Power Wand

Prosperity and purification go hand in hand. One of the greatest tools for purification, sage, can be found growing wild by most roadsides and in many meadows. While every metaphysical store has it in quantity, I highly recommend growing and harvesting it yourself. Aromatic sage dries quickly and can effortlessly be bound into thick “smudge sticks” which you should keep at the ready in a fireproof clay dish.

To make a smudge stick, take dried sage leaves and bind them with green and gold thread, wound nine times around the bundles, and knot at each loop. Leave room for a “handle” at the base of the wand.

Know the green and gold threads thrice more. This will honor the muses and please the fates that hold the thread of all our lives in their hands.

Use your smudge stick any time a purification is in order, especially if you’ve moved, started a new job, bought a new car, or purchased any “recycled” clothing or furniture. This will help remove any energy that might be clinging from the previous owner.

Light your smudge stick and, moving clockwise, circle the areas or items to be purified.

Speak aloud:

Great spirit, with this smoke, your blessed protection I invoke. Out with the bad, in with the good. With harm to none.

Declare Your Radiance and Claim Your Potential

Throughout your practice, make sure to maintain a sense of personal abundance and acknowledge the great spirit within you. Be grateful for your body and for your health. Stand in front of a mirror, preferably naked, and drop all self-criticism. Concentrate on your real beauty and envelop yourself with unconditional self-love. Wrap your arms around yourself as you say:

    In Her/His image, I too, am a Goddess/God.

    I walk in beauty; I am surrounded by love.

    Blessed be.

Light three candles in your favorite color and scent. Sit in front of your altar and meditate on what will make you achieve your full potential.

Do you need to change your health habits? Do you need to open up your creativity? Do you need to revitalize with a vacation? Concentrate deeply, and choose three wishes to write down and place under your three candles. Every night for seven days, repeat this spell:

    Today I arise.

    This night I embrace my serenity, radiance, splendor, and wisdom.

    Blessed be.

Feather Messages: Symbols on the Wind

As you jog through the park or walk to work you might find a feather in your path. It could be a message. You might glean hidden meanings, for example, in the glistening iridescence of a raven’s feather. Native peoples believed feathers to be gifts of healing or “feather medicine” from the Great Spirit. The wind is a form of the change-bringing element of air.

Another type of daily exercise in mindfulness is to actively look for feathers. There is much magic that can lie within something as small and light as this.

Crow Feathers: These indicate loss and mourning. Try not to be frightened but look at them as indicators of the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. You may lose someone you know, but you will also most likely greet a new friend or baby to complete the circle.

Hummingbird Feathers: These bring joy, beauty, and bliss. Take time out to have a good time and to share time with the people you love in your life. Follow your bliss!

Swan Feathers: These are the sign of grace. As swans mate for life, a swan feather can also mean a soul mate or good relationship is on the horizon.

Duck and Crane Feathers: These serve as prayer feathers for Native American people. They come from waterfowl, which are perceived as sacred birds. Finding a duck feather may mean you need to seek advice from a Native American teacher or experience healing from a medicine wheel.

Yellowhammer Feathers: These are the symbol for hearth and home. Seeing a yellowhammer feather in your path means you will have a happy new home. Most importantly, you will feel secure and loved within your family.

Roadrunner Feathers: These are a sign of the trickster. Beware! Finding one in your path either means you have the potential to be a magician, or you need to watch out that you aren’t tricked, It is a symbol of duality.

Blue Jay Feathers: These are the bringers of light into darkness.

Robin Feathers: These are the sign of renewal and new personal growth, and are a good sign. Spring is coming both outside and inside you. It always means news is coming.

Magpie Feathers: These are just pain good medicine for any kind of illness. Magpies bring purification. If you find a magpie feather in your path, a friend who is sick will get better.

Scissortail Feathers: These represent the four directions. If you come across a scissortail flycatcher in your walk, you need to do a ritual invoking the four directions. It is a sign you are in need of grounding and should reconnect your spirit.

I suggest you keep a written record of your feather findings— where and when you find them. Secure a blank journal and a feather quill pen for your records. Meditate upon the meaning and the message the feather is bringing to you. Journal your thoughts and feelings. Years later, it will be fascinating to look back at the proof of divine providence in your life.