Wands are Wonderful: Be a Crafty Conjurer

Gandalf, Glinda and Harry Potter shouldn’t have all the fun. It is a marvelous thing to make your own wand. Start with a tree branch that has fallen to the ground on its own. Sand and polish the rough edges, as it is a wand and not a weapon. Then give it a good smudging. Hot-glue on a large quartz crystal onto the wand near the handle, and hot-glue on any crystals featuring properties that will complement your magic.

Rock Your World: Talismanic Stones for Success

These stones pave the path to prosperity for everyone. Use them on your altar, piled up on an arrangement on your desk at work or keep them in your pocket. This earth-based energy acts like a battery to boost you along.

Azurite strengthens mental powers.

Chalcedony gives you get-up-and-go!

Emerald aids in problem solving.

Opal encourages faithful service.

Pearl engenders material wealth.

Quartz helps overcome fear of rejection.

Sapphire helps with goal setting.

Tourmaline promotes an attitude of accomplishment.

Ritual Knotting – Cords to Strengthen Your Life’s Energy

All you need is a paper scroll and a length of red thread or cord. The color red signifies life and active energy. After you feel you have fully focused your energy into the scroll, roll it up.

Now, proceed to tie knots in the order of the following traditional chant:

By knot of one, this ritual is begun.
By knot of two, my wish comes true.
By knot of three, so mote it be.
By knot of four, the magic is even more.

By knot of five, the gods are alive.
By knot of six, my intention is fixed.
By knot of seven, under the influence of heaven.
By knot of eight, I change my fate.
By knot of nine, all powers are divine.

When you have completed the knots, tie the cord around your scroll. Note in your Book of Shadows when the power of this spell unfolds. This will be very useful for future knotting work.

Magic on the Move – Parking Pendant

Hang a red jasper crystal attached to a string on your rearview mirror in your car and your parking problems will soon be over. When you need a spot, touch the jasper and say, “See the parking spot; be the parking spot.” Remember to always give thanks to the parking gods and goddesses to remain in their favor.

Sweetheart Tea

Here is a quick recipe to create exactly the right mood for a dreamy evening:

• Stir together in a clockwise motion:
• 1 ounce dried and pulverized rosehips
• 1⁄2 ounce peppermint
• 1⁄2 ounce dried lemon balm

You can store this in a tin or colored jar for up to a year for those special evenings. When you are ready to brew the tea, pour boiling water over the herbs, two teaspoons for every cup of water. Say the following spell aloud during the five minute steeping and picture your heart’s desire:

Herbal brew of love’s emotion 

With my wish I fortify

When two people share this potion 

This love shall intensify

As in the Olde Garden of Love.

Sweeten to taste with honey and share this luscious libation with the one you love.

Dragons’ Lair Safety Spell

After an illness or any event wherein you feel the need to rid your home of unhealthy energy, head to your metaphysical five and dime and gather these essences. Anoint your home in order to return grace to your space and protect you from harm. Simply rub any one of the following essential oils, undiluted, on your doorjamb: cinnamon, clover, cypress, dragons blood, frankincense.

Walk through the door and close it securely. Take the remaining essential oil and anoint every other door and window. At the witching hour, midnight, light anointed white candles and place them in every doorway and windowsill. Sing:

My home is my temple,
Here I will live and love and be healed. 
And so it is by magic sealed.

Soak Your Soul Replenishment Rite

To rid yourself of negative emotions, try this purification bath. Draw a warm bath at noon when the sun is at its healing peak, and add the essential oils into the water as it flows from the faucet:

• Two drops rosemary for calm
  
• One drop peppermint for stimulation
  
• One drop lavender for energy cleansing
  
• Three drops thyme to relieve mental exhaustion 

As you soak and steam, repeat this prayer four times.

Sadness I release you – goodbye.
Fatigue, I release you – goodbye.
I greet this day anew, I great my life renewed. 

Blessed be.

Salt of the Earth Rejuvenation Ritual

Salts have been used to purify the body, by way of ritual rubs, since ancient times in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Beauties from the biblical era utilized this simple curative of natural salts to exfoliate the skin and enhance circulation, vital to overall body health. There are wonderful imported Dead Sea salts readily available at most bath and beauty stores, or you can make your own using Goddess Glow recipes, one of the kitchen cupboard cures that follows.

