Manifesting the Positive In Your Life

Sowing the Seeds of Change

Nature is the ultimate creator. Get an array of seed packets, and plant newness in your life. If your thumb is not the greenest, I suggest nasturtiums, which will grow in any soil and seem to thrive on neglect.

On a new-moon day, draw a square in your yard or planter with a natural wand—a willow branch or an oak stick, for example—and mark each corner with a candle and a stone:

-orange candle and stone for higher intelligence (onyx or jasper),

-green candle and stone for creativity and growth (jade, peridot, or malachite),

-blue candle and stone for serenity and goodness (lapis lazuli, turquoise, or celestite),

-white candle and stone for purification (Herkimer diamond, quartz, or limestone).

Repeat this chant as you light each candle:

“Great Gaia, I turn to you to help me renew,

Under this new moon and in this old earth. Blessed be.”

Poke the seeds under the soil with your fingers and tramp them down with your wand. Gently water your new-moon garden, and affirmative change will begin that very day.

Crystals and Gems for Pain Relief: Pretty and Pretty Darn Effective!

Pain Relief Prisms

When you feel pain somewhere in your body, it is a small voice that needs to be listened to. It could be old energy that needs to be released or a blockage or imbalance. I was in a hit-and-run auto accident where I was hit by a drunk driver who plowed through a red light and totaled my car, and very nearly me. As I hit the brake, my foot and ankle were shattered, rather like a porcelain teacup thrown with great force. The doctors wanted to amputate my leg, but I managed to talk them out of it. I had to learn to walk again, but I can walk and even dance and run again after lots of physical therapy and healing. But nowadays whenever I hit the brake too hard, I feel pain because my body remembers. The tissue and bones old the memory imprint of that awful day and the terrible trauma.

Crystals have very mild and serene ways of tranquilizing negative energy and releasing the pain. In my case, I ever so gently rub the crystal across my ankle. (Carnelian works well because it is said to be good for healing bones, but quartz can also serve the purpose.) The stone feels cool and calming as the pain dissipates. I can also visualize the pain going into the crystal, and the crystal forming a prism that contains the pain. At first, this was very frightening for me, but I found that rose quartz helped me deal with my fear. I placed the rose quartz over the heart area, the solar plexus, and as the crystal touched upon the heart chakra, I felt the fear dissolving while the pain gradually lessened. Turquoise and carnelian are also good for this.

I once had a copper bracelet set with onyx, coral, and turquoise from a Cherokee reservation that was so effective at treating wrist pain that it finally disintegrated from overuse. Copper is unmatched for dealing with edema, the swelling and inflammation that can be caused by arthritis, repetitive stress injuries, sports-related soreness, and many other issues.

Malachite has a lot of the mineral copper in it, so a pendant, ring, or bracelet with malachite can be a great agent for pain reduction. Iron-rich magnetite is another pain absorber.

The Wonder of Wands: Think Gandalf, Not Harry Potter!

I see many gorgeous, crystal-encrusted wands for sale in metaphysical five-and-dimes, and I am sure they are super-powered. Bear in mind, though, that it is a wonderful thing indeed to make your own wand. Star with a tree branch that has fallen to the ground on its own. Sand and polish the rough edges, as it is a wand and not a weapon. Then give it a good smudging. Hot-glue a large quartz crystal onto the wand near the handle, and hot-glue on any crystals featuring properties that will complement your magic. Citrine makes an excellent pointer tip for your wand and aligns your self-identity with your spirit. And, after all, isn’t that the point? Here are stones I recommend for harnessing various powers with wands:

-amber for grounding,

-amethyst for balance and intuition,

-aventurine for creative visualization,

-bloodstone for abundance and prosperity,

-calcite for warding off negativity,

-carnelian for opening doors for you and helping you overcome any family problems,

-chalcedony for power over dark spirits,

-citrine for getting motivated and attracting money and success,

-fluorite for communicating with fairies and other unseen beings,

-garnet for protection from gossip,

-geode for getting through periods of extreme difficulty,

-hematite for strength and courage,

-jade for wisdom to interpret or realize powerful dreams,

-jasper for stability,

-lodestone for bringing a lover back into your life,

-mahogany obsidian for feeling sexy and emanating sensuality,

-moss agate for powers of persuasion and healing,

-quartz crystal for divining your dreams,

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

-rose quartz for love

-turquoise for safety when traveling, and

-watermelon tourmaline for help with planning your best possible future.

Gather the Angels to Help You With Whatever You Need

Calling All Angels

You can access your intuition and prophetic capabilities and also call for angelic assistance with this  ritual. You’ll need these ingredients: one celestite stone and one palmful each of ground cloves, dried sage, and amber incense. If you celestate isn't easily available at your nearest metaphysical shop, a light sky blue stone will substitute. When you are able, do get celestite which offers direction angelic connection and is simply lovely. 

With a mortar and pestle, mix the herbs together. Place the heavenly blue celestite in front of you and say aloud three times:

Calling all angels!
Come and play.
Be with me now
And show me how
To make my way.

Burn the herbs in your fireplace or in a dish while gazing at the celestite and concentrating on a question, such as whether to take a new job or end a relationship. Use this time to cleanse your mind of all concerns, worries, and thoughts, making way for pure insight. Answers will come, and angels always give you a sign that they have visited. It can come in the form of an amazing coincidence, a song on the radio, or some other sweet surprise.

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.

Happy Celtic New Year!

Halloween stems from the grand tradition of the Celtic New Year. What started as a folk festival celebrated by small groups in rural areas has come to be the second largest holiday of today. There are multitudinous reasons including modern marketing but I think it satisfies a basic human need, to let your “wild side” out, to be free and more connected with the ancient ways.  This is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest and you can commune with the other side, with elders and the spirit world. It is important to honor the ancestors during this major sabbat and acknowledge what transpired in the passing year as well as set intentions for the coming year.

 This is the ideal time to invite your circle; the ideal number for your “coven” is 13. Gather powdered incense, salt, a loaf of bread, goblets for wine, and three candles to represent the triple goddess for altar offerings.  Ideally on an outdoor stone altar, pour the powdered incense into a pentagram star shape. Let go of old sorrows, angers and anything not befitting of new beginnings in this New Year Bring only your best to this auspicious occasion.

Light the candles and say:

In honor of the Triple Goddess on this sacred night of Samhain,

All the ancient ones

From time before time

To those behind the veil.

Rap the altar three times and light the incense. Say this blessing aloud:

For this bread, wine, and salt,

We ask the blessings of Mother, Maiden and Crone,

And the gods who guard the Gate of the World.

Sprinkle salt over the bread, eat the bread and drink the wine.

Each of the celebrants should come to the altar repeating the bread and wine blessing. After this, be seated and everyone in turn should name those on the other side and offer thanks to ancestors and deities. This can and should take a long time as we owe much to loved ones on the other side.