Saturday Spell for Contacting Spirits

Outside of the witchy world, it is not well known that Saturday is the optimal day for contacting those who have passed from this realm to the next. When Samhain, to mark the end of the harvest season, falls on a Saturday, it gives a big boost to our ability to make contact through the veil between the worlds. After nightfall, you can speak to lost loved ones or others with whom you desire contact.

Gather together

    * an amethyst of the deepest, darkest purple, obsidian, and/or rainbow moonstone (see spell)

    * your Book of Shadows and a pen

    * strong-smelling incense, such as frankincense, nag champa, or sandalwood

    * a fireproof clay or glass dish

    * sage for smudging

You can either use one of each of the three crystals, or three of the same kind of crystal. Sit in a comfortable position on the floor or on a pillow with your Book of Shadows and pen nearby. I learned from High Priestess Z. Budapest that “the dead love incense, the stronger the better and it will call them to you.” Light the incense in the fireproof dish and pass the crystals through the smoke. Then touch your third eye with one of the crystals for a moment and picture the person you want to contact. Place that crystal by the dish of sweet-smelling smoky incense. Take the other two crystals in your hand and speak this spell aloud:

    Great Goddess, I call ___ [speak the name of the spirit] forth now.

    From this side, to you, will I bow.

    Words of wisdom, we need here and now.

    Peace and love is here, I vow.

    With harm to none, Blessed be thou.

Now pass your Book of Shadows through the incense smoke and start writing down the messages. Whatever comes into your mind is what you are meant to know. After a few moments, thank the spirit and say goodbye, directing it back to its side of the veil. Extinguish the incense and light the sage and give a very good smudging to the area. Place your Book of Shadows on your altar and consider the message this generous spirit has given you.

Incense Alchemy

 

Long ago, shamans and witches discovered that perfumed resins from herbs and tree branches could be thrown into the fire to release their properties. Ever since then, incense has been an essential tool in magical rites, recognized for its ability to restore universal equilibrium.

Making incense requires a mortar and pestle and a collection of 4-ounce (115ml) lidded jars. The incense is burned on small charcoal cakes, available at all metaphysical stores. Safe burning requires either a censor or use of a fireproof glass or clay dish.

Simple Incense Recipes

    * For peace of mind: Crush sandalwood, bay leaves, and amber resin together. Burn a small amount on     a charcoal cake in your fireproof glass or clay dish on your altar and meditate. The plant damania can be     added to increase concentration.

    * For mastery of mind: Crush together equal parts cinnamon and resinous benzoin. You will achieve         your goals by burning this combination.

    * To enhance meditation: Mix equal parts white sandalwood and frankincense, and add one-fourth part     white orrisroot. Add a drop of oil from one of the following plants: angelica, agrimony, or aloe. Use this     during the day of a full moon or during any lunar ceremony.

Inspired Clarity: Breath of the Gods Incense

Burn this mixture of incense on your altar to generate a positive and peaceful atmosphere to set the stage for your ritual. Rose hips and mint are for heart, enthusiasm, and keen thinking. The yellow candle, yellow rose, and the yellow citrine crystal are used to symbolize intelligence and mental clarity.

Gather together

• 1 tablespoon dried rose hips
• 1 teaspoon fresh or dried mint
• a charcoal cake for burning incense
• a fireproof clay or glass dish
• a yellow candle
• neroli essential oil
• a yellow rose bud
• 1 cup (240ml) of fresh water in a bowl
• a citrine crystal

Timing: Perform this rite during the new moon, when the moon is dark and not visible.

Using your mortar and pestle, grind together the rose hips and the mint. Once they are nicely mixed, place the herbs on a piece of charcoal in a fireproof clay or glass dish. Light a yellow candle anointed with neroli oil and place a single yellow rose in a vase to one side of the incense burner. On the other side, place the bowl of water with the citrine crystal in it. Light the incense and breathe in. The word “inspire” comes from the Greek word for “breath of the gods,” so allow this divine essence to fill you with grace.

Two Paths Diverge: A Parting Ritual for Mutual Healing

Maintaining a healthy balance in your friendships is essential. Occasionally, a friendship takes on an unhealthy aspect and there is no choice but to leave it behind. Ideally you will perform this rite after you have discussed it with this person. It will be mutually healing if it can take place with both parties present, but as often as not, you will perform it alone. You will need a black candle for protection, a gray candle to help you keep a low profile, and frankincense incense. You will also need a sharp knife and a length of cord three feet long. Light the incense, and holding your right hand aloft, say:

    May the place this night

    be consecrated before the spirits of earth,

    air, fire, and water,

    for we gather here to perform a peaceful

    parting of the ways.

