Spells and Magick
Postings with spells, recipes and other magickal techniques and suggestions.
Creative Visualization and The Mind’s Eye
Sep 3rd
We talk about ritual tools quite a bit, especially when we’re getting started with magick and ritual. Everyone is looking for the perfect wand or athame, but the most important of all ritual items is something that we all possess already and which costs no money at all, but certainly needs some polishing and preparation before we can really put it to use. Our mind’s eye. It’s arguably the most important of all tools a Witch has because without it, the true power behind our work may not be harnessed. And let’s face it, no wand in the world can make up for the lack of ability to ground, focus and visualize our intent and send energy to our goal.
When you’re just getting started you hear a lot in books about the mind’s eye. You’ll see a lot of phrases like “Visualize your desire in your mind’s eye” or “See the elements in your mind’s eye”. A lot of people get a little confused, unsure of what and where the information that the mind’s eye calls on is going to come from. In the simplest of terms, the mind’s eye is your imagination. When we work in meditation, trying to envision something coming to us, or something happening to us, we are working to “see” with “eye” in our mind (aka the mind’s eye). For some people it can help to have almost a physical place to focus on when doing this; if you’re one of those people imagine that the there is a large movie screen or white board in your mind right around where your third eye is located. When you’re eyes are closed, imagine that this eye then opens, and when it does you can now see this screen or board through this eye. This is where you can call up any image or any energy you desire.
If you have ever read either Laurie Cabot’s book “Power of the Witch” or you have read Christopher Penczak’s Inner Temple books or listened to his meditation CDs, then you will be familiar with a countdown meditation technique that can help to develop your mind’s eye as well as help you reach that lower brainwave state that helps to bring us into deep, magickal levels of meditation. The technique that both Cabot and Penczak have used as a reference point is called the Silva Method or Silva Mind Control. This is a technique developed by José Silva, a parapsychologist and founder of the Silva Method, which were developed to help reach higher levels of mental function by naturally bringing the brain to a frequency of 8 to 13 Hz, also known as alpha state. Here the brain could be trained to and programmed to open up the psychic senses, specifically helping people be able to learn remote viewing and develop lucid dreaming skills, as well as help people raise their overall IQ and increase their personal well-being. It is basically self-hypnosis and it helps to open up, train and work with the mind’s eye. (You can learn more about the Silva Method here.)
Some people, when hearing the word “imagination” in relation to Witchcraft become a little uncomfortable, feeling that the deeper work of magick and ritual are being relegated to nothing more than a play thing. Imagination is really nothing more than allowing the mind to wander while calling up and creating images that aren’t physically real but that can be very real within our minds. This is what we often do within magick. We sometimes talk about how when we daydream we are actually in a state of spontaneous meditation, creating realities in our minds that we would like to see in reality. Often beginners will say they can’t meditate or can’t visualize anything, feeling that they will never be able to work magick, yet when asked if they ever find themselves daydreaming most of them say they do that all the time without realizing it. The work of the mind’s eye while daydreaming is the same as what you would use for visualization and meditation, only in those instances you have more conscious control over it than when you daydream. So if you can daydream, you can learn to work with your mind’s eye in a controlled way in order to visualize in magick and meditation.
Creative Visualization is a technique used in just about all forms of magickal work. It is a way of accessing levels of the imagination where we can create images in a visual in our mind’s eye while also creating and raising energy which can then be used in magickal work. So for example if you have a friend who is sick and you wanted to help them get well, after lighting a candle for them you might spend some time focusing on visualizing in your mind what they are like when they are healthy. If you friend is bed-sick because of a chest infection and they can’t breath well enough right now to do their normal activities, you would want to create in your mind the image of them breathing deeply, taking in large, healthy breaths. You’d want to see them doing a physical activity that you know they enjoy such as jogging or hiking, something that right now they can’t possibly be doing. While you’re doing this and creating the images in your mind, you also want to really feel them as well. So you could imagine being with your friend on that jog or hike and seeing them enjoying themselves, being happy and healthy and feeling that joy with them. Then you can send that energy to them in one of many different ways (e.g. direct the energy into the candle and as the candle burns the energy is released toward your friend or sense the energy forming in the shape of a large balloon in a specific color and imagine it traveling to your friend and giving them the energy when they receive it). Different traditions and types of magick have different techniques for sending energy.
