Crystal Magic and How It Works

Crystal magic also involves color magic and spell craft, topics that are covered in depth herein. With crystal magic, you will learn to improve your life in ways large and small. You will discover the stones that are special to you and how to fully utilize these birthstones and karmic crystals. You will undertake the magical arts of crystal conjuring and spell casting with stones. You will be inducted into the practice of healing with crystals and learn how to achieve wellness every day. Finally, you will have at your fingertips the history, description, and instructions on how to use each and every gem and crystal.

Using gems and crystals in rituals, spells, and affirmations has been part of the human experience for millennia. By incorporating this practice into your life, you will create a flow of positive energy that will enable you to enhance your work, your family, your love, and every other part of your existence.

Yes, through the magic of gems, anything is possible. Again, welcome to this glittering and magical realm, and begin a special journey under a sky where every star is a jewel you can wish upon!

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.

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. 

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.

A Gathering of the Tribe

Our lives are centered upon ritual. The Saturday night date is a romantic ritual, knitting circles are a

growing trend, and doing yoga is replacing going to the gym as a spiritual and physical workout.

People need ritual to inform and enrich their lives, to deal with stress, and to create meaning in their

lives. Family time should be a ritual too, whether it’s a Wednesday night pizza, or more memorable

events where every generation is present. A Shirley Temple Mocktail that everyone can enjoy is perfect

for these special times! Enrich these moments further by adding a spiritual aspect—perhaps

children could share the highlight of their week so far, and photos or memories could be added to a

family album to be treasured for generations to come.

Sanctified Sunday: Sure Success Incantation

Here is one of the ways I got a great job on my first day in San Francisco, despite the fact that I wasn’t really qualified and looked like an absolute hayseed after driving cross-country for four straight days from Appalachia. I was broke and fresh out of grad school with no real experience but I created some luck for myself. You can, too, with this surefire spell.

Light a gold candle on a Sunday night before you undertake your job hunt or whenever you are about to go on a job interview. Repeat this incantation three times while holding a vision of your 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.

The Sacred Flame

Here is a marvelous way to “reset” and forge a new path for yourself with fire, best done on a Tuesday.

Gather together

    * your cauldron or an outdoor firepit or grill

    * sage for smudging

    * athame

    * several pieces of paper and a pen

Light a fire in your fire-safe vessel, then light the sage and smudge the area well. With your athame, draw the magic circle around your fire circle. Sit around the fire, relax, and think about what challenges you face and need to overcome in your life.

Write on a separate piece of paper each issue that comes up for you. Then, with great intention, place each piece of paper on the fire. Take a moment of silent meditation, and on a new piece of paper write your hopes for the future. Fold this paper and carry it with you in your purse or wallet. Your vision for the future will take on a life of its own. End the ritual with another sage smudging and make sure the fire is completely out before you go back inside.

You should perform this rite at least once a year.

Walking the Pagan Path: Stepping Stones

For centuries, in group rituals and solo spells, witches have walked specific paths in the form of symbolic shapes that hold potent spiritual meaning. All you need for this ritual is a stone that brings you special inspiration.

Maybe it is your birthstone; perhaps it is your jade talisman or calming quartz or intuition-boosting amethyst or labradorite. Put the stone in your pocket and you are ready. You may find one walking pattern to be especially enriching for you. I recommend walking the figure eight, the “eternity” symbol from the magician card in the tarot deck. Otherwise, choose from among the universal shapes below. I suggest always walking sunwise, or clockwise. It can be a distance of your choice, in your living room, a bigger shape in your own backyard or whatever feels right to you, intuitionally. For the more complicated patterns you can draw them on paper and place it where you can see it to use as a guide:

    * Oval: The shape that designates the spirit and divine being.

    * Circle: The shape of the sun and moon, designates the whole, the complete, that which never ends and     encompasses all.

    * Cross: The form of a human figure with arms outstretched from the center. The importance of this             symbol predated Christianity by millennia.

