Blueberry Magic! 💙 Blueberry Correspondence, Folklore, and a Recipe!
August 2, 2025We recently went to a blueberry farm to pick some berries! I had never been to anything like this before, besides apple picking when I was a kid...and that's when I discovered my allergy to apple trees. Anyway, blueberries are delicious on their own, but they're also pretty magical and have some ties to folklore. In this post, I want to explore blueberry magic and some kitchen witchcraft.We recently went to a blueberry farm to pick some berries! I had never been to anything like this before, besides apple picking when I was a kid...and that's when I discovered my allergy to apple trees. Anyway, blueberries are delicious on their own, but they're also pretty magical and have some ties to folklore. In this post, I want to explore blueberry magic and some kitchen witchcraft.
The Blueberry Plant
Blueberries are a widely growing and widespread group of perennial flowering plants that produce the sweet berries we eat. Commercial blueberries, both wild and cultivated, are native to North America. The cultivated varieties were introduced into Europe in the 1930s. Europe and Asia have their own variety of berries similar to blueberries called bilberries. They resemble blueberries, but they're distinct.
Now, there are countless varieties of blueberries to choose from. When we went berry picking, the berry farm had at least 10 different kinds. There was even a variety called a Razz Blueberry, and I'm not kidding, they taste just like raspberries!
I don't remember which berries these were, just that they weren't ready to pick yet!
Humans aren't the only creatures who enjoy eating blueberries. Unfortunately, the berry farm we visited had a huge crop loss because of the Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica, which was first found in the US in New Jersey about 80 years ago. These little beetles have plenty of natural enemies in their homeland of Japan, but there aren't a lot of enemies for them here in North America, so they can infest a crop very quickly.
We did come home with plenty of berries, though! Hence, the reason I'm making this recipe and talking about blueberry magic!
Delicious Blueberry Jam!
This blueberry jam is one of my favorite things to make when I have an excess of berries. It's not a true jam or jelly, so I call it a spread. It's very easy to make, too.
You'll need:
- blueberries
- water
- sweetener of choice
- lemon juice
- chia seeds (optional)
Instructions:
- Wash the berries before use. Even if you buy your berries at the store, you should always rinse them before you eat them. This gives you a chance to get any dirt off the berries, but also to pick off any stems or remove any berries that aren't good to eat.
- Add the washed blueberries to a pot with a small amount of water. Cover the pot and simmer the blueberries on medium-low heat for 10 minutes at a time, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.;
- When the blueberries are soft and squishy, add the lemon juice and simmer for 10 more minutes. If you still have too much liquid, simmer the mixture for longer without the lid. Be sure not to let all the water boil off! You need that!
- If you're adding chia seeds, add them after the last simmer is over. Stir thoroughly.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and place it in airtight containers, then immediately place them in the fridge.
The jam will be ready to eat once it has cooled completely. It keeps in the fridge for about a week, though use your best judgment when storing it.
Now they just need to cool before eating!
Blueberry Magic & Folklore
You won't find any historical folklore about blueberries from outside North America because they weren't introduced elsewhere until the 1930s. Europe does have the native Bilberry bush, but as I said earlier, they're two distinct plants. I have heard that the correspondences and associations for blueberries and bilberries are interchangeable, but I obviously can't verify that myself.
North American Blueberry Folklore
Here in North America, the folklore surrounding blueberries comes from different Indigenous Peoples and their stories. It's honestly very hard to weed through information and research on North American Indigenous Folklore. There's a lot of nonsense interspersed with the truth, so I've done my best to verify the information.
Some Indigenous folklore says that the Great Spirit sent the 'star berry', which is what they called blueberries, to Earth to relieve famine. The blueberry plays a large role in Indigenous life, and it is a main ingredient in a dish prepared with dried blueberries, dried corn, and water.
Please visit the Voices of the Barrens for more information.
I actually learned a lot about the Wabanaki people of New England and Canada while researching this subject, and I came across a documentary that's screening on Maine Public's website called *'Voices From the Barrens: Native People, Blueberries, and Sovereignty'*. This documentary follows the Wabanaki People from both the United States and Canada down to the barrens of Maine for the annual wild blueberry harvest. It begins screening on August 7th, and if you can get the chance, I highly recommend watching it.
Maine Public Film Series
An article on the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives website says that in the 1600s, an English settler named John Josselyn observed New England inhabitants, Indigenous and colonizers, using blueberries to cool the heat of fevers and quench thirst.
So, it's apparent in more ways than one that blueberries played a large role in the ancient practices of Indigenous Peoples as well as the practices of Indigenous Peoples today.
European Bilberry Folklore
Turning to the bilberry, there are countless stories of bilberries in folklore. One such story comes from Ireland. RTE, Ireland's National Public Service Media, writes about the bilberry plant and Bilberry Sunday, the first Sunday in August. They say:
'For those inclined to follow superstitious belief, bilberries were not to be collected after the first Sunday in August as the fairies and Crom Dubh, the dark and crooked figure of the harvest, had spat on them in the same way they spoiled and cursed blackberries at Halloween.
This important calendar marker between the last Sunday in July and the first Sunday in August was of practical, community, symbolic, and ritualistic significance to traditional agricultural societies. Its status is best illustrated in the numerous names of the festival that survived into the twentieth century: Harvest Sunday; Lammas Sunday; Bilberry Sunday; Mountain Sunday; Patron Sunday; Garland Sunday; Domhnach Chrom Dubh;'
-- RTE - It's Bilberry Sunday this weekend but have you ever eaten one?
Bilberries play a key role in the festival of Lughnasadh, too. The same article writes that bilberries were associated with courtship rituals of the festival in cakes.
'To extend the courtship rituals associated with the festival, bilberry cakes were a feature of Lughnasa dances in some areas, as in this account from Kilkenny: 'All the young boys and girls for miles round came to climb the hill and pick the fraughans. Nor did they merely celebrate the day! The fraughans picked during the day were brought home by the boys to the various houses in the district and the young girls were commanded to make a 'Fraughan Cakes'.
This was an honour conferred on the girl as each boy came and took that girl as well as the cake to the Bonfire dance. The boys also provided the wood for the Bonfire. Tables were also loaned by the houses nearby to put the ‘Fraughan Cakes’ on.’ The special status assigned to those selected to make the bilberry cakes or pies was also recorded in Co Mayo, where one girl was chosen to make the ‘Pocaí Hócaí’ or ‘Rolaí Bolaí’ pies that were eaten in the evening between the dancing and singing.”
-- RTE - It's Bilberry Sunday this weekend but have you ever eaten one?
General Blueberry Correspondences
On a broader scale, blueberries and bilberries have come to be associated with abundance, prosperity, health, and protection. They can be used in magic in a variety of ways, but I obviously prefer to use them in the kitchen!
This recipe can help you utilize blueberry magic for good health, prosperity, or just because it tastes good.
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Blueberry Magic! ? Blueberry Correspondence, Folklore, and a Recipe
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