Autumn Equinox

Here is a wonderfully creative variation on this seasonal rite designed by Robin Heerens Lysne, the author of Living a Sacred Life. It is based on the Native American Muskogee Creek tribal story about the spider who weaves her web sack to catch the sun and bring it back to earth. Lysne suggests holding a potluck dinner followed by a story-telling session as the light begins to wane. While people tell their equinox or fall season stories and feelings, they should hold the end of a ball of yarn or string and toss the ball to the next person to signal that it is their turn. As people hold the yarn, they should wrap it once around their wrists. When the talking is done, you will have a web of people woven together. Make the web of life with the yarn, symbolizing the weaving of night, day, relationships, and the time of autumn. When you are finished, let yourselves be in the web and contemplate the meaning of your connections.

Midnight Moon Purification Ritual

Set up your altar outdoors, weather permitting. The altar should be facing north, the direction associated with the energy of manifestation. North is also the direction of the midnight hour, also known as “The Witching Hour.” Find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your altar for clean and clear new beginnings. Take two green candles and place them in green glass holders, and position them in the two farthest corners. Place your censer in between and burn sandalwood, camphor or frankincense for purification. Adorn your altar with objects that connote well-being to you. Perhaps an amethyst candleholder with purple candles, a bowl of bright red apples from your backyard, a dwarf lemon tree bursting with the restorative power of Vitamin C, a cellar of curative salts from the sea. These symbolic items and any others your select will imbue your altar with the magic that lives inside of you and your intention toward good health. It is imperative that it be pleasing to your eye and fills you with gladness when you gaze upon the altar. After you have been performing Midnight Hour rituals for a while, a positive healing energy field will radiate from your altar. Blessed be!

Psychic Tuning Fork Meditation - Messages from the Heavens

The great psychic and healer Edgar Cayce used this otherworldly stone azurite for achieving remarkable meditative states, during which he had astoundingly accurate visions and prophetic dreams. Indeed, azurite helps achieve a high state of mental clarity and powers of concentration. If you can’t find the answer to a problem in the here and now, try looking for solutions on the astral plane. Write the problem down on paper and place it under a small azurite overnight on a windowsill so it collects moonlight.

At 11:11 a.m., lie comfortably in a quiet and darkened room with the azurite stone placed over your third eye on your forehead. Clear your mind of everything for eleven minutes and meditate. Sit up and listen for the first thing that comes into your mind—it should be the answer, or a message regarding the issue at hand. Write down the words you receive. For the rest of the day you will be in a state of grace and higher mind, during which you will hear information and answers to help guide you in many aspects of your life. If you, like me, enjoy this meditation, you may want to do it every day at 11:11 a.m. and every night at 11:11 p.m. I strongly suggest that you keep a journal of these “azurite answers.” You may receive information that you won’t understand until many years have passed, making the journal an invaluable resource and key to your very special life.

Ghostbusting Potion

To rid a house of haunting intrusion, brew a peppermint and clove infusion. Drizzle the potion throughout the space, and out, out, the ghost will race. Burning frankincense and myrrh incense sends negative spirits flying away as well.

Clearing Energetic Clutter

In order to do any healing work, you must clear the clutter that can create blocks. Banish the old, bad energy from your house by following this spell. Make a tea from herb lavender or vervain. Once it cools, dip your finger in the tea and sprinkle it throughout your home while reciting:

Clean and clear, nothing negative near 
Only healing and positive energies here. 
So mote it be.

Repeat three times, and if you feel the need to clear out any remaining cloud of psychic clutter, add diluted lavender tea water to your cleanser when you wash floors or surfaces. The scent of calm and clarity will lift the spirits of all who enter your space. 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!

Witchy Wellness Healing Altar

Your altar is your sacred work space, a place imbued with your personal pagan power. I recommend starting with a flat surface, at least two feet across each way for the four directions of the compass. Perhaps you have a favorite antique table, at once simple and ornate. I have set up my altar to face north, long believed to be the origin of primordial energy. North is the direction of midnight, and an altar oriented in this fashion promises potent magic.

