INTENTIONS: USING CANDLES TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR DESTINY

As you may know well, Dear Reader, clarifying and focusing your intention is the ultimate key to success in any spellwork you perform. A clear intention is essential in order for you to channel your power and energy into attracting the outcome you desire. Beginning a ritual with a hazy or vague intent does not offer any direction for your personal power to go, and you may find you are more likely to either fail or be unsatisfied with the end results. Your intentions should be precise and attainable, and once you have mastered setting the perfect intention, your craft will be much more personal and have a more potent effect.

The following blogs will guide you through some strategies for intention setting and give you a framework to customize spells for your specific needs and desires.

Pouch of Plenty: Crystal Charm Bags

A charm bag is a little bag or pouch filled with objects charged with magic for a specific intent. You can charge them by placing them on your altar for 24 hours or with spell work.

Gather together:

• Small muslin or cloth bags/pouch (that could fit in the palm of your hand)
• 3 pebble-sized crystals of green jade or peridot or turquoise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Bolline
• Dried basil leaves, one teaspoonful
• Green candle
• Thyme or cinnamon incense
• A length of green cord or string, a foot in length

Set the string aside and place everything else on your altar. Stand at your altar and light a green candle and thyme or cinnamon incense. Pick up the pouch and smudge it in the sweet smoke of the incense while saying the following spell:

    My life is blessed and this I know.

    Into this bag, prosperity will flow.

    I see the future is bright wherever I go,

    My life is blessed; this much I know.
    
    With harm to none; so mote it be.

Using your bolline, cut the cinnamon stick into three pieces. Cut the green cord into 3 pieces. Place the basil, pebbles, and cinnamon into the pouch. Now take the green cord, one length at a time, and tie at the end of the bag securely, wrapping it around six times and with a bow. Keep it with you in your pocket and into your life, money will flow.

Sowing Seeds of Positive Change In Your Life

Nature is the ultimate creator. At a nearby gardening store or hardware store, get an assortment of seed packets to plant newness into your life. If your thumb is not the greenest, try nasturtiums which are extremely hardy, grow quickly, and spread, beautifying any area. They re-seed themselves, which is a lovely bonus. Light the following candles:

• Green candle and peridot or jade for creativity, prosperity, and growth
• Orange candle and jasper or onyx for clear thinking and highest consciousness
• Blue candle and turquoise or celestine for serenity, kindness, and a happy heart
• White candle and quartz or limestone for purification and safety

Put the seeds under the soil with your fingers and tamp them down gently with your wand, the branch, which you should also stick in the ground at this time. Water your new moon garden and affirmative change will begin in your life that very day.

The Good Life Altar

To prepare the way for letting new opportunities enter your life or to focus your attention on existing friendships, set up an altar where you can concentrate your energy and clarify your intentions. If you already have an altar in place, incorporate some if the following elements to enhance your relationships with others as well with yourself. The more you use your altar, the more powerful your spells will be.

Your altar can be a low table, the top of a shelf, or even the shelf itself. First, purify the space with the smoke of a lit sage bundle. This is called “smudging” and is an essential part of witchcraft. You can use wild sage or purchase it in any herb store. Once you have smudged the space, cover your altar with a pink-colored scarf or cloth, and place pink and white candles in each of the four corners (Pink is the color of affection and White represents purity intention). Place rose quartz and calming fluorite stones around a vase of fresh flowers often with poppies, daisies, whatever connotes fun and friendship to you.

As a centerpiece, place on the altar a photograph of your friends or an image that represents abundance for you in your life.

Light the candles, kneel before your newly created altar, and say:

I light the fire of loyalty

The heat of heart and the flame of friendship.

Brightest blessing, Great Goddess bring,

The spirit of friendship will surely sing.

As the fates do dance, I welcome the chance

To share my love and my life.

So mote it be.

Your Abundance Altar

An important first step to money magic is to make an area in your home that is dedicated to abundance. To create a prosperity altar, cover a low table with green and gold scarves; then select a candle to match. Each day “recharge” the blessings with an altar gift, such as flowers, quartz crystals, gorgeously scented amber resin, or coin-shaped pebbles.

On the new moon, light your candles at midnight and burn frankincense and myrrh incense. Make an offering of tiger eye or citrine crystals, a golden apple or a peach, and anoint your third eye (in the middle of your forehead) with a corresponding essential oil – myrrh or frankincense, apple or peach.