Learning how to do some basic visualization techniques will help you to grow more comfortable with working with your mind’s eye as well as helping you become more confident with creating mental images. Learning to ground with creative visualization is a great way to start with this or even to refresh yourself on the basics. Give this a try. All you’ll need for this is a white candle and stone of either onyx, black tourmaline, hematite, jet, obsidian or smokey quartz in any size.
1. Sitting either on the floor or in a comfortable chair, light a candle. Make sure your feet are on the ground if you are in a chair so that some part of you is physically connected to the ground or earth. Take up the stone with both hands (if you’re using a small raw or tumbled stone, place the stone in one hand and cup with the other).
2. Begin breathing slow, rhythmic breaths and close your eyes. Take the time to feel yourself comfortable and solid in your physical position. Then begin to visualize that thick tree roots are growing either from your feet if you are sitting in a chair, or from your spine if you are sitting directly on the ground. See them going down into the earth, cutting through the earth’s crust, through the soil, and moving down around rock and stone below. As you do this think about how strong tree roots are but also see the tiny, vain-like roots that grow from the larger ones. These roots help to connect to the soil to gather nourishment and to help anchor the tree. Feel those roots as well as the larger ones and visualize your roots moving downward, toward the center of the earth.
3. Turn your mind back to your breath again, but still sensing the tree roots. As you exhale, visualize the roots move deeper, going further toward the center of the earth. Take the time on your inhaled breaths to feel what the roots feel under the earth. Are they damp from hitting ground water? Are they gritting with rock and sand? Are they getting warm as they reach the molten center of the earth’s core? When you exhale feel the roots moving, see them move through the rock, dirt, and water.
4. When you get to the point where you can feel heat, or where you feel or see heat, imagine that you roots come to a halt. You are at the center of the earth. Being to feel that warmth come up through your roots, up all the way through to your feel or spine, up your body, down your arms and out the top of your head through your crown chakra. See it as a bright white light, of if you can, visualize it the color of the molten core of the earth. Feel it heat up and energize your roots and your body.
5. When you have this feeling running firmly through you, being to feel the energy withdraw back into the earth. Imagine closing a hatch over the crown chakra and the energy retreating down your body. Feel your body cool as the energy retreats. Feel it flow back down your trunk, your legs and feet, down into the earth through your roots. When you see and feel your roots have released the earth’s energy, begin to bring your roots back. See them retreat upward just as you saw them move down. Feel the tiny roots release from the earth as your larger roots return back to your feet or spine.
6. Once you see the roots completely return to your body focus back on your breathing, relaxed breaths in and out. While you are doing this, if you feel there is any left over energy that may make you anxious or nervous, visualize that energy running down your arms like drops of water and collecting in the stone in your hand. The stone will ground the energy for you. Gently open your eyes and come back to waking consciousness.
Some other simple ways to practice include visualizing a piece of fruit, like an apple or orange, hanging from a tree branch in front of you. Imagine picking it from the tree and taking a bit. Taste the fruit, smell it, feel the juice in your hands and on your chin. As you advance, another way that you can work with visualization that can also help you with your psychic development is to work on visualizing a friend who is not with you at the moment (they can be anywhere else, even if it’s just in another room) and imagine what they are wearing. If you are in the same location when they leave the room you’ll want to ask them to change a piece of their clothing. When you get a strong visualization of what they have on either call them on the phone and describe what you see, or in the case of being in the same place you can simply ask them to come in the room and you can tell them what you are getting but don’t turn to face them until they give you some feedback. Practicing things like this helps with not just creative visualization and being able to create solid images in your mind but you’ll be able to slowly develop the psychic senses, especially remote viewing.
The mind’s eye is your most critical magickal tool. Learning to develop it from the beginning of your practice and taking the time to give it regular tune-ups along the way is key in being able to do successful magick of all kinds.
