The Secret to Thomas Edison’s Genius: Dream Crystals

Thomas Edison carried quartz crystals with him at all times and called the stones his dream crystals. He believed they inspired his ideas and inventions. Literary legends George Sand and William Butler Yeats also relied on crystals to help spark their considerable creativity.

Data has also been gathered to show the effectiveness of quartz in certain healing techniques, such as chakra therapy, acupressure, and light-ray therapy. However, the simplest way to promote healing with crystals is to wear a stone.

Quartz can take the form of great hexagonal stones or of crystals so small that only a microscope can see them. Quartz can appear in clusters or singly. It can also appear in every hue of the rainbow. The gorgeous and varied hues of quartz come from electrostatic energy, which now can be altered through technology. I, however, prefer the simple beauty provided by Mother Nature herself.

Quartz is the largest of the crystal families, and we can be grateful for that since it is such a powerful healer. Moreover, it is an energy regulator for the human body, affecting the vibrations of the aura, or energy field that surrounds all living beings.

Laying on of Stones

 

This healing practice is distilled from the study of chakras. Here are just a few examples of how to apply stones directly to your body or that of anyone else who needs healing. After you have gotten the knack of it, you can use the information in this book to try your own healing applications of stones and gems.

The first step for anyone undertaking crystal healing is to lie down, relax, and get very comfortable. Empty everything else from your mind.

Lapis lazuli and its fellow blue aquamarine can be laid upon the throat chakras to release any blockage therein. This greatly aids in self-expression and is wonderful for professional speakers as well as performers such as actors and singers. Turquoise laid on the face—cheeks, forehead, and chin—is a calming agent, significantly reducing tension. Azurite on the brow opens the third eye and deepens wisdom; this can balance the energy of the head and allow more light into the third eye.

Malachite, a heart stone, placed near the heart and along the center of the abdomen will create a sense of harmony and facilitate letting go of pain, suffering, and old childhood wounds.

From East to West: A Spell for Collective Healing

The ultimate alchemy is to generate positive energy that spirals outward, improving everything in its path. I know of shamans and wise women who have dedicated their lives to doing good works, including some crones who practice in the ancient rainforest to protect the trees, and aborigines who spend their “dreamtime” repairing the earth.

You can contribute to universal peace and healing by burning a white candle, anointed with rose oil, on your altar during a waning moon on Saturday, which is Saturn’s Day. Place a single white rose in water and lay a garlic clove beside some rose incense. Light the incense, then take an herb bundle, light the end, and pass the smoke over your altar to cleanse the space. Chant:

    War and grief will come to an end

    as we walk the path of peace.

    Love thy neighbor as thy self,

    all we need is love.

    With harm to none, only understanding.

Comfort in Company: A Group Ritual to Prepare for Surgery

Call your friends together before the surgery. The ritual can be at your home or any place that feels safe and secure. I highly recommend raising healing energy at the home of the person who is to undergo the surgery, as it will create an aura of restoration. Ask each person to bring something to comfort, reassure, and cure the celebrant: soup, fixings, a soothing eye pillow, sleep balm, a hand-knitted scarf for warmth, body lotion, herbal teas, books, or lavender-infused slippers are all wonderful gifts. Form a circle of care around the celebrant and light candles. Unscented soy candles are probably best for health reasons (and if a gift is scented, it is wise to check with the healing recipient whether that’s okay in advance of the gathering). As you go around the circle, ask each person to give his or her gift of caring to the celebrant and say what it represents. As examples:

    I give you this herbal tea mix so you can sip tea and draw from it

    healing and heat.

    I give you all my love and healing energy, and I know you will come

    back from the hospital healthier than ever before.

The ritual continues until everyone has had a turn to speak and healing gifts and loving energy surround the celebrant. I suggest giving the celebrant hankies beforehand. It is completely up to the celebrant to say or do whatever he or she feels during the ritual. In many cases, they may say nothing due to the intensity of this event.

Flame of Restoration: A Long-Distance Healing Spell

As a healer, you will sometimes perform spells for those who are not present. You can set up another altar to represent the recipient of your magic or where you can have candles dedicated to the ailing one.

Begin by setting up two altar candles—one in the northeast and one in the northwest. Light them, then place three red candles on the east side of the altar and one orange candle on the west. The red candles stand for health and strength, while the orange candle lights the way for optimism and encouragement.