    * Hexagram: In the Jewish tradition, the beloved. It is two triangles intersecting, the meeting of heaven     and earth.

    * Five-pointed Star: This resembles the human form with arms and legs outspread—Leonardo Da             Vinci’s favorite.

Prepare for your pagan pilgrimage, your walking meditation, when the moon is in Sagittarius, Aquarius, or your natal moon sign. These prayer walks represent a journey to our own center and back again out into the world, some of the inner work we witches need to do now and again. Keep your eyes closed for the first step, then open your eyes and pray aloud:

    Guide my steps; help me to walk in wisdom.

    What I seek on this day, I shall find as I go

    With an open heart and mind.

    Today, I receive the blessings of the sun.

Love Magic Wands

Here is what you need to know about the perfect wand to use in rituals for romance:

    * Almond is a sweet wood and smoother than many; it is excellent for love magic.

    * Beech grants wishes, so be careful what you wish for!

    * Birch is a wood that is very powerful for new beginnings.

    * Ivy wood is related to women’s mysteries and will bind people together.

    * Lilac wands create beauty, harmony, happiness and bring you love.

    * Rosewood makes the ultimate wand for spellwork conjuring true, lasting love.

Luck by the Cup

When you are crafting money magic, it is good to get into the manifesting mindset with some prosperity tea.

Gather together

    * 1 tablespoon dried rose hips

    * 1 tablespoon dried chamomile

    * 1 teaspoon orange peel

    * 2 cups (480ml) freshly boiled water

    * a teapot

    * a green mug

    * strainer

    * 1 cinnamon stick

Steep the rose hips, chamomile, and orange peel in the freshly boiled water in the teapot for 4 minutes. Pour the tea into the mug through the strainer, and stir widdershins, or counterclockwise, with the cinnamon stick for a moment. As you drink, visualize the abundance coming into your life.

Gratitude Prayer Spell

Gratitude is not only uplifting but feels wonderful. There is powerful magic in recognizing all that you possess.

Timing: When moon or sun is in the sign of Taurus it is the time of prosperity and security. Time this ritual for a Thursday during that lunar or solar sign as Thursday is “Thor’s Day” and the day of abundance. It is also the perfect time to acknowledge the gifts of life.

Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Think about your blessings. What are you grateful for at this moment? Breathe steadily and deeply, inhaling and exhaling slowly for a few minutes. Now pray aloud:

    Good gods and Goddess, giver of all the fruits of this earth,

    Thank you for all bounty, beauty, and well-being,

    Bless all who give and receive these gifts.

    I am made of sacred earth, purest water, sacred fire, and wildest wind.

    Blessings upon me. Blessings upon we and thee.

    So mote it be.

Record your blessings in a journal or in your Book of Shadows. You should perform this gratitude prayer spell periodically and look back at your blessings and reflect upon them. This is also a wonderful grace to say at the family meal to offer thanks for all we are given.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy: A Spell to Quell Anxiety

As the sun sets on a waning moon day, you can quiet the inner voices of worrywart that get in the way of life. When our moon ebbs, another grows forth, and so it goes for our creativity and renewal cycles.

Gather together

• 1 vanilla bean pod
• sandalwood incense
• amber resin
• a charcoal cake for burning incense
• a fireproof glass or clay dish
• 1 black or gray candle

Timing: As the moon decreases in size, cast this spell.

Set aside a small piece of the vanilla bean, then grind together a teaspoon each of sandalwood, amber, and the remainder of the vanilla bean using either the back of a spoon or your mortar and pestle. Burn this resin-based mixture on a piece of charcoal in the fireproof dish on your altar. Light the black or gray candle, for protection. Rub the reserved small piece of vanilla bean in your palm until the scent begins to waft up thanks to the heat in your hands. Concentrate on the flame and rub the same vanilla essence on your temples and place your hand over your heart.

