Cultural Centres For French Heritage In Canada

Holy Week – La Semaine Sainte

Holy Week (April 13-April 19th 2025) – movable festivities

My favourite week when it comes to spirituality and activities to do! 

I started observing Holy Week in earnest in 2020, during our lockdowns. I remember my first observance as being one of anxiety, and a need to feel comfort. My practice helped me get through it, and I’m happy to share this special week with all of you this year. 

“Alleluia, Alleluia, L’carême s’en va, Il reviendra, À Mardi gras.” 

-cantique acadienne du Samedi Saint. (Halleluiah, Halleluiah, Lent is leaving, only coming back on Shrove Tuesday)

Palm Sunday (picture above: my front door's palm frond set up)

The week begins with Palm Sunday! I have memories of visiting my grandmother in Saguenay and she’d bring back palm fronds for us to weave. We usually wove them up in little beehive shapes and pinned them to our front doors for protection all year long, since they were blessed with Holy Water at the church service. Most churches have a basket where you can deposit the palm fronds of last year. These are burned and provide the ashes for the next Ash Wednesday. The fresh palm fronds can be used to weave little baskets, little beehives, or they can be cut to the proper length for a bookmark for your devotional books or Bibles. You can paint on them too! 

(features Acadian dialect terms for plants) Historically, Acadian communities like Chéticamp didn’t receive palms, it being troublesome to export to this isolated community in the Cape Breton Highlands. So, the faithful would bring cedar branches (thuya), club-moss (sévigny), juniper (chenave) or pine twigs (pruce) from the Highland mountains nearby. After being blessed at church, these tokens would be placed at the entrances of all buildings or assets on the property (fishing boats, cars, barns, and all rooms within the family home, even the cellar) for protection all year-round (1). If you want, feel free to find those plants responsibly and use them in your practice instead of palm fronds!

Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday: usually has church services relating specific stories from the Gospel. I don’t tend to do much on those days. Honestly, I usually use those days to do some spring cleaning, prepare myself for the coming day’s rituals and festivities, and take some quiet time for myself to read passages, or bake for the coming holiday. 

Maundy Thursday (picture above, my own Holy Oils)

The beginning of the Paschal Triduum (begins on this evening, into Holy Saturday’s Vigil). This day commemorates the Last Supper. The Chrism Mass is celebrated on this day, where the Holy Oils are blessed for the surrounding parishes. While this Mass is celebrated privately by the clergy in the Catholic Church, I like to celebrate in my own way. In the way that this celebration brings together all twelve apostles, as a Christian witch, I spend time with my meal that day, pondering on the apostles’ gifts they each possess, I contemplate what that Last Supper must have been like, and I bless my own oils for my folk magic purposes. Holy Oils: the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumens, and the Holy Chrism Oil. The Oil of the Sick is pure olive oil and is used to anoint a sick or elderly person on the forehead and hands with a cross, paired with special prayers. They can be administered in any time and place. This can have a powerful impact on the placebo effect of faith on healing and bring courage and strength to the ailing person. The Oil of the Catechumens, also olive oil, is used for many things. It is used to anoint those about to undergo the Sacrament of Baptism, both infant and adults. This is to allow to receiver to be prepared to receive the wisdom and strength to learn Christian lessons during their religious quest. It is also used as a protection oil to ward off evil spirits on a baptism initiate. The Holy Chrism Oil is olive oil mixed with balsam. This oil represents strength, and the balsam is known as ‘the aroma of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 2:15). This oil is meant to give the receiver the gift of the Holy Spirit, and to devote something to God’s service. This oil is also used to anoint the altar and vessels used during Mass, as well as during the ordination of a priest. Already, these oils can have many uses within an individual folk practitioner’s spiritual habits, such as dedicating oneself to a path, blessing the altar, the working tools for rituals, and yourself when you need to reset your faith. During Holy Week on Holy Thursday, otherwise known as ‘The Chrism Mass’, the local bishop blesses enough new oils for every parish for later distribution. To bless these oils, the bishop does them in order as listed above, says a prayer to bless them individually. To bless the Chrism Oil, the bishop mixes oil from the balsam plant with the olive oil, breathes on the mixed oil to signify the presence of the Holy Spirit, and then says a prayer to consecrate it. For the individual practitioner, if you want officially blessed oils from the church, many Christian shops sell amounts of them, but if you want to individualize your practice, feel free to bless them yourself for a day where you’re feeling sick, need extra protection, or need to bless your space once more. 

Good Friday

On this day, we commemorate Jesus’s crucifixion and death on the cross. It’s a day of sorrow and reflection. For my part, I like attending Good Friday services in my area, and I wear all black on that day. 

It is tradition to remain silent from noon till 3pm, to commemorate Jesus’s last moments of life, as he is noted to have died at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Families with young children would encourage the kids to pray or to go to bed for a nap, to ensure they remained quiet. My great-grandmother has memories of going through that silent vigil with impatience! For myself, I like to take time to light a candle at 3pm, while doing my best to remain quiet without distractions from noon until that time. In church, the priest would ensure the Sanctuary where the Tabernacle resides is empty of the Host, and the candle extinguished. The altar is laid bare of décor. I do the same. I empty my Tabernacle lantern of the Host and make sure I don’t light candles near it. I take off my altar cloth and décor, and lay a black pall over the entire cabinet. 