For more help with creative visualization, check out the classic book Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life
Tracing the Witch’s Pyramid
Aug 26th
One of the great, fundamental teachings that can help anyone getting starting in magickal practice is that of The Witch’s Pyramid, also known as the Four Pillars of Magick or the Four Power of the Magus. Many of us may be familiar with the concept and the words, but how much thought have you given to the actual concept? Do you put The Witch’s Pyramid into practice in your magickal life? By knowing and understanding the concept of The Witch’s Pyramid and putting it into practice with both magickal working and ritual observance, we can find a major difference in how our spells manifest and in the connections that we create with the Divine and the Otherworld in honorary rites.
The Witch’s Pyramid is a model for effective magickal practice and consists of four basic principles.
- To Know
- To Dare
- To Will
- To Be Silent
The origins of this principle are somewhat debated thought it’s thought that it was developed out of practices within ceremonial and hermetic magick. The phrase “The Witch’s Pyramid” is thought to just be a more modern naming of this (believed) ancient principle, adapted by modern Witches. Christopher Penczak suggests in his book “The Inner Temple of Witchcraft” that it could be derived from the idea that some hold which states that magick and many magickal practices originate from Egypt, the land of pyramids. It may also be that when placed in visual context we see this laid out in the shape of a pyramid, as shown below.
To Know
We all know the phrase “knowledge is power”, and in the case of magick, it certainly can be. Knowing what you’re doing magickally, knowing your process, can be very important, but even more important is knowing yourself and knowing your true intentions behind your magickal actions. This principle also can be tied to the element of earth within us. By keeping our thoughts and intentions grounded in our work we have more of a clear path and more direction in what we’re doing. Some also see this principle as being related to the element of air since it deals with the idea of thought and knowledge, areas that are typically ruled by the air element.
What this principle calls for us to do it to stop and think. Sometimes thinking is one of the hardest parts of magick because we may find ourselves so driven by raw passion and emotions that we may find our minds not very clear but in the heat of the moment we are sure our direction is on track. So the first thing that we need to do when working with the Pyramid and the idea of To Know is to be sure that we are in control of our thoughts and our intentions.
The next this is knowing our magickal procedure. What is your plan for your magickal work? Why techniques are you going to employ and what steps will you take to make that work happen. Knowing what you’re going to be doing, knowing how the process works, what it takes to raise the necessary energy, knowing how to gather and direct that energy, all help to create the base foundation of your work. Without that solid foundation there is no telling if the rest that is build upon it will just tumble.
This can also be summed up in the phrase of “Know thy self, Know thy Craft”.
To Dare
Corresponding to the element of air, To Dare deals with our thoughts and the use of the magickal mind, yet others might place this concept in alightment with water for the power of emotions that often back the daring task of casting spells and working magick.
To Dare asks us to do just that, to dare to do the work, to dare to take the risk and make that leap of faith. One thing that many who are new to magick need to deal with on their first few forays into magick is fear. Feeling fear, whether it’s fear of what you’re actually about to do or just the fear of the unknown in what you are doing, is a normal feeling, especially for those that are new to the Craft and working their first spells. But fear needs to be faced and dealt with, head on, otherwise it becomes a crippling force and can keep you away from manifesting your desires, whether through magick or any other means.
When you have fully worked with and realized the first principle of “To Know” the second principle of “To Dare” can be a lot less daunting. But you still need to actually do the work and daring to make the magick happen is a critical step to make.
To Will
This principle is often related to the element of fire. It takes some fire, some passion, some true desire to make your wishes become realty. Fire helps us to manifest and here we must will what we desire into reality.
Will is also about discipline. You need to be willing to follow up your magickal work in the mundane world as well. It’s not just a matter of casting a spell at the altar and then walking away and calling your work done. Casting the spell in the physical sense is just the begining of your work. Now you need to have the will, or willpower, to back up your magickal work with mundane actions. One of the great examples is when we cast a spell to find a job. Once you have cast the spell you may very well get a call from a friend or family member out of the blue who may have found an oppertunity for you, but you’re far more likely to manifest your desires faster if you write out a resume and use it to apply for some positions. Magick and energy follow the path of least resistance and by working with your energy you have put our there rather than against it, you’ll see faster, better results.
To Will also is a principle that deals with faith, but in this case faith in yourself knowing that you have done what you needed to and knowing that it will bring your desires into manifestation. Being sure to keep your thoughts and actions in alignment with the work you have done takes a lot of personal will (i.e. not doubting your magickal work). Doubt only sends negative energy toward what you have put out there, so keeping yourself mentally in line with what you have done keeps the energy flowing correctly.
