Money Blessings Bath

Before you go to your job interview, slip into a magic money bath! This spell is most effective if practiced on a new or full moon Thursday night. Pour green apple or mint essential oil into running bath water and bathe by the light of a single green candle. As you close your eyes, meditate on your true desires. What does personal prosperity mean to you? What do you really need and what do you really want? When you are clear about your answers, focus on the candle flame while whispering:

Here and now,

My intention is set.

New luck will be mine.

All needs will be met.

With harm to none and plenty for all. 

Blessed be.

Prosperity Pouches: DIY Charm Bags

A charm bag is a little bag or pouch filled with objects charged with magic for a specific intent. You can charge the objects with magic by placing them on your altar for 24 hours or, for a 5-minute fix, use spellwork, as suggested here.

Gather together

    * 12 inches (30cm) green cord or string

    * 1 green candle

    * thyme or cinnamon incense

    * a small muslin or cloth bag/pouch (that could fit in the palm of your hand)

    * bolline

    * 1 cinnamon stick

    * 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

    * 3 pebble-size crystals of green jade, peridot, or turquoise

Set the cord or string aside and place all the other items on your altar. Stand at your altar and light the candle and incense. Pick up the pouch and smudge it in the sweet smoke of the incense while saying the following spell:

    My life is blessed and this I know.

    Into this bag, prosperity will flow.

    I see the future is bright wherever I go,

    My life is blessed; this much I know.

    With harm to none; so mote it be.

Using your bolline, cut the cinnamon stick into 3 pieces. Cut the green cord or string into 3 pieces. Place the basil, crystals, and cinnamon into the pouch. Now take the pieces of green cord and, one at a time, tie the end of the bag securely. Keep it with you in your pocket and into your life, money will flow.

The Flame of Friendship

You can further charge the candles on your Loved-one Shrine by scratching your desire into the wax. I use the thorn of a rose for this and write the words of my intention. Many witches use symbols: a moon, the sun, a flower, a heart, a dollar sign, or a number, for example. You can also inscribe a name.

Take a large solar-hued yellow pillar candle anointed with lemon or bergamot essential oil and charge it with positivity toward your loved ones. Scratch your own name into it and write “I love ____” with the name of your friend or family member.

Light the candle and say four times:

I love me. I love ______.

For a daily dose of one-minute magic, light the candle every night and repeat this love charge before bed and every morning when you arise. Your heart will lift and soar, which then emanates outward toward this special person in your life.

Cords of Connection

 

Cord magic is one of the oldest kids of enchantments and employs a simply and powerful charm in that it can be used for any purpose in accordance with your intention. After you have set your intention, you tie a knot at each end and the cord is like a battery that holds the power of your intention as long as the knots at both end remind intact. Your magic cord is a rope that binds magic to you and is ideally made from strands of red wool or ribbon. It should be nine feet long and cut with your bolline, 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 that you use clear quartz crystal beads, which are energy amplifiers, but you can use special stones for various effects: rose quartz for self-love, citrine for grounding, jade for stability , blue lapis for inspiration, malachite for protection, moonstone for quiet calm, and amethyst for intuition and psychic ability.

I have an adorned cord in my bedroom on my self-care shrine that helped relieve a bout of insomnia some months ago. As I added rose quarts and amethyst beads to the red cord, I held the intention of deep rest, positive dreams, and harmony in my life. Upon knotting both ends, I have enjoyed exactly that and so can you.

Create Stained-Glass Decorated Candles

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

Pagan New Year: A Solo Ritual for Samhain

Samhain, also known as the Celtic New Year, is the most profound, important, and best known of all pagan sabbats. Samhain is perhaps the favorite Celtic high holiday of all. After all, it is the witches’ New Year celebration and the time to honor and commune with your elders and family members who have passed on to the other side, as well as the time to celebrate the passing year and set intentions for new blessings in the new year to come.

Supplies:

• Altar space
• 8 candles
• Powdered incense
• Bread
• Salt
• Wine

1. Prepare for this most holy night and rite by setting up an altar. Place three candles on a stone altar to represent the Triple Goddess and five to represent the points of the pentagram. The star of the pentagram should be drawn with powdered incense of the self- lighting variety to be lit later. Gather together bread, salt, and wine for the sacrament.