In some Acadian communities, if bad weather prevented the family from traveling to church, the family would set up a white cloth on the kitchen table, place the crucifix on it, and each family member needs to kiss it. Afterwards, the head of the family would recite from the Roman Missal. They also read their Way of the Cross (chemin de la croix) at home or in church. (2) It was also imperative to avoid butchering farm animals or go out hunting wild game on this day. Fishermen out at sea would do their Passiontide readings and note the direction from which the wind came from, for they knew that if they did so, the wind’s direction would remain faithful for the remaining year. 

Holy Saturday 

My all-time favourite spiritual and religious experience of the calendar year! I love it because I don’t think there’s any other day in the liturgical calendar where parishioners are expected to participate in as much as this day. It is meant to take the believer from the times of Genesis with the creation of all that exists in this world, to the first fire and the first waters, and translate that into the renewal of baptisms, the lighting of a new Easter fire, and the gradual lighting of all candles in the chapel to symbolise the growing victory of light in the face of so much darkness and death. All lights and church candles were extinguished since Thursday, and the only candle that will be lit is the Paschal candle, inscribed with this year’s date. I like to attend the University of King’s College Chapel services in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for this ritual, given the intimate chapel venue, the vibes of the clergy, and how lively it gets. We bring the Paschal candle outside and bless it with the fire from the Holy Spirit. We bless the baptismal font and the Holy Water inside, and a series of litanies and chants are done, as everyone holds a little candle in their hands, lit from that Paschal pillar. Once it hits midnight, the entire chapel lights up again, and all the bells chime loudly, announcing Christ’s resurrection. The choir bursts into joyful song, and it really is the most lively and impactful service. Partying ensues until dawn for us, with a feast of lamb and an array of dishes brought in from a multicultural scene. 

In Acadian communities, Holy Saturday celebrate their first midnight mass of the year (the other one being Christmas eve). From a small fire at the church entrance, parishioners light their own candles. Hymns of Halleluiah and joyful rhythms take the choir and congregation in song. I definitely want to see how these services are done in French, and one day, if I’m lucky, I’ll attend. 

Easter Sunday (photo above: the Saguenay River)

On Easter morning, before the sun comes up, many faithful in communities in Québec and some in Acadie would wake up and head over to the nearest brook to collect “l’eau de Pâques” (Easter Water). This coveted water would be known to heal certain ailments and protect against lightning. Often, it was noted as having the same virtues as Holy Water provided by a priest. It needed to be collected against the current of the brook, before sunrise. To do this journey was known to “voir danser le soleil de Pâques et aller au ruisseau quérir de l’eau de Pâques.” (to go see the Easter sun dance, and go seek out the Easter Water.) It was told that on Easter morning, the sun performs a dance as it rises, and that everyone should witness it at least once in their lifetime. (3) The sun is reputed to be brightest on that sunrise than any other time of year. In the south-west of Nova-Scotia, a formula needed to be recited while collecting this special water, “Bénie soit cette eau, qui guérit tous les maux.” (Made holy may this water be, to heal all ails.). This tradition still is practiced in the north-west of New Brunswick today. In regions of Québec and Acadie, it is paramount that parishioners and believers take at least one Eucharist mass between Ash Wednesday and la Quasimodo (the 2nd Sunday of Eastertide). It is known in those regions as “Faire ses Pâques” (Attend your Easters). Otherwise, you’d run the risk of becoming a loup-garou or have a damned soul if you skip seven years in a row.  

Feasts for Easter in Acadian communities ranged from a breakfast of as many eggs as one could eat if they were available, right down to home-grown chicken, wild game or salt meat. After a long March of dwindling cellar stores and not much meat left, families often made due with the remains of their provisions. (4) 

Sources:

Père Anselme Chiasson. Chéticamp, Histoire et Traditions Acadiennes. Éditions les Aboiteaux. 1972. p.214

Jean-Claude Dupont. Héritage d’Acadie. Éditions Leméac. 1977. p.77 

Ibid.,308

Jude Avery. Joie de Vivre – Love of Life: Isolated Acadians celebrate their culture through traditions and folklore. New World Publishing, 2021. P.28

Illustration from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline by John R. Neill (1909)

French Canadian and Acadian culture resources, music, retailers and media

I want to share where I usually find resources regarding my culture, what I tend to trust, and what music, movies and literature informs my spiritual practice! Many of them are in French, with options to switch to English within the website parameters.

Cultural, historical societies and archive centres

Centre Marius Barbeau: The Center specializes in the area of immaterial culture. Its mission is to preserve, promote and encourage recognition, conservation, passing on and spreading of Quebec folk arts and traditions including those of the First Nations and other ethnic communities. The centre owns more than 10,000 documentary pieces of which a very large part is already catalogued and indexed! Costumes, songs, recordings, visual art, and so so much more! https://www.cdmb.ca

Centre de recherche Père Clarence d'Entremont, Musée des Acadiens des Pubnicos, Société Historique Acadienne de Pubnico-Ouest: The Archives « Centre de recherche Père Clarence-J. d’Entremont» is located on the second floor of the Museum and Centre de recherche annex. The archives house many collections including the private collection of historian Father Clarence-J. d’Entremont. Amongst the collections found in the research center are over 5000 library books and periodicals (historical and genealogical), genealogies, land grants, deeds, microfilms, photos, maps, photographs, church records, etc. https://www.museeacadien.ca/research-center

Acadian Research Center of Prince Edward Island: Part of the Acadian Museum in PEI. They have more than 4,000 Acadian family records, including information on birth, marriage and death dates, as well as various censuses. This is in addition to the 30,000 genealogical records that their volunteers have transcribed over the years, as well as the 160 Acadian family files, binders and booklets given to them by independent researchers. They also have 340 thematic files covering various topics related to Acadian history and a library of more than 1,500 books on Acadian history as well as rare books. The Acadian Research Center of Prince Edward Island has more than 230 fonds in its collection, belonging to individuals or organizations.To view some archival fonds and photos, please visit: http://acadieipe.ca The Acadian Research Center follows the same opening hours as the Acadian Museum. To view the documents mentioned above or for more information, please contact the Acadian Museum at (902) 432-2880.

