Designing Your Own Air Rituals

Rituals using the element of air can be a daily energy cleansing such as smudging with a sage stick or incense. You can call forth the power of the four winds, invoke the spirits of the air to inspire you, to surround and support you, and to communicate your wishes to the world at large.

Air Deities

Invocation of the spirit of the air for ritual brings the powers of the heavens to aid your ceremonies and ritual work. Birds and insects as well as the four winds will abet your spells.

Winged Isis, the oldest of all Egyptian divinities, was believed to bear the souls of the dead to the place of eternal life.

Oya is the Yoruban orisha of the wind who gives us the breath of life.

Nut is the great sky goddess who covers and enwraps Geb, her younger brother the earth, with her body. She is the sky queen who is covered with stars, depicted as a lovely woman arched over the land in a constant posture of protection and service.

Norwan is a goddess of light and air of the Wintun Native American tribe who brought nourishment to the world. Known as “dancing porcupine woman,” she dances all day until sunset. 

Capricorn: Oak Prevents Overwhelm

Our love-able goats are unbelievably strong, but that can lead to never stopping (even when rest is really needed) and burnout. Capricorns also try to do everything on their own, drawing too much on their own can-do spirit, yet this can be a grueling path to getting to your goals and achievements. Oak is a marvelous flower essence helps with boundaries, energy preservation, and maintaining and not draining yourself while you get to the top of that mountain.

Sagittarius: Vervain Gives Vivacity

Sagittarians often feel like Energizer bunnies. While sharing your ideals with others fuels your spirit of joie de vivre, your ardent enthusiasm can sometimes have you setting overly optimistic goals. If you need support in balancing impassioned pursuits with a pragmatic perspective, try vervain flower essence.

Blue Quartz

An uncommon stone found occasionally in Siberia, North America, and Brazil, blue quartz, also known as dumortierite, ranges from a grayish blue to pale blue to lavender in color. It is found only in very old rock formations because the process by which it gains its color is very slow and takes many millennia to be completed.

Blue quartz is best for the upper torso and is also a boost to the bloodstream and the body’s immune system. Blue is the color of spirit, and this is a wonderful meditation crystal for spirit work. It is a stone of hope, of calm, and of soul. Blue quartz is a mental stone, as well, and can help with self-discipline, organizational skills, and studying. This crystal aids the throat chakra and therefore aids in communication, helping you to speak your truth—and speak it well.

Emeralds—Popular Protectors

Emeralds are believed to have been brought to Earth from the planet Venus. This precious stone is one of the only ones that retains its value, according to gemologists and jewelers, even if it is deeply flawed. Emeralds have a richly varied mythology attached to their glowing green history. For thousands of years, Hindu physicians in India regarded this stone as a benefit to many stomach-related illnesses—it was an appetite stimulant, a curative for dysentery, a laxative, and a treatment for too much stomach-irritating bile. In India of old, they also believed emeralds could drive away demons or rid a body of ill spirits.

Another antiquated belief about emeralds is that they portended events from the future, rather like scrying, or seeing things in a mirror or the glassy surface of the gem. Emeralds were thought to be foes to sorcerers, a belief stemming from a legend that emeralds vanquished all wizardry in their wake. The ancients loved emeralds and connected them with the eyes. Theophrastus, a student of Plato’s, taught that emeralds protected the eyesight. He was taken so seriously that engravers kept emeralds on their tables to look at to refresh their eyes.

Egyptians valued emeralds almost beyond any other stone and claimed their goddess, Isis, wore a great emerald. Anyone who looked upon Isis’s green jewel was assured of a safe trip to the underworld, the land of the dead. Egypt was the main source for emeralds until the sixteenth century. The Cleopatra mines, south of Cairo, were the mother lode, and emerald traders from as far away as India sought the stones, obtained at great human cost under wretched conditions of extreme heat and dangerous underground shafts. I hope the common belief that these stones also protected people from any poison and all venomous serpents was true here. Emeralds were anathemas to snakes, which would supposedly be struck blind by merely looking upon the stones.

