Let Your Light Shine: A First Impression Spell

Are you going to an interview, meeting an artist’s representative, or speaking to your new editor? Clearly, you will want to make the best impression when launching this important new relationship. To ensure that you start on the right footing, gather the following ingredients: oranges, an orange candle, a glass of orange juice, vanilla beans, vanilla incense, and pumpkin seeds. All of these contain the properties of sharpness, intelligence, and clarity.

In the first light of morning, light the orange candle and the vanilla incense. Eat half of the orange and five pumpkin seeds, drink the orange juice, and watch as the glow of sunshine fills the room with the radiant energy of the orange sun. Chant:

    Sol, I bask in your bountiful rays,

    this and all days.

    As you shine, so shall I.

    So mote it be.

Snuff out your candle and be prepared for a productive new relationship that will carry your work to new heights.

Sigil Spell for Hope

Carving symbols onto your candles is a simple and profound way to deepen your magic. What symbols are meaningful to you? Certain crosses, vines, flowers, hieroglyphs, and many other images have deep magical associations, so you should feel free to delve in and experiment to find the symbols that work best for you in your spells. The term “sigils” is derived from the word seal. A sigil is a magical glyph or symbol that is used in ritual to deepen focus or intensify magical powers. Methods for devising sigils for spellwork include using the planetary glyphs of astrology, runes, Enochian tablets, letters, numbers, or even mystical cyphers such as hermetic crosses or kabalistic signs.

If you are like me and have the artistic skill of a toddler, you can simply carve hearts, suns, and stars into the sides of your pillar candles. Whenever I am feeling low or distressed, I cast the following sigil spell. I take a bright yellow pillar candle and carve a sun into the side. Then I light my candle and intone:

    Sol, our star,

    bring your light

    which none can mar.

    Burn long and bright;

    keep bad news afar.

    Send negativity out of sight.

    So mote it be.

I then meditate on the candle flame and just breathe in and envision sunnier days.

Sun-Infused Flower Essences

For centuries, flower essences have been used to heal many infirmities (see list below). While the health food shop versions are handy, they are also very spendy. You can make your own flower essences at home. Start by making a mother essence—the most concentrated form of the essence—which can then be used to make stock bottles. The stock bottles are used to make dosing bottles for the most diluted form of the essence, which is what you actually take.

What you will need to make a sun-infused mother essence:

• 3 quarts of fresh pure spring water or distilled water, 3 quarts
• Clear glass 2½-quart mixing bowl
• An 8-ounce sealable bottle made of dark green, blue, or green glass
• Organic brandy or vodka
• Freshly picked flowers specific to the malady being treated
• Clean, dry cheesecloth for straining.

Ideally, you begin early in the morning and pick your chosen flowers by nine o’clock at the latest. This all ensures three hours of sunlight before the noon hour, after which the sunlight is less effective, or even draining.

Fill the bowl with the fresh water; to avoid touching them, place the flowers very carefully on the surface of the water using tweezers or chopsticks to gently add blooms until the water’s surface is covered. Let the bowl sit in the sun for three to four hours or until the flowers begin to fade.

Now, delicately remove the flowers, being careful not to touch the water with your fingers. Fill your colored glass bottle with the strained flower essence water and top the other half off with the organic brandy or vodka (40 percent proof is advised to prolong the shelf life to three months if stored in a cool, dark cupboard). This is your mother tincture; label it with the date and the name of the flower, such as, Rose Water, July 14, 2021.” Use any remaining essence water to water the flowers you’ve been working with and murmur a prayer of gratitude for their beauty and healing power.

To make a stock bottle from your mother tincture, fill a one ounce (thirty ml) dropper bottle ¾ full of brandy, top it up with ¼ spring water, then add three drops of the mother tincture. This will last at least three months, enabling you to make lots of dosing bottles, which are the ones from which you actually take the flower essence.