Centre d'études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson, University of Moncton, New Brunswick: The Centre d'études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson, established in 1968, collects and preserves all relevant documentary material concerning the Acadians and Acadian Society in various fields (history, genealogy, ethnology, sociology, archeology, folklore, demography, geography, economics, language) and offers inventories and tools to facilitate access to this material to interested researchers and members of the public. It has the largest collection of private and institutional records on Acadia in the world. It is located next to the Acadian Museum, which features a permanent exhibition and temporary exhibits, as well as guided tours and screenings of historical films and documentaries. https://www.umoncton.ca/umcm-ceaac/

Scholars and authors

Georges Arsenault (1952- still alive): historian and folklorist, born in Abram's Village, Prince Edward Island. He has published extensively on the folklore and history of the Acadians of his home island, many of these books I have in my collection for the traditions and holiday celebrations of my culture. Favorite book: Contes, légendes et chansons de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Grande Marée. 2018.

Père Anselme Chiasson (1911-2004): a Catholic priest, educator and writer, born in Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. He has made significant contributions to the recording of Acadian history and folklore and folktales. He also published several volumes of Chansons d'Acadie, collections of Acadian songs. Favorite book: Chéticamp : Histoire et Traditions acadiennes. Préface de Luc Lacourcière. 3e édition. Moncton : Éditions des Aboiteaux, 1972.

Marius Barbeau (1883-1969): A monumental figure in folklore studies in Canada, he was born in Ste-Marie-de-Beauce, Quebec. Ethnographer, folklorist, a founder of Canadian anthropology. He is known for his early championing of Quebecois folk culture and his exhaustive cataloguing of the social organization, narrative and musical traditions and plastic arts of Quebecois and many First Nations oral traditions for a mass audience. He worked from 1916 to 1950 as editor on the Journal of American Folklore, in that time focusing a lot on Canadian folklore. TW: this researcher may present biases towards First Nations people and their cultures, using terms that are not considered okay today. So please, support more recent scholars and preferably First Nations authors to know more. Favorite book: Ceinture Flechée. Montréal: Paysana. 1945.

Pierre DesRuisseaux (1945-2016): Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, he was a novelist, essayist, poet, and journalist. He wrote many works on the expressions, proverbs, sayings, and folkloric tales of Quebec. Favorite book: Croyances et pratiques populaires au Canada français, Montréal, Éditions du Jour, 1973.

Jean-Claude Dupont (1934-2016): Born in Saint-Antonin, Quebec, he was an ethnographer and researcher at University of Laval. His ethnological thesis, Héritage d'Acadie, documented the spiritual traditions of Acadians, and I use it heavily in my practice. He was a pioneer of material cultures research, using this in his ethnological research. Favorite book: Heritage d’Acadie. Collection Connaissance, éditions Lemeac. 1977. 

Carolyn Podruchny (still active in academia!): PhD, is a Professor of History at York University. Her research focuses on the relationships forged between Indigenous peoples and French colonists in northern North America. Her first monograph, Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade (2006), examines French Canadian voyageurs who worked in the North American fur trade based out of Montreal, and ranging to the Great Lakes, the Great Plains, northern woodlands, and the subarctic. She focuses a lot on Indigenous Peoples , History, The meeting of Europeans and Indigenous peoples in the North American fur trade. The cultural, social, gender, labour, and environmental questions, Early Canadian history, Metis history, fur trade history, colonialism. She is an amazing resource! Favorite book: Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press. 2006.

Benoît Lacroix (1915-2016): Born in Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse, Quebec. A Quebec theologian, philosopher, Dominican priest, professor of medieval studies and historian of the Medieval period, and author of almost 50 works and a great number of articles. His collection is extensive in terms of religious life in Quebec, and a high recommendation for spiritual inspiration! Even just the list of publications on Wikipedia is a wealth of possibility, I recommend it! Favorite book: Folklore de la mer et religion. Editions Lemeac, 1980.

Antonine Maillet (1929- 2025): This lesbian queen of the letters in Acadie! She is an Acadian novelist, playwright and scholar. She was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. It's impossible to note down which of her books are the best, they're all such authentic works! For my favorite book, it's for my research into the folklore of course! I first read her for her novel, Pélagie-la-Charette, published in 1974. It's about an Acadian woman who guides her fellow Acadians out of Georgia back to their homeland, enmeshing folklore and history together in her narrative. Favorite book: Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie. Les Archives de Folklore, 13. Les Presses de l’Université Laval, Québec, 1971.