To prepare for your body glow session, light a white candle, step out of your clothes and into your tub or shower, and hold the salts in the palms of both hands, praying:

Aphrodite, in your wisdom, help me reflect your image;
My body is a temple to thee, goddess.
Here, I worship today with my head and hands, heart and soul. 
Blessings to all, blessings to thee, blessed be me.

Use the salts with a new loofah sponge and scrub yourself vigorously during the waning moon or new moon at midnight.

Friday's Clary Sage Clarity Incantation

Here is a handy spell for physical well-being as well as a self-esteem boost. For this witchy approach to preventive medicine, take a green candle on a Friday, dress it with clary sage oil, and speak the following three times:

My health is mine, under this moon divine.
I choose to be well in this healthy body I dwell. 
No more pain and strife, vital breath of life. 
Harm to none; health to me.
So mote it be.

Amorous Herbs Love Charm

Many a witchy woman has enjoyed the fruits of long-lasting love by reciting the following charm while mixing rye and pimento into a dish shared with her object of affection. While stirring in these amorous herbs, declaim:

Rye of earth, pimento of fire
Eaten surely lights desire. 
Serve to he whose love I crave, 
And his heart I will enslave!

Bed Blessing

Anoint your bed with this special charm. In a red cup, mix a half- teaspoon of jasmine oil and a half-teaspoon of rose oil. Take a cotton ball and dip it into the bliss oil. Touch it to your clean sheets seven times from where you rest your head to the feet, for each chakra point. Then speak aloud:

In this bed, I show my love. 
In this bed, I share my body. 
In this bed, I give my heart.
In this bed, we are as one.

Here, my happiness lies as I give and live in total joy. 
Blessed be to me and thee.

Now, lie down and roll around in the bed. After all, that is what it is for!

Kitchen Witch Alchemy

Marigold blossoms gathered at high noon will raise your energy level.

Lettuce juice (made in a juicer or food processor) rubbed on your temples and forehead will dispel sleeplessness.

Holly was once believed to repel lightening.

Hazel branches make excellent wands and divining rods. Used like pendulums, they help you answer questions.

Garlic guards against evil spirits, disease and bad weather.

Cyclamen eases the pain of grief.

Cucumber peel placed on your temple and forehead cures headaches.

Self-Blessing Spell

The time you take to restore yourself is precious. Morning is the optimal time to perform a self-blessing, which will help you maintain both your physical health and provide an emotional boost each and every day. Take a bundle of dried lavender grown in your kitchen garden or from a purveyor of organic herbs and place it into a muslin sack. Knead the lavender three times and breathe in the calming scent. Beginning at the top of your head, your crown chakra, pass the pouch all the way down to your feet, gently touching your other sacred chakras: throat, solar plexus, stomach and pelvis. Holding the lavender bag over your heart, speak aloud:

Gone are sorrows, illness and woe;
Here wisdom and health flows.
My heart is whole, joy fills my soul.
Blessed be me.

Rejuvenation Invocation: The Water of Life

I advise any witchy gardener to have a rain barrel to make the most of stormy weather; you can water your pots of herbs and garden during sunnier days and dry spells. On the first day of the rainfall, place a blue glass bowl outside as a water-catcher. Bring it inside and place on your altar beside a lit candle. Speak:

Water of life, gift from the sky,We bathe in newfound energy, making spirits fly!

Dip your fingers in the water and touch your forehead. Meditate upon the healing work you and your garden can do, thanks to the nurturing rainfall. Pour the water into the ground of your garden, speaking the spell one last time.

Pagan Zen Pick-Me-Up

The ancient pagan art of aromatherapy owes its newfound popularity to its remarkable capacity to heal the mind and alter the emotions. To enhance your spiritual health, combine the following essential oils in a dark colored bottle with a sealable cap:

Six drops lavender oil, four drops frankincense, six drops vanilla oil, and two ounces almond oil

Light your way to a healthier outlook by burning this Pagan Zen combination in an oil lamp or, for a quick pick-me-up, dab them onto light bulbs in your home or office. A soothing, meditative smell will soon develop you.

Gratitude Spell

In your pantry and backyard, you have much that you need to attract whatever you want more of into your life—love, money, a new home, a new job, increased creativity. The jar of cinnamon on your shelf is filled with sheer potential, and not just for baking cookies or dessert. Cinnamon is a spice of abundance.