Find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your table, just touching the floor. Take two candles in matching holders and place them on the two farthest corners. Place your incense burner exactly in the middle. If you don’t have favorite incense yet, start with the ancient essence of frankincense. Select objects that appeal to you symbolically to place on your altar. I have a candlestick of purest amethyst crystal, my birthstone. When I gaze on the candle flame refracted through the beautiful purple gemstone, I feel the fire within me. This inculcates your altar with the magic that lives inside you, that lives inside all of us, and magnifies the ceremonial strength of your workspace. You should decorate your altar until it is utterly and completely pleasing to your eye. After you’ve been working spells for a bit, an energy field will radiate from your altar.

Fireplace altars today hearken back to this earliest custom. Home and hearth have primal appeal to the comfort of both body and soul. If you have a fireplace, it can become the very heart of your home. The fireplace is also one of the safest places of the ritual work of fire keeping. Sanctify your fireplace with a sprinkling of salt, and then set it up as an altar to the four seasons. Like the Vestal Virgins of old, you can keep a fire burning in a votive glass holder in the back of your fireplace and have an eternal flame. The fireplace can be your simplest altar and a reflection of the work of nature. If you don’t have a real fire in your fireplace, you can place in it beautiful sacred objects—pretty rocks, feathers, seashells, glistening crystals, beautiful leaves, and anything representing the holiest aspects of the world around you. Let nature be your guide.

Stone Cold Magic: Your Crystal Conjuring Shrine

By building a stone shrine, altar, or power center in your home, you can create a place for daily conjuring, rituals, and thinking. This will set the stage for you to focus your ideas and make them grow. Having a shrine in your home allows you to rid yourself of personal obstacles and invite friendly spirits. Your shrine will spark your inner flame and bring daily renewal. The more use an altar gets, the more energy it builds, making your spells even more effective.

Create your shrine on a low table covered in a white scarf. Set rainbow candles in an arc and then add black and white candles. Place a heatproof bowl containing amber incense (good for creativity and healing), and place it in the center of the rainbow, surrounded by quartz. You should also keep a stick of sage or a seashell on your altar for cleansing the space every day.

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

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.

Following is a comprehensive overview of different crystals and what their presence on your altar will mean:

Altar Crystal: amazonite, aventurine, carnelian, chrysolite, chrysoprase, citrine, green tourmaline, malachite, yellow fluorite

What They Mean: Creativity

Altar Crystal: amethyst, azurite, celestite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, selenite, smoky quartz, sodalite, star sapphire, yellow calcite

What They Mean: Intuition

Altar Crystal: amethyst, magnetite, rhodochrosite, rose quartz, twinned rock crystals

What They Mean: Love

Altar Crystal: bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, dendritic agate, diamond, garnet, hawk’s-eye, moss agate, peridot, ruby, tiger’s-eye, topaz, yellow sapphire

What They Mean: Prosperity

Altar Crystal: amber, apache tear, chalcedony, citrine, green calcite, jade, jet, smoky quartz

What They Mean: Protection

Altar Crystal: azurite, chalcedony, chrysocolla, green tourmaline, hematite, rutilated quartz, tiger’s-eye

What They Mean: Self-Assurance

Altar Crystal: amber, aventurine, blue jade, dioptase, Herkimer diamond, jasper, kunzite, moonstone, onyx, peridot, quartz, rhodonite

What They Mean: Serenity

Altar Crystal: carnelian, obsidian, quartz, selenite, sodalite, topaz

What They Mean: Success

Altar Crystal: agate, aventurine, bloodstone, calcite, chalcedony, citrine, dioptase, emerald, garnet, orange calcite, ruby, topaz

What They Mean: Vigor

Altar Crystal: emerald, fluorite, Herkimer diamond, moldavite, serpentine, yellow calcite

What They Mean: Wisdom

Bottling Up Your Magic

In use since medieval times, magic bottles, or spell bottles, can function as protectors of your home. Called witch bottles in the 1600s in England, they were originally used to hold objects for magical uses. They have largely fallen out of use, but you can customize magic bottles for yourself with crystal stoppers for a variety of reasons. You can put one in your garden for healthy plants, on the mantel to protect your home, next to your bed for love and happiness, and in the kitchen for good health. These magic bottles are mostly used for protection, but you can also place into them symbols of your dreams and desires, such as a white rose for peace, the herb rosemary for remembrance, and cinnamon for the spice of life.

For a calm and peaceful home, take a teaspoon of soil from outside your house (or the closest park) and place it into a bottle with some smoky topaz or brown jasper. Place the bottle into the pot of a plant near the entrance of your home. Every time you water the plant, think about the sanctity of your home. As your plant grows, so will the tranquility of your residence.