To Be Silent
This is one of the more debated parts of this magickal concept because there are people that really don’t feel that one needs to keep their magickal work silent or secret while others believe very strongly in the idea that magickal work and the processes used in a spell, or even the fact that a spell has been cast, should never be share with anyone, save for those in your magickal circle or coven who may have been present at the time. This principle is often related to the element of water because of need to keep emotions in check and under wraps within the magickal process.
To Keep Silent is often related to the idea of not sharing with others, especially the uninitiated, what one has done magickally. The reason behind this is that if you share you magickal work and desires with someone that may disagree with you they would then have the ability to send negative energy (either intentionally or unintentionally) toward your work to possibly derail your efforts. By not sharing this information with anyone you keep your work on track much easier. The debate here often comes in with the idea that someone who isn’t magickally inclined wouldn’t have the knowledge to purposefully disrupt a magickal working or that they wouldn’t be able to generate the energy to do it. Anyone who has ever just been in an emotional battle with another person, completely outside of the magickal realm, knows full well that the words, thoughts and emotions that can be generated through disagreement can be powerful and if someone doesn’t want to see you get that new, high paying job you cast your spell for, regardless of their reasons, the thoughts and emotions they have generated with their desire to see you fail can be enough to send things off kilter. So by keeping our work to ourselves we create a safeguard against possibly disruptions.
On the flip side of this debate some feel that by openly talking about their work they are sending more positive energy to it by personally acknowledging what they are working toward and therefore adding more fuel to the fire, so to speak. This may very well be true, and in fact if discussing with others that are completely behind you, your work and your desires, their positive energy and desire to see you succeed can aid your work. But this does need to beg the question “Can you ever truly know the intent and will of another?”
The other idea here is that magick isn’t meant to be flaunted; it’s a gift and a sacred art. It’s not something for ego gratification and by treating it as such we not only cheapen our work but our gifts as well. Some believe that by flaunting and boasting of magickal conquests ones magickal gifts can be taken away by the Gods.
The Connection of Spirit
Once these four principles are brought together one is able to them attain connection to Spirit through their magickal work and with the aid of Spirit your work will manifest with more clear and positive results. Spirit resides at the top of the pyramid and comes from that foundation of the other four practices. In Wicca you can also connect this part of the pyramid to the concept of The Wiccan Rede, a sort of culmination and expression of these other four ideas in practice.
The Witch’s Pyramid is not something that is reserved for any single tradition and it is something that is used by magickal practitioners within spiritual paths like Wicca as well as by those that practice the magickal arts of Witchcraft outside of a religious context. At it’s core it is a principle for working with energy and directing our magickal work in a more solid way that helps us to see results, grow our practice and overcome fear and obstacles that we face in the process. Knowing the Pyramid and bringing it into your magickal practice can be very beneficial, especially for those that are still getting their grounding in the act of spellwork and ritual.
(This article is one that I originally wrote for another blog, Sacred Mists Blog, and I share it here with all of you to enjoy as well.)
Ask A Witch: Flowing bodies of Water
Aug 17th
I recently received a very interesting Ask A Witch question, one that I’m honestly surprised I haven’t been asked a hundred times before! It’s a great question that brings about the need for us, as magickal practitioners, to take into consideration our own personal perceptions of things verses what other people may say is the “way it is”. So here is a great question concerning the using of “large bodies of water” in magickal work and my double-edged response.
Hello. I have a question about utilizing the element of water, particularly the ocean, in spellcasting. I’ve come across a variety of spells that make use of running water such as a river or stream, which I understand, but they often indicate that not only lakes and ponds but also the ocean do not qualify as running water. This confuses me, since I see the ocean as one massive, continuously moving body of water. Why would so many people consider the ocean non-moving in regards to magickal purposing? Also, as someone who lives at the ocean, I’m particularly interested in working with this awesome force of nature. What types of magick do you feel would be best benefitted by working with the ocean? Thank you.