As you meditate, think about how you sometimes doubt yourself, worry needlessly, and how you will begin to trust your innate wisdom and instincts. Visualize clearing all anxiety from your mind. Think about the wonderful aspects in your life, your bright future, and your potential as you chant:

    La lune, goddess of the moon,

    As you may grow, so do I.

    Here, tonight, under your darkest light,

    I embrace all within me that is good and right,

    and bid goodbye to all the rest. Blessed be.

Blow out the candle and throw it into a fireplace or your cast iron cauldron to burn away. You must completely destroy the candle because it contains the energy of your anxiety and fear. Now, go and worry no more.

Labradorescence: Activate Your Third Eye

Labradorite is a stunning stone with a lovely iridescence. As a magpie who is attracted to shiny objects, it grabs my attention every time. It can look as dull as dirt until you give it a closer examination; then you can see the glow under the surface. When cut and polished, it is fascinating and gorgeous, with an impressive light show including yellows, oranges, blues, and violets. In fact, the special play of light and color across the surface is called labradorescence. The effect is caused by lamellar intergrowths, which were produced inside the crystal while the crystal formed during a shift of temperature from extremely high to very low. Named for the place it was first found, Labrador, this loveliest of shiny objects can also be found in India, Finland, Russia, Newfoundland, and Madagascar.

As you might guess, this bluish feldspar is a soul stone with a very powerful light energy. It abets astral travel, the higher mind, and intelligence and is a favorite of mystics. It brings up nothing but the positive for the brain and consciousness and excises the lower energies of anxiety, stress, and negative thoughts. It is an aura cleanser and balancer. Labradorite, which used to be called spectrolite, also protects against aura leakage. This is a crystal to hold and keep with your during meditation for psychic flashes, much like the flashes of light from within the stone.

I had no idea that it is also a stone that awakens psychic powers and activates your third eye until I learned this from the great teacher Scott Cunningham. Even a small piece of this special crystal will work. Take the crystal and hold it to the center of your forehead with both hands. Speak aloud:

Artemis, Astarte, Athena, Circe—fill me with your power, 

On this day, I ask you lend me your seer’s vision.

I stand at the threshold in this holy hour.

And so it is. Great goddesses; I am grateful.

Do-It-Yourself Altar Candelabra

Candelabras are an excellent addition to your altar to hold your ritual candles as well as to set the mood. Both elegant and romantic, with molten wax flowing down the sides, they can be nothing less than splendid. While you can always buy a candelabra, it is much better to make them yourself and place your imprimatur and your own special kind of magic in them. The following are the steps I learned from the one and only Aurelio Voltaire, who is a writer, musician, animator, graphic novelist, comic, and all-around Renaissance man.

Supplies:

• Empty wine bottles
• Black spray paint (or a color of your choice)
• Spray adhesive
• Paper images or stickers
• Candles

Directions:

    1. Have fun by emptying some bottles of wine, preferably by drinking their contents! If you do not             imbibe, you can get bottles from friends or from a recycling center.

    2. Give the bottles a good spraying with the flat black paint and let them dry.

    3. You can stop here, but it is even better to refine your design with your own art, stickers you                     particularly love, or even decoupaged (or spray-glued) photos evocative of your mood and magic.              Voltaire recommends the “Bandelabra,” featuring photos, stickers, lyrics, or an image representing your      favorite band, such as Dead Can Dance’s beautiful images of hands and serpent coils from their CD            covers, or a particularly spooky-looking shot of Siouxsie Sioux, of The Cure’s Robert Smith, or maybe      even of the beautiful and very talented Voltaire! Personally, I like to use still shots from movies that I          feel reflect my personal pagan energy. Some examples for a dark pagan might be any and all Dracula          movies, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Crow, The Nightmare Before Christmas, or The Book of      Life. As long as these are for your own enjoyment and edification, you do not have to be concerned            about copyrights, but if you suddenly decide to start eBaying your handcrafted candelabras, you must        get legal clearance.