To engender greater and long-lasting positive change, perform this spell:

Take seven green votive candles, seven cinnamon sticks, and seven flat green leaves from a plant in your garden; ivy or nasturtium are excellent choices. On your kitchen table, arrange the candles in a circle, placing them on the leaves. Anoint each candle with a dab of cinnamon oil, which works swiftly, as it is ruled by Mercury—the god of speed, swift change, and fast communication whom operates in the element of air. Place the sticks in the center. At 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. for seven days, light a candle. Then incant aloud:

Luck be quick, luck be kind.
And by lucky seven, good fortune will be mine. 
As above, so below,
The wisdom of the gods shall freely flow.
To perfect possibility, in gratitude I go.

Each day, at the strike of 7 o’clock, perform your ritual.

Later, you can count your blessings; there will be at least seven.

Invocation for New Employment

Here is a great way get a new job. Light a gold candle and place it in a special place beside a crystal chunk of shiny gold pyrite. Repeat this incantation eight times while holding the gold in your right hand and holding a vision of yourself at the desired job:

To see what the future holds, 
I must be bold.
I see the perfect job for me;
I see a place of plenty.
Upon my heart’s desire I am set; 
My new boss will never regret. 
This job will come to me now; 
Harm to none, I vow.
With harm to none, so mote it be.

Green Magic - Basil Abundance Ritual

Take a few sprigs of basil before you cook and put them in a green bowl on your kitchen altar. Boil water as for tea and pour over the herb in the bowl. Now chant this medieval-inspired charm:

With bounteous hand and healthful balm, 
Blessed basil, most verdurous herb
Bring me health and heart and calm. 
Abundance I shall see by every deed and verb. 
And so it is.

Breathe in the steam from the basil bowl and fill your lungs with the smell of prosperity. Repeat the spell once more; leave the basil bowl on your altar for 24 hours. Not only will your thinking be greatly clarified, but you will begin to see signs of your wealth increasing in one week. With basil flourishing in your herb pots, you have a ready source bursting with positive money energy.

Green Thumb Thursday Spell

On a Thursday, as the moon waxes, light green and purple candles anointed with pure lotus or sandalwood oil. Place a small ivy or fern on your altar, along with a glass of fresh water containing a pearl or piece of jade. Burn a stick of sandalwood incense in a pot of soil placed at the altar’s north quadrant and meditate on your hopes and dreams.

When the incense has burned down, place the plant in the larger container, then bow and pray:

As this living thing expands, so shall the power of this magic space grow. 
Oh, Goddess, I dedicate my magic to you. Harm to none and only good 
work from this holy place.
Blessed be.

Bury the jewel in the soil and use the water from the glass to water the plant. Keep your plant “familiar” with you. You will grow in health and power together. I also encourage you to continually revitalize your altar by adorning it with sacred objects—an iridescent feather, an egg-shaped pebble from the side of the road, a rosy pomegranate, or any other sacred object you find will make a perfect altar gift.

A Lovely Night for a Moon Dance - Saturn Day Night Fever

Here is a pagan party plan which is wonderful for weekend evenings. You can add many embellishments such as important astrological or lunar happenings, but you should gather your friends or coven and celebrate life any Saturday night of your choosing. If the weather is warm enough, have the festivities outside. Otherwise, make sure to choose an indoor space with enough room for dancing, drumming and major merriment. Ask each of your guests to bring cake, cookies and sweets of their choice along with their favorite beer, wine, mead, cider or ale and sitting cushions. Place the offerings on a center table altar and light candles of all colors. Once everyone is seated and settled, the host or designated circle leader chants:

Gods of Nature, bless these cakes.
That we may never suffer hunger.
Goddess of the harvest,
Bless this ale,
That we may never suffer thirst. Blessed be.

The eldest and the youngest should serve the food and drink to all in the circle. Lastly, they serve each other and the leader chants the blessing again. Let the feasting begin!

Gloom Away: Lunar Levity

I don’t know about you, but I occasionally wake up on the wrong side of the bed. The best way to avoid that is to brew up this lovely aromatic spray and use it to scent your bedroom before you retire. When your linens and personal space smell sweet, your dreams are guaranteed to be the same. This custom recipe works wonders on you or anyone in your environment who might need a lift. Combine the following essential oils:

• two drops peppermint 
• two drops bergamot 
• two drops lavender
• four drops rose
• four drops neroli

Add the mixture to a quart of distilled water, and spray the air while chanting:

Gloom and doom be gone.
Welcome, sweet spirits, into this house, 
With harm to none. So mote it be.