Tranquility Touchstones: Crystal Cairns

I am sure you will come to find this to be true: certain crystals can be touchstones in your life and bring multitudinous benefits, both emotional and spiritual. Find spots in your home or office where you can incorporate them into your every day, whether at a shrine, on your nightstand, or stacked in a corner on your desk as a sort of crystal cairn. This can be your special corner of the world where you can renew and connect with your spiritual center. Picking up and holding your touchstones can be one of the most soul-nourishing small acts of self-care you can do.

Following is a list of different crystals and what their presence will bring you:

Inspiration: Amazonite, aventurine, carnelian, chrysolite, chrysoprase, citrine, green tourmaline, malachite, yellow fluorite

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

Love: amethyst, magnetite, rhodochrosite, rose quartz, twinned rock crystals

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

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

Self-belief: azurite, chalcedony, chrysocolla, green tourmaline, hematite, rutilated quartz, tiger’s-eye

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

Confidence: carnelian, obsidian, quartz, selenite, sodalite, topaz

Positive Energy: agate, aventurine, bloodstone, calcite, chalcedony, citrine, dioptase, emerald, garnet, orange calcite, ruby, topaz

Deep wisdom: emerald, fluorite, Herkimer diamond, moldavite, serpentine, yellow calcite

Kitchen Witch Practical Magic

Any good witch knows that the best ingredients can be found in your kitchen or your own backyard. Many plants now thought of as weeds have great healing powers and magical properties. Most of the herbs and essential oils in this book have become quite commonplace. With the plethora of aromatherapy products now available, most oil essences and scented candles can be bought commercially. For the more unusual ingredients, try your local health food market, herbalist, or metaphysical store.

Investing in Gold

Pyrite, or fool’s gold, is the ideal heart stone for people who work with money, anyone who is an investor, banker, or money manager. Stunning and shiny, pyrite has a hardness of six, the number sacred to Venus. Pyrite brings great luck, along with abundance and an atmosphere conducive to joy. Delight everyone at work by keeping a chunk of fool’s gold on your desk. They will think it is a cool decoration, which it certainly is, and may never guess you have it there to ensure business is good with stable income.

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!

Blessing Bag: Herbal Good Luck Charm

Many plants have abundant inherent magic that creates abundance, good fortune, and great good luck. Harvest these herbs and you will hardness the blessings growing in your own back yard.

Gather these supplies:

• Small muslin pouch that ties
• Teaspoon of basil
• Teaspoon of pine needles
• Teaspoon of nutmeg
• Teaspoon of rosemary
• Fennel seed pod
• 1 vanilla bean pod
• 3 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces

Take the pouch and stuff it with the herbs. Add the fennel seed and vanilla bean and, lastly, the cinnamon sticks. Tie up the bag, hold it in both hands, and speak the following spell:

    I hold in my hands these herbs of providence.

    I hold in my heart, these herbs of destiny.

    Blessings to all for the good of all.

    And so it is. So mote it be.

Tie the bag to the back door of your home or wherever is closest to your plantings. Every time the door opens or closes, the little bag will deliver more good luck.

Go Forth and Be Fruitful!

Apple

This “one a day” beloved fruit is associated with the goddess Pomona and contains the powers of healing, love, and abundance. Samhain, the high holiday of the Wheel of the Year, is also called the "Feast of Apples" and is used on the Halloween altar during this festival. Cutting an apple in half and sharing the other with your beloved ensures the two of you will stay happy.

Banana

A bunch of bananas packs a magical punch with powers of abundance and fertility for both men and women. Anyone who gets married beneath a banana tree bower will have a lucky marriage. One caveat: never cut a banana, only break it apart. Otherwise, you’ll bring back luck to your household.

Blackberry

Blackberries are the medicine that pops up anywhere, offering a delightful snack and serious healing, love, and abundance. Both the vine and the berries can be used for money-bringing spells. Thorny blackberry vines are wonderful as protective wreaths for your home, and the plant vine and berry can be used for prosperity and money spells.

