Coin Conjuration

We all have unexpected expenses that come out of the blue–car repairs, medical bills, or helping a loved one in need. I had the latter with my family and had to reach deep into my coffers to heed the call. When you need to quickly recover financially, this coin spell will fill the bill, literally.

Gather together:

• 13 coins of different denominations
• Athame
• A green or gold jar with a lid
• 3 gold or yellow candles
• 3 yellow or gold-colored crystals such as tiger’s eye, amber, citrine, yellow jade, or another favorite of yours
• Frankincense or myrrh incense
• 3 pieces of golden fruit such as yellow apples, oranges, or other yellow or gold-colored fruit

On the evening of a new moon or a waxing moon phase when the moon is increasing, make a quick temporary altar where you pay your bills and handle your money–maybe it is your desk or perhaps, the kitchen table. Use your athame to create the circle of magic at this soon-to-be sacred space. Place the candles, incense, crystals, and fruit there and arrange them so a crystal, apple, and candle are each in a group.  Light your candles and the incense. Take the coins in your hands and pass over the incense smoke. Place the coins in the jar. Now take the crystals in your hand and pass through the smoke, then place in the jar and seal.  Pick up one piece of fruit at a time and touch to your third eye (in the middle of your forehead). Pray aloud:

    This offering I make as my blessing to all,

    Comfort and earthly gifts upon us shall fall.

    Fill my coffers with silver and gold.

    In this time of great need, I will be bold.

    For the good of all, young and old.

    Fill my coffers with silver and gold.

    And so it is.

Extinguish the candles and incense and place on your altar for future use as well as the vessel containing the coins. When you go to sleep, dream of everyone you love, including yourself, receiving a harvest of material and spiritual wealth. 

Floral Fortification: Vesta’s Hearth Offering

The sign of Cancer is very much oriented toward love of home and family as well as security. Mixed dried flowers, otherwise known as potpourri, are now a popular household staple. It was a medieval custom to have them in the house, revived by the Victorians. Use different combinations for desired magical results; they help create sacred sanctuary space.

Gather together

• 1 cup (20g) of dried rose petals
• 1 cup (20g) of dried marigold
• 1 cup (20g) of dried lily petals
• a basket or bowl for the flower blend
• clove essential oil
• cinnamon essential oil

Timing: Either sun or moon in Cancer is a perfect time for this offering to the goddess of happy homes.

Put all the dried posies in the basket or bowl and sprinkle them with the essential oils. Place the mixture on the south point of your altar for the duration of a moon cycle. The sweet and spicy scent of the potpourri will spread a positive and protective energy to your home and your magical workings. A wreath of these same flowers with garlic cloves added will protect you from harm and illness. If you are a working witch, a small, sweet-smelling bowl of potpourri on your desk will provide constant comfort. If you have a fireplace, keep some on the mantle as an offering to the domestic goddess Vesta, she who keeps the home fire burning. When the scent has faded, burn it in your cast iron cauldron or a fireplace as an offering to her. Speak this invocation when making the offering:

    Vesta, goddess of home and hearth,

    Stand guard over this place I love.

    Keep safe the ones I love.

    This night, we breathe in peace.

    These flowers are my offering to you.

    So mote it be.

January 11, Carmentalia, Day of Prophecy

Romans observed this day of Carmenta, beloved for her prophetic powers and for her protection of motherhood. One of Rome’s famed gates, the Porta Carmentalis, is dedicated to her. A fascinating detail of her lore is that the priests to this goddess never sacrificed animals because Carmenta forbade any kind of butchering. The ancient oracles always gave their prediction in verse, and this Arcadian deity did so as well. Her name comes from the same root as Carmen, which means “song,” and indicates a spell as well as a prophecy. One legend tells that Carmenta was the mother of Evander, who brought the humanities with him, both the arts and the foundation of the Latin alphabet; another suggests that she was the mother of the alphabet. Only the priests of Carmenta were permitted to enter her innermost shrines. Roman women made sure they visited Carmenta’s shrine during their pregnancies, especially on January 11, to hear the song spell sung for their new babies. This is a wonderful ritual for women to share so that they can know what to predict for the year to come.

Ritual for Carmentalia—Prophecies for the New Year

On January 11, gather a group of women together. Ask them to bring pens, paper, and offerings of fruit, flowers, or vegetables to Carmenta. Use these to build an altar, with the bounty placed around a black bowl filled with water that is used as the scrying mirror. Place candles around the room and turn down the lights.

Form a circle around the bowl and altar, and as each woman places her offering beside the bowl, she says aloud the name of her offering: 

Pomegranate [or orange or lily, etc.], Goddess’s herb,

Perform for me enchantment superb.

You give us grain and bread.

Foretell for me the year ahead.

After placing the offering to Carmenta on the altar, 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, thought, or meditative reflection. People should only share their visions if they feel the need to do so.

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

Daughters under this sun

Sisters under this moon

Tonight we receive your blessings 

Carmenta, goddess great and good— 

We thank you for the year to come.

