Flowers of Fortune Altar Enchantment

The more you tend your altar, the more of your personal magic is inculcated in that sacred space. In regard to the great magical undertaking of your well-being, it is vital that you imbue your altar with your essence and your energy. For this enchantment, start at noon on Sunday and repeat through Saturday. Gather together:

• Photo of you
• Small pedestal
• Favorite piece of birthstone jewelry
• Vase filled with fresh water
• 4 of any of the following flowers: yellow daisy, yellow rose, sunflower, or lily

Take a photo of yourself that you love, one that represents you looking both healthful and joyful. Add symbols that represent you: a favorite ring or other jewelry, ideally, with your birthstone, Take the photos and symbol and place it on a pedestal on your altar. In front of the pedestal, place a small vase with four Flowers of Fortune. These posies will bring you abundance which includes both wealth and health. The yellow signifies the vigor and sun-blessed energy that will increase your strength and vivacity every time you speak the following spell:

On this earth and under these stars, I call upon the Gods to bring great help and good fortune to me, ______ (your name).

Place the beloved piece of jewelry on

In this air and through these waters, speed fortune here in my name of _____.

Now touch the stone in the ring.

Through the fire and through the rain, bring me gladness, goodwill, and great health!

To me here and now.

Remove the jewelry, place it back on your altar, and repeat the next day at noon. Each day, you should awaken feeling cheerier and more content.

Your Psychic Shield

You would not leave your house on a cold windy day without a sweater or jacket, right? I highly recommend you do not leave your house on a Monday morning without a psychic shield—you’ll thank yourself later. If every work week feels like a challenge with a huge workload, tons of meetings, presentations, calls, and interactions, you should erect a protective shield so you can do good work but emerge unscathed from all busyness and business with others.

Visualize whatever feels like a secret defense against unwarranted psychic intruders. Some folk see big castle doors or a drawbridge, others utilize an enclosing egg, and I have even heard of a big silver blanket as a shield, but I prefer a kind of “force field” shield that I put up or take down. I also use a mental hooded robe that I wear anytime I go out in a group where I feel unsure about the people. In my mind, I cloak myself in my silver robe and do a brief silent meditation. Also, the best defense is a strong, positive attitude and sense of self. The more you practice your meditation and creative visualization, the greater your skill will grow.

Awesome Altar Stones

Crystals are finally being acknowledged for their power to give greater physical strength and health, and can be added to your healing altar (see page 76). Turquoise stones are grounding, and agates raise the energy level. For good circulation, try carnelian. For keeping life on an even keel, the organic gem family— shells, corals, and abalone—is optimal. For impetus and motivation, work with carnelian. To boost your health and well-being, try red coral for the lungs, bloodstone for the heart, and moonstone during pregnancy.

Quick Tips:

Instant Inspiration

    * To lift your spirits, light a green candle and hold harmony-bringing jade while meditating.

    * Carrying a quartz crystal will create tranquility inside and around you.

    * If you’re feeling overwhelmed or under duress, hold black obsidian. If the stress is caused by an             overabundant workload, keep the obsidian on your desk. Obsidian absorbs the negative.

Chakra Crystals

The concept of chakras originated many thousands of years ago in Asia. The ancient philosophers and metaphysicians identified seven main energy centers around the body and saw each chakra emanating energy in the form of a rainbow color that affected the mental, physical, and spiritual balance in a human being. Chakra theory is the basis of many Eastern healing practices. One of the simplest ways to achieve well-being is to place crystals on the parts of the body where certain chakras are centered. Many people I know credit their clarity and well-being to chakra therapy. One sure way to relieve stress and fortify the emotional body is this laying on of crystals.

Chakra	Color	Energies	Corresponding Crystals
First, root (base of spine)	Red	Security, Survival	Garnet, Smoky Quartz
Second, sacral	Orange	Pleasure	Amber, Carnelian
Third, solar plexus	Yellow	Drive, Personal Power	Amber, Citrine, Topaz
Fourth, heart	Green	Abundance, Love, Serenity	Peridot, Rose Quartz
Fifth, throat	Blue	Creativity, Originality	Blue Quartz, Tiger’s-Eye
Sixth, third eye	Indigo	Intuitiveness, Perception	Fluorite, Lapis Lazuli
Seventh, crown	Violet	Holy Bliss, All Is One	Amethyst, Diamond