Pray aloud:

    This offering I make as my blessing to all,

    Comfort and earthly gifts upon us shall fall.

    Blessed be.

Let the candles burn all night and dream of everyone you love, including yourself, receiving a harvest of material and spiritual wealth.

Employment Incantation

Here is one way I got a great job on my first day in San Francisco, despite the fact that I wasn’t really qualified, and I looked like an absolute hayseed after driving cross-country for four straight days from Appalachia.

Light a gold candle, although red will also do. Repeat this incantation eight times while holding a vision of yourself at the desired job:

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. 

So mote it be.

Change-Your-Luck Rite

Perhaps you have been overwhelmed recently by a series of unfortunate events – problems with work, finances, etc.–seemingly beyond your control. Do away with these burdens as quickly as possible. This spell requires paper, a black candle, a flat rock with a hollow in the center to set the candle into, a black ink pen, and a “cancellation” stamp, readily available at any stationary store. Anoint your candle with a drop of peppermint oil. Dress your altar with a peony blossom, the luckiest of the flower family. The consummate time to release bad luck is immediately after the full moon. Write what you wish to be freed from on a piece of parchment or stationary; this is your “release request.” Write this same request onto the candle as well. Ideally, this is scratched into the candle with the thorn of a rose you have grown yourself. Light the candle near an open window so the negative energy will leave your home. While the candle burns, intone:

Waxing moon, moist wise Cybele, from me this burden please dispel. Upon this night so clear and bright I release __ to the moon tonight.

Burn the candle for thirteen minutes. Take your stamp and mark the paper “canceled.” Put the candle out, fold the paper away from you, and place it under the candle stone. Repeat this process for thirteen nights. On the last night, which should be the beginning of the new moon phase, burn the paper and bury the candle, paper ashes, and rock far from your home. Give thanks to the moon for assisting you, and let go of the bad luck. 

Crystal Feng Shui for Luck and Happiness

Place these objects in your home to attract loving energy like new friends and relationships:

-two crystals of rose quartz of equivalent size,

-pink, orange, or red fabric,

-two red candles, and

-images of two butterflies.

Plan Your Week With Color Craft

Candle magic is a mainstay of witchcraft. I burn candles every night and also take them with me when traveling. For their magic to work, simply apply the basic precepts of color magic: have a clear intention of your desired outcome, and choose the appropriate color candle from the following list. On the corresponding day, begin burning the candle on your altar. Repeat this ritual for seven consecutive days with the same color candle. If you’re traveling, choose a spot to consecrate as an altar using the prosperity altar incantation.

Sunday

The Sun rules this day; use gold or red to affect a boss, a promotion, health, fame, or success.

Monday

The moon rules this day; use silver or orange to affect home, subordinates, or the emotions.

Tuesday

Planet Mars rules; yellow is the color that affects aggression, sex, conflict, and confidence.

Wednesday

Mercury rules; green is the color that affects communication, study, and quicker intelligence.

Thursday

Jupiter rules; the color blue affects medical and legal issues, money, spirit, integrity, safety, and security.

Friday

Venus rules; use indigo to affect aesthetics and beauty, marriage, relationships, theater, art, music, and family.

Saturday

Saturn rules; black is the color affecting judgment, obstacles, or property.

Abundance Attraction Charm: Almond Anointing Oil

Using almond oil is a simple way to attract money and can be used to ease the discomfort of financial stress. Try rubbing some on your wallet and visualize it filling up with bills. A drop or two on green candles burned every day will make an appreciable difference. Almond oil works quickly because it is ruled by Mercury, the God of speed and communication who operates in the realm of air.

    While burning your almond, anointed candles, call upon Mercury:

    Winged one, bring with you better days.

    Blessed be to all and may they

    Share in the bounty to come.

    With gratitude, blessed be thee!

A Spell for Abundant Possibility

I don’t know about Thursday’s child being “full of woe.” I am a Thursday’s child and I simply can’t relate. Thursday, originally named after the powerful Norse god Thor, is also classically associated with Jupiter, who stands for joviality, expansion, and all things abundant. Here’s a Jupiterian spell that will bring excellent opportunities your way.

On a waxing moon Thursday, light one green and one purple candle.