Light the orange candle and concentrate on attracting good health and good feeling for the sick. Next, light all three red candles and think of vitality and increasing the flow of energy while you recite:

    Power of Light, Power of Love,

    the fire burns and we heal.

Blessed Balm: DIY Lotion for Emotional Healing

For a dreary day and a dark mood, use the strength of this olden unguent to release both mind and body. This desert plant produces a protective gel which works as both a sunscreen and a moisturizer. Combine the following oils with either four ounces of unscented body lotion, or two ounces of olive oil or sweet almond oil:

• 2 drops chamomile oil
• 2 drops neroli
• 15 drops aloe vera gel
• 6 drops rose oil

Shake the oils together and place in a corked pottery jar. Sit quietly in a room lit only by one blue candle after a bath and rub the balm gently into your skin. Pray aloud:

    Work thy spell to heal and nurse.

    Blessed balm, banish my pain.

    Harm to none and health to all.

Healthful Beginnings: An Altar of Healing and Protection

Creating a healing altar will safeguard your physical health and that of your loved ones. Set up your healing altar facing north.

To ensure healthful beginnings, find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your altar to make a tabula rasa, an altar equivalent to a “blank slate.” Take two green candles; place them in green glass holders or votive glasses and position them in the two farthest corners of the altar. Place your incense burner in the center between the two candles and light the incense. Sandalwood, cinnamon, camphor, and frankincense are all powerful purification incenses that are perfect for the creation of a healing altar. Burn one or all of these purification essences to consecrate the space. Adorn your altar with objects that symbolize healing energy to you. You may perhaps choose a candleholder carved from a chunk of amethyst crystal, which contains healing properties; an abalone shell with the iridescent magic of the oceans; a small citrus plant bursting with the restorative power of vitamin C; or a bowl of curative salts from the sea.

These symbolic items, and any others that you select, will energize your altar with the magic that lives inside you. It is also important that the altar be pleasing to your eye and that it makes you feel good when you look at it so you want to spend time there each and every day. After you have been performing rituals there for a while, a positive healing energy field will radiate from your altar.

Altar for Healing and Wellness

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 a 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 for 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.

Guided Meditation

Close your eyes, take a deep breath in and let it go. Breathe in again, breathing in peacefulness and breathing out tension, breathing in joy, breathing out frustration, breathing in fresh air, breathing out staleness. Begin to imagine that you are sitting in a beautiful pyramid of golden light. The light within this pyramid totally surrounds your body. Take another deep breath, then let it go. Imagine that there is a mirror image of this pyramid beneath you grounding you into the earth, creating a structure of light all around you. Breathe in the light, feel its warmth, and relax.

Now image there is a ball of light at the top of the pyramid. Begin to bring this golden ball of light down through the top of your head through your crown area. Opening the crown chakra, located in the top of your head, allow the light to filter down through your crown into the center of your head and expand it out so that all the cells in your head become one with the light, relaxed yet alert. Now take another breath and, as you exhale, relax and let all the tension of the day drift away and become more and more relaxed with each breath you take. Now image the light moving in and out of the center of your forehead, opening up this energy center to the light. As you imagine this, feel the energy coming in and out of this area in the center of your forehead, opening up this energy center to the light. As you imagine this, feel the energy coming in and out of this area in the center of your forehead, opening this energy center for new awareness and clarity. Know that as you sit in sacred space and work with this guided meditation, this process will become easier for you.

Over time, you will develop new ways of sensing, feeling, or seeing the light energy, but for now, relax and allow this golden light to move from your head down to your throat... allowing the light to massage your throat, opening up your throat to the light...readying your throat to speak your truth. When you feel each center opening, simply move to the next, breathing in and out. Imagine the light moving from the throat now down to the heart, bringing warmth and a golden glow to the heart center. Open your heart to its warmth by imagining your heart as a flower unfolding, opening to the warmth of the sun and your breath.

