Making Relationships Sacred: Loved-one Shrine

This sacred space is dedicated to the special people in your life: friends, family, and your partner. Your shrine can be a low table or even a shelf and provides a place to put gifts you have received from your loved ones, which might include crystals, jewelry, art, and lovely objects along with all their photos in frames. Every time I see my own special Loved-one Shrine, I smile. It fills my heart with love. 

Gather together

    * sage for smudging

    * a pink cloth or scarf

    * 2 pink candles and 2 white candles

    * a small rose quartz and fluorite crystals

    * a vase of fresh cut flowers of your choice (daisies, for example)

To set up your shrine, purify the space by lighting the sage bundle and letting the smoke waft around the area. This is called “smudging” and is an essential part of witchcraft. You can use wild sage or purchase it in any herb store. Once you have smudged the space, cover your sacred space with the scarf or cloth, and place the candles in each of the four corners. (Pink is the color of affection and white represents purity.) Place the crystals around the vase of fresh flowers—whichever ones connote fun and friendship to you. Then add gifts or other trinkets that remind you of your loved one.

Light the candles, kneel before your newly created shine and say:

    I light the fire of loyalty

    The heat of heart and the flame of love and friendship.

    Brightest blessing, Great Goddess bring,

    The spirit of friendship will surely sing.

    As the fates do dance, I welcome the chance

    To share my love and my life.

    So mote it be.

Baby Naming Ceremony

Often, there is a name given at birth based on an ancestor or family member. Later, when a child has come of age, another name is given to acknowledge maturation. This tradition needs to be revived, and I believe it is a wonderful rite of passage to institute in the lives of young people today who are so desperately in need of community support and inclusion. Of all the wonderful customs of the world, my favorite baby naming custom comes from joining the names of the parents. For example, if the father’s name is Robert and the mother is named Carolyn, you could name the baby Roblyn. Christina and Toby’s child could be Christoby, or if you needed a more conventional version, Cristobel. Anna and Justin’s child could be named Justina. The possibilities are endless, as you can see. They don’t always work well, however, so Filipino families sometimes end up using the names of grandparents, godparents, and the revered “aunties,” women who are not actually related but are very special friends of the family. Sometimes they choose to overlook the custom entirely and opt for outside names, but naming is alive and well in this modern age.

Here is a ceremony for a baby naming as performed by the wonderful Viray family, a joyous and generous “tribe” of Filipinos that stretches from Indiana to California to many of the Philippine Islands. 

New-Moon Lover’s Spell

On the next new-moon night, take the two pieces of rose quartz and place them on the floor in the center of your bedroom. Light two red candles and use this affirming chant:

“Beautiful crystal I hold this night,
Flame with love for my delight.
Goddess of Love, I ask of you,
Guide me in the path that is true.
Harm to none as love comes to me—
This I ask and so shall it be!”

Love Your Mother: Spells to Heal Nature

Unlike our forebears, modern witches have to help heal Mother Earth. We are charged with crafting spells to restore and nurture the planet, which in turn nurtures us. In spring, on the Vernal Equinox, March 21, sprinkle clover leaves, ground mistletoe, and cinnamon on the ground while walking widdershins, or counterclockwise. Face north with right arm raised, and say aloud:

I call upon the great powers in the north 
Bless and protect this land,
Bless and protect our beloved Mother Earth! 
Harm to None. So mote it be.