In ancient Rome, emeralds were quite sought after by the wealthy class. Nero watched the games in the Coliseum through a set of priceless spectacles made from emeralds. However, with the capture of South America by Pizarro and Cortés, the Spanish in the 1500s made emeralds more available to the Europeans, who had an insatiable appetite for jewels and gold. The discovery in 1558 of the Muzo mine in Colombia uncovered emeralds of incredible beauty and size, prompting the Spanish conquistadors to take over the mine and declare the natives slaves. Perhaps part of Montezuma’s revenge involved the seizure of the emerald mines. Emeralds were a popular cure for dysentery in the sixteenth century when worn touching the torso or held in the mouth. As with all very valuable stones, the people who actually mine them have no access to them unless they are smuggled out of the mines. According to a recent article in National Geographic, however, this is done more frequently than one might think, especially with larger stones. “Almost every high-quality emerald was smuggled at some point in its history,” according to National Geographic.

Self-Esteem Stones: Raise Your Spirits with Rose

If you want to jump-start your life and bring about positive change, tap into the power of rose and red stones. Stones of this side of the color spectrum contain life’s energy and can help you become more motivated, energetic, and vibrant, as well as give you an appealing aura. Wear this list of rosy and red stones, or place them on your desk and throughout your home for an instant boost: alexandrite, carnelian, garnet, red coral, red jasper, rhyolite, rose jasper, and ruby.

Clarify Your Intention

Why do you want to create a mandala? Your reason is your intention, and is the focus of your ritual. One basic guideline is that the creation of a sand mandala should be “for the greater good.” Some examples of reasons to create a specific mandala include:

To help create world peace

To bring renewed health to body and spirit

To bless a new home

To bless and bring joy to all people in your life

Sun: Its rays are a representation of light, energy, and life. A sun mandala will represent the positive and celebrate your life, the spark and flame of existence.

Moon: In all its phases, the moon represents the feminine and female power. Moon mandalas are wonderful for women to create in celebration of their own femininity and of woman-power throughout time. Any goddess mandala can include the symbol of the moon.

Heart: A universal symbol of love, this sweet design would make an excellent blessing to a romantic relationship or a gift to loved ones.

Triangle: It represents the Christian Holy Trinity and Egyptian spirituality and wisdom.

Downward-Pointing Triangle: It represents the “yoni yantra” and signifies the female, the element of water, and the mother and the ability to create. A mandala blessing for an expectant mother should include the downward-pointing triangle. Water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces would do well to honor themselves with this design.

Double Triangle or Hexagram: In tantra, this represents all of creation, the conjunction of male and female energies. The concept of infinity is also represented by this symbol. A relationship mandala, especially in the sensual realm, will work well with double triangles. If you want to connect to the great universe, the symbol of infinity is essential. This symbol is ideal for creativity mandalas. In India, the double triangle indicates Kali in union with Shiva, and it is also the symbol for the heart chakra. If you want to create a mandala for blessing a relationship or to open your heart, the hexagram is an excellent choice. Combining the heart symbol and hexagram would be a powerful love mandala.

Pentagram: Other names for the pentagram include the Wizard’s Star, the Druid’s Foot, the Witch’s Cross, and the Star of Bethlehem. Wiccans have claimed the pentagram as their insignia. If you want to do a mandala for healing the earth, the pentagram will accomplish this quite nicely.

Square or Quadrangle: It is the sign of the four directions, and also the four elements and the four seasons. The square of the day also indicates the four significant times of day: sunrise, noonday, sunset, midnight. For the ancient Hindus, the square stood for order in the universe. You can use a square to invoke the four directions in this way, to honor the elements of air, earth, fire and water, and also to mark sacred time for prayer and meditation.

Octagon or Double Square: With its eight points, this is another symbol for divine order and unification. It is a good symbol for peace on earth. Essentially an eight-pointed star, the octagon is a symbol for rebirth and renewal and the wheel of the year. The octagon is believed to have magical powers, as does the pentacle or pentagram, when drawn in one line. In this case, they are believed to indicate sacred space. An octagon is a very good symbol to include in a mandala when you are embarking on a new phase of your life—a new home, job, relationship, a “new you”—that can be blessed in this manner.

