Sea Change- Releasing Ritual

A bath blessing that will both relax and purify you is a rare and wonderful thing. To prepare yourself, place one quart of rough sea salt or Epson salts in a large bowl. Add the juice from six freshly squeezed lemons, 1/2 cup of sesame oil, and a few drops of rose and jasmine oils. Stir until the mixture is completely moistened. You can add more sesame oil if necessary, but do not add more lemon, as it will make the mixture overly astringent and potentially irritating to your skin.

When your tub is one-third full, add one-quarter of the salt mixture under the faucet. Breathe in deeply ten times, inhaling and exhaling fully before you do this recitation. You may start to feel a tingling at the crown of your head. The water should still be running when you proclaim:

Thalassa, O Harmonious One,
Goddess and mistress, I ask your guidance. 
Remove from me any impurities
Of heart, spirit, and mind. I open myself to you. 
My wish is to once again become whole,
Free of pain, sadness, and all that is better in me.

When the tub is full, it is time to step inside and breathe deeply ten more times. Repeat the prayer to the sea goddess Thalassa, and use the rest of the salt to gently massage your body. Rest and rejuvenate as long as you like, allowing yourself to feel refreshed and renewed by the ministrations of this Greek goddess from whom eloquence, inspiration and blessings flow.

Domestic Goddesses

A form of magic handed down from antiquity is to have a domestic goddess figure in your home; archaeologists have found them amongst the most ancient artifacts. It is a wonderful energy generator to have such a figurine decorating your home altar. The most important consideration is to choose the divinity with whom you feel the deepest connection.

Which of these beneficent beings do you identify with?

Agnayi – For the Indian subcontinent, she is the equivalent of Vesta as a domestic fire goddess.

Ashnan – Here we have a Sumerian grain goddess and protector of the fields. She is depicted in Babylonian imagery from ancient times as a beautiful young woman handing worshipful men a single stalk of grain.

Athena – The wisdom goddess also rules over battle. Call upon her to help resolve any disagreements. Under her domain is the owl and also olive trees. She stopped wars in ancient times with the offerings of an olive branch.

Bast – Egypt’s cat goddess who protected the lands. Bast has childbirth, healing, passion, pleasure, happiness and, of course, cats under her sphere of influence. Bast can come into your life in the form of a stray cat, a familiar, and can become a real guardian for your hearth and home.

Brigid – This Celtic solar goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing existed long before the Catholic Church adopted her and canonized her as a saint. She is a protectress of all animals and children. Brigid can be invoked to bless your kitchen tools—pots, pans and knives can all have the strength of this bright being, forged by the fire of the sun.

Cerridwen – I was named in honor of an aspect of this Triple Goddess. She is of deep elder wisdom. In Welsh legend, Cerridwen represents the crone, which is the darker aspect of the goddess. She has powers of prophecy, and is the keeper of the cauldron of knowledge and inspiration in the Underworld. She is a mother goddess who makes sure to feed her followers and minds the fields.

The Eye Goddess – This most ancient of Mediterranean deities is depicted as an all-seeing eye and represents justice. No transgression can be hidden from the eye goddess. Dating back to 3500 B.C.E., she is often depicted as a single, unblinking eye. Anytime you need the truth brought to light, call up her. She can also protect from thieves by hanging her eye in your windows; she is an excellent resident in your magical kitchen. She is mistaken for the “evil eye,” but is a benevolent presence who will watch out for you and yours 24/7.

Hathor – This “cow goddess” represents life, beloved in ancient Egypt for her ability to bring fertility. Hathor was also associated with royalty, and her priests were artists, dancers, trained midwives and seers. As the celestial cow, she held the golden disk of the sun between her horns. Hathor’s other sacred animals include the lion, cobra, falcon and the hippopotamus. The sacred sistrum, a rattle used in ritual, was used to summon her. Mirrors were also her sacred tool. During spring rains and floods, you can stage a ritual dance for her to sanctify the joy of life and bless your newly planted gardens.

Juno – The Latin word for a female soul is juno, and Romans depended on this generous presence to watch over the daughters of the earth; she is regarded as the mother of all women and can be invoked for any magical gathering of women. Her special domain is as a protector of brides. When preparing feasts and cakes for wedding nuptials, ask Juno to bring her brightest blessings.

Persephone – Daughter of Athena, Persephone is bidden to spend half her time in the underworld with her husband, Hades. She is a harbinger of the change to the warmer seasons, as she rises from the dark world after the winter seasons, bringing spring and the growing season with her. The pomegranate is her significator. Invoke her for rites of spring.

Thalassa is a benevolent Greed goddess of the oceans, and part of a great pantheon of the seas including fresh water lake and river goddesses. She is invoked by individuals seeking to usher in change and self-transformation.