2. After you have made your preparations for the altar, ready yourself by bathing and meditating. Anoint your body before dressing in a robe or gown befitting this night when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. As you ready your body, mind, and spirit, consider what has taken place in the preceding year. Cleanse your mind and heart of old sorrows and most especially of angers and petty resentments. Bring only your best into this night. After all, this is New Year’s Eve for witches, and you want to truly connect with those who have gone on to the other side.

3. Walk alone to the place of the ceremony and kneel before the altar. Before lighting the candles on the altar, say aloud:

    This candle I light for the Maiden’s brightest glory.

Light the candle and bow to the Maiden.

    This candle I light for the power and passion of the Lady, the Queen.

Light the candle and bow to the Queen.

    This candle I light for the unsurpassable wisdom of the Crone.

Light the candle and bow to the Crone.

4. Light the incense, and then gazing at the candles on the altar, say:

    These do I light in honor of the Triple Goddess

    on this sacred night of Samhain.

    I create this holy temple

    in honor of the Goddess and the God

    and all the ancient ones.

    From time before time,

    I pay my tribute and my devotion

    In love and greeting to those beyond the veil.

5. Now light the candles that represent the power of the five-pointed pentagram. Rap three times on the altar with your hands or with your wand. Then say:

    This is a time outside of time

    in a place outside of any place

    on a day that is not a day

    between the worlds and afar.

6. Pause and listen to your heart for thirteen beats, then hold your hands in benediction over the bread, salt, and wine. Now say:

    For this bread, salt, and wine,

    I do ask the blessings

    of our Maiden, our Queen, and our Crone

    and of the God who guards the Gates of the World.

7. Take the bread and sprinkle a bit of salt over it, saying:

    I ask that I and all whom I love

    have health and abundance and blessings.

Eat the bread, and hold up the goblet of wine, saying:

    To a spirit that remains strong and true!

Drink the wine and declare:

    By the Triple Goddess and her godly consort, so mote it be!

8. At this point, a danse macabre to any dark folk or Gothic music of your choosing can end the ritual—I suggest any music by the band Dead Can Dance. You should also spend time meditating or allowing yourself to ease into a trance state to communicate with your beloved dead. Hear the messages they have for you and let them know you.

9. When you feel the ritual has ended, quench the candles, and then say:

    Though these flames

    of the material world

    be darkened,

    they shall ever burn

    in the world beyond.

    This rite is ended.

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, and 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, and 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, protective 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.

Magical Intentions

 

The following words correspond to various planets and elements. See below to learn more.

Banishing: Saturn, fire

Beauty: Venus, water

Courage: Mars, fire

Divination: Mercury, air

Employment: Sun, Jupiter

Energy: Sun, Mars, fire

Exorcism: Sun, fire

Fertility: Moon, planet Earth

Friendship: Venus, water

Happiness: Venus, Moon, water

Healing and Health: Moon, Mars (to burn away disease), fire (the same), water

Home: Saturn, Earth, water

Joy and Happiness: Venus, water 

Love: Venus, water

Money and Wealth: Jupiter, Earth 

Peace: Moon, Venus

Power: Sun, Mars, fire

Protection: Sun, Mars, fire

Psychism: Moon, water

Sex: Mars, Venus, fire

Sleep: Moon, water

Spirituality: Sun, Moon

Success: Sun, fire

Travel: Mercury

Wisdom and Intelligence: Mercury, air

Energy Work: Managing Energy and Creating Sacred Space

Liz Ashling is a shamanic leader in Larkspur, California, who has worked with hundreds of people in her practice to help them live in balance and “awaken oneness.” She has inspired the following meditation. This uniquely holistic approach to energy management provides the opportunity for deep inner work, since within sacred space you experience meaningful exploration to transform your life.

I suggest that you create a special space for yourself, a safe space for healing, such as an altar or healing sanctuary. You want to focus on what you wish to heal. You may wish to write out an intention list with your desires. While you hold your healing intention in your mind, begin to notice what would support your intention. It may be a picture of a healed person, a symbol, or a picture of a spiritual master such as St. Francis, the Blessed Mother, Kuan Yin, or the Buddha. Choose whomever you feel most connected with. Honor Mother Earth by placing a bowl of water on the altar as well as a white candle to banish bad energy. Use something to represent the element of fire and something to represent the earth: fresh flowers, crystals, and pictures of a sculpture of your animal allies and totems. If you have a permanent sacred place with an altar, simply add items with healing powers that match your healing intentions. The ritual of creating an altar provides support to your process.