Stay here in the heart feeling yourself nurtured by the light. Notice the rhythm of your heartbeat...your rhythm, your vibration...and breathe. And now allow yourself to go deeper within the heat. Ask to go to your deeper heart, your soul heart, your wisdom heart...we all know this place...ask to go to this place and sit there with yourself. When you’re ready, bring the golden light from the heart center to the upper belly and open up the solar plexus chakra to the light. Sit there for a while, feeling this energy center open. When you are ready, move on. Bring the light to the lower belly, opening this energy center, and sit there for a while. Now bring the light from the lower belly to the base of your spine, your root chakra, opening this energy center to the light. Once you feel your connection at the base of your spine, imagine a cord of light running from the base of your spine into the center of the earth, grounding you in the earth. Know now that you are connected to heaven and earth and yourself for all of your knowing.

This meditation is a powerful way to connect before each healing process. It opens and connects you to yourself, the divine and the earth, providing an inner connectedness that supports inner listening.

At this point, invite in your spiritual guides or guardians, if you have not already done so before entering into the guided meditation.

Calling guides and helpers is easy. Simply say, “Guardians from the light, please come to me and assist me on my healing journey.” You may choose to know them and can say, “Show yourselves to me; let me know your presence.” Sometimes a friend or loved one who has passed away will come, sometimes an old pet will appear, sometimes you may feel a touch on your shoulder or a loving presence. Trust these moments. You can always ask, “Who is with me from the light?” If you feel a strange presence that makes you uncomfortable, ask who it is or simply ask the energy to go to the light and leave your space now. If you are unaware of guides or elders that work with you, there are some exercises later to introduce you to your helpers. Your higher self and other higher beings, such as angels, must be called. They are always present, but to actively work with you they must be invited. I call them like this: “Angels, Archangels, please come and be with me now. I would like your presence with me for this healing. Higher Self, please work with me now.” I also call all my guides and animal allies whenever I create my sacred space. 

Feather Messages: Symbols on the Wind

As you jog through the park or walk to work you might find a feather in your path. It could be a message. You might glean hidden meanings, for example, in the glistening iridescence of a raven’s feather. Native peoples believed feathers to be gifts of healing or “feather medicine” from the Great Spirit. The wind is a form of the change-bringing element of air.

Another type of daily exercise in mindfulness is to actively look for feathers. There is much magic that can lie within something as small and light as this.

Crow Feathers: These indicate loss and mourning. Try not to be frightened but look at them as indicators of the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. You may lose someone you know, but you will also most likely greet a new friend or baby to complete the circle.

Hummingbird Feathers: These bring joy, beauty, and bliss. Take time out to have a good time and to share time with the people you love in your life. Follow your bliss!

Swan Feathers: These are the sign of grace. As swans mate for life, a swan feather can also mean a soul mate or good relationship is on the horizon.

Duck and Crane Feathers: These serve as prayer feathers for Native American people. They come from waterfowl, which are perceived as sacred birds. Finding a duck feather may mean you need to seek advice from a Native American teacher or experience healing from a medicine wheel.

Yellowhammer Feathers: These are the symbol for hearth and home. Seeing a yellowhammer feather in your path means you will have a happy new home. Most importantly, you will feel secure and loved within your family.

Roadrunner Feathers: These are a sign of the trickster. Beware! Finding one in your path either means you have the potential to be a magician, or you need to watch out that you aren’t tricked, It is a symbol of duality.

Blue Jay Feathers: These are the bringers of light into darkness.

Robin Feathers: These are the sign of renewal and new personal growth, and are a good sign. Spring is coming both outside and inside you. It always means news is coming.

Magpie Feathers: These are just pain good medicine for any kind of illness. Magpies bring purification. If you find a magpie feather in your path, a friend who is sick will get better.

Scissortail Feathers: These represent the four directions. If you come across a scissortail flycatcher in your walk, you need to do a ritual invoking the four directions. It is a sign you are in need of grounding and should reconnect your spirit.

I suggest you keep a written record of your feather findings— where and when you find them. Secure a blank journal and a feather quill pen for your records. Meditate upon the meaning and the message the feather is bringing to you. Journal your thoughts and feelings. Years later, it will be fascinating to look back at the proof of divine providence in your life. 

Color Guide

Color: Red
Chakra: N/A
Soul: Passionate and intense
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Security and survival; matters of the body; strong physical connection
Crystal Connection: N/A

Color: Rose Red
Chakra: Root
Soul: Loving
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Motherhood, home, grounding, money
Crystal Connection: Red gems and crystals aid in matters of the body. Jasper, amber, and agate in shades of red can help shy people feel stronger.