- Sunny
I have to day, Sunny, that is a wonderful question! There are really two different ways to look at this and I’m going to explore both and then let you decide what is best for you and your work. Remember, going with what you feel is the best for you is always going to lend more confidence and, in turn, energy and power to your work than doing what someone else says is “the way”.
As another Witch that lives at the ocean, I share your love of the this great, powerful representation of the Mother. I spent many years trying to find a way to live as close to the ocean as I could and finally, after a little magickal intervention, at the beginning of this year I was finally able to make that happen. But when it comes to using the ocean and certain types of magick we can find a little bit of an impasse.
First, the issue of rivers and streams verse the ocean as a running body of water. Think about the way that an ocean moves as opposed to how a river moves. They both have definite movement, this is true, but they have very different flows and currents. The river moves in one distinct direction where as the ocean churns, the tides move in and out and roll back and forth on the shore. When we’re working a spell, like a banishing spell for example, and we create a representation of what we wish to banish or wash away from our lives and we need to toss it in a running body of water, using a river will fill this need a bit better than an ocean. With the river, we can stand at a distinct point and throw the object into the water and see it carried away from us, never to be seen again and thus taking away the unwanted energy (unless, of course, we went and chased it down to the mouth of the river). With the ocean, were we to stand at the end of the shore and toss in our magickal object for banishing to have the sea take it away, there’s a good chance that it’s going to roll back to the shore a number of times before it gets pulled out further into the water. This keeps the energy from swiftly leaving and it also can mean that this object, and the energy contained in and around it, could just as easily find its way back to us if the seas are too rough or not rough enough.
River...flowing and moving
Pond...small, quiet and still.
Ocean...laps, rolls and crashes on shore.
For certain types of magick the ocean is a great resource where a river might not be the best option. The ocean being a large body of salt water makes it the ideal place for cleansing magick where, with a river, you have to rely on the current for cleansing to carry things away. So if the river you have near you doesn’t have a strong current you may not find the cleansing power of that river to be terribly strong, but the river is always full of cleansing power and energy. As for lakes and ponds, their currents are very deep under the surface and do not have the same pull and flow that an actual, moving body of water has; typically because a lake or pond doesn’t have a visibly moving current they are not considered moving bodies of water (and for the most part ponds are stationary). While a pond or lake will have some sort of small run off or outlet, they aren’t current generating and aren’t considered a good option for spells and magick that call for water that will pull, move and cleanse something in the way that a river or stream will.
It all comes down to what you’re using the body of water in the first place. So consider first your purpose and what you’re using the water for. If you want the water to carry something away then you’re going to want a body of water that is going to be moving away from your in a distinct way. If you want to use water for cleansing or consecration you can use the salt water of the ocean and see the lapping waves as the hands of the Goddess cleanings you or you can use the freshwater of a lake to diffuse any negative energies from you or an object. Just consider the ultimate goal of the spell, the available body of water you’re looking to work with, and how that body of water actually moves and flows since that is going to impact the energy of your work. For example, at the ocean you can use a piece of drift wood, a wand, or your finger and draw symbols or words into the sand at the edge of the water with a wish or desire and then speak an invocation or prayer as the waves wash up and pull away your magickal images into the seas to churn away and create energy for your desire, knowing that once the images are completely smoothed out your spell is in motion. This isn’t something you could do at the beach of a lake because it doesn’t have the same sort of current or flow behind it.
All that said, I think that you should also work with what seems to make sense for you. If you see that ocean as once big moving body of what (which I don’t think anyone would ever deny is true) and you feel it will work for such spells, then try and see! If you find that, through experience, it works for you then you have found your answer. If you find that the results are less than what you’d hope for, then try working with a river or stream and see what different outcome you have. The best way to formulate how to work your magick is to work it and learn from your experiences. Magick never works the same for everyone.
Today’s Angel Message
Aug 5th
So far this week the angel’s have definitely been directing us to start paying more attention to our own role in how our lives are. So many of us find ourselves in a place of feeling like we have to just take things as they come, often feeling like we don’t have a lot of power in our lives. In a logical sense we know that isn’t true and that we can always change our circumstances and make things in our lives better if we don’t like how they are but when we’re in the thick of it, we often forget that. When that becomes a pattern of acting and believing it can be hard to accept and use your personal power so it’s important to make room for these changes. That’s what today’s angel is all about.