Fred Pellerin (1976- still alive): a legend of traditional Quebec storytelling, Fred is from Saint-Élie-de-Caxton. He is a storyteller, author, and screenwriter. He's especially known for his double-entendre turns of phrases, clever verbal acrobatics, rhythm of speaking, and his amazing imagination of the Quebecois landscape and villages of the 19th century into the 20th. He has many books with accompanying CDs with his many stories of his village and the colourful characters inhabiting it. He also collaborated on the film adaptations of his folktales Babine (2008), Ésimésac (2012), and L'arracheuse de temps (2021). Favorite book: Dans mon village, il y a belle Lurette…, livre et CD, Planète rebelle, collection « Paroles », 2001, 142 p. (ISBN 2-9225-2855-3)

Musical heritage and modern bands

Le Vent du Nord: Favorite album: Territoires (2019) a mainstay in the Canadian folk landscape, Le Vent du Nord specializes in traditional French-Canadian folk music. Fiddle, mandolin, accordion, guitar, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, and rich vocal harmonies and podorythmie beats. Their Shrewsbury music festival shows on Youtube are absolutely riveting to watch! One of my all-time favorite bands for my magical musical needs! "La Turlutte a bassinette" is one of my main grounding songs.

Luc Arbogast: Favorite album: Oreflam (2014). This man. Where to begin with this amazing individual!? He's from Larochelle, France, and was a contestant on season 2 of the Voice. He is a troubadour who plays traditional instruments like the Irish bouzouki, lute, bells. He is known for his unique countertenor voice and medieval songs inspired by artists like Hildegard of Bingen, Walther von der Vogelweide, and Guillaume de Machaut. He sings in old dialects, French and English. If I ever cross his path on the streets of Strasbourg one day, I will fanboy scream.

Vishtèn: Favorite album: Terre Rouge (2015). They are a folk music group from Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands, whose style is rooted in Acadian music. They performed for the Library of Congress, available on Youtube "Vishtèn: Acadian music from Prince Edward Island". They fuse French, Acadian and Irish tunes. Quite beautiful harmonies too!

Les Tireux d'Roches: Favorite album: Tapiskwan sipi (2021). They're from St-Élie-de-Caxton, Mauricie, Quebec. They are considered storytellers-musicians-troubadours of Quebecois folklore and music. Using the cello, bouzouki, guitar, banjo, saxophone, clarinet, accordion, flute, harmonica. Folklorist and storyteller Fred Pellerin used to play with them!

La Bottine Souriante: favorite album: La mistrine (1994). From the Lanaudière region of Québec, La Bottine Souriante formed in 1976 during the Québec renaissance of traditional music. They use accordion, fiddle, guitar, piano, double-bass, which gives them a jazzier sound. They are known far and wide in Québec for their New Year's Eve anthems resounding in our homes, and they really go deep into the old tunes of the logging camps and voyageur trails, with some new compositions guaranteed for foot-tapping.

Les Charbonniers de L'enfer: Favorite album: La traverse miraculeuse (2008). Hailing from Quebec, they concentrate especially on vocal harmonies and acapellas, the jaw harp, and foot rhythm. They focus especially on traditional songs from the archival repertoire of French music imported with the settlers into New France, and voyageur call and response songs.

La Croisée d'Antan: Favorite album: L'antre Des Loups (2017). A trio of multi-talented musicians, La Croisée d'Antan features the violin, banjo, podorythmie, harmonica, accordion, guitar, and beautiful vocal harmonies. They have lots of traditional tunes, and new compositions with inspirations from yesteryear.

Le Diable a Cinq: favorite album: Sorti de l'enfer (2017). Five instrumentalists from the Ripon region of Outaouais, they aim to bring back the kitchen parties so fondly remembered in French Canadian households with their music. They're all from the same family: three brothers, one cousin and a friend. They use guitar, piano, vocal harmonies, accordion, podorythmie, violin, mandolin.

Movies (this list is always in progress as I discover more!)

Hochelaga: Land of Souls (2017): I watch this one every year on All Souls' Day. A Canadian historical drama film directed and written by François Girard and starring Gilles Renaud, Samian and Tanaya Beatty. Dramatizing several centuries of Quebec history and the local history of Montreal in particular, the story depicts Quebec archaeology revealing the past of indigenous peoples, explorers and 1837 rebels. I won't give away the many emotional gut punches this movie delivers. I adored seeing artifacts and then the flashback scenes of what this artifact went through in the hands of the various peoples that create today's Québec.

Babine (2008): Adapted from Fred Pellerin's book Il faut prendre le taureau par les contes, the film stars Vincent-Guillaume Otis as Babine, the village idiot of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, Quebec. A lifelong outcast because his mother (Isabel Richer) was believed to be the town witch, he becomes the immediate suspect when the town's church catches fire, killing the parish priest (Julien Poulin). However, he will receive the support of the village's merchant, Toussaint Brodeur (Luc Picard), as he attempts to prove his innocence.

Ésimésac (2012): Although an unofficial sequel to the 2008 film Babine, unlike the earlier film Ésimésac was not directly based on Fred Pellerin's previously published stories; instead, the film's screenplay placed some of Pellerin's established characters in a new original story. The film stars Nicola-Frank Vachon as Ésimésac Gélinas, a young but physically strong man whose distinguishing trait is that he does not cast a shadow. He convinces the village of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton to plant and maintain a community garden after an economic crisis has left many of the townspeople hungry, but finds himself in conflict with village blacksmith Riopel's (Gildor Roy) plan to focus on building tracks for a railroad.