Take a sage smudging bundle and put it inside a seashell or fireproof dish.

Now, place a concave-shaped rock beside a vase filled with your favorite yellow flowers; dandelions are an excellent choice.

Stand in front of your candlelit altar with arms outspread while saying aloud:

    As above, so below,

    The wisdom of the Mother shall freely flow.

    To perfect possibility, I surrender.

    So mote it be.

A Spell for Abundant Possibility

I don’t know about Thursday’s child being “full of woe.” I am a Thursday’s child and I simply can’t relate. Thursday, originally named after the powerful Norse god Thor, is also classically associated with Jupiter, who stands for joviality, expansion, and all things abundant. Here’s a Jupiterian spell that will bring excellent opportunities your way.

On a waxing moon Thursday, light one green and one purple candle. Take a sage smudging bundle and put it inside a seashell or fireproof dish. Now, place a concave-shaped rock beside a vase filled with your favorite yellow flowers; dandelions are an excellent choice. Stand in front of your candlelit altar with arms outspread while saying aloud:

    As above, so below,

    The wisdom of the Mother shall freely flow.

    To perfect possibility, I surrender.

    So mote it be.

Sowing the Seeds of Change

Nature is the ultimate creator. Get an array of seed packets, and plant newness in your life. If your thumb is not the greenest, I suggest nasturtiums, which will grow in any soil and seem to thrive on neglect.

On a new-moon day, draw a square in your yard or planter with a natural wand—a willow branch or an oak stick, for example—and mark each corner with a candle and a stone:

    -orange candle and stone for higher intelligence (onyx or jasper),

    -green candle and stone for creativity and growth (jade, peridot, or malachite),

    -blue candle and stone for serenity and goodness (lapis lazuli, turquoise, or celestite),

    -white candle and stone for purification (Herkimer diamond, quartz, or limestone).

Repeat this chant as you light each candle:

    “Great Gaia, I turn to you to help me renew,

    Under this new moon and in this old earth. Blessed be.”

Poke the seeds under the soil with your fingers and tramp them down with your wand. Gently water your new-moon garden, and affirmative change will begin that very day.

Communing with Your Coven

The path of Wicca can often feel solitary, but it doesn’t have to be. Witchcraft, which is in itself highly creative, is even more so when practiced in a supportive circle. Wednesdays are wonderful for getting together with like-minded folks. Invite four of your fellow pagans over.

Gather together

    * a censer or incense burner

    * 2 green candles

    * 2 yellow candles

    * palo santo incense

Place the ritual elements on a table that will serve as an altar. Stand in a circle near the altar, holding a censer or incense burner. Ask each of your guests to represent one of the four directions: north, east, south, and west. Give the people representing north and south green candles and east and west get yellow. Light the incense and bless each candle with the sweet-smelling smoke.

Bless the candle of the East, saying:

    Inspired by air.

Bless the candle of the West saying:

    Burnished by fire.

Bless the candle of the North, saying:

    Cleansed by water.

Bless the candle of the South, saying:

    Strengthened by earth.

Together, everyone chants:

    Blessed be.

After the ritual, sit in a circle and share your ideas and creative vision. Talk about how you can support each other in realizing your full potential.

The Sacred Seven

This simple spell acknowledges the life force and the cycles of nature that give rise to our creativity.

On a Monday, light seven purple candles to represent the days of the week, and say aloud:

    We begin by honoring the sun;

    We begin by honoring the light.

    We light these candles for our friends, Our families, those we love.

    May the light of these candles draw the power of nature into our hearts;

    May the light of the candles inspire us to help and never harm;

    May each of the seven days be radiant with the Light from every start.

    Blessed be.

New Moon Charm for Banishing Heartbreak

Any new moon is the perfect time to create a new opportunity. Clear away relationship “baggage” with this banishing spell. If you have been hurt emotionally, this will clear it, fast.

Gather together

    * a clear glass bowl filled with 2 cups (480ml) of water

    * a silver spoon

    * a salt shaker

    * palo santo incense

    * 2 white candles and 2 black candles

Place the clear glass bowl of water on your altar. Set a silver spoon beside the glass bowl along with a salt shaker. Light the cleansing palo santo incense, the two white candles, and the two black candles. Pour salt on the spoon, sprinkle the salt into the water and stir with the spoon clockwise. Recite aloud:

    Hurt and pain are banished this night;
    Fill this heart and home with light.
    With harm to none and blessings to all.
    So mote it be.

