A Soothing Sip

Here is a soothing sip that can uplift your spirits anytime and serves to ward off chills. This combination of herbs helps to bring about letting go of sorrows, worries, and doubts and reignites feelings of self-love.

Stir the following together in a clean cauldron:

• One ounce dried rosehips
• One ounce dried hibiscus flowers
• Two ounces dried mint
• One tablespoon dried ginger root, coarsely chopped or ground

Combine the herbs, pour into a colored jar, and seal the lid tightly. When you are ready to brew a soothing tea, pour hot water over the herbs: one cup of hot water to each two teaspoons of tea. While this steeps for five minutes, write down any thoughts or fears from which you need to release yourself on a small piece of paper. Now say each one aloud, then chant, “Begone!” following each. After this letting-go ritual, burn the paper with sage in a small cauldron on your altar. As you sip the tea, enjoy your renewed sense of self and peace of mind.

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One Moon for All the World: New Year’s Council Fire

Any discussion of rituals for the month of January must include New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. I remember the drama that ensued as people around the globe stood by to witness the sunrise on January 1, 2000, perceived as the beginning of the new millennium. While many other cultures observe their New Year at other times during the year, January 1 has also become a time of celebration, reflection and an opportunity to embrace change.

For many millennia, indigenous peoples have celebrated their own New Year in unique ways. One common element is the use of fire rituals by North, Central, and South American peoples. The Pilgrims who arrived to what was to become New England observed and documented that the Iroquois and other tribes they encountered had a New Year’s Council Fire, a time when the tribe gathered to review the past year, listen to their elders and speak their hopes, dreams, and visions of the coming year. In addition to your personal New Year’s ritual with the significant people in your life, I recommend a Bonfire Ceremony as a powerful way to bring positive change of the New Year into your life.

Bonfire Ceremonies are considered to open a door or portal into the spirit world that held the promise of receiving the blessings of spirit-love, healing, prosperity, peace and anything you need for personal transformation. This ritual is also an opportunity to pay respects and make homage to your ancestors and loved ones you have lost. For this reason alone, I suggest enacting the Fire Ceremony: our culture is losing the important connection to the older people in our lives. Involving them in the rituals, ceremonies and passages of our lives could heal a cultural rift and bring deep wisdom to all. Mayan shamans could “read” the fire in a divinatory fashion, and I hear that some modern metaphysicians can do the same. If you are fortunate enough to know anyone with such skills, invite them to your fire ceremony to share what they divine from the flames.

Thursday’s Prosperity Incantation

This spell is truly marvelous 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, begin by pouring a few drops of green apple or verbena essential oil into a hot vessel of water. Breathe in the steam deeply ten times, inhaling and exhaling deeply for cleansing. Light 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? What do you most desire?

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

Here and how, 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 cleansing breath meditation, perform this tried and true prosperity ritual to seal deals and bring about the new gainful employment and fiscal abundance your way.

Light a yellow-gold candle and light cinnamon incense with the candle. Place a piece of amethyst crystal by the candle and incense and repeat this incantation eight times while envisioning yourself with perfect abundance at the perfect job:

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

Place the vessel of water on your alter and let it cool. At midnight, pour the prosperity potion on the roots of a nearby tree.

Blowing in the Wind – A Charm (Waning Moon is Optimal)

When  the  moon  is  waning,  this  is  your  opportunity  to  release  anything that no longer serves in your life. We all need to embrace the winds  of  change  in    life,  clearing  away  the  old  and  making room for the new. This charm helps overcome upset and can help release anger and grudges. And isn’t this an important first step to happiness? What you’ll need: a  blustery day, access to the outdoors, basil and sage.

While it’s  not  mandatory  that  you  have  a  hill  for  this,  you  do  need an open area outside for happiness spells like this. It does need to be windy.

Take your herbs to your spot of choice with your back to the wind. Take the basil and sage and throw them up in the air as you visualize your problems blowing far, far away. Repeat this charm aloud:

No more fear and doubt and pain

Nothing to lose and only joy to gain.

Now, turn around and face into the wind. Speak aloud:

May the winds of change be kind to me

And bring about happiness and glee.

Stress-free and happy I will be.

Close  your  eyes  and  feel  the  breeze  on  your  skin  and  blowing  through your hair. Stand still for a few more moments, focused on the release of your problems and the acceptance of peace and the calm that lies ahead in your future. 