Here is where you can apply your personal design and creativity. Tap into your intuition and let it be your guide in this sacred shrine. Altars may include a variety of items, such as minerals like rose quartz, amethyst, quartz crystal, turquoise, or any other minerals that promote healing and add supportive energy during your process. Some people use sage, evergreen, or cedar to prepare themselves and their space, asking to clear away earthly demands and confusion as they smudge. The result is the enhancement of listening to yourself, which leads to a deeper inner wisdom. Some people choose to use holy water or wear a gold cross as they do their healing process, while other place a glass bowl of blessed salt water on their altar to keep the space clear. Any of these can help to create sacred space and prepare you for your process. You may wish to play classical or soothing music in the background while you process. I prefer silence of my drum and rattles.

You should do the following exercises in silence, without interruption, and in a safe place. Once you have created your space, sit quietly without being disturbed for an hour or so. Turn off your phone and get comfortable. I suggest that you sit rather than lie down because you will be less likely to fall asleep. Now close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to quiet yourself. Note: I suggest that you read these exercises into a tape player, so you can simple close your eyes and listen to the process. 

Painting with Sand

With your intention set clearly in your mind and being, pour sand into a funnel (or a small bag with a tiny hole in the bottom) and let it fall gently upon the design you have drawn, one color at a time, allowing the divine to guide you. If you are creating a specific image, you can copy its color and design; otherwise, allow creation and inspiration to flow through you. Creating the design slowly and carefully is key, but in case of accident a damp sponge applied with care will remove any random sand. It is important to remember that there are no “mistakes” in this art; you are in the safety of the sacred space you create with the help of the celestial.

When you have finished your sand mandala, you will see it and feel it and know it in your heart. However, physical completion of the sand mandala is not the end.

Dismantling Your Mandala

While dismantling the sand mandala is counterintuitive to the Western mind, it is actually the next step in the ritual. When you are ready, take some time to look at your mandala and contemplate the image you have created. Look deeply and quietly and “receive” any insights or messages during meditation.

Offer thanks to the divine beings who helped you in this ritual and who help you in your daily life. Now take a small brush and move the sand to the center of the mandala.

Scattering the Sand

When I learned the art of creating a sand mandala, the monks who taught me carried their sand to the Pacific Ocean. It is in accordance with the Tibetan tradition that the scattering take place at the nearest body of water, accompanied by chanting and song. If you have no water nearby, but there is a garden or park near your home, you might feel like performing the scattering aspect of the ritual there to keep the blessing energy nearby.

Close the ritual by dedicating the blessing energy of the mandala to the greater good of the universe.

Setting Your Intention

A well-defined and focused intention is the key to success in a life-enhancing ritual. Good results depend upon clarity. If your intention is not crystal clear, you are likely to fail. You must approach your ritual with a definite concentration. If a nagging worry is hovering in the back of your mind, you are not properly focused. You may even want to perfect an image of your intention and desire with creative visualization.

Part of your preparation should also include using ritual correspondences—the phase of the moon, the day of the week, the color of the candles you use, and much more. These things add to the depth and meaning of your ritual. Do you need to clear the energy and refresh your altar with some housecleaning and smudge? Do so and continue to focus on your intention as you create the foundation for a successful ceremony.

While you are clearing energy in your space, you must also clear out the clutter in your mind. If you are in a state of inner chaos, the outcome will simply not measure up to your expectations. Perhaps it will help you relax if you play CDs of instrumental music or sacred chants. Conscious breathing or stretching will also help you make yourself ready for ritual.

Constructing your inner temple is a marvelous process that can aid in your journey deep inside yourself. Sit or lie down in a position that is comfortable enough to relax you, but not so comfortable as to allow you to drift off to sleep. As you breathe slowly and rhythmically, imagine a peaceful, beautiful place specific to your desires. It could be a white marble temple in a lovely sculpture garden under a still blue sky. It could be a mirror pool by a sacred grove. It must be pleasing to you, a place you can visit frequently in visualization. It can be any size or shape but should have certain aspects:

• The Center: Your inner temple should have a single center from which you can access all areas of the temple. This center is a representation of your personal power center.
• Reflective Surface: Here is where you can take a look at yourself spiritually. The reflective surface can be a scrying mirror, a crystal ball, or even a pool of water. You can also use it to look at the past, present, and future.
• Water: Your inner temple can have any number of water sources, such as a waterfall, a well, a stream, or an ocean. Water represents our deepest levels of consciousness. Commune with your deepest self here. 
• Earth: Here is where you ground yourself, and create manifestation. Take stock of your deepest desires and goals here in a garden, forest, meadow, or wherever your imagination guides you. 