For luck with money, place three pennies and some pyrite or jade into a bottle and put it on your desk at home or your workplace. Shake the magic jar whenever you think about your finances, and your fortune will improve in three days.

For love, place a pink or red rosebud or rose petal, rose essential oil, and rose quartz into a bottle and keep it at your bedside. Each night, burn a pink candle anointed with the oil from your lovemagic bottle. On the seventh day, your prospects for romance will brighten!

Cords of Connection: DIY Magical Rope

Making this magical tool can be a meditative exercise. Once you have crafted your own magical rope, you should keep it on your altar. This rope binds magic to you, and is ideally made from strands of red wool or ribbon. Nine feet long, it is braided and tied into a loop at one end to represent feminine energy and left loose or frayed at the opposing end to signify the complementary male energy. Crystal beads woven onto the strands of the rope can compound its magical quality. I recommend you use clear quartz crystal beads, which are energy amplifiers, but you can use special stones for various effects: rose quartz for love, citrine for grounding, jade for prosperity and success in work, blue lapis for creativity, and amethyst for improved intuition and psychic ability.

Archangel Protection Rite: Angelica Hex Breaker (Waxing or Full Moon)

Whenever you are going through a hard time or have fears for your family, try this ritual. Angelica, also called the “Heavenly Guardian Flower,” is said to first bloom on Archangel Michael’s name day. This positive plant is part of the carrot family and is a tall, hollow-stemmed plant with umbrella-shaped clusters of pale white flowers, tinged with green. Candying the stalks in sugar was an old-fashioned favorite, and was also traditionally used to cure colds and relieve coughs. Nowadays, seeds are used to make chartreuse, a digestive and uniquely tasty liqueur. This guardian flower is a protector, as one might expect for a plant associated with archangels, and is used to reverse curses, break hexes and fend off negative energies. Drying and curing the root is a traditional talisman, and it can be carried in your pocket or in an amulet to bring a long life. Many a wise woman has used angelica leaves in baths and spellwork to rid a household of dark spirits. If the bad energy is intense, burn the angelica leaves with frankincense to exorcise them from your space. While you are protecting yourself and your home from negativity during this angelica smudging session, you will also experience heightened psychism. Pay close attention to your dreams after this; important messages will come through.

Peace and Healing Potpourri (Waxing or Full Moon is Optimal)

Sometimes, we all need a quick fix and this is exactly what this herbal mélange can do for you. Draw some fresh water and simmer this mixture on your stove whenever you feel the need to infuse your space with protection or do an energetic turnaround from negative to positive. A bad day at work, family squabble, an unfortunate incident in your neighborhood: instead of just muddling along, you can do something about it and your creation of the positive will help you and your loved one as well as your neighbors. This powerful potpourri will also safeguard from outside influences that can be disruptive. Set your intention and gather these herbs from your stores:

• 7 cinnamon sticks
• ¼ cup rosemary
• 4 Bay laurel leaves
• 1/8 cup sage
• 1 teaspoons juniper berries

Mix the herbs together by hand. While you are sifting, close your eyes and visualize your home protected by a boundary of glowing white light. Imagine the light running throughout you to the herbs in your hand, charging them with the energy of safety, sanctity and protection. Add the herbs to slowly simmering water and breathe in the newly charged air.

Ritual Herbs: Using Mother Nature’s Magic

Refer to this list whenever you are setting up your altar and setting your intention for ritual work.

Benzoin can be used for purification, prosperity, work success, mental acuity, and memory.

Camphor can be used for healing, divining the future, curbing excess, especially romantic obsessions, and a surfeit of sexuality.

Cinnamon refreshes and directs spirituality. It is also handy for healing, money, love, lust, personal power, and success with work and creative projects.

Clove is good for bringing money to you, for protection, for your love life and for helping evade and deter negative energies.

Copal should be used for love and purification.

Frankincense is another spiritual essence that purifies and protects.

Lavender is a plant for happiness, peace, true love, long life and chastity. It is an excellent purifier that aids with sleep.

Myrrh has been considered since ancient times to be deeply sacred. It aids personal spirituality, heals and protects, and can help ward off negative spirits and energies.

Nutmeg is a lucky herb that promotes good health and prosperity and encourages fidelity.