Grapes

Planting grapevines grants you abilities for money magic as well as gardening and farming. The ancient Romans painted pictures of grapes on the garden walls to ensure good harvest and fertility for women. For mental focus, eat some grapes, while magical spell workings for money are abetted greatly by placing a bowl of grapes on the altar.

Pear

It is believed this uniquely shaped fruit brings prosperity and a long life. Somewhat similarly to peaches, the pear creates powers of lust and love. Sharing with a partner, pears can be used to induce sexual arousal. Pear wood is also very good for magical wands.

Pineapple

While renowned as the symbol of hospitality, pineapple represents neighborliness, abundance, and chastity. Dried pineapple in a sachet added to bath water will bring great luck. The juice hinders lust when drunken; dried peel is great in money spells and mixtures.

Tomato

A reminder that the tomato is a fruit! An easy money spell is to place a fresh-off-the-vine tomato on the mantle every few days to bring prosperity. Eating tomatoes inspires love and they’re great to grow in your garden as an aid to ward off pests of all kinds!

The Wealth of Wildflowers

Pagans revere poppies for their money magic. If you have a yard, nearby meadow, or any strip of ground you can garden, buy poppy seeds and simply toss half of them all around in early spring. Soon, you will have a wealth of wildflowers. No doubt, you will be rewarded for years to come with the beauty and abundance of poppies for many years to come.

Gather together:

• One small plain paper envelope
• Remaining poppy seeds
• A pen

Place the rest of the poppy seeds in the envelope. Bless the envelope by chanting aloud:

    Poppy, gold like the sun,
    
    Thank you for the new fortune I’ve won.

    With these words, this spell is sealed. And so it is.

Now write the charm you have spoken on the envelope. Seal the envelope closed and place it in your wallet, behind your paper money. Your fortunes will begin to change as soon as the envelope is sealed.

Dandelion Root: Luck in the Moonlight

Grind this dried root and sleep; drink in direct moonlight.

The humble dandelion, abhorred by lawnkeepers, hides its might well. Dandelion root tea can call upon the spirit of anyone whose advice you might need. Simply place the brew on your nightstand and say the spirit's name seven times; he or she will visit your dreams and answer your questions. In Chaucer’s day, this method was used to find lost treasures.

Luck be quick, luck be kind, and, by lucky seven, good luck will be mine. Blessed be

Sowing Seeds of Positive Change In Your Life

Nature is the ultimate creator. At a nearby gardening store or hardware store, get an assortment of seed packets to plant newness into your life. If your thumb is not the greenest, try nasturtiums which are extremely hardy, grow quickly, and spread, beautifying any area. They re-seed themselves, which is a lovely bonus. Light the following candles:

• Green candle and peridot or jade for creativity, prosperity, and growth
• Orange candle and jasper or onyx for clear thinking and highest consciousness
• Blue candle and turquoise or celestine for serenity, kindness, and a happy heart
• White candle and quartz or limestone for purification and safety

Put the seeds under the soil with your fingers and tamp them down gently with your wand, the branch, which you should also stick in the ground at this time. Water your new moon garden and affirmative change will begin in your life that very day.

Daisy and Echinacea: Healing the Heart and Body

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This faithful flower’s name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon daeges eage, “day’s eye” since it closes in the evening. The daisy has been used in one of the oldest love charms. To know if your true love is returned, take a daisy and intone “He loves me, he loves me not” until the last petal is plucked and the answer will be revealed. This flower is not just a boon for romance, however. It is also useful in herbal medicine for aches, bruises, wounds, inflammation, and soothing eye baths. As a flower remedy, it is quite good to help with exhaustion and is a highly regarded remedy in homeopathy. Echinacea is a member of the daisy family that has become wildly popular as a healer for colds and as a powerful immune booster, increasing your T-cell count and fighting off illnesses both minor and major. Echinacea is an herb of abundance, attracting more prosperity, but it can be used in magic workings to amplify the power.

Planting Prosperity: The Rich Witch's Garden

Our wise elders from hundreds of years ago knew this very well: herbs, flowers, and many plants, trees, and vegetables bring abundance into your life. They utilized this knowledge to the benefit of their communities and were forward-thinking; many a garden, grove of trees, vineyard, and orchard were planted by our forebears who wanted to provide for their children’s children and future generations. Not only were they ensuring their communities would enjoy the bounty of plentiful fruit, nuts, grapes, and berries, but they were also leaving behind a legacy of beauty and prosperity.

