Clearing what the winter left behind
“I smite his sickness,
I conquer wounds.” - from the St Gall Incantations
March has an edge to it. The days are stretching, the land is waking, and the body often feels restless before the mind catches up. This is the month of hares here in Ireland, when you start to see them out in the fields, boxing and leaping as if the world has suddenly asked something of them.
‘Mad as a March hare’ didn’t come from nowhere.
Anyone who has watched them knows there’s nothing gentle about that energy. It’s not chaos for its own sake. It’s fighting spirit, vitality, the refusal to lie down just because winter hasn’t fully loosened its grip yet.
In Irish life, this kind of spirit mattered. Not bravado - backbone. The capacity to stand your ground when pressed, to push back against what drains you, to meet the year with something other than resignation. This isn’t about picking fights. It’s about remembering you have strength when you need it.
This simple Irish spell is for stirring that fighting spirit when you feel flat, hesitant, or worn thin. You won’t need tools for this one, just your body and your breath.