Spring Full Moon: Invocation of the Flower Moon

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

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

Moon of Flowers; light the way to change tonight,

Through the power of Earth and Air, Water and Fire.

As I bite this fruit of knowledge, I am thus inspired.

All possibilities are before me. And so it is.

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

Calling in Your Guardians and Angels in Times of Trouble

This has been a year of tragedies, loss and a great deal of anxiety. You can ask for help:

 

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. After you have performed your ritual, make sure to express your deep gratitude alng with your goodbyes. I recommend doing this every so often so you know which guardians work best with you.

Blessings to you and yours during these hard times. 

Diwali: The Cluster of Lights Festival

Diwali, one of the most beloved holidays in all of India, is another delightful moveable feast.

It takes place around mid-November. People will circumnavigate the globe to return home to be with their family during this special time. The Hindus treasure this late-autumn festival week and dress up their homes and themselves. All the streets and windows are brightly lit with special diwali lamps, small ceramic affairs filled with oil and cotton wicks that twinkle like stars, in every home and even on fences, garden walks, and porches.

Diwali is like a New Year, when everyone can start again, forgiving quarrels, wearing new clothes, and starting life anew with a fresh attitude and bright hopes. In the village and mountainous regions of India, bonfires are going strong, warming up the landscape along with fireworks that light up the night skies.

Diwali honors the victory of Rama, an avatar aspect of Vishnu who battled a ten-headed demon that stole Rama’s wife, Sita, with devotional music, lamp-lighting rituals, feasting, games, gambling, gift giving, and special foods, such as sweets, fruits, candies, and pastries that are constructed into temple-like towers.

Diwali Ritual

Diwali offers us the opportunity to vanquish our own demons and start anew. The symbols of light and sweetness are used here to represent the intention to replace resentment and bitterness with hope and balm. Essential elements of this ritual are plenty of candles, a new piece of clothing (such as a scarf) or a new item of jewelry, and a plate of sweet cakes, confections, or candy.

Light as many candles as you can in the room where you are performing this ritual. Create a circle of candles, and create sacred space by having a symbol of each element in your circle: a dish of salt or earth, a cup of water, incense, and a candle. Sit lotus-style in the center of your circle and relax in the flickering candlelight. Feel the center of your circle and relax in the flickering candlelight. Feel the presence of the four elements and the balance thy create. Notice how warm and alive the room feels. Notice how the gentle, flickering candlelight makes you feel safe. Now think back to all the difficult situations you have experienced over the past year and think of the people who have angered or hurt you. Imagine them surrounded by the warm, loving candlelight, and say to each of them, one by one:

I release you. May the lights of Diwali bless you.

As you release each person or situation, visualize their image melting into the candlelight. While the image fades from your mind’s eye, place a bite of the cake or confection in tour mouth. Allow the treat to dissolve, spreading its sweetness across your tongue. Visualize and feel that sweetness spreading through you, counteracting any of the traces of pain or bitterness that might remain. This is the sweetness that your new life holds, untainted by these bitter demons that have held you back.

When you have finished releasing your demons to the light, purify the new piece of clothing or item of jewelry by passing it through the smoke of the incense. Put on your new piece of jewelry of clothing, saying:

With this act, I declare the past gone, and see the future bright with hope.

Stay within your circle of light as long as you desire. Leave some of the cake or sweets as an offering to the gods in thanks for your new life.

Presentation Pendulums and Career Crystals

We all need a boost now and again at work; especially with big moments when you need to shine. 

If you are a creative person getting ready to present your work to the world, you can wear a talisman of your own making to ensure a positive outcome. Many performers, artists, musicians, and other inspired folks have lucky pieces of clothing or some other token that gives them courage to put themselves forth in the best possible manner.\Crystal and gem magic is perfect for creating your own success in this sort of endeavor. Put a talismanic power stone in your pocket or purse and you will have an aura of achievement all around you. When choosing your talisman, keep these pointers in mind:

Red stones, such as garnet, ruby, carnelian, red jasper, and jade, are excellent for attracting positive attention, such as publicity for your recital or poetry reading. For a speech, a performance, a presentation, or a show or your art, wear red jewelry.