Color: Clear Red
Chakra: N/A
Soul: Angry
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Related to sense of smell
Crystal Connection: N/A

Color: Red Orange
Chakra: N/A
Soul: Passionate
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Sexual Passion
Crystal Connection: N/A

Color: Red Coral
Chakra: N/A
Soul: Vitality
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Skeleton and bones
Crystal Connection: N/A

Color: Pink
Chakra: N/A
Soul: Nurturer
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Boosts self- esteem
Crystal Connection: N/A

Color: Orange
Chakra: Sacral
Soul: Ambitious
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Hunger and sex; lucidity and orderliness; potency and immunity; stimulation and motivation
Crystal Connection: Orange stones can help home and build focused energy.

Color: Yellow
Chakra: Solar Plexus
Soul: Intellectual
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Personal power, freedom, control; fire; the eyes; mental activity
Crystal Connection: Yellow stones such as citrine carry healing energy and can help with nightmares and indigestion.

Color: Green
Chakra: Heart
Soul: Caring nurturer and healer
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Relationships; the heart and lungs; the element of air; sense of touch; will to live; balance of overall health
Crystal Connection: Green stones such as emeralds can represent healing and salvation, as well as closely guarded secrets; green is also the color associated with wood in Chinese astrology.

Color: Blue
Chakra: Throat
Soul: Teacher
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Communication, listening; intuition; the ears; creativity and mind control
Crystal Connection: Blue stones help maintain calm and protect the aura.

Color: Indigo
Chakra: Third Eye/Intuition
Soul: Spiritual Growth
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Opens third eye; promotes clear-headedness
Crystal Connection: Indigo stones can aid in psychic work

Color: Violet
Chakra: Crown/Entire Universe
Soul: Deep connection to the spirit
Healing Characteristics and Associations: Helps rid deep pain; works on deep tissue, hypersensitivity; promotes stability and contentment; secrecy
Crystal Connection: Amethysts are good for sensitivity issues. They keep energy from draining. Purplish agates guard stability and contentment. 

Earth Day Ritual: The Sacred Grove

In much the same way that animals, stones, and stars were totemic to early peoples, so were trees. Greco-Roman spirituality had sacred groves, as did the Aborigines in Australia, Hindus in India, Germanic tribes, and the Celts of Europe. To the Celtic Druids, the oak was the major sacred totem tree.

Pliny the Elder pointed out that groves of trees were the first temples.

A wonderful way to celebrate our planet and engender the ideals of preservation and ecological sanctity of our precious resources is to return to the sacred grove. Essential elements necessary for the ritual are colored ribbons and colored markers.

Gather your friends on Earth Day, April 22, and go to a mutually agreed upon park, farm, or forest. Find the largest oak or largest tree with low-hanging branches and circle around it, holding hands while chanting:

We are the wisdom of the stars.
The beauty of this green Gaia.
To the planet that gives us life, we return the gift.
We are one
We are the stars and the stones and the sea.
We are one.

By casting the circle with voice and action, you create a boundary within which magic can take place. One by one, each member of the circle should speak a wish for universal healing, write the wish on a ribbon, and tie the ribbon on the tree. Each flutter of the breeze will speak of your hope and good wishes for our planet. If you are lucky enough to be on the property of a member of your circle, ask if you can leave the ribbons there as the mark of the sacred grove. 

A Gathering of Angels: A Ritual of Preparation for Surgery

Call your friends together before the surgery. It can be at your home or any place that feels safe and secure. I highly recommend healing energy at the home of the person who is to undergo the surgery, as it will create an aura of restoration. Ask each person to bring something to comfort, reassure, and cure the celebrant: soup, fixings, a soothing eye pillow, sleep balm, a hand-knitted scarf for warmth, body lotion, herbal teas, books, or lavender-infused slippers are all wonderful gifts.

Form a circle of care around the celebrant and light candles. Unscented soy candles are probably best for health reasons. As you go around the circle, ask each person to give his or her gift of caring to the celebrant and say what it represents. 

I give you this herbal tea mix so you can sip tea and draw from it healing and heat.
I give you all my love and healing energy and I know you will come back from the hospital healthier than ever before.