Space-Clearing Crystals

To clear and purify your space and infuse it with as much of your personal energy as possible, perform a ritual sweeping with a favorite broom. I use a sweet-smelling cinnamon broom. These are actually made of pine straw coated with divine-smelling cinnamon oil and set aside to dry for three weeks. Many a grocery store sells them in the fall and holiday seasons. My favorites are the tiny Trader Joe’s whisk-brooms, which are adorable. These make lovely gifts and altar adornments. I ornament mine with cleansing crystals by taking a colored silk cord and stringing quartz beads on them or gluing them to the base of the handle. These gems and crystals are superb for space-clearing and purification: 

• Amber for positivity and happiness
• Blue lace agate for serenity and a peaceful home
• Coral for well-being and good cheer
• Jet absorbs bad energy from your environment
• Onyx is a guardian stone and protector
• Petrified wood for tranquility and a sense of security
• Clear quartz is wonderful for peace of mind and space-clearing
• Tiger’s-eye protects from “psychic vampires,” energy-draining situations or people
• Turquoise creates calm and relaxation

Claim Your Health: A Clary Sage Incantation

Here is a handy spell for physical well-being as well as a self-esteem boost. For this witchy approach to preventive medicine, take a green candle on a Friday, dress it with clary sage oil, and speak the following three times:

    My health is mine, under this moon divine.

    I choose to be well as in this healthy body I dwell.

    No more pain and strife, vital breath of life.

    Harm to none; health to me.

    So mote it be.

Setting Daily Intentions for Health and Wellness

To embark upon lifelong well-being, you will need to bring this awareness to every day of your life. Regular health rituals will go a long way toward this becoming a daily intention. Adorn your altar with fresh flowers and candles in colors that represent healing: yellow, red, and green. Every morning for seven days, light the candles and contemplate your future self in an optimal state of health, speaking this spell:

    Today I arise on this glorious day

    Under this rising sun, hear me say:

    I will walk in wellness in every way

    For body, mind, and soul, I pray.

    Blessed be, and may it be so.

Banish Your Woes: A Thursday Candle Spell

We all need a health and happiness boost sometimes. This spell, aimed at supporting mental 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, light it, 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.

Altar for Healing and Wellness

Find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your table, just touching the floor. Take two candles in matching holders and place them on the two farthest corners. Place your incense burner exactly in the middle. If you don’t have a favorite incense yet, start with the ancient essence of frankincense. Select objects that appeal to you symbolically to place on your altar. I have a candlestick of purest amethyst crystal, my birthstone. When I gaze on the candle flame refracted through the beautiful purple gemstone, I feel the fire within me. This inculcates your altar with the magic that lives inside you, that lives inside all of us, and magnifies the ceremonial strength of your workspace. You should decorate your altar until it is utterly and completely pleasing to your eye. After you’ve been working spells for a bit, an energy field will radiate from your altar.

Fireplace altars today hearken back to this earliest custom. Home and hearth have primal appeal to the comfort of both body and soul. If you have a fireplace, it can become the very heart of your home. The fireplace is also one of the safest places for the ritual work of fire keeping. Sanctify your fireplace with a sprinkling of salt, and then set it up as an altar to the four seasons. Like the Vestal Virgins of old, you can keep a fire burning in a votive glass holder in the back of your fireplace and have an eternal flame. The fireplace can be your simplest altar and a reflection of the work of nature. If you don’t have a real fire in your fireplace, you can place in it beautiful sacred objects—pretty rocks, feathers, seashells, glistening crystals, beautiful leaves, and anything representing the holiest aspects of the world around you. Let nature be your guide.

Chaji: the Art of the Japanese Tea Ceremony

You might do well to go to a Japanese teahouse to fully experience the tea ceremony before you undertake one yourself, but don’t be intimidated if you cannot. As with all ritual, your intention is the most important aspect. I am fortunate that I live in San Francisco, home of one of the last North American Japantowns. Thus I have several options for tea services in this unique shopping district, where there is a Japanese tea garden near a Shinto shrine. Following are the steps to take in the Chaji, a full tea presentation.