Green stones, such as emerald and peridot, are wonderful for realizing your potential for wealth and successful new projects. If you are preparing for a possibly lucrative deal of your creative output—pitching a book or an art opening—you must wear green jewelry.

Blue stones, such as turquoise, topaz, lapis lazuli, and sapphire, help you to see clearly and without obstruction. If you are trying to empower someone to see and share your creative vision, blue gems are right for you.

Why Scry? Divining the Future

Scrying, the art of divining by looking into a reflective surface and receiving visions, has been used by witches, magicians, and others since pre-biblical times. The word “scry” forms the root for the English word “descry,” which means reveal or discover.

The ancients had special prophets and priestesses who engaged in foretelling the future, and it is certain they used scrying tools from various crystals. Perhaps a chunk of black obsidian was the first scrying mirror used by a Stone Age shaman. All these centuries later, we still use crystal balls made from quartz and obsidian.

It is known that Queen Elizabeth I employed Dr. John Dee, a mathematician and metaphysician, in all matters of the heavens and unseen. Dee’s assistants used a mirror of polished black obsidian, which led the next generation of magicians and psychics to prefer black mirrors. Dee and his assistants used scrying to call upon certain angels and reported hearing knocking, and even voices that sounded like an owl screeching, during sessions. The legacy of alchemist and metaphysician John Dee lives on, and modern seers such as Edgar Cayce have built on his foundation.

In addition to divining the past, present, and future, you can use scrying to contact spirit guides or to improve your skills of creative visualization. Some practitioners of scrying even use it as a gateway to the astral plane.

Although scrying tools usually have shiny surfaces, you can scry with nearly anything. Water, a mirror on the wall, a crystal sphere, a slab of rock, flames of fire, ink in a bow, or the bottom of a teacup all serve as scrying tools. You may find that smooth, neutral surfaces are less distracting and images will come through to you with less distortion. The ritual you follow when cleansing your scrying tools can be as elaborate or as simple as you like. My ritual involves cleansing my scrying tools before and after each use with rainwater that has sat through at least one day of sun and one night of moonlight. Just like with crystal balls and other sacred tools, you should polish any scrying mirrors or surfaces with a clean cotton cloth and store them in a special protective bag.

Herbal Prosperity Magic

Floral Funding

The following list of herbs can be used in any ritual work whose intention is prosperity: Allspice, almond, basil, bergamot, mint, cedar, cinnamon, cinquefoil, clover, clover, dill, ginger, heliotrope, honeysuckle, hyssop, jasmine, myrtle, nutmeg, oak moss, sassafras, vervain and woodruff.

 Try these alone or in mixtures, tinctures or grind into your incenses. You can also plant a prosperity garden and refresh your abundance altar with herbs and flowers grown by your own hand.

How to Get More Good Luck in Your Life

 Your altar is the heart center of your home, your sanctuary. Yet the world is constantly coming in and bringing mundane energy over your threshold- problems at the workplace, financial woes, bad news from your neighborhood or the world at large. All this negativity wants to get in the way and stay. While you can’t do anything about the stock market crash in China or a coworker’s divorce, do not allow this bad energy to cling to you. That you can do something about with this homekeeping spell. The best times to release any and all bad luck, is on a Friday the 13^th or on any waxing moon. As you know, Friday the 13^th is considered a lucky day on the witch’s calendar. November 13th is coming right up, too!

Get a big black candle and a black crystal, a piece of white paper, a black pen with black ink and a cancellation stamp, readily available at any stationery store. Go into your backyard or a nearby park or woodlands and find a flat rock that has a slightly concave surface. Using the pen, write down on the white paper that which you want to rid yourself and your home of; this is your release request. Place the candle, the black crystal on the rock and light the candle near an open window so the negativity goes outside while the candle burns, intone:

Waxing moon, most wise Cybele,

From me this burden please dispel

Upon this night so clear ad bright

I release ___ to the moon tonight.

Go outside and place the rock altar on the ground and visualize a clear and peaceful home filled with only the positive as the candle burns for 13 minutes. Stamp the paper with the cancel stamp. Snuff the candle, fold the paper away from your body and place it under the rock. Speak your thanks to the moon for assisting you. If you have a truly serious issue at hand, repeat the process for 13 nights and all will be vanquished.