Angel of Clearing
“Your time of waiting and confusion will soon be over.”
The images and messages that the angels give me when this card comes up have to do with the idea of baggage. It’s hard to move forward and make room for new things when you’re still holding on to so much from the past. Whether it’s that idea that you don’t have any power or control or even if it’s fear of what would happen if you did take control, you need to clear out the negative thoughts, the old emotional baggage and such and make room for change. One of the ways that you can do this is to hold a small ritual for yourself to honor your power and clear out any negative energy that might still be weighing you down. Here is a small personal ritual channeled from the angels to help clear and cleanse your aura with the four elements while asking for the blessings and help of the angels.
You’ll Need:
4 or more white candles (tea lights are perfect and you can use whatever number you’d like but at least four to have one in each directional point)
1 stick of incense (an astrological blend or a cleansing blend, you could also use sandalwood or frankincense)
A small cup of spring water
A teaspoon of salt in a small dish
Place your candles in a circle, with at least one in each directional point and any additional ones making a circle. If you wish, you can anoint your candles with an anointing, cleansing or blessing oil, but this isn’t necessary. Make sure the candles are in a circle large enough for you to stand and then sit comfortably within.
Place your water and salt dishes inside the circle.
Light the candles.
Standing outside your candle circle, take a few deep breaths and center yourself with the intention of releasing any negative or unwanted energies, vibrations or thoughts. Light your incense and wave the smoke around you from the feet, up your body and over the top of the head. As you do this do it with the intention that the smoke is clearing away all the negative energy that is trapped within your aura. Do this three times and each time use the following affirmation:
“I am cleansed of all negativity by the powers of air.”
Place the incense stick in a holder and you can place it outside the circle or bring it inside with you if you’d like.
Step inside the candle circle and take a moment to stand within and feel the power of the fire around you. Again, focus your intent on burning away all the negative energies that are around you. With your hands make the motions of reaching down and drawing up the power of the flames around you. Visualize that as you reach down and pull your hands up that you are able to actually pull up the fire around you like a blanket. Do this with intent three times using the following affirmation each time:
“I am cleansed of all negativity by the powers of fire.”
Next, sit in the circle and take a moment to focus. Pick up the water and hold it for a moment. Visualize yourself standing at the foot of the beach with ocean waves rolling up against your feet and legs. Feel the cleansing power of water. Dip your fingers in the water dish and begin to sprinkle water over yourself visualizing the water washing away any negativity. Do this three times with the following affirmation:
“I am cleansed of all negativity by the powers of water.”
Now pick up the salt and focus on the power of earth to ground and transmute any negative thoughts or energy. Take a pinch of salt and place it on your tongue and feel the power of earth clearing away any negative energies within. Do this three times with the following affirmation:
“I am cleansed of all negativity by the power of earth.”
Sit within the circle and feel yourself centered and grounded. Take a moment to feel the peace that is surrounding you. Take a moment here to meditate on feeling free of any emotional or spiritual baggage you have been carrying and call on the angels to carry you forward from here:
“With the strength of the angels who carry and protect me, I move forward from this circle cleanse, light and free of all that does not serve.”
Get up and step out of the circle and blow out the candles. Move on from here knowing that you are cleansed and clear of all negativity, knowing that if you need more energy you can simply call on the angels and ask for the Angel of Clearing and the Angel of Support to guide you.
Today’s Affirmation
“I am releasing all negativity and confusion with the help of my angels.”
Crystal Wednesday: Why am I losing my Crystals?
Aug 4th
This week’s Crystal Wednesday comes to us via a question I received through Ask A Witch. It’s actually not an uncommon question and I thought it would make for a great crystal discussion. We’re going to look at the sometimes very puzzling issue of the loss of our favorite crystals.
Hi Rowan,
I’m hoping you can help me sort of a problem I seem to have with amethyst crystals. They are my favorites because I love the color purple and I have carried one for protection for years. In the last couple of years I’ve had a hard time hanging on to my amethysts. I’ll have one in a pocket and I’ll reach in for it and it’s gone! I don’t ever recall dropping them or taking them out somewhere and they seem to just disappear. One friend suggested that I may have a spell on me that is causing this and another thought I could be flat out cursed because one piece in my home broke a while back which she thought, since it’s a stone of protection, would indicate someone cursed me. Is that true? Where are my crystals going and why can’t I hold on to an amethyst???