Knotwork and the “Knot of Eternity”: These are lovely symbols of unity. In Buddhist tradition, knotwork represents contemplation and meditation. Celtic knotwork symbolizes the eternal flow of energy and life.

Lotus: This flower represents beauty, creation, renewal, and in Buddhism, the search for enlightenment. If the lotus has twelve petals, it represents the energy of the sun. If it has sixteen petals, it is the symbol for the moon. The most spiritual mandalas will likely contain the image of the lotus.

Hold your hand over the mandala design you have drawn and visualize the light of the universe, of the sun pouring through you and through your hands to the sand and the design. If you feel a personal connection to any benevolent spirits such as angels, the Buddha, or gods or goddesses, you should call upon them to also bless your efforts and the material with their sacred energy.

You may notice a warming of your hands as you continue concentrating “in the light.” Invoke aloud or pray silently to your benevolent guardians to bless your endeavor. 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. Close the ritual by dedicating the blessing energy of the mandala to the greater good of the universe.

Color Symbology for the Chakras and Mandala Design

First, root (base of spine)           red           security, survival

Second, sacral                            orange     pleasure

Third, solar plexus                     yellow     divine, personal power

Fourth, heart                              green        abundance, love, serenity

Fifth, throat                                blue          creativity, originality 

Sixth, third eye                          indigo       intuitiveness, perception 

Seventh, crown                          violet        holy bliss, all is one 

Color Connection

Color is a form of energy that can be broken down by individual vibrations. We use colors in our homes and at work to affect moods. The right colors can calm, energize, or even romanticize a setting. Colors promote many desired states of being. Anyone using color is tuning in to the vibration frequency of that particular color. Some psychics have the skills and training to read your aura; they can literally see the energy radiating out from your body.

Other colors not in the spectrum or chakra exist in crystals and stones, and are significant in their own right: brown, gray, black, white, silver and gold.

Brown: the color of humility and poverty; represents safety and the home.

Gray: the color of grief and mourning; symbolized resurrection in medieval times; gray is the first color the human eye can perceive in infancy.

Black: protection and strength; fortifies your personal energies and gives them more inner authority; symbolizes fertile, life- giving, rich earth, and nourishing rain in Africa.

White: purity, peace, patience, and protection; some cultures associate white with death.

Silver: relates to communication and greater access to the universe; indicates a lunar connection or female energy.

Gold: direct connection to God; facilitates wealth and ease.

The color spectrum is correlated with seven basic vibrations. These are the same vibrations that comprise the musical scale, and the same vibrations that are the foundation of our seven vibration chakra system. The “lightest” vibrations are at the top and the “heaviest” vibrations are at the bottom. By now you should know that the color system is composed of seven colors, all visible in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. A great way to remember the colors is by their collective acronym, which sounds like a name: Roy G. Biv. Consult the following color guide when you are choosing a color for any aspect of your life.

Color management can help you on the most basic level each day. To combat feeling depressed, wear yellow to raise your energy level. If you have a business meeting and you want to put your colleagues at ease, wear earthy colors like brown or green. You can experiment with different combinations, too. Remember, the purpose here is to find your soul colors.

The Charmed Life: Thriving Thursdays

We all need to give ourselves a health and happiness boost. This spell aimed at abetting menial and emotional well-being is best performed when the hardy spirit of Thor is in ascendance. On any Thursday, take a blue candle, dress it with cedar or bergamot oil, and say nine times:

Fears and woes — I take respite;
Worries and cares — you’re out of sight. 
Stronger and happier, I will grow each day; 
My soul has found its way.

If you do this for several weeks, your friends will notice as your health blooms and you simply beam with a bright, jolly and renewed sense of self and well-being.