The ritual continues until everyone has had a turn to speak and healing gifts and loving energy surround the celebrant. I suggest giving the celebrant hankies beforehand, as I know

I could not stop my tears of joy. It is completely up to the celebrant to say or do whatever he or she feels during the ritual. In many cases, they may say nothing due to the intensity of this event.

Divorce Ritual: Graceful Goodbyes

Performing a ritual to acknowledge the end of a relationship is an important part of the healing process. Whether it is a breakup of a love affair or the dissolution of the legal bonds of marriage, approaching this change with ritual will help and heal. I have also known those who performed this same rite with the ending of a friendship. This ceremony is intended to resolve issues, tie up loose ends, and move on. It is very important psychologically, psychically, and emotionally to recognize that a divorce is a very big deal. This ritual is best done privately, although you may want the support of a carefully chosen friend. I have outlined some carefully considered questions for you to ask yourself when trying to figure out if a divorce ritual is what you want to do. As with all rituals, I strongly suggest that this one be given a lot of thought. With this divorce ritual, I recommend going to an even deeper level of introspection, as you will be bidding farewell to an important part of your life that, doubtless, brought you as much joy as it did sorrow. Many emotions are going to rise up and you can, gently and with love, put these feelings to rest and assign them a place in your life: the past.

Questions for Yourself

Thinking about and writing down concerns, worries, and questions you may have about your divorce and new solo life will help you begin this new passage of life.

• Do I want to have any ties in the future to my former spouse? Or do I wish to cut off all ties completely?
• If any kind of relationship continues with the individual whom I wish to divorce (and if there are issues involving the custody of children, these issues will remain), what are the safe and peaceful ways to remain connected?
• What are the aspects of the relationship I wish to be divorced from (i.e. fighting about money, unfaithfulness, dishonesty, and stress)?
• What are the positive memories I want to keep? r What fears do I have?

Today, divorce seems to be no more important than signing a piece of paper and sending it off in the mail. I have many friends who have said, “Is this all there is?” This ritual is an answer to that question.

Go to a place in nature where you went together—a lakeshore, a special beach, a path in the woods, or a park. Take a photocopy of your divorce papers and a copy of a photo of you both, and place them together in an envelope. Write on the envelope:

On this date ____________, I divorce myself of [write the aspect you are divorcing, not the name of the person].

Say aloud:

Now I am free to pursue my happiness, a new love, and new people in my life. Good memories I will treasure and independence is my pleasure. I say goodbye to this part of my life and release all pain and sorrow.
I welcome the new and the good into my life I am clear.
I am free.
I am me.

Take the envelope and bury it where it will decompose undisturbed—no need to burn or throw it in the water. Allow it to return to the elements, as is Nature’s way. There is no doubt that you will feel sad and by all means, allow yourself to cry and mourn. Each tear releases toxins from your system. As you return to your home, you will feel lighter. Your conscience is clear and your future is bright!

Everyday Sacred: A Ritual Guide to the Days of the Week

Each day of the week has specific correspondences and meanings. Here is an at-a-glance guide to the days of the week, gleaned from the mythologies of centuries put to practice for different types of ritual. I do a money-enhancing ritual every Thursday, or “Thor’s Day,” which is the day for prosperity. Perhaps you want new love in your life; if so, try a “Freya’s Day” ritual on a Friday night.

Sunday is the day for healing and vitality, as well as creativity and new hope. It is a day of confidence and success. This is the day ruled by the Sun, so it corresponds to fire and the sun sign, Leo. The colors for this day are gold, orange, and yellow, and the sacred stones for this day are also in those colors, amber, citrine, carnelian, and topaz. Sunday’s herbs and incense are cloves, cedar, chamomile, frankincense, amber, sunflower, and heliotrope.

Monday or “Moon Day,” is a dreamy day for intuition, beauty, women’s rituals, and your home. Monday is associated with the element of water and the sign of Cancer. The clouds are shiny silvers, pearl, pale rose, white, and lavender, which are reflective like the moon. The gems and stones are similarly shaded moonstone, pearl, quartz crystal, fluorite, and aquamarine. The herbs and incense are night blooming jasmine, myrtle, moonwort, vervain, white rose, poppy, and camphor.