A personal favorite of mine is Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula; and above all, my favorite moment in this gorgeous visual feast is the absinthe-inspired section with verdant greens, light and shadow play, and yearning past-life romance. So, I suggest leaving the wine bottle in its native green state and going for green candles with a touch of green glitter and emerald stick-on stones to evoke the green fairy.

This is the easiest candelabrum of all—just place a candle inside the neck of the bottle, light it, and you have a very elegant and dreamy-looking light source.

Create Stained-Glass Decorated Candles

To enhance the magic of your ritual candles, you can create your own, filling them with your energy and intentions! You can adorn them with big sequins, curio crosses, symbols such as the Egyptian ankh, faux pearls, or anything lovely and suitably glittery that can be added to the sides of the candles to create a “stained glass” appearance. Another technique is to mix in your magical objects, stirring them into the melted wax inside a mold. An even easier way to do this is to take a soft beeswax pillar candle and “stud” the sides and the candle top with tiny crystal pieces that cost just pennies per pound. You can save them after melting the candles down and reuse them again and again. Nowadays, candle-making classes abound, and you can get leftover or “recycled” wax to use, melt, and pour into glass votives for your own uniquely magical candle creations. 

The Sun Returns: A Winter Solstice Ritual

Winter solstice rituals traditionally celebrate the rebirth of the sun. In a safe place outdoors, build a bonfire and create a solstice altar to the east of it. Place a small cauldron with a candle in it on the altar, and surround it with mistletoe, ivy, and holly. Participants should also wear crowns woven from these evergreens. If it is too cold or snowy where you live, you can gather indoors and form a semicircle either around the fireplace or around the altar.

Begin the ritual by holding hands around the fire. Hum softly, gradually building the hum to a shout. This shout represents the cries of the Goddess giving birth once again to the sun, and to the new year. The ritual leader says:

    All bow to the East! Hail to the newborn Sun, and to the Great

    Goddess who has brought him forth!

Everyone bows to honor the Sun God and the Mother Goddess. The ritual leader chants:

    Brigid,

    Diana,

    Morgan,

    Cerridwen,

    Heaven’s Queen,

    by the light of this moon

    in this dark night,

    teach us the mystery of rebirth.

The ritual leader lights the candle in the cauldron while everyone else remains perfectly still. Now is the time when the Goddess will reveal herself privately to each participant. If you are outdoors, listen and look carefully for a sign. Traditional omens are a sudden wind, shooting stars, the screeching of an owl, or the appearance of a deer. Even if you are indoors by the fire, the Goddess will still make herself known in your heart. When the time feels right, the ritual leader says:

    Queen of the Stars,

    Queen of the Moon,

    Queen of the Earth,

    Bringer of Fire,

    the Great Mother gives birth to this new year

    and we are her witnesses.

Everyone shouts:

    Blessed be!

Pass the lit cauldron to each participant so they can speak a blessing for the new year and the newly reborn sun. Place the cauldron with the candle back on the altar. The ritual leader closes the ritual with this final expression of gratitude to the Goddess:

    Blessed be to the Mother Goddess.

    Thank you for the sun that gives us life

    without beginning and without end

    everlasting in eternity.

    this ritual is now done!

A toast to the new sun should take place with hot cider or mead and warm festive foods.

Midsummer Day: A Summer Solstice Rite

Essential elements for a Celtic-inspired Midsummer ritual are a wooden wheel, fallen branches and firewood, multicolored candles (and also torches, if you can acquire them), multicolored ribbons, food and drink, and flowers for garlands. This ritual should be performed outside, ideally on a hill or mountaintop at dusk. Call the local fire department to verify the fire laws in your area. You will likely need a special permit to light a bonfire, and certain areas may be restricted. Always clear the grass and brush away from your fire area, and make sure to dig a shallow pit into the ground. Circle the pit with rocks to help mark the edge of the fire pit as well as to contain the accidental spread of fire. Have a fire extinguisher, a pail of sand, and water bottles nearby in case the fire gets out of control. One person not directly involved in the ritual who is designated as the fire-tender should be on hand to watch the fire at all times; be sure to find a constant and observant volunteer for this quiet yet vital duty. Make sure the fire pit is far enough away from surrounding trees and other landscape features to allow room for a group to dance around it.