After a few moments of contemplating the candle flames, recite the spell again. Using the silver spoon as a snuffer, extinguish the candles. Toss the bowl of water out on the street in front of your house, near a drainage grate. All your love troubles should drain away by the end of this lunar cycle.

Spelling Love

Jasmine and rose have very powerful love vibrations to attract and charm a lover. This simple spell, said aloud, will create loving magic.

Anoint the candle with both essential oils and close your eyes. Say to yourself:

Gather together

    * 1 white candle

    * jasmine essential oil

    * rose essential oil

    Venus, cast your light on me,

    A goddess for today I’ll be.

    A lover, strong and brave and true,

    I seek as a reflection of you.

Now open your eyes and gaze at the candlelight. Venus, goddess of love, has heard you.

Spell for New Beginnings

This spell can be used to meet someone new or to bring on a new phase in an existing relationship.

Gather together

    * 1 pink candle and 1 blue candle

    * rose or jasmine essential oil

    * 1 or more favorite flowers

    * a bobby pin/hair grip or safety pin

Before dawn, anoint each candle with rose or jasmine essential oil and place them on your altar. Light both candles, lay the flower(s) next to them, and chant:

    Healing starts with new beginnings, please show me who.

    My heart is open, I’m ready now.

    Today, my heart is open to love anew.

    Goddess, you will show me how.

    So mote it be.

Extinguish the candles and leave them on your altar. Pin the flower(s) to your lapel, jacket pocket, or in your hair and await the sweet message from the Goddess.

The Goddess of Healing: Artemis Invocation

Creating a healing altar will safeguard your physical health and that of your loved ones. Your altar is your sacred workspace. It is charged with your personal power. Set up your healing altar facing north, the direction associated with the energy of manifestation. North is also the direction of the hour of midnight, the “witching hour,” and an altar set up facing north at midnight promises potent magic. Your shrine to the healing craft should be highly personal and represent all that signifies wellness to you.

This altar is dedicated to the goddess Artemis (see right).

Gather together

    * white fabric

    * 2 green candles, for health, in green glass holders or votive glasses

    * a small statue of Artemis, or a moon-shaped symbol to represent her

    * incense such as sandalwood, camphor, or frankincense

    * healing crystals and objects that bring comfort

To ensure healthful beginnings, drape the white fabric over your altar to make a tabula rasa, or altar equivalent to a blank slate. Take the candles and position them in the two farthest corners of the altar. Place the Artemis statue at the center of the altar. Place an incense burner between the two candles and light the incense.

Now adorn your altar with objects that symbolize healing energy to you. You may perhaps choose a candleholder carved from a chunk of amethyst crystal, which contains healing properties; an abalone shell with the iridescent magic of the oceans; a sweet-smelling bundle of sage; a small citrus plant bursting with the restorative power of vitamins; or a bowl of curative salts from the sea.

These symbolic items, and any others that you select, will energize your altar with the magic that lives inside you. It is also important that the altar be pleasing to your eye and “makes you feel good when you look at it so that you want to spend time there each and every day. After you have been performing rituals there for a while, a positive healing energy field will radiate from your altar.

Predictions for the New Year: Divination Conjuration

Gather a group of women together around a large table you can use as the altar. Ask them to bring feast books to share and offerings of fruit, flowers, or vegetables as altar offerings to the Goddess.

Gather together

    * 13 candles

    * a black bowl filled with water

Timing: January 1.

Place the offerings and the 13 candles on the altar around the bowl filled with water, which is to be used as a scrying mirror (to foretell the future). Light the candles and turn down the lights and say aloud:

    Fruit, flower, and Goddess’s herb,

    Perform for me enchantment superb.

    You give us grain and bread.

    Foretell for me the year ahead.

After placing the offerings on the altar, one at a time, each woman should kneel over the mirror and look upon the water. Some people may see images, but oftentimes the information comes as an impression, a thought, or meditative reflection. People should only share their visions if they feel the need to do so.

After each woman has had a turn, everyone should chant and sing together:

    Daughters under this sun

    Sisters under this moon

    Tonight we receive your blessings

    Goddess great and good—

    We thank you for the year to come.