You and your former friend each light a candle.

    [Former friend’s name] and [your name]

    stand here today to let love and no rancor fill their hearts

    as they move separately through life.

    Blessings to all and blessed be.

If you are so fortunate as to have the other person present, he or she repeats the above verse. Each of you takes the knife in turn and cuts the cord, representing the ties that bind you together as friends. If you are performing this ritual alone, get a photo of the other person and place it in the area where you are crafting your spell.

This is one of the more difficult rituals to perform, but it is invaluable nevertheless. I have noticed that when one person exits my life, especially for good and valid reasons, somebody new and wonderful comes in.

Blessing for a Happy and Prosperous Home

When you or a friend move into a new home, place a wreath or bundle of dried hops and eucalyptus on the front door. Walk through the door, light your favorite incense and a brown candle, and lie down in the center of the front room. Whisper:

    House of my body, I accept your shelter.

    House of my spirit, I receive your blessings.

    Home to my heart, I am open to joy.

    And so it is. And so it shall be.

Let Your Light Shine: A First Impression Spell

Are you going to an interview, meeting an artist’s representative, or speaking to your new editor? Clearly, you will want to make the best impression when launching this important new relationship. To ensure that you start on the right footing, gather the following ingredients: oranges, an orange candle, a glass of orange juice, vanilla beans, vanilla incense, and pumpkin seeds. All of these contain the properties of sharpness, intelligence, and clarity.

In the first light of morning, light the orange candle and the vanilla incense. Eat half of the orange and five pumpkin seeds, drink the orange juice, and watch as the glow of sunshine fills the room with the radiant energy of the orange sun. Chant:

    Sol, I bask in your bountiful rays,

    this and all days.

    As you shine, so shall I.

    So mote it be.

Snuff out your candle and be prepared for a productive new relationship that will carry your work to new heights.

Witch's Willpower Brew: Invoking the Energy of Success

On a Monday, or any day when you need to ready yourself for important events, meetings, or other high-pressure circumstances, set aside a half-hour of quiet time and brew up some willpower to help you in any creative endeavors. Light a white candle anointed with peppermint oil, and then light spicy incense such as cinnamon.

Take a sprig of mint, some warm milk, and a few cinnamon sticks and stir these together clockwise in a white mug. Say aloud:

    Herb of menthe and spicy mead,

    today is the day I shall succeed

    in every word and every deed.

    So mote it be.

Quaff the cup and “sit for a spell” with your eyes closed, envisioning your new horizons. Keep the cinnamon sticks on your altar as a symbol of the power of encouraging words.

Sandalwood Stillness: A Grounding Spell

Sandalwood has been used for thousands of years in India. The woody, sweet smell clears your mind and reconnects you to the earth. This simple spell can actually be used every day as a prayer, or to prepare for meditation.

To begin, light a stick of sandalwood incense and “smudge” the area with the soothing smoke. Anoint a brown candle with sandalwood oil and light it.

To a scentless base oil, such as canola, olive, or light sesame oil, add:

• 6 drops sandalwood oil
• 2 drops lemon oil
• 2 drops amber oil

Warm this concoction in a clay oil lamp or carefully heat it on the stove over a very low flame. When it is warm to the touch, dip your left ring finger into the oil with care and anoint your “third eye,” located in the center of your forehead, just above the eyes.

    Sitting in the cross-legged lotus position, whisper three times:

    Come to me clarity, come to me peace,

    come to me wisdom.

    come to me bliss.

    I sit in stillness, I sit in peace.

    As above, so below; and so it is.

Meditate for twenty minutes, and then massage the warmed oil into your feet. You will be utterly and blissfully grounded now.

Candle Consecration for Peace and Love

I have recently been making, burning, and giving away candles with the word “peace” written on them with crystals embedded in the soft candle wax as a way to spread love and goodwill. I highly recommend this practice, which you can do for yourself using crystals of your choice.

If possible, perform this spell during the night of the full moon for the greatest effect. Place your newly made peace candle on your altar and light some rose incense, which represents love and unity. Then, light the candle and chant:

    I light this candle for hope,

    I light this candle for love,

    I light this candle for unity,

    I light this candle for the good of all the world

    that we should live in peace.

    And so it shall be.

Sit in front of your altar and meditate, eyes closed, for a few minutes while visualizing peace in the world. Let the candle burn completely for full charging. Whenever the world around you feels chaotic, light this candle and meditate on a sense of peace enveloping you. Trust me, it will.

Creating Your Crystal Conjuring Shrine

Put your shrine together on a low table covered with a white scarf. Set rainbow candles in an arc and then add black and white candles. Prepare a heatproof bowl containing amber incense (good for creativity and healing), and place it in the center of the rainbow, surrounded by quartz. 

