.

Owning a farm means that my mind naturally goes to putting protective wards or sigils on my boundary markers. I supposed it is my magical version of the purple paint people around here use to mark "No Hunting" zones. I carry a bundle of Eastern Red Cedar branches and a container of water I have infused with protective herbs like basil, lavender, and rosemary. I prefer to use Eastern Red Cedar rather than sage for a variety of reason, mainly because it grows prolifically on my farm and so is a sustainable source that comes from this soil. I also prefer to use my own dried garden herbs if I have them, but if I don't, I will use ones from the grocery store just as confidently.

I walk the boundaries of my property and will apply the protective water to fence posts or trees using the cedar bundle. I make sure to apply it on the corners and also in the direction that most of our stronger storms seem to come from. I will also bury Arkansas clear quartz crystals at the corners as well for amplification of my protection work. I am lucky enough to be able to mine the crystals myself about 2 hours south of where I live, so my hand is the only one that has ever touched them. I like to believe this makes an even stronger connection for my magic to work.

I have several beloved large trees on my property, so I like to give them a little extra protection ahead of our severe weather season also. I make a lightning protection charm, as I describe in Weather Magic: Witchery, Science, Lore, to hang the in these special trees. I will also apply my protection water to them. If I can find some inexpensive windchimes at a local discount store, I will also add these to the trees for wind protection as well (I call this "sweetening the wind," and it is also laid out in my book). You can add what ever protection spells you like to your wind chimes that you already have at your home.

When I pack my go bag in case we have to take shelter for storms, I will use protection and also calming spells on the items that go in it. Since I have several fur kids, I will make sure I put those spells on my dog leashes and on the cat carriers, since they will all have to be jammed in the room together. Since I have started doing this the few times we have had to take our tornado safety precautions; everyone has gotten along and I'm not trying to referee a dog and cat fight while worrying about the weather at the same time.

Before the season begins, I will cleanse my storm knife with salt water and some cedar smoke. Using a storm knife is a habit I picked up from the old timers around here. They would use a pocketknife or a kitchen butcher knife to stick in the ground with the blade facing the approaching storm. The idea is the knife will split the storm, both weakening it and causing to bypass their homes. I have a special knife that was given to me by my Craft grandmother that I use for my storm knife. I have a protective bindrune drawn on the handle and I dress it with my favorite protection oil. When a thunderstorm or tornado watch is called, I will take it outside and stick it in the ground facing the direction from which the storm is approaching. I have a simple spell I recite (included in Weather Magic), but you are welcome up with your own.

I have also used my storm knife for long-distance protection work for my people when they are traveling or to protect their homes. I will still put the knife in the ground in the right direction to face the storm as though it was at their location. I then visualize my protective energy net encompassing them, wherever they may be. Last spring, a storm was headed directly for my boyfriend's family. He called me the next morning to check in and said, "It was the weirdest thing; the storm just split in half right before it got to us." I was quiet, and then the lightbulb went on for him. "You did your knife thing, didn't you?" I do love it when plan comes together.

I will use wind knots or windchimes on my porch. Wind knots have a long history of use to either reduce or increase the wind, so I will tie knots to try to weaken the winds of a storm and hang them off my front porch light along with a hag stone. Hag stones, sometimes called fairy stones, are a rock that has had a hole worn in it due to the scouring effects of a smaller bit of gravel that is usually agitated by moving water. I find them on the banks of the Arkansas River or many of the creeks that crisscross the Ozarks. According to lore, only good stuff can get through the hole, so I took a page from the book of my friends who live in hurricane country. I tie a hag stone along with my wind knot and a lightning protection charm and attach it to my light any time a storm is headed my way.

Windchimes aren't just pleasant to listen to; I use them for wind protection. I will dress the windchimes with the kind of protective water I already mentioned while visualizing them breaking up the damaging wind so it becomes weaker. Anytime I walk by them, and it crosses my mind, I'll run my hands through them and say a simple protection spell to add to their protective power.

The last thing I do is that, when I change out the batteries in my weather radio, I'll put a protection spell on it and also I may even put a calming spell on it. Even though that sounds a little strange, I figure that it can't hurt to ask it to remain blessedly silent because storms pass us by. I started doing this not long after one night where it seemed like it was going off every ten minutes with a new storm warning and I wanted to throw it out the back door!

I hope these ideas give you some inspiration to prepare for storm season in you area, magically as well as physically. I think we often are inclined to do protection work for others and often overlook how we can use it for ourselves. Prior preparation takes very little time, and hopefully will keep me and mine safe this coming storm season. I will say: don't forget to be open to the magic and the beauty of a good thunderstorm. There is a lot of energy and power there! Keeping a weather eye to the sky is more than just listening to the weather forecast for us weather witches. Stay safe, y'all.