Frogs And Toads.....The Hedge Witch's Companions

All season I've chased critters with my camera and posted about my garden minions. With summer almost gone I still have a post or two left........

I love my frogs and toads!!! They eat the nasty buggers that chew on me and my plants.They immediately let me know if there are toxins in my realm. On top of that they sing to me every night .They bring their own special magic to my garden be it night or day.

Frogs and Toads are amphibian creatures of the order ‘Anura’, meaning ‘without a tail’and they are common on all continents except Antarctica.
They have associations with witchcraft, medicine, weather, birth,and death.
In some cultures the frog symbolized a higher stage of spiritual awakening.
In the creation myths of the Hindus, a Great Frog supports the universe and
represents the matter from which all is created.
The Egyptians believed frogs to have been formed from mud and water.They were most often associated with the goddess Heket,who assisted Isis in her ritual to resurrect Osiris.Heket is depicted as a frog-shaped goddess,
whose priestesses trained as midwives.
In China the toad was a trickster and a magician, a master of escapes and spells,however he was also the keeper of
powerful secrets.
Japanese legends tell of Kosensei,a wiseman,who wanders with his toad companion. The toad teaches him the secret powers
of herbs, including the secret of immortality.
Members of the Olmec tribes created images of a toad as the ‘God of rebirth’, reborn after consuming itself.

As much as the frog is seen as a symbol of life and birth, it is also seen as a symbol of death. Some European myths tell that it was bad luck to kill a frog because they were souls of dead children.
In the Middle Ages the frog was given a horrible reputation via the church.The frog went from being a symbol of creation to a manifestation of evil. Thanks for picking on small defenseless animals!The frog was quickly associated with Witches,they were thought to be their familiar used to carry out all sorts of misdeeds.
Other myths tell of witches extracting toad sweat or collecting toad spit for use in flying potions and invisibility spells.
In many Shaman traditions hallucinogenic compounds derived from toads are used in rituals for communion with the spirit world .
Although I doubt they harvest from denizens this tiny!

The frog is the totem of metamorphosis,they symbolize coming into your personal power.
The Frog reminds us not to become bogged down with day-to-day living.Born of water their voice calls forth the rains.
In spell work they can be used to invoke rainy weather.Emotions are associated with water.If you have recently had
a frog come into your life it may be telling you to get in touch with your feelings.
Frog energy teaches us about the value of environmentalism.As with Butterflies these are among the first to leave an area that's grown toxic.They teach us that small changes in how we live can have a positive impact on our environment.In this way the Frog teaches us about the concept of illness and wellness
Frog energy actively seeks solutions to imbalance and ill-health.Listen well to Frog he teaches us the secrets of the land ,
and how to cleanse negativity from an environment..

Since Frogs occupy the dark places and are most active at night ,frog energy is a great energy for working night rituals
and spells.When the frog jumps into your life it may indicate now is a time to find opportunities in transition.