Ideally, your inner temple has four doorways or gates, one each for the four directions and elements. Once you have created your ideal inner temple, you can now use it to perform ritual, as you have created permanent sacred space inside and outside this temple through visualization. 

Thursday’s Prosperity Incantation

This ritual is excellent for getting a new or better-paying job. You will get the best results on a new moon or full moon Thursday night, but any “Thor’s day” will do.

To prepare yourself, take a money bath by pouring a few drops of green apple or lemon verbena essential oil into hot running water, and bathe by the light of a single green candle. As you close your eyes, meditate on your true desires. What does personal prosperity mean to you? What do you really need, and what do you really want?

When you are clear about your answers, focus on the candle flame while whispering: 

Here and now, my intention is set.
New luck will be mine and all needs will be met.
With harm to none and plenty for all.
Blessed be.

After your sacred bath, perform this tried and true prosperity ritual that can help get a job and bring fiscal abundance your way.

Light a gold candle, although red will also do.

Repeat this incantation eight times while envisioning yourself with perfect abundance or at the perfect job: 

I see the perfect place for me;
I see the place of plenty.
Upon my heart’s desire I am set.
Prosperity will come to me now.

The Eternal Flame

When the first narrow crescent of the waxing moon appears in the twilight sky, place a green candle beside a white lily, freesia, or a spicy smelling stalk of stock (a plant in the mustard family). Make sure the flower you choose has a scent that you really love, as the floral essence is key to stirring your emotions, dramas, and visions. White flowers have the most intense aromas. For me, the best flower is a white gardenia floating in a clear bowl of water.

Anoint the candle with tuberose or rose oil. Take a handful of seeds such as sunflower, walnuts, or pistachios, still in their shells, and place them in front of the candle. Close your eyes and recite this aloud:

Under this newest of moons,
In Eden fair, I walk through flowers
In the garden of my desires,
I light the flame of my mind,
I plant the seeds of things to come.

Now speak out what you want in the coming time. By speaking your desires and intentions aloud, you are planting seeds for your future.

When the candle has burned down, take the little bit of leftover wax, the nuts and seeds, and your flower of the new moon and bury them in your yard or in the soil around your houseplants. Wonderful new energy and new ideas will begin to bloom immediately in your life. As the moon grows, you should continue to build upon what you began with the new moon. Projects and rituals you initiated will continue and you will begin to see changes. This is an active, creative time. You should use it to the fullest in your personal rites and ceremonies. 

Inspiration Altar: Unleash Your Creative Powers

Your personal altar is the ideal environment to incubate your ideas and can be a touchstone for daily conjuring and contemplation. By preparing your home and sparking your inner flames, you can clear away personal blocks and invite in friendly spirits who will aid you in personal pursuits, no matter what your line of work is.

On a low table or chest, place an orange or gold scarf and the following elements: yellow, orange, and gold candles for stimulating intelligence and clarity; bergamot oil for energy; and vanilla incense for mental power.

In an amber or clear glass bowl on the altar, place cloves and sage leaves or bundles. Next, add items that symbolize your personal creativity—perhaps a poem you wrote, a figure you sculpted, or a photograph you took of the altar.

Place benzoin, an herb for all-around mental strength and clarity, in your incense burner; it will bring inspiration from the psychic realm. Add any gifts from nature that inspire you— luminous shells, chunks of quartz, or feathers. Arrange your altar in a way that pleases you and stimulates your senses. Now, anoint the candle with bergamot essential oil while you meditate to clear your mind of any distractions. This is an essential step in opening the mental and spiritual space necessary to create, whether your intention is to create a ritual of your own design or an art project. Once you feel focused, light a sage leaf and wave it gently around so the cleansing smoke permeates your altar space. Light the anointed
candles and the incense with a candle. Now set and speak your intention:

By my hand,
And by the blessing of the spirits,
The fire of my creativity
Burns bright,
Burns long,
Burns eternal.
Blessings to me and all who create!

The Essential Toolkit: Everything You Need for Rites and Rituals Part II

Candles

Nowadays, the popularity of candles has reached an all-time high. Candles are used by folks of all walks of life for relaxation, meditation, and aromatherapy. This simple yet profound tool can make powerful magic. Notice how candlelight transforms a dark room and fills the air with the energy of magical light. Suddenly the potential for magic is evident.

