Friendly Feasts: Rite of Connection

Before you enjoy a friendly repast together, hold hands and recite:

Sister, brother, tribe of the soul, ones who care. 
Merry may we meet again to share.
Breaking bread and quaffing mead
We draw closer in word and deed.
Blessing of love to all!

Ritual Knotting – Cords to Strengthen Your Life’s Energy (New Moon is Optimal)

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.

Privacy Magic: Banish Space Invaders

Is your office mate overly interested in your conversations with your mom? Do you have nosy neighbors or a nightmare roommate? Combat other people’s cluelessness with crystals! If you have problems with the people next door, place jet at your door or bury it by the fence. If you have an intrusive housemate or guest, place jet on the mantle or bookshelves and wear jet jewelry to take back your personal space straightaway. This is a wonderfully respectful and peacekeeping way to honor your need for solitude that harms no one. Use this spell anytime you need protection from “space invaders.” Nosy people are often lonely so, when the time is right, offer a cup of tea and a chat and you will be doubtless rewarded for your largesse tenfold. Kindness is a very powerful magic.

Magic on the Move – Parking Pendant (All Moon Phases)

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.

Middle Earth Magic: How to Use a Crystal Ball

Crystal balls have their own authority and they can strongly influence the development of our psychic abilities. You should think of the crystal as a container that houses your energy. Make sure it feels right for you. The crystal should feel comfortable to hold—not too heavy and not too light. You should not allow anyone else to touch your crystal ball. If someone does touch it, place the ball in a bowl of sea salt overnight to cleanse it of outside energy and influence. Because quartz crystal balls have an inherent power, you have to practice working with them first. Pure quartz crystal balls can be quite expensive, but the price is worthwhile if you are serious about harnessing your intuition and using it for good. Don’t expect your experiences to be like the movies. Most of the people I know who use crystal balls, including many healers and teachers, see cloudy and smoky images.

Work with a partner to sharpen your psychic skills. Sit directly across from your partner with the crystal ball between you. Close your eyes halfway and look at the ball and into the ball while harnessing your entire mind. Empty out all other thoughts and focus as hard as you can. You will sense your third eye, the traditional seat of psychic awareness, begin to open and project into the crystal ball. By practicing this way, you will train your mind. The patterns you see will become clearer and your impressions more definite. You should trust that what you are seeing is real. Find a place of knowing, as I do with my stomach. Verbalize to your partner what you see, and then listen to your partner as she reveals her visions to you. After at least three rounds of individual reading and revealing, share visions at the same time to learn whether you are seeing the same things!

You should also do crystal ball meditations on your own. In a darkened room, sit and hold your crystal ball in the palms of both hands. Touch it to your heart and then gently touch it to the center of your forehead, where your third eye is located. Then hold the ball in front of your physical eyes and, sitting very still, gaze into it for at least three minutes. Envision pure white light in the ball and hold on to that image. Practice the white-light visualization for up to a half hour and then rest your mind, your eyes and your crystal ball. If you do this every day, within a month you should start to become an adept at crystal ball gazing.

West With the Night –A Setting Sun Spell (All Lunar Phases)

To clear energy and prepare for a week of calm clarity, find your favorite white flower—iris, lily, rose, one that is truly beautiful to your eye. Monday’s setting sun is the time for this spell, immediately after the sun goes below the horizon. Anoint a white candle with clary sage oil and place on your altar. Take your single white blossom and add that to your altar in a bowl of freshly drawn water. Place sage leaves on a glass dish in front of the lit candle and speak aloud:

This fire is pure; this flower is holy, this water is clear. 
These elements purify me.
I walk in light with nothing in my way.
My energy is pure, my spirit is holy, my being is clear. 
White light burns bright in me and all the words I say. 
So mote it be. And so it is.

Burn the sage in the fire of the candle and put in the glass dish where is can turn into ash, smudging as it burns. Stand in front of your altar and breathe in slowly and deeply six times. On the last strongest exhalation, blow the candle out.

Lady of Silver Magic: Full-Moon Circle Gathering

The full moon is the most powerful time of the month and the perfect time to celebrate with special people in your life. This ritual will heighten your spirituality, your friendships, and your connection to the powers of the universe.

As I write this, it is a full moon in Pisces, and I look forward to getting together with some of the sisterhood, some fellow spiritual seekers, and kicking up our heels in celebration of life and asking for what we need from the universe. We will wait until midnight, the traditional witching hour. We will gather in one of our favorite spots near water under the magical moonlight.