Patchouli stimulates and grounds while engendering both sensuality and encourages fidelity.

Peppermint is an herb of purification, healing, and love. It supports relaxation and sleep as it helps to increase psychic powers.

Rosemary is good for purification, protection, healing, relaxation and intelligence. It attracts love and sensuality, helps with memory, and can keep you youthful.

Sage brings wisdom, purification, protection, health and a long life. It can help make your wishes come true.

Sandalwood is a mystical, healing, protecting essence that helps attract the objects of your hopes and desires and disperses negative energies and spirits.

Star anise is a lucky herb that aids divination and psychism.

Tonka bean brings courage and draws love and money.

Vanilla brings love and enriches your mental capacity.

Wood aloe is good for dressing or anointing talismans and amulets you want to use for protection.

By Jove! A Spell for Wealth (New Moon is Optimal)

On any Thursday or new moon, light your altar candle at midnight and burn frankincense and myrrh incense. Make an offering of a golden fruit, such as apples or peaches, to Jupiter, and anoint your third eye with a corresponding essential oil, such as myrrh, frankincense, apple, or peach.

Pray aloud:

This offering I make as my blessing to all. 
Greatest of gods, Lord Jove of the sky. 
From you, all heavenly gifts do fall. 
Most generous of all, you never deny. 
To you, I am grateful, and so mote it be! 

Put the candle in a safe, fireproof place, such as a fireplace, and let it burn all night. You will dream of your loved ones, including yourself, receiving a bounty of material and spiritual wealth.

Crystal Clear (New or Waning Moon is Optimal)

Over time, you will doubtless adorn your sacred altar space with many beautiful crystals. Whenever you acquire a new crystal, you need to cleanse it.

Gather these elemental energies:

• A candle for fire
• A cup of water
• Incense for air
• A bowl of salt

Pass your crystal through the scented smoke of the incense and say:

Inspired with the breath of air

Pass the crystal swiftly through the flame of the candle and say:

Burnished by fire 

Sprinkle the crystal with water and say:

Purified by water

Dip the crystal into the bowl of salt and say:

Empowered by the earth 

Hold the crystal 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 crystal upon your altar and say:

By craft made and by craft charged and changed, 
This crystal I will use for the purpose of good in this world. 
In the realm of the gods and goddesses. 
I hereby consecrate this crystal. 
Blessings to all, blessed be.

Moon Mojo: Clear A Space and Make It Yours (Waning Moon is Optimal)

To purify your space with as much of your own personal energy as possible, a broom you have crafted by hand is best. You don’t have to wait until you are holding a circle or performing spellcraft; it can be after a squabble with a loved one, to rid yourself of a bout of the blues, or any upset you need to sweep right out of your home. Many a kitchen witch begins the day with this simple ritual of a clean sweep to freshen surroundings and to make room for good energy in your life. This is, of course, not a white glove-type cleaning; it is a symbolic act that is effective in maintaining your home as a personal sanctuary.

You can make your own purification broom from straw bound together and attached to a fallen tree branch, or you can add mojo to a store-bought broom. Wrap copper wire around the bottom of your broom handle and also use it to bind straw to a sturdy stick or branch for the DIY kind. Venus-ruled copper lends an aura of beauty and keeps negativity at bay. Attach crystals to the handle with glue to boost your broom’s power. Recommended crystal for space clearing and purification are as follows:

• Amber for good cheer
• Blue Lace Agate for tranquility and a peaceful home
• Coral for wellbeing
• Jet absorbs bad energy
• Onyx is a stone of protection
• Petrified Wood for security
• Tiger’s Eye will protect you from energy-draining situations or people
• Turquoise creates calm and relaxation

Happy Home Spell (Waning Moon Phase is Optimal)

To anoint your home and turn it into a protective shield for you and your loved ones, rub any of the following essential oils on your doorjambs: cinnamon, clove, dragon’s blood, myrrh. Walk through the door into your home and close it securely. Take the remaining essential oils and rub a bit on every other door and window. Light anointed white candles and place them in the windows and chant the words of the spell:

My home is my temple. 
Here I love and love, 
Safe and secure 
Both below and above. 
And so it is by magic sealed.