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 personally meaningful 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-quartz crystal ball on my altar. You can use just about anything—photos of loved ones, religious images, and so forth. An obelisk or pyramid on your altar can be used for writing out desires and wishes. 

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.

Healing Altar: Crafting Well-Being

 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.

To ensure healthful beginnings, find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your altar to make a tabula rasa, or altar equivalent to a blank slate. Take two green candles and place them in green glass holders or votive glasses and position them in the two farthest corners of the altar. Place your incense burner in the center between the two candles and light the incense. Sandalwood, cinnamon, camphor, and frankincense are all powerful purification incenses that are perfect for the creation of a healing altar. Burn one or all of these purification essences to consecrate the space. 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.

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 of water, a bowl of salt. 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, bolline, 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.

Crystals can also be charged. But 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. 

Keep Your Muse Close

 

Any time an imaginative person feels her creativity is blocked, or if she feels uninspired, she can call upon a muse. Whether you’re passionate about growing plants, painting, or writing music, you can stay in touch with your muse by using a special tool that will draw her to you with sweet-smelling smoke of sage.

Sage is hardy and sun-loving, so keep a pot of it on the windowsill. There are very simple steps to take to create a sage wand to use when you need inspiration. First, you will want to create a tight braid of materials. This braid will consist of a long fennel stalk, a twisted bundle of sage, long sticks of incense (I prefer cinnamon), and purple (for power) and gold (for money) string or thread. When you are about to embark on an artistic activity, simply light one end of your wand and gently wave it around your head to clear your environment. Your mind will be cleared in the process, freeing the way for creative ideas. A little sage smoke goes a long way, so you will not want to burn the entire wand at once. Keep a cup of water or a small bowl of earth on hand to extinguish your wand when you are done.

The Essential Toolkit: Everything You Need for Rites and Rituals Part III

 Cauldron

The cauldron represents the Goddess, its round basin symbolizing the womb. The cauldron can hold fire and represent rebirth—the phoenix rising from the ashes of the past. Usually, cauldrons stand on three legs for practicality and mobility. You can place a cauldron on your altar if there is room, or on the floor to the left of the altar. In spring, the cauldron can be used to hold earth or water. In winter, it can represent the rebirth of the sun and should hold fire. The form of the vessel may change. In the spring, the cauldron can be a rain-filled jar or flower-filled fountain. In the summer, it can be a cup, and at harvest, it can be a pumpkin or other hollowed- out gourd. You can play with this “vessel” concept in your own ceremonies. Cauldrons are very useful for mixing your herbs and essential oils, though you must be sure to clean them before and after each use. You can scry with a cauldron full of water to foresee the future by reading images on the surface of the water. You can use this magical tool to burn paper upon which you have written your intentions or spells. In doing this, you can send your wishes to the gods and goddesses through the flames. A cauldron is not the easiest magical tool to find, as they are not nearly as commonplace as one might think. I advise you to wish and wait patiently, and the cauldron of your dreams will arrive in the most enchanted manner.

Censer

A censer, or thurible, is an incense burner and represents the elements of air and fire. Place your incense at the center of your altar. Incense can be used to purify your other sacred tools and to cleanse your ritual space. The evocative scent and smoke can also transport you in a sensory way. Always test your incense prior to ritual, however, to discover how much smoke is produced by your incense stick or herbal mixture. 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! 

Chalice

The chalice—another vessel symbolizing the feminine, the Goddess, and fertility—is a goblet dedicated specifically for use on your altar. Holding both physical fluid and the waters of our emotional body, it is connected to elemental water. Place your special chalice on the left side of your altar with all other representations of the energy of the female and the Goddess. A grail is also a chalice. Legend tells that the Holy Grail brought life back into the decaying kingdom of Camelot and restored Arthur and his people to health, giving rise to the rebirth of England itself. On your altar, your chalice can hold water, mead, wine, juice, or anything that has been blessed. It can contain holy water for consecrations and blessing rites. At the end of many ritual ceremonies and sabbats, it is customary to toast the deities with a hearty ale, cider, or wine and thank them for being present. After the circle has been opened, you can pour the contents of your chalice into the ground outdoors as an offering to benevolent entities.

Wand

A magical wand is a powerful tool used to cast the circle and invoke deities. Like an athame, a wand focuses, projects, and directs energy. Because it gathers and stores magical power, a wand is wonderful for healing and can also be the device with which you “draw” the shape when you cast the circle.