L'arracheuse de Temps (2021): Based on the 2009 story by Fred Pellerin of the same name. It stars Jade Charbonneau, Marc Messier, Céline Bonnier, Guillaume Cyr, Émile Proulx-Cloutier, Marie-Ève Beauregard, Pier-Luc Funk, Sonia Cordeau, and Geneviève Schmidt. An illness-worn grandmother tries to convince her 11-year-old grandson that death does not exist. She tells him about the adventures of her youth in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, in 1927, when she had tried to eliminate death in the village.

Visual Artists

Clarence Alphonse Gagnon (1881-1942): One of my all-time favourite artists, and a really distant relative of mine! He was born in Montréal, Quebec. a painter, draughtsman, engraver and illustrator. He is known for his landscape paintings of the Laurentians and the Charlevoix region of eastern Quebec, where my family lived. It enchants me to no end, seeing my familiar landscapes with his brushstrokes! Favorite painting: Dans la clairière, Charlevoix. Huile sur panneau de bois, 1915. 15.7 x 22.8cm. no. 1988.113. 

Claude Langevin (1942-2024): A quick painter of landscapes, self-taught! His use of the brush is reminiscent of the Impressionists. He wished to express his affection for his people and his land. His depiction of the Laurentian landscape allows the viewer to feel a strong unfailing connection between the artist and the region he calls home. His use of light in his works reminds me so much of how the sun illuminates the Saguenay region, much to my fond memories. Favorite painting: Au but de champs.

Tom Roberts (1909-1998): Born in Toronto Ontario. He drew inspiration from the Group of Seven and French Impressionism. His paintings, characterized by vivid colours and dynamic compositions, captured the diverse landscapes of Canada, from Northern Ontario to the Maritime provinces. His use of both watercolours and oils brings versatility and an array of variety! Favorite Painting: Quebec Landscape, 1950. Oil on masonite 24 x 30” in. 

Books and Witchy Tools and Where to Get Them

Most mainstream anglophone shops like Chapters Indigo don’t have much. There are other options within Québec and in local regions for our books, and some of them ship elsewhere!

Archambault: this retailer has a lot of Quebec authors, music. Many books in their collections have folklore, regional histories, folk tales and more! Simply type the region you want, for example, Charlevoix or Saguenay, with any key words like “contes” and “folklore” and you’re bound to find a few good reads. https://www.archambault.ca

Septentrion: a bookstore specializing in historical monographs and scholarly works, especially those of France, Québec and any other region where we settled. https://www.septentrion.qc.ca

Bookmark Halifax: https://halifax.bookmarkreads.ca/. A local independent bookshop in our maritime province specializing in local interest authors and titles. Many features books include local history, graveyards, notable people, local plants, and so much more!

Carrefour Atlantic Emporium and Puffin Gallery: https://www.carrefouratlanticemporium.com. An eclectic paradise of local handicrafts, books, art from all over the maritimes! There’s a location on 1869 Upper Water Street, Halifax. I go there for most of my witchy tools like hand-carved spoons, woven tapestries, jewelry, statuettes, and lots of books on Acadian and Scots plants, folklore, history and culture books, as well and Indigenous titles. Sadly I don't think they ship, but always worth asking!

Honorable mention to Jennifer's of Nova Scotia! They're a local shop in Downtown Halifax where a multitude of local craftspeople and artisans sell their works! I get my pottery, tea, candles, art, jewelry, and trinkets from them! They only deliver within 20km of the store.

For those who garden or who are interested in Quebec-grown plants and seeds to incorporate into your spiritual path, here's a website to have a list of all available growers and seed providers! https://notreheritage.ca/semences/semenciers/#:~:text=Situé%20sur%20la%20Rive%2DSud,plein%20potentiel%20de%20chaque%20cultivar.

There's also the Pépinière Ancestrale, based in Saint-Julien, QC. a regional nursery for fruit trees, shrubs and plants! They ship to Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes! https://www.pepiniereancestrale.com

That's all I can think of for now! There's certainly more, but here is plenty to get any of you started! Feel free to reach out and ask any questions!

Bioregional Magic: Sustainable Ways to Work with Native Plants

Note: Post Contains Personal Anecdotes and UPG

As someone with a nature-based practice, I completely understand the desire to work with native plants. Many of us are deeply compelled to foster a connection with our land spirits and the local flora and fauna.

But with the normalization of consumption in witchcraft spaces paired with unethical wildcrafting and foraging practices, it's important to be careful. We don't want to harm the native plant populations and the wildlife that depends on them in our quest for a more localized practice.

Learning which plants are safe to harvest

By safe, I don't mean safe to handle or consume, though this is also crucial knowledge for anyone harvesting wild plants in general. I'm specifically referring to whether or not the collection of native plant matter will make a negative impact on the local ecosystem.

Think of it this way, if your practice is spirit-focused. Will the collective spirits of certain plants really want to assist you if you're devastating their population for your own gain? IME the answer is a hard no.

Take a look at a field guide and start identifying some of the native plants in your region. Are some of them listed as endangered, threatened, or special concern? Now you know which plants you should never disturb or collect materials from.

If not threatened, are some species generally harder to find? Are they present only in a certain type of environment? Do they take a long time to mature and/or have a very specific method of seed dispersal? Proceed with caution.

Example:

Common Blue Violets are one of the first plants to bloom in my garden during springtime. I also consider them very important in my practice and like to harvest them for certain rituals. But like I said, they're one of the first native plants to bloom during spring. Which means there are going to be pollinating insects, songbirds, and small mammals which rely on these plants for food. And predators who rely on those animals.