Here is our recipe for ritual: We place the biggest crystal we can—usually a geode, an amethyst chunk, or a big quartz or rock crystal—in the middle of the altar. We place a goblet of wine before an image of the Goddess. We all bring candles in sturdy, tempered- glass votives to light our way, and we perform a rite we learned from our elders. Each of us holds a crystal that is our touchstone.

You can perform this ritual in your home or garden or a sacred place of your choosing. Designate a leader who will perform all the incantations as the group forms a circle. Begin with the appropriate chanting:

Oh, lady of silver magic, we honor you here, 
In this place, sacred and safe.
This circle is in your honor. 

The person in the northern point of the circle places her candle and her crystal on the ground as the leader chants: 

Blessed one, all earth is yours. 
May we all heal,
May we all draw strength, May we grow. 

The person in the eastern point places her candle and her crystal on the ground while the leader chants: 

Oh, lady of laughter and joy, so is the sky yours, too. 
May the air be clear and pure,
And the clouds sweet with wind and rain. 

The person at the southern point lays down her crystal and candle while the chanter speaks: 

Oh, lady of summer, each season is yours.
May each spring bring flowers and crops for all. 

The person at the western point lays down her candle and crystal while the chanter speaks: 

Goddess of the waters,
The rivers and the ocean are yours.
May they once more flow crystal clear.
Lady, we have built this circle in your honor.
Be with us here now.

Now each member of the circle goes to the altar and kneels, placing her candle and crystal on the altar. Each takes a sip from the goblet of wine and says: 

 

I toast thee, bright lady, In your honor. Blessed be. 

Then, all members pick up rattles and drums and sing and dance under the sparkling crystals in the sky. If you are able to observe every full moon with a ritual gathering, your life will be very rich, indeed.

Powers of the East, West, North and South Sanctuary Spell (Waning Moon, New Moon)

Every kitchen has a box of salt. This most common of seasonings is essential to physical health and also the health of your home. With a bowl of salt alone, you can purify your home every day and have a “safe zone” for ritual work. You can leave a bowl of pure salt in any room you feel is in need of freshening; the salt absorbs negativity. Many a witch uses this homely approach on a daily basis early in the day, tidying up and cleansing energy to charge a home with positivity. 

In your kitchen, take a bowl of water, freshly drawn and a small cup of salt. Take the vessel of water and sprinkle in as much as you feel is needed. Anoint your fingers by dipping them in the salt water and then around your third eye in the middle of your forehead.

Now turn to the east and say:

Power of the East,
Source of the Sun rising, 
Bring me new beginnings.

After speaking, sprinkle some of the water in the eastern part of your kitchen.

Face south and say:

Source of the Starry Cross, 
Place of warmth and light, 
Bring me joy and bounty.

Scatter droplets of salt water in the southern direction.

Face the west and speak aloud:

Powers of the West,
Source of oceans, mountains, and deserts all,
Bring me the security of the ground beneath my feet.

Scatter droplets of water in the west side of your kitchen.

Face north now and speak aloud:

Powers of the North,
Bringer of winds and the polestar. 
Show me vision and insight.

Sprinkle water in the northern area of the room.

End this ritual by sprinkling water and salt all around your home, especially around windows, sills, doorways and thresholds where energy passes in and out as visitors and delivery people come and go. In this way, you are cleansing and managing the energy of your space. After a distressing occurrence, you can repeat this ritual and then leave a bowl of salt out for 24 hours so it can rid your sacred space of negative “vibes.”

Intention Magic: Consecration Candle Spell

Write your intention on paper and then speak aloud: 

Thus I consecrate this candle in the name of [your favorite deity]. So this flame will burn brightly and light my way with the element of fire. 

Place the anointed candle in the candleholder, light it, and say:

Blessed candle, light of the Goddess,
I burn this light of [deity’s name].
Hear my prayer, O, [name the deity], hear my need. Grant my wish and give me hope.
Do so with all your grace,
And magical speed. 

Now read your intention as you wrote it on the paper. Roll the paper into a scroll and, using a few drops of the warm wax from your intention candle, seal your sacred statement. Place the paper on your altar or in a special place where it can be safe until your intention is realized.

Power Up: Ritual Tools That Need Charging

You will need a symbol of each of the four elements—air, earth, fire, and water—such as: a candle for fire, incense for air, a cup or water, a bowl of salt.

One was to design your own ritual is to work with the four elements. Choose a symbol from the information here. Also let your instinct guide you to choose as you wish or what you are inspired by.
Take the new ritual tool and pass it through the scented smoke of the incense and say:

Now inspired with the breath of air.