A Happy (and Hoppy) Household Blessing

When you or a friend move into a new home, place a wreath or bundle of dried hops and eucalyptus on the front door. Walk through the door, light your favorite incense and a brown candle, and lie down in the center of the front room. Whisper:

House of my body, I accept your shelter. 
House of my spirit, I receive your blessings. 
Home to my heart, I am open to joy.
And so it is. And so it shall be.

Treasure Hunting Tea: A Medieval Charm

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

Power Up: Ritual Tools That Need Charging

You will need a symbol of each of the four elements—air, earth, fire, and water—such as: a candle for fire, incense for air, a cup or water, a bowl of salt.

One was to design your own ritual is to work with the four elements. Choose a symbol from the information here. Also let your instinct guide you to choose as you wish or what you are inspired by.
Take the new ritual tool and pass it through the scented smoke of the incense and say:

Now inspired with the breath of air.

Then pass the tool swiftly through the flame of the candle and say:

Burnished by fire.

Sprinkle the tool with water and say:

Purified by water.

Dip the tool into the bowl of salt and say:

Empowered by the earth.

Hold the tool before you with both hands and imagine an enveloping, warm white light purifying the tool. Now say:

Steeped in spirit and bright with light.

Place the cleansed tool upon your altar and say:

By craft made and by craft charged and changed, this tool [fill in the actual name: boline, Book of Shadows, etc.] I will use for the purpose of good in this world and in the realm of the gods and goddesses. I hereby consecrate this tool ______.

Other tools you will use in ritual are more intangible. These include your breath, your intuition, your psychic powers, and your ability to focus your mental powers and spiritual intentions. Because they are intangible, only your intention can purify them. From time to time, you will use colors, herbs, oils, crystals, and numbers. Many of these ritual correspondences and associations have been passed down through the centuries, whereas many of them were invented by modern authors. Information on them can be found in the appendices.

Crystals can also be charged. However, tools that come from nature and are not “manmade,” but are of divine design, such as flowers, feathers, and herbs, already contain an intrinsic magic of their own and can be used as you find them.

Your tools will collect and hold the magic that lives inside you. They will become instilled with your energy and stored at your altar or in your sacred space. They will become your power source and will magnify the strength of your ritual work. Your altar should be a place of peace and meditation where your spirit can soar. Adorned with your treasured objects and the tools of your practice, it is a place of focus where you can enrich your life through ritual. You can create a wellspring of spirit so you can live an enchanted life every single day.

You can also perform rituals and make magic without any tools or implements at all. Your intention alone is extremely powerful. This simple approach could be called “zen magic.” When you perform ritual in this way, you are one step closer to the methods by which early men and women created ceremonies.

Create Your Temple Sanctuary: Magical Mandalas and Sacred Space

Spiritual health is just as important as the other kind. Regular maintenance and what I call “inner work” is greatly abetted if you have sacred space where you feel at your best. If you don’t have access to a temple space, you can create a sacred temple space in your own home. The imprint of your own creativity is vital to your personal shrine; it should be decorated with things also made by your own hand. Ideally, your windows allow sacred light to fall upon your designs. This is an artistic endeavor; you are making sacred art. If you do your best work at night, be sure to have adequate lighting. It is also a good idea to reduce the possibilities of distractions and interruptions. It is strongly suggested to turn off phones and television, to create as peaceful an environment as possible.

Bless the space in a fashion of your own choosing with your favorite incense, candles and objects that represent deepest spirituality to you. A magical mandala will greatly enhance your sacred space. The word “mandala” is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean “circle,” a mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself—a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.

Pagan Zen Pick-Me-Up

The ancient pagan art of aromatherapy owes its newfound popularity to its remarkable capacity to heal the mind and alter the emotions. To enhance your spiritual health, combine the following essential oils in a dark colored bottle with a sealable cap:

Six drops lavender oil, four drops frankincense, six drops vanilla oil, and two ounces almond oil

Light your way to a healthier outlook by burning this Pagan Zen combination in an oil lamp or, for a quick pick-me-up, dab them onto light bulbs in your home or office. A soothing, meditative smell will soon develop you.

Treasure Hunting Tea: A Medieval Charm

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