The Scent of Happiness

The minute you walk into someone’s home, you can almost immediately tell how happy a household it is. Much of that is determined by the smell. A home with the fragrance of sugar cookies or a freshly baked pumpkin pie is one you may well want to visit often. Similarly, a space redolent of the bouquet of lilies or tea roses is one where the residents take care to make their home beautiful to both the eye and the other senses. There are lots of small things we can do in regard to “energy maintenance” for our home. To sweeten any mood, this recipe works wonders on you or anyone in your environment that might need a lift. Combine the following essential oils:

Two drops Neroli                    four drops bergamot

Four drops lavender                two drops rosemary

                       

Add the mixture to a quart of distilled water, and spray the air while chanting:

            Gloom and doom begone.

            Bright energies abound!

            Welcome, sweet spirits, into this house.

            With harm to none. So mote it be.

All Hallow's Eve New Year Ritual: How to Bring Positive Change to Your Life

Here is a personal ritual I recommend for the New Year, whether it is Samhain (October 31, All Hallow’s Eve) or Saturnalia (December 17-24). It can also be performed any time you feel the need for renewal or personal reinvention.

Like a caterpillar, we can burst out of our old form and shed old skin. Old habits that no longer serve should be released. If drinking alcohol, for example, has become a problem for you, let go, find a Twelve-Step program, and let miracles happen in your life as you release the old and welcome the new. We must let go of the past in order to look to the future.

A well-timed ritual can be the process by which you let go of that past. It formalizes the act and marks the time of entry into a new present and new future.

Start with a ritual bath, or this Inspirational Immersion, to cleanse yourself.

Immersion

At the day’s last light, pour a bath. As your run the water, pour drops of bergamot, rosemary, vetiver, and eucalyptus oils into the steaming waters. Bathe in the gathering dark. As darkness begins to fill the room, meditate and pray for positive change in your life. Know that this is the day your life will surely change forever.

Metamorphosis Ritual

Choose a place in your home or wherever you feel secure to do this deeply personal ritual. Allow it to be dark. You are in the dark cocoon and about to burst out into the light. Cast your circle of change by moving clockwise around the room three times. Notice as you walk that you can feel the darkness increasing. You are creating a magical space in which you will work for your desired change.

Stand in the middle of the circle and speak aloud what you want to get rid of in your life. Speak the truth from the safe center of your sanctuary. Close your eyes and turn to the east. Now, using creative visualization, call up the element of air. Picture a piece of the day sky filled with clouds and the night filled with stars. This is the element of air. Wait until you feel its presence fully entered in the circle and speak aloud:

I face the east; I am air. I call upon the powers of the sky and the stars to aid me now.

Now turn to the south and visualize a flaming red ball of sun, which is fire, heat, and life. You will know the element of fire is present by the heat you feel in your circle. Speak aloud:

I face south; I am fire. I call upon the powers of flame and heat, the passion of fire to help me through. Burn away the old, my former self.

Now turn to the west and visualize the waters of the world, oceans, rivers, creeks, and lakes, all merging into a single drop of the holiest water. Speak aloud:

I face the west. I am made of water. I call upon the powers of water, more powerful than any stone. I ask the waters of life to cleanse me and purify me, ready me for total change.

Now face the north and visualize the green of the earth, the soil and seeds of change. Speak aloud:

I face the north. I am grounded in this earth. I call upon the powers of earth, our planet, to give me the strength to change.

Stand still in the center of your circle and feel the energies of the elements, the powers of the four directions, and the strength of nature’s helpers. Relax into this energy and allow visions, ideas, and inspiration to arise. Welcome new feelings and sensations. You should be open to experiencing new patterns of thought. Thinking in a new way is one way to shed your old skin. Now begin to move and stretch in your circle of magic. Reach up as high as you can, and bend and bow as you emerge from the cocoon of your old self. Breathe deeply, inhaling and exhaling slowly and fully. After ten breaths, you should being to feel a buzzing sensation at the top of your head. This is the signal that you have arrived at a new level of consciousness. You have shed your old limits; your transmutation is complete.

Walking counterclockwise, retrace the steps of your circle. As you walk, speak your gratitude to the elements and the directions, taking care to give thanks for all the help you have received during this circle of change. Your circle is now open.

As you go through the next few days, reflect on your new feelings and impressions. New people will come into your life. New opportunities will arise. You have given yourself the gift of new life. Enjoy this new post-metamorphic phase of change and treasure it.