Then pass the tool swiftly through the flame of the candle and say:

Burnished by fire.

Sprinkle the tool with water and say:

Purified by water.

Dip the tool into the bowl of salt and say:

Empowered by the earth.

Hold the tool before you with both hands and imagine an enveloping, warm white light purifying the tool. Now say:

Steeped in spirit and bright with light.

Place the cleansed tool upon your altar and say:

By craft made and by craft charged and changed, this tool [fill in the actual name: boline, Book of Shadows, etc.] I will use for the purpose of good in this world and in the realm of the gods and goddesses. I hereby consecrate this tool ______.

Other tools you will use in ritual are more intangible. These include your breath, your intuition, your psychic powers, and your ability to focus your mental powers and spiritual intentions. Because they are intangible, only your intention can purify them. From time to time, you will use colors, herbs, oils, crystals, and numbers. Many of these ritual correspondences and associations have been passed down through the centuries, whereas many of them were invented by modern authors. Information on them can be found in the appendices.

Crystals can also be charged. However, tools that come from nature and are not “manmade,” but are of divine design, such as flowers, feathers, and herbs, already contain an intrinsic magic of their own and can be used as you find them.

Your tools will collect and hold the magic that lives inside you. They will become instilled with your energy and stored at your altar or in your sacred space. They will become your power source and will magnify the strength of your ritual work. Your altar should be a place of peace and meditation where your spirit can soar. Adorned with your treasured objects and the tools of your practice, it is a place of focus where you can enrich your life through ritual. You can create a wellspring of spirit so you can live an enchanted life every single day.

You can also perform rituals and make magic without any tools or implements at all. Your intention alone is extremely powerful. This simple approach could be called “zen magic.” When you perform ritual in this way, you are one step closer to the methods by which early men and women created ceremonies.

Earth, Air, Fire, Water - Ritual Tool Sanctification

You should design a personal consecration ritual for your magical tools. Use the following ritual as a simple “temple template” to build on. In essence, in this ritual you are dedicating yourself and your tools for the betterment of all and setting a foundational intention for your good works. Every time you acquire a new tool or treasure, perform this rite. As you grow in experience, you can embellish the ritual. Refer to your own Book of Shadows. Is there a certain phase of the moon that brings you more clarity? Should you use corresponding colors, crystals, essential oils, incenses, and herbs for your own astrological sun and moon sign? Is there a specific deity with whom you feel an affinity? Use these correspondences to begin designing the rituals of your dreams. The more associations you learn and use, the more effective your power will grow. Keep good notes of your ritual work in your Book of Shadows, and soon you will become a “maestro of magic.”

Inner-Serenity Spell

For inner peace, take a walk in the woods, a stroll on the beach, or just relax in your backyard. Bring a stick, seven leaves from an ash or oak tree, several stones, and matches. With the stick, draw a circle on the ground and mark four directions: north, east, south and west.

Place the stones at the center of the circle. Concentrate upon your connection to the earth and how to honor that in your life. Say:

Good luck rises for me in the East;
My music rises in the South;
My wishes rise in the West;
From the North, my dreams will come true.

Moonlight and Candles - Earth, Air, Fire Water

The popularity of candles has reached an all-time high. Candles are used by folks from all walks of life, for relaxation, meditation, aromatherapy and, most importantly, to achieve that “peaceful homey” feeling of being in your own sanctuary. This simple yet profound tool can make powerful magic. Take a moment and notice how candlelight transforms a dark room and fills the atmosphere with the energy of magical light. Suddenly the potential for transformation is evident. I don’t know about you, but I burn candles 365 days a year! They bring a sense of calm to me, imbuing my personal space with the positive.

Every candle contains all four of the four elements:

Air – Oxygen feeds and fans the candle flame
Earth – Solid wax forms the body of the candle
Water – Melting wax represents the fluid elemental state
Fire – the flame sparks and blazes

Sunrise Spell: Blessing Bowl Ritual

While a bowl is not a tool in and of itself, you can utilize bowls in your spellwork often and anytime you are inspired to do so. Three simple ingredients—a red rose, a pink candle and water—can bestow a powerful blessing. The rose signifies beauty, potential, the sunny seasons and love for yourself and others. The candle stands for the element of fire, the yellow flame of the rising sun in the east, harmony, higher intention and the light of the soul. Water represents its own element, flow, the direction of the west, emotions and cleansing. This ritual can be performed alone or with a group in which you pass the bowl around.

