Witch Bag

I have recently embarked on making my Witch bag and I wanted to share with you the knowledge I have acquired and continue to gather as I walk my path of magick.
What is a witch bag?
Throughout time many shamanic traditions use spirit bags. The traveling healer uses the bag as a tool kit and a talisman for their spirit allies.
The Celtic Shamans call their spirit pouch a crane bag. Its origins lie with the sea God Mannanan Mac Lir where its contents would change with the changing tides. The witch’s bag should never be the same, never static, move with the ebbs and flows of life.
In Strega traditions they are referred to as the nanta bag where traditional tools and symbols of the 4 elements are housed.
Native Americans hold the most well know image of the spirit bag. This is referred to as the medicine bag where it holds the power of the spirit. As far back as the Aztec and Inca, shaman-priests would carry mesa bags that contained special stones found in sacred sites that were blessed by the shaman’s teacher.
Shamans in Mongolia thought of their medicine bag as a special ongon or fetish charm that housed a spirit, one that would help them in their healing rituals.
A witch bag therefore is a reflection of your path. It is a mirror of yourself. How do you see you?
To me a witch is a healer, one of the self, the earth and others. S/he walks the path of the shaman with a deep sense of the spirit world and a psychic ability where one learns to partner with spirits and Gods for assistance in the process of healing. Your witch bag can come in all shapes and sizes, more traditional ones are rustic, usually of natural material like the animal skin and other parts of your totem animal. Mine is of deer skin, antler and badger fur.
The purpose of the bag is to carry your magick where it is needed. For a healing, for a ritual, for protection, for your self-development, for the earth. A special stick, a stone, herbs, seeds, crystals shells etc. Just remember with everything that you acquire to ask spirit for permission and to give something back in return. It is the law of the land to honour the spirits that are gifting you with these blessed items. This also includes the bag itself. Make a special ceremony whenever you acquire an item for the spirit bag, much like your alter tools.
Each item represents your healing power that connects you to your spirit nature or guide. As you change and grow through your spiritual journey so will your bag. It becomes a reflection of you, a scrap book of your journey and connection to the nature spirits, a vessel that assists you to communicate with the Gods.
Some items come to you through miraculous circumstances, others are acquired by a less eventful manner, but each and every item that is consecrated and placed in that bag is there for a reason. It may not make sense at the time, but if you choose to keep it in there then there must be a reason for it. Your items in your witch bag will become more obvious to you as you grow spiritually.
I started by choosing an object one each for the God and Goddess and now am allow things to come to me as they will. The most exciting thing about this is that every time I look in my spirit bag it remind me at what stage I am in my spiritual journey. I feel empowered and protected carrying it. At this stage I am currently working with the spiritual essences, so a small bottle of rosemary essential oil in my witch bag reminds me of that.
I hope that you to get as much satisfaction as I have in developing your own witches bag.
Just below is a great little link from a light hearted hedge witch about the spirit bag and also about protection.

http://walkingthehedge.net/hedge/tag/witchcraft/

Many blessings to all
Hypatia.