Establish a chashits, which is the special room for the ceremony. If you are like me and don’t have a special room just for tea, clear out space in the living room and place pillows on the floor and set up a low table. I find it rather amusing that the stone basins whose purpose it is to provide cleansing water for the housemaster’s hands and mouth are now sold as fancy garden ornaments for those modern folks who like a Zen look for their house. Establish a peaceful environment—no clutter; perhaps set out a lovely flower such as a single orchid or artfully arranged flowers in the high art form of Japanese flower arranging, ikebana. A Japanese teahouse has no distracting decor and is the ultimate in simplicity and serenity. One decoration, the exquisite scroll painting kakemono, is carefully chosen by the host. Choose a painting or drawing to represent the spiritual sense you want to suggest to your guests through the ceremony. I have friends who have done some kanji characters in the brush painting style to express the emotions they felt at that moment. A light and clean scented Japanese incense is the perfect energetic balancer and cleanser. Now you will take on the role of the host: the teishi, or housemaster.

Invite four people, the traditional and ideal number, and offer them hot water for the tea, referred to as sayu. The guests are to choose someone to act as the hanto, or “main guest.” In formal Japanese tea ceremony, the host actually has a guest who is the hanto. The main guest is not set apart by hierarchy; it is just an arbitrary selection by the host to have

a person with whom to engage first in the formalities of this high ritual. Also, there is an anteroom for a reception and a special flowerless garden that has been anointed with water for the purpose of offering a place for the guests to shrug off the cares and grime with which the world burdens them. This garden without flowers is the roji, or “dew ground.” After leaving the mundane world behind, the guests go to a waiting bench called the koshikake machiaii. Complete silence reigns as the housemaster takes the guests through a symbolic gate in order to leave the material and physical world behind, and enter into the magical realm of the tea ceremony.

While the Chaji could easily take up its very one book, the way any Westerner can enjoy the spiritual aspects of tea is to receive the gift of tea from the master, pass it around, and share it with the other guests. The gift of tea is the gift of fire and water, yang and yin. Taking tea in this ritualized style is to help keep the world in balance, to escape the material world for a time, and then to return, refreshed and rebalanced.

Inspiration Infusions

Along with healing and energizing properties, herbal teas can aid the mind. Try the following blends:

• Bergamot dissipates negativity and uplifts.
• Basil lends a sense of serenity.
• Rosemary supports physical well-being.
• Orange creates sheer joy. 

Healing Altar: Crafting Well-Being

 Creating a healing altar will safeguard your physical health and that of your loved ones. Your altar is your sacred workspace. It is charged with your personal power. Set up your healing altar facing north, the direction associated with the energy of manifestation. North is also the direction of the hour of midnight, the “witching hour,” and an altar set up facing north at midnight promises potent magic.

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

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

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 colors of the energy radiating out from your body.

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

• Brown: the color of humility and poverty; it represents safety and the home and is also often associated with agriculture and grounding.
• Gray: the color of grief and mourning; it symbolized resurrection in medieval times. Gray is the first color the human eye can perceive in infancy.
• Black: protection and strength; it fortifies your personal energies and gives them more inner authority. Black 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; it indicates a lunar connection or female energy.
• Gold: direct connection to God or the sun; it 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. You may recall from earlier in this book 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 when the letters are strung together: 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.

Baking Soda Basics

Baking soda is great in a bath if your skin is irritated, especially if the cause is poison oak or ivy, as the soda will help dry up wet blisters as well as greatly reducing the itch. Applying a baking soda and water paste to the site of a bee sting or other insect bite will neutralize the pain and itch. Just remove the actual stinger first, and then smooth on the baking soda paste for instant relief.

A headache can be treated with a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a cup of warm water with ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Last but not least, whiten your teeth and freshen your breath by brushing with baking soda and water.

Aloe Vera Juice and Gel

As a topical application, aloe vera gel is great for all kinds of burns, including sunburn. It has been shown to have therapeutic value in the healing of skin lesions caused by psoriasis. The juice is a great general tonic as it is recommended as an aid to digestion, a stimulus for intestinal health, and a gentle colon cleanse. Aloe vera is one of the few vegetarian sources of vitamin B12 and contains nineteen amino acids, twenty minerals, and twelve vitamins, all of which have a beneficial effect on general health. Drinking four to eight ounces daily diluted in juice or taken neat is recommended, but even just a couple of times a week will be beneficial.