Float the rose in a clear bowl of water and light a pink candle beside the bowl. With your left hand, gently stir the water in the bowl and say:

These waters cleanse my soul and being, 
Now, with a clear mind and heart, I am seeing, 
I am love; my heart is as big as sky and Earth. 
From the east to the west, love universal gives life its worth. 
Blessings to all, so mote it be. 

Keep the blessing bowl on your kitchen altar for three days and three nights. Dry the red rose and keep it on your nightstand or desk where it will always fill your heart with love.

Western Winds of Change Rite

Gather these herbs and stir together into this highly effective clearing incense:

• 1 part sage
• 1 part sandalwood
• 3 parts myrrh
• 3 parts copal
• 3 parts frankincense

This is an optimal mixture of essences to purify your home or sacred working space. Negative energies are vanquished and the path is cleared for ritual. Open windows and doors when you are burning this clearing incense so the “bad energy” can be released outside. It is also advisable to use this clearing incense if there have been any arguments or other energetic disruptions in your home. After a family squabble or, goddess forbid, a break-in, or some incident that makes your office or home or temple space feel violated or less safe, you can dispel the bad with this holy incense.

Midnight Moon Purification Ritual

Set up your altar outdoors, weather permitting. The altar should be facing north, the direction associated with the energy of manifestation. North is also the direction of the midnight hour, also known as “The Witching Hour.” Find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your altar for clean and clear new beginnings. Take two green candles and place them in green glass holders, and position them in the two farthest corners. Place your censer in between and burn sandalwood, camphor or frankincense for purification. Adorn your altar with objects that connote well-being to you. Perhaps an amethyst candleholder with purple candles, a bowl of bright red apples from your backyard, a dwarf lemon tree bursting with the restorative power of Vitamin C, a cellar of curative salts from the sea. These symbolic items and any others your select will imbue your altar with the magic that lives inside of you and your intention toward good health. It is imperative that it be pleasing to your eye and fills you with gladness when you gaze upon the altar. After you have been performing Midnight Hour rituals for a while, a positive healing energy field will radiate from your altar. Blessed be!

Psychic Tuning Fork Meditation - Messages from the Heavens

The great psychic and healer Edgar Cayce used this otherworldly stone azurite for achieving remarkable meditative states, during which he had astoundingly accurate visions and prophetic dreams. Indeed, azurite helps achieve a high state of mental clarity and powers of concentration. If you can’t find the answer to a problem in the here and now, try looking for solutions on the astral plane. Write the problem down on paper and place it under a small azurite overnight on a windowsill so it collects moonlight.

At 11:11 a.m., lie comfortably in a quiet and darkened room with the azurite stone placed over your third eye on your forehead. Clear your mind of everything for eleven minutes and meditate. Sit up and listen for the first thing that comes into your mind—it should be the answer, or a message regarding the issue at hand. Write down the words you receive. For the rest of the day you will be in a state of grace and higher mind, during which you will hear information and answers to help guide you in many aspects of your life. If you, like me, enjoy this meditation, you may want to do it every day at 11:11 a.m. and every night at 11:11 p.m. I strongly suggest that you keep a journal of these “azurite answers.” You may receive information that you won’t understand until many years have passed, making the journal an invaluable resource and key to your very special life.

Ghostbusting Potion

To rid a house of haunting intrusion, brew a peppermint and clove infusion. Drizzle the potion throughout the space, and out, out, the ghost will race. Burning frankincense and myrrh incense sends negative spirits flying away as well.

Clearing Energetic Clutter

In order to do any healing work, you must clear the clutter that can create blocks. Banish the old, bad energy from your house by following this spell. Make a tea from herb lavender or vervain. Once it cools, dip your finger in the tea and sprinkle it throughout your home while reciting:

Clean and clear, nothing negative near 
Only healing and positive energies here. 
So mote it be.

Repeat three times, and if you feel the need to clear out any remaining cloud of psychic clutter, add diluted lavender tea water to your cleanser when you wash floors or surfaces. The scent of calm and clarity will lift the spirits of all who enter your space. The purpose of incense is to release energy into the ritual space, not to create billows of smoke that can cause respiratory problems in the circle. If you or someone else finds incense smoke irritating or worrisome, consider using another symbol of air instead, such as potpourri, fresh flowers, feathers or a fan.

There exist an abundance of incense burners nowadays, so use your discretion and choose one that pleases you—perhaps a smoking dragon or a goddess to hold the fiery embers of your incense would add to the energy of your altar.