Candles contain all four of the elemental energies:

Air—Oxygen feeds and fans the candle flame.
Earth—The solid wax forms the candle.
Water—Melted wax is the fluid elemental state.
Fire—The flame sparks and blazes.

How to Charge a Candle

“Charging” a candle means instilling it with magical intent. A candle that has been charged carries that intention through all four elements and up to the heavens. It fills the very air with your magic. Ritual candles are chosen for their correspondences, carved, and “dressed,” or anointed, with the energy of an essential oil.

Candle Color Correspondences

Black: banishing, absorbing, expulsion of the negative, healing serious disease, attracting money

Brown: home, animal wisdom, grounding, healing 

Dark Blue: change, flexibility, the unconscious, psychic powers, healing

Gold: solar magic, money, attraction, the astral plane

Gray: neutrality, impasse, cancellation

Green: money, prosperity, growth, luck, jobs, gardening, youth, beauty, fertility

Light Blue: patience happiness, triumph over depression, calm understanding

Orange: attraction, success with legal issues, mutability, stimulation, support, encouragement

Pink: love, faithfulness, friendships, goodness, affection 

Purple: healing, ambition, business success, stress relief, power

Red: strength, protection, vitality, sexuality, passion, courage, power, love, good health

White: purification, peace, protection, truth, binding, sincerity, serenity, chastity, happiness, spirit

Yellow: mental power and vision, intelligence, clear thinking, study, self-assurance, prosperity, abundance, divination, psychism, powers of persuasion, wisdom, charisma, sound sleep

Once you clarify your intention, cleanse your candles by passing them through the purifying smoke of sage or incense. Further charge your candle by carving a symbol or sigil into the wax. You can warm the tip of your ritual knife using a lit match and carve your full intention into the candle wax. As you engrave the appropriate magical words onto the candle, you are charging it with energy and intention. Next, you should “dress” your candle with specific oil. Every essential oil is imbued with a power that comes from the plants and flowers of which it is made. The appendix gives correspondences that you can use. You can also use oils to anoint yourself at the crown of the head or at the third eye to increase mental clarity. By using the inherent powers of essential oils, you are increasing the effectiveness of your rite and “doubling” the energies by anointing both your tool—in this case, the candle— and yourself.

Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts of flower, herb, root, or resin extract, sometimes diluted into base oil. Try to ensure that you are using authentic essential oils instead of perfume or fragrance oils, which are synthetic versions. Always treat the oils with great care, as some are highly irritating to those with sensitive skin. For this reason, some people choose to wear clean cotton gloves when handling oils. Use droppers to measure the oils carefully, and avoid touching your face and especially eyes when working with them. Never drink your essential oils and use caution when inhaling them, as some of the stronger ones can have a negative effect on your sinuses. Different people have different reactions to various essential oils. My friend Nancy, for example, gets migraine headaches any time amber oil is in use. If possible, find an herbalist who will guide you as you experiment with oils in rituals and workings. I am fortunate in that I may consult with Randy, my trusted oil mixer at San Francisco’s The Sword and the Rose. He is extremely knowledgeable and generous with his wisdom. Research and explore the wide varieties of essential oils now available, and eventually you will discover those that work for you.

Essential Oil Magical Correspondences

Astral Projection: jasmine, benzoin, cinnamon, sandalwood 

Courage: geranium, black pepper, frankincense

Dispelling Negative Spirits: basil, clove, copal, frankincense, juniper, myrrh, pine, peppermint, rosemary, sandalwood, Solomon’s seal, yarrow, vetiver

Divination: camphor, orange, clove 

Enchantment: ginger, tangerine

Healing: bay, cedar wood, cinnamon, coriander, eucalyptus, juniper, lime, rose, sandalwood, spearmint

Joy: lavender

Love: apricot, basil, chamomile, clove, copal, coriander, rose, geranium, jasmine, lavender, lemon, lime, neroli, peppermint, rose, rosemary, ylang-ylang, vetiver

Luck: orange, nutmeg, rose, vetiver 

Peace: lavender

Prosperity: basil, clove, ginger, cedar, cinnamon, jasmine, nutmeg, orange, oak moss, patchouli, peppermint, pine, wood aloe

Protection: bay, basil, anise, black pepper, cedar, cinnamon, clove, copal, cypress, eucalyptus, frankincense, rose, geranium, lime, myrrh, juniper, lavender, patchouli, peppermint, pine, rose, sandalwood, vetiver

