A Candlelit Evening of Hag Torches, Herbal medicines & Warm Broth and secrets from the woods.

A Candlelit Evening of Hag Torches, Winter Lore & Warm mushrom soup

Date: Friday, November 20, 2026 | Time: 6- 8:30 PM Location: The Candle Factory, Brighton (UK) Hosts: Courtney Tyler (Hips and Haws Wildcrafts), Julia Behrens (Medical Herbalist), and Guest Forager Capacity: Intimate gathering limited to 8-12 spaces

Step out of the November dark and into the slow, warm glow of candlelight for a simple, generative evening of hands-on crafting and shared lore.

Gathered around the table at the historic Candle Factory, we’ll spend two and a half unhurried hours crafting a traditional Hag Torch' - dipping a harvested dried mullein stalk into rich, wax, and embedding it with seasonal botanicals. Each guest will craft one personal mullein Hag Torch to take home and burn during the dark winter months ahead.

As our hands are busy with the wax, our conversation will drift naturally across seasonal themes: old folk crafts, winter herbalism, ancestral light, pagan traditions, and the quiet magic of autumn fungi as we prepare for the Solstice. There is no rigid lecture ”just an open, rich dialogue guided by three experienced herbalists and foragers.

Your evening includes:

Hands-on torch making: Dip and craft one traditional mullein Hag Torch to take home.

Warm nourishment: Enjoy a steaming mug of hot wild mushroom/miso broth served with fresh sourdough bread on arrival.

Seasonal storytelling: Informal conversation around winter immunity, folk medicine, tinder fungi, and traditional crafts.

No prior experience needed. All materials, broth, and hot drinks are provided. Please wear clothes or bring an apron you don't mind getting a drop of wax on!

The word hag opens a fascinating doorway into old women’s folklore, from little red ridding hood to the old woman who lives in the woods, it reaches far beyond the modern insult. Its roots likely lie in Old English hægtesse, related to meanings such as witch, spirit-woman, hedge-rider, or one who moves between worlds. There may also be a connection to the hedge itself—the old boundary between cultivated land and wild places, village and forest, ordinary reality and the Otherworld. Women associated with herbs, midwifery, prophecy, and spirit work often stood symbolically at this hedge, working at the thresholds of life.

In older traditions, the hag was not simply an old monstrous crone. She might be understood as a wise old woman, a seer, a healer, a weaver of fate, or a night-travelling spirit. Only later, through centuries of fear, persecution, and the suppression of women’s knowledge, were many of these figures recast as malevolent witches.

The hag stone carries traces of these older meanings.One strand of folklore holds that the holed stone protected against the Night Hag, a being associated with nightmares, sleep paralysis, or the old fear of being “hag-ridden.” Hung beside the bed or above a doorway, the stone was believed to ward off intrusion, protecting sleepers, children, and vulnerable thresholds. In this sense, the stone acted as an amulet of protection, part of an older domestic magic often tended by women.

But another tradition tells a very different story come found out more.

Your evening includes:

Hands-on torch making: Dip and craft one traditional mullein Hag Torch to take home.

Warm nourishment: Enjoy a steaming mug of hot wild mushroom/miso broth served with fresh sourdough bread on arrival.

Seasonal storytelling: Informal conversation around winter immunity, folk medicine, tinder fungi, and traditional crafts.

https://hipsandhaws.com/events (https://hipsandhaws.com/events)

Based in the stunning County Wicklow, Ireland, Courtney thrives in the forest, observing the ever-changing seasons. A skilled and enthusiastic forager, she spends her days wandering hedgerows and woodlands in search of wild plants, roots, berries, and fungi to transform into herbal extracts, teas, salves, ferments, and nourishing food to share with her community.

Courtney’s passion lies in teaching others the wonders of the natural world. With infectious enthusiasm and a deep well of knowledge, she breaks down complex topics—whether about fungi, foraging, or herbal medicine—into engaging, hands-on learning experiences that empower participants to confidently explore nature themselves.

Courtney shares her knowledge, skills and experience in foraging walks, workshops and events throughout Ireland and also abroad (USA, Scotland, UK) and invited as a speaker to various events such as: The Radical Mycology Convergence 2022/2024, Herb Feast Ireland 2019/2023, Fumbally Stables EAT:ITH, Beyond The Pale Festival, and various festivals etc.

Description supplied by the event organiser.