Since this is a hardy plant that usually grows in abundance, it's okay for me to harvest some from the garden for personal use. But I still need to leave enough to serve as a resource for wildlife and allow it to reproduce for the following year.

On the contrary, I never touch my wild Bloodroot. I only have two or three plants in the garden, their seeds have double dormancy germination requirements, and they take 2-3 years to reach blooming size. I have only ever collected seeds for propagation, and even then do it rarely because I know that the ants do a much better job at this than I could.

So when we can't harvest materials to use for tools and ingredients in workings, how do we utilize these plants in our practice?

Physical Representations and Symbolism

Images, objects, and symbols representing the plant can be used to substitute organic matter that you would otherwise collect and use for workings. Consider art pieces or photos, sculptures, sigils and seals, paper cut or folded into the shape of leaves or flowers, etc.

If the plant is your main component or energy source, consider designing the working to cater to this. For example, if I'm petitioning the spirit of milkweed, I might want to incorporate aspects of air and wind, since this is how their seeds are distributed. Or I may want to add some lunar energies knowing that this is the planetary correspondence for milkweed. This is would completely depend on my intent for the specific working and which physical or spiritual aspects of the plant I choose to work with.

If you're seeking a more long-term effect, try getting crafty and using symbols of the plant to decorate your own tools. I'm talking homemade oracle cards, painted jars or boxes for container spells, decorated offering bowls, ritual jewelry, and so on.

Working with Living Plants

This one is for the spirit workers. While it's entirely possible to petition plant spirits, especially collectives, solely using imagery, working carefully with a living plant can help establish a more direct spiritual connection.

This can be done by conducting your working outdoors, inviting the spirit of the plant into your space, and asking for assistance. During this time you would leave an offering, usually fresh water, but you can also offer things like soil or compost. Obtaining a working knowledge of certain plants can help inspire ideas for more creative, species-appropriate offerings, giving your spells and rituals an extra boost.

Now if this were a plant that was on a special concern or endangered species list, I would avoid offerings and actions that could potentially disturb the plant in any way. I may work within a few feet of the plant and present my offering in a bowl, removing it at the end of the working. I would definitely avoid touching it or say, pouring out water over the soil where it grows.

While we're on the subject of offerings, consider acts of service. Once again, we're going to use milkweed as an example. If I want to leave a nice offering for the spirit of milkweed and I know that Black Swallowtails feed on the nectar and pollinate it, I may offer a potted plant of dill placed in the wildflower garden. This is because Black Swallowtail caterpillars love to eat dill and will later pupate into adults, which will be beneficial for the plant. Consider different species and their relationship with each other. You may even get multiple spirit allies out of the deal.

Cultivation and Seed Distribution

Now, we've talked about ways to avoid harm when incorporating native plant species into our practices, but what about making a positive impact?

The Act of Growing Things is actually my favorite part of plant magic. Sure, I love harvesting my vegetables, fruit, and herbs to use in various recipes, and wild plants I find in the yard are excellent allies. But there really is something special about watching a tiny seedling grow into a full-sized plant, or seeing that delicate young native perennial thrive during its first year outdoors.

Whether transplanting or growing from seed, you're inevitably going to develop a strong relationship with that specific plant. You'll learn all about its growth rate, ecological benefits, soil requirements, and more. This will lead to folklore, correspondences, and later on your own UPG related to where this plant fits within your practice.

Another option, if you don't have the energy for more hands-on cultivation, is seed scattering. Disturbed areas like roadside ditches or even your backyard are perfect for this. Whether scattering or growing in starter pots, seeds can be charmed or enchanted with a specific intent and planted as a sort of living spell.

I use Prarie Moon Nursery for my seeds, but there are plenty of other affordable online vendors. You can also check out what's available locally. There are a few native-focused nurseries in my area that have a nice variety of options depending on the season.

La Mi-Carême (Mid-Lent)

Mid-Lent, or, La Mi-Carême, falls on the fourth Thursday in the Lenten season. This holiday has its roots in 7th and 8th century Europe, where believers were allowed this day of respite from the fasting and reservations of Lent. It was around the same time as Laetere Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Advent (exactly 21 days before Easter Sunday) where a spirit of joy is celebrated as we get closer to Easter. Having migrated with the French settlers of the 17th century, the Acadians and some Quebec communities, Mi-Carême became a day of carnivalesque mischief and trickery. Participants, mostly men until the twentieth century, disguised themselves with a dizzying array of masks and frocks, and do a tour of their village, challenging interlopers to guess who they were. In exchange, they would receive treats and opportunities to play pranks, sometimes a boozy recompense. In some communities, like in Grand-Étang, Nova Scotia, there is a Mi-Carême Interpretive Centre, where runners of the Mi-Carême gather on this day to do their designated tomfoolery. Lively fiddle music and sweet treats await visitors! Today, the most extensive celebration of this holiday remains in Chéticamp, Cape Breton, where it lasts a whole week. These two communities have celebrated Mi-Carême since 1785! 

Today in Québec, you can see Mi-Carême celebrations notably where Acadians migrated, namely Fatima, the Magdalen Islands, Natashquan, and L’Isle-aux-Grues. In parts of Newfoundland, Acadians would pair Mi-Carême traditions with the mummers tradition of anglophone communities, however, it occurred between Christmas and the Feast of Kings. 