Lay the wooden wheel down in the circle of stones, and arrange the fallen branches and firewood around the edge of it. The wheel represents the turning of the year, and the sun on its daily and yearly cycle. Tie the colored ribbons on the nearest tree. While these preparations are being made, the priestess to lead the ritual should meditate in the area where the ritual will be held, focusing on connecting to the goddess. The gathered celebrants should weave garlands of flowers while the sun slowly sets. Just before the sun vanishes completely, the priestess should direct participants to ready their candles, or even better, torches. The priest lights them, declaring:

    The fire festival is begun.

    Under this longest day of the sun.

    Let us go forth and make merry.

    The god and goddess are here!

All say:

    Blessed be!

The priest leads the celebrants into the circle where the priestess waits and directs them to throw their torches and candles in the bonfire. The priestess raises her arms and invokes the Goddess:

    Great Earth Mother and Lady of the Forest,

    be with us here and now!

    On this night the Goddess reigns supreme.

    On this, our Midsummer’s night!

All say:

    Blessed be!

All should dance in the direction of the sun (clockwise) around the fire, raise their arms, and clap and shout for joy for as long as they want. When people begin to tire, it is time for the feast. The priest directs the blessing of the food:

    Blessed Lady of the Forest,

    Old gods of the animals, spirits of the wild,

    bless this food and drink,

    that it may strengthen us in your ways.

All say:

    Blessed be!

Everyone should share in the refreshments and eat, drink, and make merry. Another round of dance and song is in order. When the bonfire has turned to ash, the priestess declares the ritual to be over and says:

    Our revelry this day is done, dear one.

    Gods of the old and spirits of nature,

    we thank you for your blessings this night.

    This rite is done.

All say:

    Blessed be!

Make certain the fire has completely gone out before you leave the ritual site. Soak the ashes with water and clean up the site. Always leave a natural area cleaner than you found it.

Truth Will Set You Free: A Spell for Spiritual Healing and Growth

If you find yourself in need of help resolving a problem or uncovering new resources within yourself, try the following tried-and-true rite. Take a piece of plain white paper and a blue pen and have them at the ready.

On a Thursday, light some blue candles and chant the following affirmation:

    Fears and doubt, begone from me!

    I have the courage to break free.

    I have the wisdom to know and the strength to grow.

    I call upon my inner guide to hear and see my truth.

Repeat this four times while the candle burns. Embrace your intuition and trust it with all your heart. Now write down what comes into your mind with the blue pen. You may even feel tingling at the top of your head, which is a very good sign. Knowing the truth can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it is important as a guide for your life.

Make Way This Day: A Simple Clarity Intonation

Unless you are already a skilled practitioner of the magical arts, you may well be unconsciously casting spells that throw obstacles in your path. To clear the way to greater wealth and happiness, during the new moon, pick one perfect white rose and sit in front of your altar with it. Light a white candle with your eyes closed. Empty your mind and breathe deeply. When you feel a buzzing at the crown of your head from inhaling and exhaling so mindfully, stare into the flame and repeat seven times:

    I am alive. I have power. It is real.

Chimes of Change Charm

If you have a dear friend, as I do, whom you occasionally drive crazy, you may sometimes receive the silent treatment. Try this charm to break the tension by literally breaking the silence.

Buy a wind chime, or, even better, make one from odd earrings, old keys, brass bells, and any other potentially musical objects you can find. Bless the chime by smudging it with sage smoke.

While you speak this spell, jangle your chime energetically:

Silence no more;

we’ll be as before.

We’ll laugh, talk and sing;

good times, this chime shall bring.

So mote it be.

Keep repeating and ringing until you practically hear the echo of your friend’s voice. Wait a full twenty-four hours before you call her. Chances are, though, she’ll call you first.