I also had the great fortune to grow up in the countryside on a farm. Much of what I know I learned from my wise aunt about herbs to gather in the wild, like which foods to cook for love, money, luck, health, and in celebration of the high holidays. It is exciting to go to the garden, the grocery store, or the farmer’s market and bring home the ingredients for positive life change. In addition to the secrets to magical cooking, I learned from this wise woman that the first task to undertake is to clean your kitchen and purify it. If anything needs repairing, fix it. Any utensils, pots, or pans that are banged up can be donated. If your kitchen curtains look shabby to your eye, make or buy new ones. If there is a bag of rice or beans past the prime, compost away. You should clean the cooking space in both the practical sense and also to cleanse it in the magical sense. Health is wealth, really and truly. Prepare your kitchen and altar to be used for the purpose of prosperity.

Your Week of Witchy Wealth

Each day of the week holds special meaning that can impact your prosperity.

Monday

Comes from the moon day and is ruled by the moon goddess known variously as Diana, Cybele, Artemis, and Selene. It is associated with all the hues of blue from sapphire to pearly iridescent. This is the day for divination, deep reflection, and love, especially loving your true nature. Tap into your intuition to know how you can improve your finances. Make notes!

Tuesday

Named for Tiw’s day, is ruled by Mars, the God of war and action. This day wears the colors red and pink. Like the old saying, “Tuesday is good news day,” this day is auspicious for matters regarding prosperity, truth, new beginnings, and high energy with focus. Good day for new projects.

Wednesday

Comes from Woden’s day and is associated with the winged God of communication, Mercury, whose color is yellow. This is the day for interaction and initiation, presenting a good opportunity for this fourth day. Also sacred to the Yoruban Goddess Oshun and is associated with water energy and flowing.

Thursday

Thursday stands for strength, joy, performance, extravagance, and great staying power. It is an optimal time to try something new or make a new contact for new business. Excellent time for a new deal.

Friday

Known as Freya’s Day, it is Venusian in nature. Its color, green, is associated with fertility, love, nature, abundance, and joy-filled sex. This is a good day to ask for a raise.

Saturday

Associated with black and gray, it is the day of the ruling judge Saturn. This is when we must take stock of the week, get errands and personal business done, and finish the day off with a ritual meal with friends and loved ones. Celebrate abundance and count your blessings, which creates more goodness.

Sunday

Is the day of our greatest star, Sol, otherwise known as the Sun, with colors of gold, orange, and radiant white. This is the time to rest and renew, indulge in creativity, and enjoy the fruits of this life. Sunday is the time to strike for fame and fortune. Make yourself heard.

Set Your Money Intention

Photo by Anita Austvika on unsplash.com

Adorn your altar with fresh flowers and three candles in your favorite shade of green. Also, gather a pen and paper. Light the candles and sit in front of your altar while you meditate on what will make you achieve your full potential.

Do you need to change your money habits? Your approach to spending and finances? Do you need to open your creativity?  Do you need to revitalize with a vacation? Concentrate deeply, and choose three intentions for positive change in your life to write down and place under your three candles. Every night for seven days, repeat this spell:

    Today I arise. This day I embrace serenity and money wisdom.

    Tonight, I rest. This night I embrace an attitude of abundance and calm.

    Blessed be.

Pantry Power – Plant Infusions For An Abundant Life

Many enthusiasts enjoy several cups a day of their favorite herbal infusion which is a large portion of herb brewed for at least four hours and as long as ten. I recommend placing one cup of the dried herb into a quart canning jar and filling it with freshly boiled water. After the steeping, strain with a non-metallic method such as cheesecloth or bamboo. Herbal infusions can be made with the leaves and fruits which provide healing aspects of this comforting brew. Many of the favorite kitchen garden herbs contain minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals including the list herein. 