Sexuality: cardamom, cinnamon, clove, lemongrass, olive, patchouli, peppermint, rosemary 

Cords of Connection

Cord magic is one of the oldest kids of enchantments and employs a simply and powerful charm in that it can  be used for any purpose in accordance with your intention. After you have set your intention, you tie a knot at each end and the cord is like a battery that holds the power of your intention as long as the knots at both end remind intact. Your magic cord is a rope that binds magic to your and is ideally made from strands of red wool or ribbon. It should be 9 feet long and cut with your bolline,  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 that you use clear quartz crystal beads, which are energy amplifiers, but you can use special stones for various effects: rose quartz for self love, citrine for grounding, jade for stability , blue lapis for inspiration, malachite for protection, moonstone for quiet calm and amethyst for intuition and psychic ability.

I have an adorned cord in my bedroom on my self-care shrine that helped relieve a bout of insomnia some months ago. As I added rose quarts and amethyst beds to the red cord, I held the intention of deep rest,  positive dreams and harmony in my life. Upon knotting both ends, I have enjoyed exactly that and so can you. 

Carnelian—Safety Stone

Said the ancient Egyptian religious leader Jafar, “He who wears carnelian will have whatever he desires.” Wearing Carnelian dates back to at least biblical times; there are several mentions of soldiers and priests wearing it.

Carnelian was a favorite in ancient times, when people believed that wearing the stone could protect them against injury from falling stones. As the saying goes, “No man who wore a carnelian was ever found in a collapsed house or beneath a fallen wall.” Other lore of this jewel includes the Armenian belief that an elixir of powdered carnelian would life any cloud to life and fill the heart with happiness. In olden days, carnelian was credited with being able to defy no less than the devil! So, people wore this lovely red-orange stone with the intention of protecting themselves from evil, oftentimes repeating this prayer:

“In the name of God the Just, the very Just!
I implore you, O God, King of the World,
God of the World,
Deliver us from the Devil
Who tries to do harm and evil to us
Through bad people and from the evil of the envious.”

Employment Incantation

Here is one of the ways I got a great job on my first day in San Francisco: Light a gold candle and place it in a special place beside a crystal of pyrite, otherwise known as fool’s gold. Repeat this incantation eight times while holding the gold in your right hand and holding a vision of yourself at the desired job:

“I see the perfect job for me;
I see a place of plenty.
Upon my heart’s desire I am set;
My new boss will never regret.
This job will come to me NOW;
Harm to none, I vow. So mote it be.”

Color Craft

Candle magic is a mainstay of crystal magic. I burn candles every night and take them with me when I am traveling. For this exercise to work, simply apply the basic precepts of color magic: Have a clear intention of your desires outcome and choose the appropriate color candle from the following list. On the corresponding day, begin burning the candle on your altar or any special place in your home. Repeat this ritual for seven consecutive days with the same color candle.

* Sunday: the Sun rules this day; use gold or red to affect a boss, a promotion, health, fame, or success.

* Monday: the Moon rules this day; use silver or orange to affect the home, subordinates, or emotions.

* Tuesday: Mars rules; use yellow to affect aggression, sex, conflict, or confidence.

* Wednesday: Mercury rules; use green to affect communication, study, or intelligence.

* Thursday: Jupiter rules; use blue to affect medical and legal issues, money, spirit, integrity, safety, or security.

* Friday: Venus rules; use indigo to affect aesthetics and beauty, marriage, relationships, theater, art, music, or family.

* Saturday: Saturn rules; use black to affect judgment, obstacles, or property.

Charm Boxes

Charm boxes, also known as spell boxes, are simple tools of magic you can easily make for yourself. Ancient cultures, particularly the Native Americans, Greeks, Celts, and Egyptians, used boxes for ceremonial magic and for the storage of sacred objects. Is not the famed biblical ark of the covenant a magical box? During medieval times, much spell work revolved around boxes. Even a young woman’s hope chest is a type of magical box, filled with the wishes, intentions, and materials for a happy marriage.

Gem-magic boxes can either contain crystals of special importance to you or be adorned with gems you affix to the outside of the box. You can create a job-spell box with peridot or aventurine stones, green candles, patchouli incense, and dried ferns placed inside.

Make a love-spell box with two pieces of rose quartz, a pink candle, rose petals, and two copper pennies. Fashion a psychic-spell box using amethyst and quartz crystals, cloves, and rosemary.