Costumes would prioritize the grotesque, bizarre, and outlandish. The more ludicrous and hideous the masquerade, the better! Most costumes were improvised and very cost-effective. The point was to have no one recognize you! Old rags, hand-me-downs from distant cousins living in the United States (and unknown to the community, so no one would know whose family the clothes belonged to), and especially, clothing yourself in the clothes of your opposite gender, were sure-fire ways to be incognito on this festival day. Changing your body shape was also a notable technique, using hay to bulk out your limbs, or cushions to give yourself a hunched back. Some folks would go as industrious as using animal skins, like the hide of a bull, preserving the horns for a truly otherworldly effect! 

Disguised parties, led by a chief, would enter homes, and entertain the family with brief songs and improvised plays. Unlike the eve of All Saint’s Day (October 31), the aim was not to pull tricks. The chief of the party-goers had to see that his troupe would behave in others’ homes. However, that can change if the house they wanted to enter would not let them enter! 

La Mi-Carême, Mère Mi-Carême (Mother Mid-Lent)

Folklore traveled from Normandy and Brittany to Acadie, and transplanted itself into the maritime spirit of the people. In parts of Brittany, La Mi-Carême (Lady Mid-Lent) would be a beautiful woman who would traverse the skies on horseback, distributing sweets and treats from a magical golden cornucopia to the village cross, where children were led to for holy prayer. The treats would appear to fall from Heaven, and the children would leave behind offerings of hay for her horse at the foot of the cross as a thank you. In Quebec, this kind of figure appears in Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau’s novel Charles Guerin (published in 1852), featuring a Mère Mi-Carême (Mother Mid-Lent). She is a woman, bent forward by old age, who would hobble from home to home with a big bag on her back, and supporting herself with a thick cane. Peering through her small glasses, she was draped in old, tattered rags, adorned with fish bones and tails. Sometimes, she just appears as a hunched over figure covered by a white sheet, evoking a sense of mystery and apprehension for children. This figure also appears in Acadian communities, and almost in the habit of a traditional Santa Claus, would leave behind treats for obedient children, while chastising the mischievous ones. This figure would feature in the mythos of this holiday from the 19th century into the mid-twentieth century. When she would visit a house, children were told to not look at her leaving the house, for fear of knowing where she was headed to next. This could prevent her from coming next year. This tradition expanded to Irish immigrant communities, particularly in Tignish, PEI, where she was known as ‘mickram’ (anglicized verbiage of Mi-Carême). In some Acadian communities, especially in north-eastern New Brunswick, in Gaspésie, in the Magdalen Islands, and on the Côte-Nord of Quebec, it was known that La Mi-Carême would bring newborns to their families. When mothers would be in labour, children were told that La Mi-Carême was coming to see their mom. Given that this character gave a fright to children, they would instinctively go seek refuge at a neighbour’s house for the entire duration of their mother’s labour. She was also known to bring baby animals to the farms as well. What a busy woman! 

Celebrating Mi-Carême in a Folk Practice

-if you're in the area and wish to experience the culture and the wondrous display of colours and lively music, visit the Centre de la Mi-Carême in Grand-Étang, Nova Scotia, just off the Cabot Trail.

-it’s a time of masquerades and journeys! If you can make yourself an outfit to be completely unrecognizable, even a mask, just to take your spirit out of yourself, it can lead to some exciting astral journeys! 

-leaving an offering to La Mi-Carême, such as hay, or little quarters, might be wise, especially if you want to avoid getting a good scare from her. 

-exploring the archives for songs attached to this festival, and listening to some examples would be fun! 

-host a masquerade party and have people try to guess each other’s identities! Bringing back these celebrations means having fun in the ways we used to, so put your phones down! 

Sources

Georges Arsenault. La Mi-Carême en Acadie. Editions La Grande Marée. 2007.

Le Centre de la Mi-Carême. https://www.micareme.com

Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America. Mid-Lent Traditions in Acadia. http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-310/Mid-Lent%20Traditions%20in%20Acadia

Photos

Mid-Lent Revellers, NS, circa 1953. Collection Centre Acadien, Université Sainte-Anne.

Mi-Careme distributing cookies to children, charcoal drawing by Denise Paquette, Collection Georges Arseneault.

Tourism Nova Scotia

Centre de la Mi-Carême - Tourism Nova Scotia

St. Anne wall shrine

I painted a boat-shaped key holder into a wall shrine to St. Anne today, as her saint day is coming up soon.

I incorporated a canoe and a sash, as St. Anne was a protective saint of voyageurs during the fur trade. Red, green and white felt like her signature colors, and she is near the ocean, as she was a treasured saint among fishermen and sailors.

I'll try to find a little tea light platform to glue to the bottom of the shrine for a fake candle to rest.

La Chandeleur

Candlemas, or La Chandeleur as it is known in French-speaking Catholic communities, starts on the evening of February 1st into February 2nd. It commemorates Jesus's presentation at the Temple (Luke 2:22-40) as the Light of the World.

The Blessed Candle

This time of year is full of light festivals all over the world. For Acadians, la Chandeleur is celebrated with the blessing of a candle at church at 8am, and bringing it home to in turn bless the home.