To make the dosage bottle for any flower essence just add two or three drops of the stock bottle to another thirty ml dropper bottle of ¼ brandy and ¾ distilled water. Anytime, you need some of this gentle medicine, place four drops of this under your tongue or sip in a glass of water four times a day or as often as you feel the need. You can’t overdose on flower remedies, though more frequent, rather than larger, doses are much more effective.

Flower essences mixed with one ounce (thirty ml) of pure spring water or distilled water can also be used to help the following conditions:

• Addiction: skullcap, agrimony
• Anger: nettle, blue flag, chamomile
• Anxiety: garlic, rosemary, aspen, periwinkle, lemon balm, white chestnut, gentian
• Bereavement: honeysuckle
• Depression: borage, sunflower, larch, chamomile, geranium, yerba santa, black cohosh, lavender, mustard
• Exhaustion: aloe, yarrow, olive, sweet chestnut
• Fear: poppy, mallow, ginger, peony, water lily, basil, datura
• Heartbreak: heartsease, hawthorn, borage
• Lethargy: aloe, thyme, peppermint
• Stress: dill, echinacea, thyme, mistletoe, lemon balm
• Spiritual blocks: oak, ginseng, lady’s slipper

Ruby

This gem is ruled by the energy of the sun and was considered to be the stone of nobility. One of the most precious of all gems, ruby is at least as valuable as diamond—and is more valuable than diamond if unflawed. The red beauty is especially revered in China and India, where it is seen as a harbinger of health and happiness. In days long past, both these countries believed that a fading of the stone warned of impending problems. Like most other stones in the pink and red shade of the spectrum, ruby is a heart stone and corresponds strongly with this chakra. Ruby heals the heart and carries the red ray of emotional wellness through the expression of love. This divine energy and as such there is a striving for the highest love vibration. Ruby brings joy into your life and gives you permission to follow your bliss.

Most commonly found in India, Sri Lanka, and North America, this jewel comes in a range of colors, from a really vivid red to a deep purplish crimson. The most valuable occurrence of this precious stone is the delicate rose color. You should be careful before selecting any ruby, as this gem is another energy amplifier. Ruby will magnify whatever energy is there to begin with, whether is positive or negative. Its energy is extremely intense. Ruby’s red color can quickly give rise to passions of a romantic and sexual nature as well as of anger and rage. You must bear this in mind when wearing ruby and remain conscious of your feelings.

People who do energy work and healing say that this gem can fill in and repair holes in the aura. Ruby affects the root chakra and is therefore connected to our most primal drives as humans—sex and survival. Ruby is a stone of loyalty, confidence and courage. It will protect you. If you are exhausted, this wonder worker will replenish your drained chi and restore you to peak levels of vitality, strength, and stamina. Ruby is also said to eliminate blockages of the reproductive system and encourage healthy energy flow. It is even good for hypoglycemia.

I love this jewel because it helps overcome and eradicate negative thought patterns and habits. Ruby holds the singular power of love for the self and for others. If set in white or yellow gold, ruby’s regenerative love power is greatly enhanced.

Chrysolite

This stone, also known as olivine or as peridot, its popular name, is commonly found among the crystal meteorites, with a glassy luster and a great degree of hardness coming from the mountainous regions of Russia, North America, and Italy.

A common mistake people make with the green or yellow versions of this stone is to confuse them with topaz. Chrysolite has long-held associations with the sun and solar energies as well as the month of August. For centuries it has been used to drive away evil spirits and madness. It is a stone of hope, having the capacity to free the self from sorrow and despair. If you are going through an especially difficult time, wear chrysolite until you have gotten past the pain.

This cheerful crystal gives inspiration. Chrysolite is a creativity crystal. It frees the imagination and counteracts negativity. For people who feel hampered by the rules of society and unable to truly express themselves and their inner beings, this stone is a great boost to personal freedom. Depressives can also find solace here. Chrysolite provides ease to those who feel careworn and overburdened. This uplifting stone also lends better psychic insight and receptivity, a great aid to meditation.

Chrysolite is a cleanser believed to assist the appendix and help with detoxifying the intestinal tract. Detox your body and mind with cheery chrysolite.