Try A Little Fuzzy Witchery

If you have old-fashioned roses such as the dog rose (Rosa canina) or sweetbriar (R. rubiginosa), you may encounter something curious attached to a stem. While it looks like a colorful koosh ball, it’s actually a rose gall.

A rose gall starts during the spring when a little gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae) lays eggs on a leaf bud. The rose bush reacts by producing a gall, an abnormal growth to protect itself. That growth ultimately becomes an incubator for a new generation of wasps that will emerge the following spring. The wasp’s clever way of using the rose doesn’t harm the overall health of the plant. This particular wasp doesn’t sting.

Rose galls have fascinated people for centuries. In England, they were known as bedeguar from the French bédegar, which was derived from the Persian bādāwar and meant “wind brought.” The sudden appearance of these fluffy balls may have made them seem like they were blown in on the breeze.

They were also known as briar balls, Robin redbreast’s cushions, and Robin’s pillows. While Robin redbreast refers to the bird, the other Robin refers to the British woodland spirit known as Robin Goodfellow. Other names include Robin’s pincushions and fairy pincushions.

During the Middle Ages, apothecary shops sold dried rose galls in powdered form to use as a remedy that was believed to cure a range of ailments. They were also worn around the neck as amulets, carried in the pocket, hung in the home, or placed under the bed pillows. In Yorkshire England, schoolboys used them as charms to ward off getting caned by their teachers.

For your own magical use of a briar ball, place it on an outdoor altar or a special place in your garden to aid in connecting with the faery realm. Use a dried, crumbled gall to enhance wind magic or toss it to the wind to help release something you no longer need in your life. Like the rose itself, the briar ball is associated with secrets. Hold one as you think of a confidence you may be keeping and then bury the briar ball in the ground.

If you would like to read more about plants and magic, check out my book The Witches’ Encyclopedia of Magical Plants.