Incenses themselves contain inherent energies that you can use to further your intention and promote your purpose. I depend on Wylundt’s Book of Incense, which I consider to be the ultimate reference for excellent information about essences and properties of incense. It contains an enormous amount of information in regard to loose, cone, stick and cylinder incense. It also tells you how to work with herbs, which part of a plant to use, and how to gather, dry, and store the plants. The following is one of my recipes for an incense to use to cast a circle.

Circle Incense:
• 2 parts myrrh
• 4 parts frankincense
• 2 parts benzoin
• 1 part sandalwood
• 1 part cinnamon
• 1 part rose petals
• 1 part vervain
• 1 part rosemary
• 1 part bay leaf
• 1/2 cup orange peel

This incense will significantly aid the formation of the sphere of energy that is the ritual circle. A fine grind of all the ingredients is the key to good incense, so you should add a mortar and pestle to your list of tools if you intend to make a lot of incense. A blender or food processor is a more modern approach that may save on time and elbow grease, especially if you are making a large batch of incense for a group.

Clearing Incense:
• 1 part sandalwood
• 3 parts myrrh
• 3 parts copal
• 3 parts frankincense

This is an optimal mixture of essences to purify your home or sacred working space. Negative energies are vanquished and the path is cleared for ritual. Open windows and doors when you are burning this clearing incense so the “bad energy” can be released outside. It is also advisable to use this clearing incense if there have been any arguments or other energetic disruptions in your home. You can recreate a sanctuary with this incense.

Dream Incense:
• 2 parts rose petals
• 2 parts cedar
• 1 part camphor
• 1 part lavender
• 6 drops tuberose oil
• 6 drops jasmine oil

This mixture will bring on psychic dreams. If you set up a bedroom altar, place this incense in your censer and allow the scented smoke to imbue your sleeping space with its unique energy before you drift off. Prophetic dreams may come to you and, even better, you will remember them!

Witchy Wellness Healing Altar

Your altar is your sacred work space, a place imbued with your personal pagan power. I recommend starting with a flat surface, at least two feet across each way for the four directions of the compass. Perhaps you have a favorite antique table, at once simple and ornate. I have set up my altar to face north, long believed to be the origin of primordial energy. North is the direction of midnight, and an altar oriented in this fashion promises potent magic.

Find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your table, just touching the floor. Take two candles in matching holders and place them on the two farthest corners. Place your incense burner exactly in the middle. If you don’t have favorite incense yet, start with the ancient essence of frankincense. Select objects that appeal to you symbolically to place on your altar. I have a candlestick of purest amethyst crystal, my birthstone. When I gaze on the candle flame refracted through the beautiful purple gemstone, I feel the fire within me. This inculcates your altar with the magic that lives inside you, that lives inside all of us, and magnifies the ceremonial strength of your workspace. You should decorate your altar until it is utterly and completely pleasing to your eye. After you’ve been working spells for a bit, an energy field will radiate from your altar.

Fireplace altars today hearken back to this earliest custom. Home and hearth have primal appeal to the comfort of both body and soul. If you have a fireplace, it can become the very heart of your home. The fireplace is also one of the safest places of the ritual work of fire keeping. Sanctify your fireplace with a sprinkling of salt, and then set it up as an altar to the four seasons. Like the Vestal Virgins of old, you can keep a fire burning in a votive glass holder in the back of your fireplace and have an eternal flame. The fireplace can be your simplest altar and a reflection of the work of nature. If you don’t have a real fire in your fireplace, you can place in it beautiful sacred objects—pretty rocks, feathers, seashells, glistening crystals, beautiful leaves, and anything representing the holiest aspects of the world around you. Let nature be your guide.

Stone Cold Magic: Your Crystal Conjuring Shrine

By building a stone shrine, altar, or power center in your home, you can create a place for daily conjuring, rituals, and thinking. This will set the stage for you to focus your ideas and make them grow. Having a shrine in your home allows you to rid yourself of personal obstacles and invite friendly spirits. Your shrine will spark your inner flame and bring daily renewal. The more use an altar gets, the more energy it builds, making your spells even more effective.

Create your shrine on a low table covered in a white scarf. Set rainbow candles in an arc and then add black and white candles. Place a heatproof bowl containing amber incense (good for creativity and healing), and place it in the center of the rainbow, surrounded by quartz. You should also keep a stick of sage or a seashell on your altar for cleansing the space every day.

Prosperity stones should be placed to the far left on the altar, in the money corner. Romance crystals should sit to the far right on the altar.