Now open the circle and sit in silence for at least ten minutes, so that everyone present can record her impressions and visions from Carmenta in a journal. In years to come, if you and your circle of women decide to observe the Feast of Carmentalia annually, as I recommend, you can share and compare notes from prior years. This is a wonderful way to process the passages of your lives. Afterward, a feast is called for. The fruit and veggies from the altar should be consumed, and the flowers should decorate the dining table. Make sure to smudge very well with sage at the end of the evening, as remaining energies should scatter and not stay in the home. Water from the scrying bowl should be poured into the earth outside. 

Lammas Day: Harvesting Happiness

This major sabbat denotes the high point of the year; the crops are in their fullness, weather is warm and the countryside is bursting forth with the beauty of life. Pagans know we have the heavens above to thank for this and the gods of nature must be acknowledged for their generosity with a gathering of the tribe and a feast, ideally in the great outdoors. Ask invitees to bring harvest- themed offerings for the altar: gourds, pumpkins, bundles of wheat stalks and corn, or fresh pickings from their garden, and food to share in thanksgiving made from the same, like pies, tomato salads, cucumber pickles, green beans, corn pudding, watermelon, lemon cakes, berry cucumber, apple cider and beer brewed from wheat, hops and barley. This celebration of the reaping from summer season should reflect what you have grown with your own hands. Fill your cauldron or a big beautiful colored glass bowl half-full with freshly-drawn water. Get packets of tiny votive candles for floating in the water. At the feast table, make sure to have a place- setting for the godly guest Lugh who watched over the plantings to ensure this bounty. Place loaves of Lammas bread by his plate.

When all guests have arrived, everyone should add a food offering to the plate of the god and light a candle to float in the cauldron. Cut a slice of Lammas bread for Lugh and begin the ceremony with this prayer of thanks:

Oh, ancient Lugh of the fields and farms,
We invite you here with open arms,
In this place between worlds, in flowering fields of hay.
You have brought the blessings we receive this Lammas Day.

Begin the feast and before the dessert course, everyone should go around the table and speak to their gratitude for the gifts of the year. Storytelling, singing, spiral dances and all manner of merriment is part of Lammas Day.

Blessings From the East: Prayer to Honor the Summer

For summer festivals such as the Summer Solstice on June 21, you should honor the deities who gift us with such plenty. Light yellow and green candles at your altar and on the feast table and offer this appeal:

Oh, Lady of Summer
Who brings and sun and life-giving rains,
May each harvest bring the crops that fill our cups.
The rivers and oceans, fields and farms are yours.
We honor you today and give thanks to you for all we have. 
A toast to thee, blessed be!

Water Deities

Lakshmi, also called Padma, is associated with all forms of wealth and abundance, both spiritual and material. It is said that Lakshmi can be found in gems and jewels, money, newborn babies, and in all cows. She is depicted floating on a lovely lotus blossom.

Naiads are freshwater nymphs that inhabit various bodies of water such as lakes, rivers and springs. 
Naiads have the power to seduce, inspire, heal and tell the future. You will do best by calling forth their gentle energy for healing rituals.

Poseidon is the Greek god of oceans and can use his might to create tidal waves, earthquakes,and typhoons. You should always appease Poseidon when you travel over water with an offering of olive oil; pour a few drops into the sea and you will enjoy smooth sailing all the way. His consort is Amphitrite, the Queen of the Sea.

Nereus, the “old man of the sea” from Greek mythology, is an oracle. You can invoke Nereus to inquire about the future, and for safety during travel by water.

Sabbat of Samhain – October 31st - All Hallow’s Eve

Halloween stems from the grand tradition of the Celtic New Year. What started as a folk festival celebrated by small groups in rural areas has come to be the second largest holiday of today. There are multitudinous reasons—including modern marketing—but I think it satisfies a basic human need, to let your “wild side” out, to be free and more connected with the ancient ways. This is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest and you can commune with the other side, with elders and the spirit world. It is important to honor the ancestors during this major sabbat and acknowledge what transpired in the passing year as well as set intentions for the coming year.

This is the ideal time to invite your circle; the ideal number for your gathering is thirteen. Gather powdered incense, salt, a loaf of bread, goblets for wine and three candles to represent the triple goddess for altar offerings. Ideally on an outdoor stone altar, pour the powdered incense into a pentagram star shape. Let go of old sorrows, angers and anything not befitting of new beginnings in this New Year. Bring only your best to this auspicious occasion.

Light the candles and say:

In honor of the Triple Goddess on this sacred night of Samhain, 
All the ancient ones 
From time before time 
To those behind the veil. 

Rap the altar three times and light the incense. Say this blessing aloud:

For this bread, wine, and salt, 
We ask the blessings of Mother, Maiden and Crone, 
And the gods who guard the Gate of the World. 

Sprinkle salt over the bread, eat the bread and drink the wine. Each of the celebrants should come to the altar repeating the bread and wine blessing. After this, be seated and everyone in turn should name those on the other side and offer thanks to ancestors and deities. This can and should take a long time as we owe much to loved ones on the other side.