Creating Your Sanctuary Shrine (New Moon Phase is Optimal)

On a low table or chest of your choosing, place a forest green cloth and a brown candle to represent family and home. Add lovely objects you have gathered, including from the garden and outdoors: ocean-carved driftwood, a gorgeous flower, a dried seed pod, a favorite crystal, whatever pleases your eye. It is of the utmost importance to add a bouquet of wildflowers native to your area you gathered close to where you live or bought locally. These posies will help integrate you and your home into your neighborhood and geographic region. Add a sweetly scented sachet of herbs from your kitchen garden or those you intend to plant: rosemary, lavender, thyme, mint, all of which imbue your space with positive energy. Burn associated essential oils, those which will create an aura of comfort around your kitchen, including vanilla, cinnamon, or sweet orange neroli in an oil lamp. Finally, anoint the brown candle while concentrating on the power of peace and bliss surrounding your home and all around your home altar.

Chant:

Peace and abundance are in abundance 
And here true bliss surrounds 
From now on, all disharmony is gone 
This is a place of powerful blessings 
For here lives sheer joy. 
And so it is — blessed be!

This consecrated space will ease your spirits at any time. Your altar connects you to the earth of which you are a part.

Setting Up Your Lunar Altar: Your Personal Power Center

Before there were temples and churches, the primary place for expressing reverence was the altar. The word “altar” comes from a Latin word which means “high place.” With a personal altar, you can reach the heights of your spirituality and ascend in wisdom. You construct an altar when you assemble symbolic items in a meaningful manner, focusing both your attention and intention. When you work with the combined energies of these items, you are performing ritual. Your rituals can arise from your needs, imagination, or the seasonal and traditional ceremonies that you find in this book and others. A book I draw much inspiration from has been Nancy Brady Cunningham’s A Book of Women’s Altars. I love her advice to bow or place your hands on the ground in front of your altar at the beginning of ritual work and at the closing, explaining, “Grounding symbolizes the end of the ritual and signals to the mind to return to an ordinary state of awareness as you re-enter daily life.” An altar is a physical point of focus for the ritual, containing items considered sacred and essential to ritual work and spiritual growth. An altar can be anything from a rock in the forest to an exquisitely carved antique table. Even portable or temporary altars can suffice such as a board suspended between two chairs for “rituals on the go.”

Dispelling Blocks: Full Moon Incantation

Is something getting in your way? Do you feel stalled out and overcome with procrastination? To overcome any blocks obstructing your creativity and productivity, you can dispel the negative energy by going for a walk in the nearest park. Find a round, flat rock, six to ten inches wide. This will become an altar supplied directly to you by Mother Nature, and it will have the purest energy. Begin by charging this stone on the full moon at your home altar. Light a white candle for purification, and then place your hand on the stone and chant three times:

Bad energy, take flight! 
Goddess of Night, shine bright. 
Moon of tonight, you give us delight. 
Fill this stone with your light, 
Imbue it with all your magic and might, 
Surround it with your protective sight. 
So mote it be.

Ideally, you’ll want to perform this spell three times on three consecutive full moons before you begin drawing upon its energy. Like your altar, your stone will be a reservoir you can turn to any time you feel stuck or uninspired. This rock will emanate with a quiet power you can draw from whenever you need.

Spring Full Moon - Invocation of the Flower Moon

This dazzling spring Flower Moon is an optimal opportunity to strive for the new, to initiate a phase of transformation that will last long after the Full Moon has waxed into darkness. This invocation honors the season, planting seeds of positive change in your life to bloom for years to come. Start by gathering red and green apples, candles of the same colors, and seed corn from a gardening store, along with three stalks of lavender and three long strands of night-blooming jasmine. Leave these offerings on your altar all day.

When the Full Moon of May reaches the highest point in the night sky, light one red and one green candle on your kitchen altar. Wind the jasmine and lavender into a crown for the top of your head, breathing in the lovely scent the flowers produce. Holding an apple in each hand, speak this spell while circling the altar clockwise three times.

Moon of Flowers; light the way to change tonight, 
Through the power of Earth and Air, Water and Fire. 
As I bite this fruit of knowledge, I am thus inspired. 
All possibilities are before me. And so it is.

Eat from both apples until you are fully satisfied, and then bury twelve corn seeds and the cores in the rightmost corner of your garden. With the spring rains and summer sun, your intentions will flower into being. By the fall full moon, you will harvest the bounty of change from this spell, with great gratitude.