What is Your Power Flower?

Potpourri went out of fashion for a long time and I am so very glad it regained popularity some years back. Potpourri was a medieval tradition revived by the Victorians, who used the symbolic meanings and powers of flowers. Grow them in your kitchen garden or buy cut flowers. Dry them; then place them in a pretty container. Choose flowers that you are drawn to or connect with your personal energy.

Choose flowers that connect with your astrological sign and personal energy from the following list:

Aries, ruled by Mars: carnation, cedar, clove, cumin, fennel, juniper, peppermint, and pine

Taurus, ruled by Venus: apple, daisy, lilac, magnolia, oak moss, orchid, plumeria, rose, thyme, tonka bean, vanilla, violet

Gemini, ruled by Mercury: almond, bergamot, mint, clover, dill, lavender, lemongrass, lily, parsley

Cancer, ruled by the Moon: eucalyptus, gardenia, jasmine, lemon, lotus, rose, myrrh, sandalwood

Leo, ruled by the Sun: acacia, cinnamon, heliotrope, nutmeg, orange, rosemary

Virgo, ruled by Mercury: almond, cypress, bergamot, mint, mace, moss, patchouli

Libra, ruled by Venus: catnip, marjoram, mugwort, spearmint, sweet pea, thyme, vanilla

Scorpio, ruled by Pluto: allspice, basil, cumin, galangal, ginger

Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter: anise, cedar wood, sassafras, star anise, honeysuckle

Capricorn, ruled by Saturn: mimosa, vervain, vetiver

Aquarius, ruled by Uranus: gum, almond, acacia, cypress, lavender, mimosa, peppermint, pine

Pisces, ruled by Neptune: anise, catnip, clove, gardenia, lemon, orris, sarsaparilla, sweet pea

Protection Magic: A Spell in a Bottle

To ensure that your kitchen is peaceful, secure and grounded in “good vibrations,” gather a teaspoon of clean, dry soil from outside your home and put it into a bottle with smoky quartz crystal, or brown jasper any dark, earthen-colored semiprecious stone. Place the bottle in a potted herb on your windowsill and think about the sanctity of your space every time you water your plant. As your plant grows and thrives, so will the tranquility of your space.

For Love:

A bottle with a rosebud or rose petal, rose essential oil and rose quartz next to your bedside will help with love. For six days, rub oil from the bottle onto a pink candle and burn it for one hour. On the seventh day, your romantic prospect will brighten.

For Luck and Abundance:

For luck with money, place three pennies and some pyrite, green jade or peridot in a bottle and put it on your desk or workspace.  At least three times a day, visualize a lot of money and shake the magic money bottle. After three days, your fortunes will improve.

Create a 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.

DIY Ambrosial Brews: Healing Herbal Teas

Become An Alchemist: Lunar Libation

No matter what sign or moon  phase,  witch’s brews can improve your life. Tea conjures a very powerful alchemy because when you drink it, you take the magic inside. For an ambrosial brew with the power to calm any storm, add a sliver of ginger root and a pinch each of chamomile and peppermint to a cup of hot black tea. Before you drink, pray:

            This day I pray for calm, for health,

            And the wisdom to see the beauty of each waking moment.

            Blessings abound.

            So mote it be.

Herbal teas can also nourish the soul and heal the body:

Blueberry leaf tea reduces mood swings, evens glucose levels, and helps varicose veins.

Nettle raises the energy level, boosts the immune system, and is packed with iron and vitamins.

Fennel awakens and uplifts, freshens the breath, and aids colon health.

Echinacea lends an increased and consistent sense of well-being, and prevents colds and flu.

Ginger root calms and cheers while aiding digestion, nausea, and circulation.

Dandelion root grounds and centers, provides many minerals and nutrients, and cleanses the liver of toxins. 

Ions and Eons of Contentment: Salt Lamp Spell

Your entry way is where things cross the threshold into your realm. Energy management starts right at the front door. One way to keep a constant vigil on this is by having a Himalayan salt lamp in front room. Salt is one of Mother Nature’s greatest protectors as it cleanses your environment of ill-omens and bad spirits. These lovely blocks of rosy-hued salt produce negative ions when warm; the very thing that makes a beach day by the ocean so cheering are those ions. A simple DIY way to have your negative ions and enjoy them, too, is to buy a batch of rock salt chunks at your nearby new age store or even a gourmet shop. Making sure you are nearby an electrical socket, take a metal or wire bowl and place a small light bulb in the bottom center of the basket, Genltly stack the rock salt over the bulb and plug it into the socket.  The rock salt crystals will have the glow of an early morning sun. You’ll immediately enjoy the gentle soft pink glow of light and as the rocks warm up, your mood will begin to lift. As a double benefit, the salt will constantly cleanse the energy in your home and keep it light and bright. 

To consecrate your new energy management center, hold one of the rocks and speak this spell:

 I  hold this salt, beauty of the green earth and the ocean,

I hold this wish for a happy and peaceful home to come soon.

May all be merry and bright far and near.

 May all find contentment who enter hear. Blessed be!

Celebrating Abundance: A Thanksgiving Ritual

This day of giving thanks denotes the high point of the year; the crops are in their fullness, weather is warm and the countryside is bursting forth with the beauty of life. Pagans know we have the heavens above to thank for this and the gods of nature must be acknowledged for their generosity with a gathering of the tribe and a feast, ideally in the great outdoors.  Ask  invitees to bring harvest-themed offerings for the altar: gourds, pumpkins, bundles of wheat stalks and corn, fresh pickings from their garden and food to share in thanksgiving made from the same- pies, tomato salads, cucumber pickles, green beans, corn pudding, watermelon, lemon cakes, berry cucumber, apple cider and beer brewed from wheat, hops and barley. This celebration of the reapings from the summer season should reflect what you grown with your own hands. Fill your cauldron or a big beautiful colored glass bowl half-full with freshly-drawn water. Get packets of tiny votive candles for floating in the water. At the feast table, make sure to have a place-setting for the godly guest Lugh who watched over the plantings to ensure this bounty. Place loaves of home baked bread by his plate.

When all guests have arrived, everyone should add a food offering to the plate of the god and light a candle to float in the cauldron.  Cut a slice of the loaf of bread for Lugh and begin the ceremony with this prayer of thanks:

Oh, ancient Lugh of the fields and farms,

We invite you here with open arms,

In this place between worlds, in flowering fields of hay.

You have brought the blessings we receive this ThanksgivingDay.

Begin the feast and before the dessert course, everyone should go around the table and speak to their gratitude for the gifts of the year

Blessing Bowl Ritual

While a bowl is not a tool in and of itself, you can utilize bowls in your spellwork often and anytime you are inspired to do so. Three simple ingredients, a red rose, a pink candle and water can bestow a powerful blessing. The rose signifies beauty, potential, the sunny seasons, love for yourself and others. The candle stands for the element of fire, the yellow flame of the rising sun in the east, harmony, higher intention and the light of the soul. Water represents its own element, flow, the direction of the west, emotions and cleansing. This ritual can be performed alone or with a group in which you pass the bowl around.

Float the rose in a clear bowl of water and light a pink candle beside the bowl. With your left hand, gently stir the water in the bowl and say:

These waters cleanse my soul and being,

Now, with a clear mind and heart, I am seeing,

I am love; my heart is a big as sky and earth.

From the east to the west, love universal gives life its worth.

Blessings to all, so mote it be.

Keep the blessing bowl on your kitchen altar for three days and three nights, Dry the red rose and keep it on your nightstand or desk where it will always fill your heart with love,