What do you need to attend to in your life now? This list of herbs and associations can be your guide; one of the smartest ways to approach this methodology is to brew right before bedtime and you will awaken to a freshly infused herb. Some of the most popular herbs and fruits used to create infusions are as follows:

• Caraway Seeds: aids in relationships
• Catnip Leaves: makes women even more attractive 
• Chamomile Flowers: helps with sleep, good for abundance
• Dandelion Leaves: makes wishes come true
• Echinacea: makes the body strong
• Nettle Leaves: hex breaking
• Pine Needles: increases skin health as well as financial health 
• Sage Leaves: purifies energy, antibiotic 
• St. John’s Wort: antidepressant that lifts spirits
• Thyme Leaves: a protectant for you and your property
• Yarrow Flowers: reduces fever, brings courage and good luck

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. 

Witch Craft; DIY Luck Eternal Amulets

Rarely will you see an unjeweled pagan, as they usually wear at least a single ring or pendant, and know full well that jewelry can be used as defense!

Witches know the meaning, power, and properties of each stone and metal and wield that energy for the good of others and themselves. The term amulet comes from the Latin word meaning “defense.” Indeed, amulets are a way to protect yourself that dates from the earliest human beliefs. Evil eyes might be the most global of all amulets, as they are believed to ward off a hex by simply reflecting it back to its origins. Some amulets were devoted to a specific god or goddess, offering that deity’s sheltering protection.

You can make a powerful protective amulet with only two items: a tiny muslin pouch and a tablespoonful of dried herbs. The following is a list of herbs from which to choose for the specific kind of safeguard you feel you need. Amulets are very easy to create and make nice gifts, as long as you feel your friend will truly benefit from and is aware of the special qualities and power of such. It can also be a small gift to yourself that yields big benefit. Wear your amulet as a pendant or tuck it in your pocket or purse for a “guardian to go.”

• Spanish Moss can banish poltergeists and absorb curses, hexes, and black magic.
• Dandelion provides shielding energy and also clears away the negative.
• Marigold helps you communicate with the spirit world and those who passed on.
• Burdock Root keeps travels safe and also protects you from anger and jealousy,
• Clover will guard against misfortune and invite good faeries into your life.
• Asphodel rids your home of unwanted energies and sends a ghost on its way to the afterlife.
• Betony keeps sleep disturbances at bay and forestalls nightmares for deep sleep.
• Agrimony is a defensive herb used to banish evil spirits and repels hostile magic. 
• High John the Conqueror banishes bad magic and brings good luck to you

Power Wand

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

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

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

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

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

Speak aloud:

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

Envisioning Your Prosperous Future: DIY Visionary Incense

 

You can access your prophetic capabilities with a Wednesday incense ritual using:

• 3 palmfuls ground chicory root
• 1 palmful ground cloves
• 3 palmfuls cinquefoil

*Cinquefoil is in the dandelion family. If you can't find any, use dandelion roots and stems.

Mix and burn the herbs in your fireplace or on your altar while concentrating on a question like whether to take a new job or pursue a business venture. Use this time to cleanse your mind of all concerns, worries, and thoughts, making way for pure insight. Answers will come.

Growing Riches: Reaping What You Sow

The San Francisco Bay Area is magical in spring and summer, with its profusion of poppies growing along the highway and in every available crevice. No wonder California is one of the wealthiest places in the world: Pagans revere poppies for their money magic. If you have a yard, meadow, or any strip of ground you can garden, buy poppy seeds and simply toss them all around. Two months later, you will have a wealth of wildflowers.

Harvest the dried seed pods and store some for replanting next winter. Place the rest in a tiny green to gold cloth bag.

Bless the bag with these words:

Poppy, gold like the sun, Thank you for the new luck I’ve won.

Sow the seed bag shut and carry it in your pocket, purse, or wallet.

Money Bags

Rather than chasing money or possessions, a wise witch will simply draw them to her. A tiny green pouch filled with the herb vervain, for positive change in your life, is a powerful tool for attracting all nature of good fortune.

Prepare your attraction pouch during the waxing moon (ideally in Taurus). Hold it over frankincense incense and let the smoke bless the bag as you speak aloud:

The moon is a golden coin, Cybele.

I carry your abundance with me.