Clearing the Decks for Health and Wealth

Prosperity and purification go hand in hand. One of the greatest tools for purification is sage. While every metaphysical store has it in quantity, I highly recommend gathering or growing sage yourself. Aromatic sage dries quickly and can 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 knotted at each loop. Leave room for a handle at the base of the wand, where you wind and knot the green and gold threads thrice more. This will honor the three Fates who hold the thread of our destiny in their hands: Clotho spins the thread of life; Lachesis chooses its length and outcome; and Atropos cuts the thread.

Use your smudge stick at any time purification is in order, especially if you’ve moved, started a new job, bought a new car, or purchased any second-hand clothing or furniture. This will help remove any energy that might be clinging from the previous owner. If have just performed a big decluttering in your home or office, you can further cleanse your personal space by smudging it with sage smoke.

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

Speak aloud:

Great Spirit goddess so wise, with this smoke,

 your blessed protection I invoke.

 Out with the bad, in with the good.

 Harm to none and blessings to all.

Give a lot of thought about what constructive changes you wish to see in your life or what positive qualities you want to develop further in yourself.

For example, right now, I want to get even more organized, so I will get some lazulite. Crystals and sacred stones can be a great source of clarity and help process emotions.  Of course, getting organized requires some letting go and getting rid of belongings that have seen better days.  This used to be a real problem for me. As any of my friends can tell you, and my cozy cottage is lined with magazines, journals, and books, books, books! But, I really feel the need to declutter my life and streamline it—get a bit more Zen. So, I’ll have to get organized with lazulite power and then let go with lepidolite! Also, I have never really had any jade, but recently, I feel like I need the grounding and stabilizing effects of this stone. Additionally, I need to get more prosperity-minded. I need to be better about saving money and thinking in terms of my future security so I’m not reading tarot out on the sidewalk when I’m 90! So, I have been walking through San Francisco’s Chinatown and feeling very attracted to different jades. I’m sure you feel such urges and attractions, too. Often, this might be your subconscious giving you a gentle nudge about some growing you need to do. Listen to those inner voices, and you will reap the benefits again and again.

Change Your Life With Sacred Stones:

-amber for grounding

-aventurine for creative visualization

-bloodstone for abundance and prosperity,

-carnelian for opening doors for you your family

-citrine for getting motivated and attracting money and success

-geode for getting through periods of extreme difficulty

-hematite for strength and courage

-jasper for stability

-rhodochrosite for staying on course with your life’s true purpose

-watermelon tourmaline for help with planning your best possible future

Candle Magic Secrets We Can All Use

I don't know about you but lighting a candle immediately puts me at ease. 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

Clear Away Negative Energy Wth this DIY Incense

This incense will significantly aid the formation of the sphere of energy that is the ritual circle. A fine grind of all the ingredients is the key to good incense, so you should add a mortar and pestle to your list of tools if you intend to make a lot of incense. A blender or food processor is a more modern approach that may save on time and elbow grease, especially if you are making a large batch of incense for a group.

Clearing Incense:

1 part sandalwood

3 parts sage

3 parts copal

3 parts frankincense

This is an optimal mixture of essences to purify your home or sacred working space. Negative energies are vanquished and the path is cleared for ritual. Open windows and doors when you are burning this clearing incense so the “bad energy” can be released outside. It is also advisable to use this clearing incense if there have been any arguments or other energetic disruptions in your home. You can recreate a sanctuary with this incense.

Tranquility Meditation for Stressful Times

Let’s face it; we live in tough times. Even the daily news is very stressful. For this reason, I devote myself to tips and tools to help you navigate the rapids of 2017:

Tranquility Meditation

Sandalwood, lavender and clary sage create a deeply relaxing blend with a warm and soothing scent.  Here is what you need:

6 tablespoons almond oil
2 tablespoons jojoba oil
20 drops sandalwood essential oil
15 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops clary sage essential oil

Mix oils together in a tightly capped blue or brown bottle. Shake well  and pour a bit into the palm of your hand to warm before using. Rub it lightly onto your shoulder and neck as well as your temples and wrists. Sit comfortably and breathe deeply with your eyes closed. Chant aloud:

Remove from me all worry.

Remove all stress in a hurry.