The rest of your altar should consist of meaningful, personal symbols. They should reflect your spiritual aspirations. I keep fresh wildflowers in a vase, a statue of a goddess, abalone shells, a magnetite obelisk, and a rock-crystal ball on my altar. An obelisk or pyramid on your altar can be used for writing out desires and wishes. You can use just about anything—photos of loved ones, religious images, and so forth.

With your altar, you can create a bridge between your outer and inner worlds. It can even be a place where you commune with the deepest and most hidden parts of yourself. An altar is where you can honor the rhythms of the season and the rhythms of your own life. An altar is a touchstone, a place to see the sacred and incorporate it into your life each and every day. It can be your special corner of the world where you can rest and connect with your spiritual center. Creating and augmenting your altar every day is one of the most soul-nourishing acts you can do.

Following is a comprehensive overview of different crystals and what their presence on your altar will mean:

Altar Crystal: amazonite, aventurine, carnelian, chrysolite, chrysoprase, citrine, green tourmaline, malachite, yellow fluorite

What They Mean: Creativity

Altar Crystal: amethyst, azurite, celestite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, selenite, smoky quartz, sodalite, star sapphire, yellow calcite

What They Mean: Intuition

Altar Crystal: amethyst, magnetite, rhodochrosite, rose quartz, twinned rock crystals

What They Mean: Love

Altar Crystal: bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, dendritic agate, diamond, garnet, hawk’s-eye, moss agate, peridot, ruby, tiger’s-eye, topaz, yellow sapphire

What They Mean: Prosperity

Altar Crystal: amber, apache tear, chalcedony, citrine, green calcite, jade, jet, smoky quartz

What They Mean: Protection

Altar Crystal: azurite, chalcedony, chrysocolla, green tourmaline, hematite, rutilated quartz, tiger’s-eye

What They Mean: Self-Assurance

Altar Crystal: amber, aventurine, blue jade, dioptase, Herkimer diamond, jasper, kunzite, moonstone, onyx, peridot, quartz, rhodonite

What They Mean: Serenity

Altar Crystal: carnelian, obsidian, quartz, selenite, sodalite, topaz

What They Mean: Success

Altar Crystal: agate, aventurine, bloodstone, calcite, chalcedony, citrine, dioptase, emerald, garnet, orange calcite, ruby, topaz

What They Mean: Vigor

Altar Crystal: emerald, fluorite, Herkimer diamond, moldavite, serpentine, yellow calcite

What They Mean: Wisdom

Bottling Up Your Magic

In use since medieval times, magic bottles, or spell bottles, can function as protectors of your home. Called witch bottles in the 1600s in England, they were originally used to hold objects for magical uses. They have largely fallen out of use, but you can customize magic bottles for yourself with crystal stoppers for a variety of reasons. You can put one in your garden for healthy plants, on the mantel to protect your home, next to your bed for love and happiness, and in the kitchen for good health. These magic bottles are mostly used for protection, but you can also place into them symbols of your dreams and desires, such as a white rose for peace, the herb rosemary for remembrance, and cinnamon for the spice of life.

For a calm and peaceful home, take a teaspoon of soil from outside your house (or the closest park) and place it into a bottle with some smoky topaz or brown jasper. Place the bottle into the pot of a plant near the entrance of your home. Every time you water the plant, think about the sanctity of your home. As your plant grows, so will the tranquility of your residence.

For luck with money, place three pennies and some pyrite or jade into a bottle and put it on your desk at home or your workplace. Shake the magic jar whenever you think about your finances, and your fortune will improve in three days.

For love, place a pink or red rosebud or rose petal, rose essential oil, and rose quartz into a bottle and keep it at your bedside. Each night, burn a pink candle anointed with the oil from your lovemagic bottle. On the seventh day, your prospects for romance will brighten!

Cords of Connection: DIY Magical Rope

Making this magical tool can be a meditative exercise. Once you have crafted your own magical rope, you should keep it on your altar. This rope binds magic to you, and is ideally made from strands of red wool or ribbon. Nine feet long, it is braided and tied into a loop at one end to represent feminine energy and left loose or frayed at the opposing end to signify the complementary male energy. Crystal beads woven onto the strands of the rope can compound its magical quality. I recommend you use clear quartz crystal beads, which are energy amplifiers, but you can use special stones for various effects: rose quartz for love, citrine for grounding, jade for prosperity and success in work, blue lapis for creativity, and amethyst for improved intuition and psychic ability.

