King Charles May Try Hagstones on Harry and Meghan

Hagstones are stones with holes said to ward off evil spirits but don’t try to make them yourself.

Hagstones, as they are called in Britain proper, are stones with holes, as you may have already surmised. According to common belief, they have magical properties said to ward off evil spirits and are mainly found beside rivers, streams, and the seashore. Those properties include the ability to see through witch disguises if stared at through the center, cure whooping cough, defend against eye ailments or evil spells, prevent nightmares, and recover from snakebite.

If you find a stone with a hole in it do not discard it.

Hag is a Germanic word for witch, and comes to us by way of Old English hegtes, related to the word hex used in witchcraft. Hagstones have particularly enchanted Britain for centuries as they help ward off witches and ne’er-do-wells, which they appear to have in abundance. Some are family members.

Have you heard of Harry and Meghan?

The stones were originally used to ward off evil spirits, and fishermen hung them from the back of their boats to improve the catch and get them back to shore safely. In the case of Harry and Meghan, as they have cast a pox on the House of Windsor, which is a difficult thing to rid oneself of being family and all that, a hagstone may be just the gift for King Charles III.

Called by different names from hagstones to “witch” stones, serpent’s eggs, Glain Neidr, and Gloine nan Druidh (which translates to “druids’ glass” in Scottish Gaelic) across the British Isles, the Irish call them adderstanes as they are professionally connected to snakes.

There is a science to the magic behind hagstones. According to the notion, only positive things flow through the hole, thus while luck and good news find you through a Hagstone, misfortune and evil are caught in the hole. This theory may be bolstered by the centuries old belief that dark magic doesn’t work on moving water. Tell the folks around Hurricane Sandy. As the hole in a hagstone was created by water, it acts as a ‘shield’ against danger.

There are three ways they appear to work:

According to one report, the stones are solidified saliva of many serpents massed together, and their tongues are what formed the perforations. I guess it’s not something you want in your pocket.

The second is that hagstones are produced by snakebite or the head of a serpent. In this instance, you might once more put it in a locked drawer.

The third is more alluring. It specifies any rock with a hole drilled through the middle by water will do. The reason is the hole was made by water. By the way, you are not allowed to make your own Hagstone. If you do, it’s just a stone with a hole.

Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions, a book by James Bonwick published in 1894, is the primary written reference in an Irish context:

“Irish tradition supports the opinion of Pliny that, as to magic, there were those in the British Isles “capable of instructing in these arts.” But O’Curry admits that “the European Druidical system was but the offspring of the eastern augurs. They wrote or repeated charms. Adder stones were used to repel evil spirits, not less than to cure diseases. One, writing in 1699, speaks of seeing a stone suspended from a child’s neck as a remedy for whooping cough.”

Next time you find a stone with a hole in it, pick it up and pray for Harry.