Tuesday is the day for action, as mighty Mars rules it. Now you can seek your passion, surge toward your goals, find your destiny, and be strong and courageous. “Mars’s Day” is the time for high energy in your career, for physical activity and sports, for aggression in meetings and negotiations, and for strong sexuality. Both fire and water come into play and the astrological assignations are Aries and Scorpio. Red is the day’s color, and the corresponding gems and crystals are ruby, garnet, carnelian, bloodstone, and pink tourmaline. Incense and herbs for Mars’s Day are red roses, pine, carnation, nettle, patchouli, pepper, and garlic.

Wednesday, or “Odin’s Day,” is when the planets of communication, Mercury and Chiron, rule. This is the optimum time for writing, public speaking, intellectual pursuits, memory, and all other forms of communication. It is also a day to recognize your karmic duties through astrology and your Chiron sign, an important asteroid placement in your chart. Through introspection, try to find your “sacred wound” and heal it so it does not hold you back in life, trapping you in old patterns and relationships. The element for Wednesday is earth and the sun sign is Virgo. Colors for this mercurial day are light blue, gray, green, orange, and yellow. The crystals are sodalite, moss agate, opal, and aventurine. The herbs and incense are cinnamon, periwinkle, dill, sweet pea, cinquefoil, and ferns.

Thursday is the day for business, politics, legalities, bargaining, good fortune, and material and fiscal wealth. In other words, it is money day! The elements that come into play are water and fire, and Jupiter, the planet of abundance is the ruler. Pisces and Sagittarius share this planet as ruler. The colors are blue, purple, and turquoise. As you might suspect, the crystals are turquoise, sapphire, amethyst, and lapis lazuli, so favored by the Egyptians. The herbs and incense for the day are saffron, cedar, nutmeg, pine, oak, and cinnamon.

Friday is doubtless everybody’s favorite day of the week, as it is ruled by Freya, the Nordic Venus, goddess of love. Friday is all about beauty, love, sex, fertility, friendships, and partnerships, the arts, harmony, and music, and bringing the new into your life—new energy, new people, new projects. Haven’t you met a lot of people on a Friday night out? Air and earth are the elements and the signs of Libra and Taurus are the astrological signs. Pale green and deep green, robin’s-egg blue, pink, and violet are the colors, and the crystals are emerald, pink tourmaline, rose quartz, as well as jade, malachite, and peridot. The herbs are incense for Fridays are apple, lily, birch, pink rose, verbena, ivy, rose, and sage.

Saturday is ruled by Saturn and connects the elements of air, fire, water, and earth. It is a time for protection, discipline, duty, binding, family, manifestation, and completion. The sun signs are Capricorn and Aquarius, with their colors of black, brown, and deepest blue, Saturday’s crystals are amethyst, smoky quartz, jet, black onyx, obsidian, and darkest garnet. The incense, plants, and herbs for this day are ivy, oak, rue, moss, myrrh, deadly nightshade, mandrake, hemlock, and wolfsbane. (Many Saturn herbs are poisonous; please exercise caution when using them.) How do we use these magical correspondences in ritual? You can create your own ritual simply by choosing candle colors, crystals, and incense from the list that matches your intent and go from there. I have included some sample rituals that draw from these magical correspondences. 

Altar Herbs

Refer to this list whenever you are setting up your altar and setting your intention for ritual work. It is a concise guide to the enchanted realm of herbs, essences, plants and plant properties.

• 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 a protection herb and 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, chastity, and 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 fertility. It also supports personal wealth and security.
• 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 dispenses 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.

Herbal Wreaths Make a Home

Oftentimes, your kitchen is the heart of the home. Something about cooking and sharing food brings people together. An herbal wreath hanging on the kitchen door can be a source of love and luck. You’ll need the following for your creation:

This is truly one of the simplest craft projects you can ever make; simply use the wreath frame as a base, and use string or the florist’s wire to anchor the fresh herbs into place. Finish it off with a colorful ribbon or other magical decorative touches you may want to add.

Curative Wreath: These are the ideal herbs for a wreath that brings curative healing properties: lavender, barley, comfrey, rosemary, peppermint, borage, olive, eucalyptus, and apple blossom. Brown and green ribbon add a touch of healing color.