If possible, find your wand in a serendipitous manner. Draw it to yourself through attraction. A wand makes a mighty gift. It may, however, be more practical and expedient just to purchase your wand. When you do this, purify it, cleansing off the energy of the shop, so it is truly yours. Before you race off to the nearest metaphysical five-and-dime, take a walk in the woods. You may very well find the wand of your dreams waiting there for you on the forest floor. Some folks favor “live wood,” like cherry, willow, or oak branches that need to be cut off the tree. I prefer fallen wood that Nature has already harvested. Some folks like to ornament their wand with magical metals, such as copper, gold, or silver, and encrust it with gems and crystals. The most important determining factor for any wand is how it “feels” in your hand. You will know when you have found the right one. 

Astrological Herbology

You can also choose the herbs for your altar based on your sun or moon sign. Explore making tinctures, incenses, oils, potpourris, and other magical potions for your rituals using celestial correspondences. For example, if the new moon is in Aries when you are performing an attraction ritual, try using peppermint or fennel, two herbs sacred to the sign of the Ram. If you are creating a special altar for the time during which the sun is in the sign of Cancer, use incense oils, teas, and herbs corresponding to that astrological energy, including jasmine and lemon. These correspondences create a synthesis of energies that adds to the effectiveness of your magical work.

Blessings on a Budget

Instead of composting all the herbs, twigs, and stems from your brews, you can store them in a burlap or muslin sack and allow them to dry. Keep stuffing in twigs of lavender, rosemary, mint, and all the leftover aromatic plant material until you have a big bag. On some special evening, burn it in your fireplace or an outdoor bonfire, and it will be like a gigantic incense burner with the lovely scents wafting from the flames. And the best part? It’s 100 percent free!

Stained-Glass Spell

Recently, I have been wishing and hoping for peace in this world of ours, as have most of us. I have been making, burning, and giving away candles with the word “peace” written with crystals embedded in the soft candle wax.

If possible, perform this spell during a full-moon night for the greatest effect. Place your stained-glass peace candle on your altar and light rose incense, which represents love and unity. Light the candle and chant:

“I light this candle for hope,
I light this candle for love,
I light this candle for unity,
I light this candle for the good of all the world
That we should live in peace. And so it shall be.”

Sit in front of your altar and meditate, eyes closed, for a few minutes while visualizing peace in the world. Let the candle burn completely for full charging.

Lovely Lodestones

Stones, crystals, and gems are regarded as the purest forms of the earth’s abundance. Whenever you get a new piece of jewelry with a stone or gem or decorate your home or garden with rocks and pebbles, show gratitude for these gifts from nature. Sprinkle thyme, daisy blossoms, and ground cinnamon on your garden path and on your doorstep. Also, burn this mix in your incense holder and chant:

“Mother Nature, I thank you for the strength
and bounty of your stones and bones.
Your beauty is reflected now and forever. Blessed be.”

Your gratitude will be rewarded tenfold, and you will enjoy a shower of crystals and gems in your life from Mother Nature, who enjoys getting credit for her good works!

Ecstatic Elixir

An elixir is a very simple potion made by placing a crystal or gemstone in a glass of water for at least seven hours. Then you remove the stone and drink the water, which now carries the vibrational energy of the stone, the very essence of the crystal. This is one of the easiest ways to receive crystal healing and is immediate.

The red stones always hold a lust for life. So, for the Ecstatic Elixir, we are going to push the envelope here and put as many red stones into our potion as we can! Place the following into a glass of water: carnelian, garnet, rough ruby, red coral, red jade, jasper, red sardonyx, cuprite, aventurine, and red calcite. If you don’t have all of these, just mix and match. Even a single rough ruby and a tiny chunk of jasper is a lot of love in a jar.

Place the Ecstatic Elixir on the love corner of your room or altar. Light amber incense and a red candle and speak this spell:

“This jade is my joy, the garnet my grace.”

Leave the water on your altar for seven hour or overnight, and drink it upon awakening. Your life energy will quicken, and you should feel very upbeat and good to go. 

A Muse-ical Wand

If your passion is making art or music, throwing pots, or growing an artful garden, you are an imaginative person, and you need to stay in touch with your muse. Call her to you anytime you are feeling blocked or uninspired. You can make a very special tool that will draw your muse to you with sweet-smelling smoke.

You’ll want to keep a pot of the hardy and sun-loving herb sage on your windowsill so it is handy at all times. Here is a simple way to use this herb to create a wand for instant inspiration: Combine a long stalk of fennel with a twisted bundle of sage and long sticks of your favorite incense, such as cinnamon or nag champ (my personal favorite). Braid the materials tightly together into a wand using purple (for power) and gold (for money) string or thread. Before any artistic endeavor or meditation, light one end of the wand with a candle and wave it around to clear your environment, allowing the smoke to clear your mind in the process.