No more will I lack sleep.

No more will I weep.

Tranquility and calm, come to me now.

With harm to none, so mote it be.

..

Pot of Gold: An Abundance Blessing

Cauldron magic is more about the act of brewing something new than it is about purification by water. To attract money, fill a big pot with fresh water and place it on your altar during the waxing moon. Pour into it an offering of a cup of milk mixed with honey. Toss handfuls of chamomile, woodruff, moss, and vervain into the cauldron. With your hands raised, say aloud:

I call upon you, gods and goddesses of old, to fill my purse with gold. In return, I offer your honey’s gold and mother’s milk. With harm to none and blessings to thee, I honor you for bringing me health and prosperity.

Place the offering bowl on your altar and leave the aromatic mixture there to imbue your space with the energy of abundance. When the magic has been fulfilled (or before the milk and herbs begin to spoil). pour it outside your home into the ground and bow in appreciation of the kindness of the gods and goddesses.

Moon Mojo: Clear A Space and Make It Yours

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

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

Amber for good cheer

Blue Lace Agate for tranquility and a peaceful home

Coral for wellbeing

Jet absorbs bad energy

Onyx is a stone of protection

Petrified Wood for security

Tiger’s Eye will protect you for energy-draining situations or people

Turquoise creates calm and relaxation.

Harness The Magical Power of the Stones in Your Jewelry

 Charging Your Jewelry with Magic

Charging a gem or crystal imbues it with your intent. Upon charging your jewelry, you can use it in spell work or anytime you want to surround yourself with the magic you put into the gemstones. While picturing your truest wish and hope, and what you ultimately want to achieve through this process, anoint a candle with an essential oil that most expresses your energy. Perhaps it is rose or, as in my case, amber. Begin by lighting the candle and gazing into the flame. Then, place the piece of jewelry in front of the candle and say aloud, “Into this jewelry, I imbue my essence and the power of this blessed earth. This gem of great hue is charged until my magic is through. So mote it be!”

You can further empower the jewel by scratching your desire into the wax of the candle. Then, each time you burn the candle, place the gem before it and think upon your quest.

You can further empower the jewel by scratching your desire into the wax of the candle. Then, each time you burn the candle, place the gem before it and think upon your quest.

To enchant all of your jewelry, you need to create and altar for this express purpose. You can prepare the way for letting crystal and gem magic into your life, and focusing your desires and dreams, with a gem-magic altar. If you already have an altar in place, incorporate some of the following elements. The more you use your altar, the more powerful your spells will be.

Your gem-magic altar can be a low table, the top of a chest, or even a shelf. First, you must purify the space with the smoke of a sage bundle. This is called smudging and is essential in clearing energy to make way for magic. You can use wild sage or purchase it at any herb store or metaphysical five-and-dime.

Once you have smudged the space, cover your altar with your favorite fabric; I recommend the color white. Place a candle in each corner. I prefer candles of many colors to represent the rainbow array of gems. Place gems and crystals of your choice around the candles. Rose quartz is a heart stone, and fluorite is a calming crystal, so these are good choices for grounding yourself, particularly if your altar is in your bedroom, as many are! Add to the altar fresh flowers, an incense you simply love to smell, and any objects that have special meaning to you. Some folks place lovely shells or feathers they have found in their paths or on the beach, and others use imagery that is special—a goddess statue or a star shape. The most important point is that your altar be pleasing to your eye and your sensibilities. You should feel that it represents the deepest aspects of you as a person.

Ideally, you will bless your altar on a new moon. Light the candles and incense, and say aloud:

“Here burns happiness about me,

Peace and harmony are in abundance,

Here my happiness abounds.

Gems and jewels—these bones of the earth

Bring love, prosperity, health and mirth.

Be it ever thus that joy is the light

That here burns bright.
Blessed be!”

You have now consecrated your altar. It will ease your spirit anytime and become your power source. Your altar connects you to the earth of which you and all gems and crystals are a part. Your altar will connect you to the crystal magic that has now entered your life. Whenever you want to add a dash of magic or a supernatural sparkle to a stone or piece of jewelry, you can place it on your altar for seven days. On the seventh day, wear the jewelry and bewitch everyone you encounter! Remember that your level of clarity and concentration will be reflected in the jewel’s power.

Now, enjoy your sacred stones.