Security Wreath: Hang a guardian wreath on your front door made with heather, holly, dill, foxglove, garlic, sandalwood, snapdragon, mustard, foxglove, mistletoe, and mugwort. White and blue ribbons add security and serenity.

Prosperity Wreath: Greet prosperity at the door with herbs associated with money magic including clover, chamomile, sunflower, apple, cinnamon, myrtle, basil, and bay leaf. Weave in gold and green ribbons to add to your luck.

Heart Wreath: Don’t wait until Valentine’s Day to try this; love should be twenty-four-seven, 365. Invite love into your home than by hanging a wreath full of love herbs on your door. Any combination of these will work beautifully, and I recommend using herbs that personally resonate for you among these options: allspice, clove, catnip, fig, bleeding heart, periwinkle, tulip, peppermint, violet, daffodil, lavender, and marjoram to light up your love light. Adorn with pink and red ribbons to let the universe know you’re ready to welcome love into your life.

Color Guide

Color: Red

Soul: Passionate and intense

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Security and survival; matters of the body; strong physical connection

Color: Rose Red

Chakra: Root

Soul: Loving

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Motherhood, home, grounding, money

Crystal Connection: Red gems and crystals aid in matters of the body. Jasper, amber, and agate in shades of red can help shy people feel stronger.

Color: Clear Red

Soul: Angry

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Related to sense of smell

 

Color: Red Orange

Soul: Passionate

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Sexual Passion

 

Color: Red Coral

Soul: Vitality

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Skeleton and bones

 

Color: Pink

Soul: Nurturer

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Boosts self-esteem

Color: Orange

Chakra: Sacral

Soul: Ambitious

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Hunger and sex; lucidity and orderliness; potency and immunity; stimulation and motivation

Crystal Connection: Orange stones can help you focus and build energy.

 

Color: Yellow

Chakra: Solar Plexus

Soul: Intellectual

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Personal power, freedom, control; fire; the eyes; mental activity

Crystal Connection: Yellow stones such as citrine carry healing energy and can help with nightmares and indigestion.

Color: Green

Chakra: Heart

Soul: Caring nurturer and healer

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Relationships; the heart and lungs; the element of air; sense of touch; will to live; balance of overall health

Crystal Connection: Green stones such as emeralds can represent healing and salvation, as well as closely guarded secrets; green is also the color associated with the Eastern element of wood in Chinese astrology.

 

Color: Blue

Chakra: Throat

Soul: Teacher

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Communication, listening; intuition; the ears; creativity and mind control

Crystal Connection: Blue stones help maintain calm and protect the aura.

Color: Indigo

Chakra: Third Eye/Intuition

Soul: Spiritual Growth

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Opens third eye; promotes clear-headedness

Crystal Connection: Indigo stones can aid in psychic work.

Color: Violet

Chakra: Crown/Entire Universe

Soul: Deep connection to the spirit

Healing Characteristics and Associations: Helps clear deep pain; works on deep tissue, hypersensitivity; promotes stability and contentment; secrecy

Crystal Connection: Amethysts are good for sensitivity issues. They keep one’s energy from draining away. Purplish agates guard stability and contentment.

A Gathering of Angels: A Ritual of Preparation for Surgery

Call your friends together before the surgery date. It can be at your home or any place that feels safe and secure. I highly recommend raising some healing energy at the home of the person who is to undergo the surgery, as it will create an aura of restoration. Ask each person to bring something to comfort, reassure, and cure the celebrant: soup, fixings, a soothing eye pillow, sleep balm, a hand-knitted scarf for warmth, body lotion, herbal teas, books, or lavender-infused slippers are all wonderful gifts.

Form a circle of care around the celebrant and light candles. Unscented soy candles are probably best for health reasons. As you go around the circle, ask each person to give his or her gift of caring to the celebrant and say what it represents.

I give you this herbal tea mix so you can sip tea and draw from it healing and heat.

I give you all my love and healing energy and I know you will come back from the hospital healthier than ever before.

The ritual continues until everyone has had a turn to speak and healing gifts and loving energy surround the celebrant. I suggest giving the celebrant hankies beforehand, as I know I myself could not stop my tears of joy. It is completely up to the celebrant to say or do whatever she or he feels during the ritual. In many cases, they may say nothing due to the intensity of this event.