Garlic Is Good for Everything

Garlic is well-known for its ability to protect against infection and should be used regularly (to taste!) in your cooking. It is also known to reduce cholesterol levels and can be helpful in lowering blood pressure. Rich in vitamins A, B, and C, garlic is an excellent source of minerals: selenium, iodine, potassium, iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium. The active component in garlic is allicin, a sulfur compound produced when garlic is chopped, chewed, or bruised. It is powerful as an antibiotic and helps the body inhibit the ability of germs to grow and reproduce. When preparing garlic, cut or crush the cloves, then let the garlic rest for ten minutes before cooking or eating to allow the allicin to develop. Garlic is cited as therapeutic for the treatment of many health conditions, such as both high and low blood pressure, heart problems, and asthma, as well as being acknowledged as an anti-cancer agent and a preventative for colds and other infections.

Although garlic pills are available, raw garlic is just as effective and considerably cheaper. For a simple garlic tonic to guard against colds or just to boost your general health, crush a couple of cloves and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Taking a spoonful of garlic in olive oil works well if you don’t like the taste or are fearful of unappealingly garlicky breath.

At the onset of an earache, take a peeled clove, wrap it in a little fabric such as cheesecloth, and stick it in your sore ear, taking care not to insert it too deeply. Leave it there overnight, and you will feel some relief by the morning.

Ginger Is Your Go-To for Getting Better Quickly

Ginger is indicated for a sore throat and is a good addition to a hot toddy for cold symptoms. Ginger is known to alleviate indigestion, general nausea, upset tummy, morning sickness, and stomach flu. Ginger tea has a very pleasant taste, and you can either buy it in tea bags or gently simmer slices of fresh ginger root on a low burner to make the tea yourself; I recommend using the fresh ginger root for maximum taste and potency. Arthritic pain can be treated with ginger, too; three to four grams (about a tenth of an ounce) daily is recommended, and ginger can also be taken either in capsules or as tinctures.

First Aid Tip

When you are getting over an illness, eat light broths, either vegetable or chicken. Broths are easy to digest, saving your body’s energy for recovery.

Bless Your Body Meditation

Whenever you have made a batch of salts, scrubs, or magic potions, whether for your own use or as a gift, you should stop and count your health blessings with this mindfulness practice.

Sit in a comfortable position with your bottle of potions placed in a bowl or dish in front of you. Think about the blessings in your life and what gifts your particular item offers; visualize your skin and hair gleaming with vitality. Picture your loved ones wearing a big smile as they use your handmade remedies. What are you grateful for at this moment? There is a powerful magic in recognizing all that you possess and in having an attitude of gratitude. Breathe steadily and deeply, inhaling and exhaling slowly for twenty minutes. As you meditate, send the positive energy into the bowl containing your personal potions. Now, the blessings are there any time you or a loved one may need them.

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.

Jet

Jet is a stone but is organic—petrified wood found all over the world in deposits dating back to the Stone Age. It is a tough form of lignite coal that is polished to a glossy sheen, unlike ordinary coal. Jet is black and extremely hard. It has been with us since prehistory and was found to have been used for both tools and jewels in the caves ancient Egyptians lived in.

Native Americans also wore jet in powerful amulets. Jet is an energy absorber and has been used as such for centuries; it has been used for many disparate cures, from insanity to the common cold. The absorbency, however, makes it truly great for dispelling fear, and though it obviously can’t cure mental illness, it can help stabilize mood swings and stave off debilitating depression. Jet is used to treat headaches, edema, and epilepsy. Anyone who suffers from migraines should carry a jet amulet to ease both the pain and the fear around those difficult episodes. Jet is also a potent treatment for enhancing virility. The stone is best served by a silver mounting into jewelry. Jet is a useful dream stone and can send forewarning of sorrowful events. Despite that, jet is a stone of the positive, creating optimism and improved money energy.

Flint

Flint is probably not thought of as a crystal, let alone as a healing crystal, but it is a variety of quartz whose crystal structure is not visible to the eye. Flint most commonly occurs in the form of rounded nodules in a grayish black color. If it is found near chalk, it will have a white coating. Flint can also be red or brown in color, and it is found all over the world.

Early humans in the Stone Age cultures of the Pleistocene era appreciated the hardness of this practical crystal, and they used it to make crude tools and spearheads. More-modern men used flint to set off the gunpowder in flintlock guns. It is unfortunate that flint came to be so relied upon for weapons, as its energy can actually be very beneficial to the tissue of the human body. Flint gives an allover sense of well-being, not just in the body but also in the mind. The special gift flint gives is a renewed sense of strength and gentle healing power to those suffering from degenerative diseases. Flint in your home will ground you and create a sense of safety and comfort.