Love Goddess Invocation

The Goddess of Love, Venus, rules this most popular day of the week, Friday. Small wonder this is the night for a tryst. To prepare yourself for a night of lovemaking, you should take a Goddess bath with the following potion in a special cup or bowl. I call mine the Venus Vial. Combine:

• One cup sesame oil

• Six drops orange blossom oil 

• Four drops gardenia oil

Stir with your fingers six times, silently repeating three times:

I am daughter of Venus, I embody love. 
My body is a temple of pleasure,
And I am all that is beautiful. Tonight,
I will drink fully from the cup of love.

Pour the Venusian mixture into a steaming bath and meditate on your evening plans. As you rise from your bath, repeat the Venus spell once more.

Don’t use a towel, but allow yourself to dry naturally. Your lover will compliment the softness of your skin, and indeed, you will be at your sexiest. The rest is up to you.

New Moon Crystal Shrine

To enchant all of your jewelry, you need to create an altar for this express purpose. You can prepare the way for letting crystal and gem magic into your life, and focusing your desires and dreams, with a crystal-magic altar. If you already have an altar in place, incorporate some of the following elements. The more you use your altar, the more powerful your spells will be.

Your gem-magic altar can be a low table, the top of a chest, or even a shelf. First, you must purify the space with the smoke of a sage bundle. This is called smudging, and is essential in clearing energy to make way for magic. You can use wild sage or purchase it at any herb store or metaphysical five and dime.

Once you have smudged the space, cover your altar with your favorite fabric; I recommend the color white. Place a candle in each corner. I prefer candles of many colors to represent the rainbow array of gems. Place gems and crystals of your choice around the candles. Rose quartz is a heart stone, and fluorite is a calming crystal, so these are good choices for grounding yourself, particularly if your altar is in your bedroom, as many are! Add to the altar fresh flowers, incense you simply love to smell, and any objects that have special meaning to you. Some folks place lovely shells or feathers they have found in their paths or on the beach, and others use imagery that is special, like a goddess statue or a star shape. The most important point is that your altar be pleasing to your eye and your sensibilities. You should feel that it represents the deepest aspects of you as a person.

Ideally, you will bless your altar on a new moon. Light the candles and incense, and say aloud:

Here burns happiness about me,
Peace and harmony are in abundance, 
Here my happiness abounds.
Gems and jewels—these bones of the earth 
Bring love, prosperity, health and mirth.

Be it ever thus that joy is the light 
That here burns bright.
Blessed be!

You have now consecrated your altar. It will ease your spirit anytime and become your power source. Your altar connects you to the earth of which you and all gems and crystals are a part. Your altar will connect you to the crystal magic that has now entered your life. Whenever you want to add a dash of magic or a supernatural sparkle to a stone or piece of jewelry, you can place it on your altar for seven days. On the seventh day, wear the jewelry and bewitch everyone you encounter! Remember that your level of clarity and concentration will be reflected in the jewel’s power.

Now, enjoy your sacred stones.

Dressed to Thrill: Charging Your Jewelry with Enchantment

Before a special date night or big evening event, you can enhance your own energy field with jewelry magic. Charging a gem or crystal imbues it with your intent. Upon charging your jewelry, you can use it in spellwork or anytime you want to surround yourself with the magic you put into the gemstones. While picturing your truest wish and hope, and what you ultimately want to achieve through this process, anoint a candle with an essential oil that most expresses your energy. Perhaps it is rose or, as in my case, amber.

Begin by lighting the candle and gazing into the flame. Then, place the piece of jewelry in front of the candle and say aloud,

Into this jewelry, I imbue my essence
Into these stones, lies the power of this blessed earth.
This gem of great hue is charged until my magic is through. 
With harm to none, so mote it be!

You can further empower the jewel by scratching your desire into the wax of the candle. Then, each time you burn the candle, place the gem before it and think upon your quest.

Spellbinding Kisses – A Ritual for Romance

A remarkable kiss is a gateway to ecstasy. A kiss provokes the senses, excites the heart, and offers the singular gift of yourself. Here is a list of kisses from the Indian book of love, the Kama Sutra:

Bent kiss – the classic movie-style smooch where the lovers lean into each other.

Throbbing kiss – touches your lover’s lips with her tongue and places her hands on her lover’s hands.

Turned kiss – One kisser turns up the face of the beloved by holding the head and chin before bestowing affection.

Pressed kiss – One lover from below touches the lower lip with both lips.

Greatly pressed kiss – taking the lip between two fingers, touching the lip with the tongue, then applying great pressure with lips upon lips in an emphatic kiss.

Glamour Gloss Enchantment: Anointed Lips

From time immemorial, witches have enchanted with their magical beauty. That is because we know how to supplement Mother Nature’s gifts. Before a special evening, employ a “kiss of glamour” by adding one drop of clove oil to your favorite pot of lip gloss and gently stir in, saying aloud three times:

The ripest fruit,
The perfect petal
Each kiss is a spell of utmost bliss 
And so it is.

This will make your lips tingle in a delightful way and give your kisses a touch of spice. The lucky recipient of your affection will be spellbound.