The blessed candle is kept at the parents' bedside, or on a tiny shelf in the kitchen. It would be lit during big storms, as a foil to lightning, during periods of illness, a hard childbirth, and when a death occurs in the house. When a priest would visit the house to provide communion to a sick parishioner, the candle would be lit and carried to guide the priest to the ailing person's bedside, and the same rite would apply to the final rites of a dying person. The flame remains lit during the wake. The candle is also lit during Marial devotions during the month of May. If healing is prayed for during a novena, it also doesn't hurt to light this candle.

Once those candles are blessed, the master of the home is to bring the lit candle to every corner of the house to bless it with its light. They would also bring this light to the barn and the fields for blessings. Many families boast of a special candle holder just for this candle.

On Prince Edward Island, pieces of this candle's wax were also brought aboard on fishing boats along with woven palm fronds, and were meant to keep the fisherman safe during storms at sea.

Acadian Candle Blessing

"Daignez bénir et sanctifier ces cierges pour notre usage, pour la santé des corps et des âmes, sur terre comme sur mer."

"May these candles be blessed and sanctified for our use, for the health of our bodies and souls, on land as on the sea."

Chandeleur Crêpes

It's also a crêpe-making day!!! On the eve of this holiday (Feb.1), families would make crêpes for dinner, often using the last of last year's flour. This stems from medieval France, when peasants would use the previous year's flour (most likely their only flour left) to ensure the next year's harvest would be bountiful. It is tradition in Acadie to have every member of the household flip their own crêpe, to determine if a successful flip would grant them luck for the year. Some families even kept a piece of the crêpe in their cupboard all year long to ward off bad luck.

Crêpe recipe

One cup white flour

1 1/4 cup of milk

1/2 tsp of salt

1 cup of freshly fallen snow, compacted (nowadays, I wouldn't recommend it. Snow falls on the ground polluted. It used to be a common ingredient in Acadian and Quebecois cooking. You can skip it and the recipe would still turn out fine.)

Frying grease or vegetable shortening, or butter for the pan.

Serve with molasses or grated maple sugar.

A Season of Giving

It is also a time in Acadian villages where folks would go around and ask for donations to their local food banks or church soup kitchen service. They would parade with a tall staff with a rooster figure on top (called a chief's cane) and with each donation, a ribbon is added to the stick. In the evening, when the village would gather for a community potluck, people could reclaim their ribbons from the rooster staff. Festivities of fiddle playing, dancing and merriment were in order in most homes and community centres.

Acadian communities like Chéticamp and other small Acadian hamlets still celebrate to this day!

Ideas for Anyone Far from a Community

Seeing as I don't live in an Acadian community sadly, here are some ideas of things I can do, and maybe you can do too, to celebrate today!

Make crêpes and perform the best flip! Your luck depends on it!

Bless your own candle with holy water, parade it to every corner of your home.

Create a chief's cane, and plant it in your front yard. With every donation you accept for a food bank or other charitable effort, add a ribbon, heck, ask your neighbours and friends to participate!

Organize a potluck!

Use the wax from the candle to bless the lintel post of your doors, or other objects you wish to bless.

Bonus photo: Moonshadow blocking my holiday book's Chandeleur page and refusing to move.

Source

Georges Arsenault. La Chandeleur en Acadie. Editions la Grande Marée. 2011.

Painting

La Chandeleur. Painting by Camille Cormier, painted in 1984. Oil on canvas. Coll. Musée Acadien, Moncton University. Acq. 1986-17.

Happy Easter to all my family and friends! I’m back home and finally got to wash my altar surface with holy water and chrism oil, and decorate it again! I’ve placed the Host back in the tabernacle lantern with a red votive electric candle, He has returned! 🕊️✝️🌷

Book of Seasons and Festivities

I wanted to share some images of my work so far in a book of holidays, seasonal religious and cultural celebrations for my own personal path. :)

Every action we take is fundamental to a better world that is kinder. I also recognize he had his mistakes and issues but he learned and he strove to do better. And for a Pope, that’s monumental. Rest in peace Pope Francis 🕊️

Pope Francis has died.

I know to a lot of people on the left and in the LGBTQ+ community, he wasn’t exactly seen as a holy herald of progressive values. That said I think he was more helpful to our community than we have ever really given credit.

The Catholic Church is hugely entrenched in the past. They may not ever accept gay marriage within our lifetime. But if you compare Pope Francis to any other Pope that came before him, he did more to progress the Catholic Church than anyone else ever has. He constantly spoke out saying that the church needed to accept LGBTQ+ members. He has denounced laws that criminalise homosexuality. He supported same sex civil unions—which I was literally taught was evil and dangerous when I was in Catholic high school. Transgender people can be baptized and same sex couples can be blessed because of him.

He was never enough, of course. He has affirmed the teaching that gay marriage is not spiritually possible and prior to becoming pope he opposed the legalization of same sex marriage. He has said gay children should seek psychiatric care. He has also been even less accepting of transgender people than same sex couples.

But at the same time he was the most empathetic Pope to have existed in the past several hundred years. I have left the church because I no longer believe in God, but I do recognize that the Catholic Church has power over huge swaths of the world. My mother still believes in her Catholic faith and has always stood by this idea: it’s impossible to move a behemoth organisation like the Church overnight. She stays in the community because she wants it to become better. She pushes, in her own small way, a little bit every day towards what she thinks is right. In this conversation, that is the acceptance of LGBTQ+ youths. Pope Francis was helpful in moving the Church away from a stance of hate. Now I hope that whoever the cardinals choose next for pope is someone who joins her in pushing that ball forward.