Archangel Protection Rite: Angelica Hex Breaker (Waxing or Full Moon)

Whenever you are going through a hard time or have fears for your family, try this ritual. Angelica, also called the “Heavenly Guardian Flower,” is said to first bloom on Archangel Michael’s name day. This positive plant is part of the carrot family and is a tall, hollow-stemmed plant with umbrella-shaped clusters of pale white flowers, tinged with green. Candying the stalks in sugar was an old-fashioned favorite, and was also traditionally used to cure colds and relieve coughs. Nowadays, seeds are used to make chartreuse, a digestive and uniquely tasty liqueur. This guardian flower is a protector, as one might expect for a plant associated with archangels, and is used to reverse curses, break hexes and fend off negative energies. Drying and curing the root is a traditional talisman, and it can be carried in your pocket or in an amulet to bring a long life. Many a wise woman has used angelica leaves in baths and spellwork to rid a household of dark spirits. If the bad energy is intense, burn the angelica leaves with frankincense to exorcise them from your space. While you are protecting yourself and your home from negativity during this angelica smudging session, you will also experience heightened psychism. Pay close attention to your dreams after this; important messages will come through.

Peace and Healing Potpourri (Waxing or Full Moon is Optimal)

Sometimes, we all need a quick fix and this is exactly what this herbal mélange can do for you. Draw some fresh water and simmer this mixture on your stove whenever you feel the need to infuse your space with protection or do an energetic turnaround from negative to positive. A bad day at work, family squabble, an unfortunate incident in your neighborhood: instead of just muddling along, you can do something about it and your creation of the positive will help you and your loved one as well as your neighbors. This powerful potpourri will also safeguard from outside influences that can be disruptive. Set your intention and gather these herbs from your stores:

• 7 cinnamon sticks
• ¼ cup rosemary
• 4 Bay laurel leaves
• 1/8 cup sage
• 1 teaspoons juniper berries

Mix the herbs together by hand. While you are sifting, close your eyes and visualize your home protected by a boundary of glowing white light. Imagine the light running throughout you to the herbs in your hand, charging them with the energy of safety, sanctity and protection. Add the herbs to slowly simmering water and breathe in the newly charged air.

Ritual Herbs: Using Mother Nature’s Magic

Refer to this list whenever you are setting up your altar and setting your intention for ritual work.

Benzoin can be used for purification, prosperity, work success, mental acuity, and memory.

Camphor can be used for healing, divining the future, curbing excess, especially romantic obsessions, and a surfeit of sexuality.

Cinnamon refreshes and directs spirituality. It is also handy for healing, money, love, lust, personal power, and success with work and creative projects.

Clove is good for bringing money to you, for protection, for your love life and for helping evade and deter negative energies.

Copal should be used for love and purification.

Frankincense is another spiritual essence that purifies and protects.

Lavender is a plant for happiness, peace, true love, long life and chastity. It is an excellent purifier that aids with sleep.

Myrrh has been considered since ancient times to be deeply sacred. It aids personal spirituality, heals and protects, and can help ward off negative spirits and energies.

Nutmeg is a lucky herb that promotes good health and prosperity and encourages fidelity.

Patchouli stimulates and grounds while engendering both sensuality and encourages fidelity.

Peppermint is an herb of purification, healing, and love. It supports relaxation and sleep as it helps to increase psychic powers.

Rosemary is good for purification, protection, healing, relaxation and intelligence. It attracts love and sensuality, helps with memory, and can keep you youthful.

Sage brings wisdom, purification, protection, health and a long life. It can help make your wishes come true.

Sandalwood is a mystical, healing, protecting essence that helps attract the objects of your hopes and desires and disperses negative energies and spirits.

Star anise is a lucky herb that aids divination and psychism.

Tonka bean brings courage and draws love and money.

Vanilla brings love and enriches your mental capacity.

Wood aloe is good for dressing or anointing talismans and amulets you want to use for protection.

By Jove! A Spell for Wealth (New Moon is Optimal)

On any Thursday or new moon, light your altar candle at midnight and burn frankincense and myrrh incense. Make an offering of a golden fruit, such as apples or peaches, to Jupiter, and anoint your third eye with a corresponding essential oil, such as myrrh, frankincense, apple, or peach.

Pray aloud:

This offering I make as my blessing to all. 
Greatest of gods, Lord Jove of the sky. 
From you, all heavenly gifts do fall. 
Most generous of all, you never deny. 
To you, I am grateful, and so mote it be! 

Put the candle in a safe, fireproof place, such as a fireplace, and let it burn all night. You will dream of your loved ones, including yourself, receiving a bounty of material and spiritual wealth.

Crystal Clear (New or Waning Moon is Optimal)

Over time, you will doubtless adorn your sacred altar space with many beautiful crystals. Whenever you acquire a new crystal, you need to cleanse it.

Gather these elemental energies:

• A candle for fire
• A cup of water
• Incense for air
• A bowl of salt

Pass your crystal through the scented smoke of the incense and say:

Inspired with the breath of air

Pass the crystal swiftly through the flame of the candle and say:

Burnished by fire 

Sprinkle the crystal with water and say:

Purified by water

Dip the crystal into the bowl of salt and say:

Empowered by the earth 

Hold the crystal before you with both hands and imagine an enveloping, warm white light purifying the tool. Now say:

Steeped in spirit and bright with light 

Place the cleansed crystal upon your altar and say:

By craft made and by craft charged and changed, 
This crystal I will use for the purpose of good in this world. 
In the realm of the gods and goddesses. 
I hereby consecrate this crystal. 
Blessings to all, blessed be.

Moon Mojo: Clear A Space and Make It Yours (Waning Moon is Optimal)

To purify your space with as much of your own personal energy as possible, a broom you have crafted by hand is best. You don’t have to wait until you are holding a circle or performing spellcraft; it can be after a squabble with a loved one, to rid yourself of a bout of the blues, or any upset you need to sweep right out of your home. Many a kitchen witch begins the day with this simple ritual of a clean sweep to freshen surroundings and to make room for good energy in your life. This is, of course, not a white glove-type cleaning; it is a symbolic act that is effective in maintaining your home as a personal sanctuary.

You can make your own purification broom from straw bound together and attached to a fallen tree branch, or you can add mojo to a store-bought broom. Wrap copper wire around the bottom of your broom handle and also use it to bind straw to a sturdy stick or branch for the DIY kind. Venus-ruled copper lends an aura of beauty and keeps negativity at bay. Attach crystals to the handle with glue to boost your broom’s power. Recommended crystal for space clearing and purification are as follows:

• Amber for good cheer
• Blue Lace Agate for tranquility and a peaceful home
• Coral for wellbeing
• Jet absorbs bad energy
• Onyx is a stone of protection
• Petrified Wood for security
• Tiger’s Eye will protect you from energy-draining situations or people
• Turquoise creates calm and relaxation

Energy Management: House Blessings (All Moon Phases)

This magical tool was born centuries ago from the practical magic of sweeping the ritual area clean before casting a spell. With focus and intention, you can dispel negative influences and bad spirits from the area and prepare a space for ritual work. In bygone days, pagan marriages and Beltane trysts took place with a leap over the broom, an old-fashioned tradition of hand fasting, the classic witch wedding. Over the centuries, this rich history combined to capture the imagination as the archetypal symbol of witches.

Your broom is an essential tool for energy management. Obtain a handmade broom from a craft fair or your favorite metaphysical five and dime. This should not be a machine-made plastic one from the supermarket, though I did get a long cinnamon-infused rush broom from Trader Joe’s that I use in my witch’s kitchen. A broom made of wood and woven of natural straw will be imbued with the inherent energies of those organic materials.

This is very important—do not use your ritual broom for housecleaning. Like me, you may well view every inch of your home as sacred space but you will need to keep your regular housekeeping implements separate from those you will use for your magical workings. Think of it as a separation of church and state, if you will. And, it pretty much is!

In general, it is not advisable to use tools such as your ritual knife to debone a chicken, for example, as this risks a confusing blending of the mundane and magical energies. If you treat your ritual tools with the utmost respect, they will serve you very well. Over time, they will become inculcated with magic through exclusive use in your ritual workings. The Wiccan tradition holds brooms in high regard, and some witches have an impressive collection of brooms, each one named to distinguish their roles as “familiars,” or kindred spirits. Kitchen witches often have the most extensive bevy of brooms of anyone.

Happy Home Spell (Waning Moon Phase is Optimal)

To anoint your home and turn it into a protective shield for you and your loved ones, rub any of the following essential oils on your doorjambs: cinnamon, clove, dragon’s blood, myrrh. Walk through the door into your home and close it securely. Take the remaining essential oils and rub a bit on every other door and window. Light anointed white candles and place them in the windows and chant the words of the spell:

My home is my temple. 
Here I love and love, 
Safe and secure 
Both below and above. 
And so it is by magic sealed.