Blessed Be,
Christine
Thank you for your question, Christine! Believe it or not, yours isn’t an uncommon situation. There are a few things to keep in mind here. First, each and every stone and crystal has its own energy and “personality” of sorts. When a particular stone no longer needs to be with us, when it’s come to a point of having served us as best it can, it is not at all unusual for the stone to leave us. This can happen by doing exactly as you’ve described, basically disappearing into thin air when in fact you may have misplaced it or it may have fallen out of your pocket without you knowing. This isn’t anything to be terribly worried about, though it can be really frustrating, especially if a stone that we are particularly fond of leaves us. The best thing that we can do is to honor their energy and their work they have done for us by wishing them well and hoping that whomever comes to find them next has the same level of happiness with them that we did.
One of the things that I find most interesting about your particular situation is that you’re specifically having difficulty with amethyst, a stone you say you’ve employed for protection for some time. My first thought here is that one of the reasons you’re losing this particular stone is that amethyst is no longer the right stone for protection for you. I would suggest taking a little time to define for yourself what type of protection your looking for. While many people use amethyst for protection, it’s most often used specifically for protection on a psychic level and for protection against psychic attack and harmful energies that have been specifically directed at them. If you’re looking for a different type of protection then you may want to start trying to work with some other types of crystals more specific to the type of protection you seek. Here are some to consider:
For General/All Purpose Protection: apache tears, black obsidian, hematite, jasper, malachite, snowflake obsidian (my personal favorite for overall protection) and tiger’s eye.
For Protection from Evil or Negative Forces and Magick: black tourmaline, blue chalcedony, jet, and smokey quartz.
For Physical Protection: agate, carnelian, fluorite and smokey quartz.
For Physical Protection During Travel: amethyst, aquamarine (for water travel), garnet, malachite (for air travel), and rainbow moonstone
For Psychic Protection: amethyst, jade, lapis lazuli, prehnite, ruby, and sugilite.
For Protecting Your Aura: black tourmaline, labradorite, tiger’s eye
Once you have picked the purpose and stone be sure to cleanse and charge the stone and then begin using it either in the home or carrying it on you for its intended purpose. But when the stone leaves you, either try again with another of the same or see if your needs for protection have changed. It’s also possible that one particular protective stone just isn’t right for your personal energy and therefore it doesn’t last while another will. Sometimes it’s just a matter of trial and error even if it takes years.
Now, the last thing I wanted to address was the issue of being cursed. The fact that a piece of amethyst broke in your home does not indicate that you have been cursed, nor does the fact that you keep seeming to part ways with your other pieces of amethyst. Not knowing the circumstances of the breaking of the piece, the conditions it was kept in and so on, it’s hard to speak to the specific causes for that stone breaking. The mind often goes to the worst possible reason for something and thinking that we have been cursed when a magickal or spiritual tool suddenly breaks or goes missing isn’t an uncommon thought. However, the chances of you being cursed and that being the reason that your amethysts have broken and gone missing is quite unlikely. Instead I would say that the fact that this just isn’t the right protective stone for you right now is more likely and it’s time to experiment and explore other options.
I hope this helps! Many blessings of protection to you for the future!
A Tarot Spell for the Sun
Jun 21st
The Summer Solstice, Litha, Midsummer. Whatever you call it, we have reached the height of the sun’s power and we have come to the midway point of the year. While we often see the year divided into four seasons, in many ancient cultures the year was divided in half, honoring the summer and winter seasons alone. Today being the day that the sun reaches it’s apex, we have a special opportunity to take some of the power of the sun and draw it into our lives to help burn away things that no longer serve us while adding fuel to the things we wish to see grow in our loves.
Tarot spells and working with tarot cards in magick is really quite simple. The cards serve as a focal point for meditation and for raising and directing energy. While this can be a really elaborate process, using multiple cards and many different magickal techniques, I’ll present to you a very simple way to use the Sun card specifically for honoring Midsummer and drawing in the power of the sun for growth in the coming months. All you need for this is:
- The Sun card from either your favorite deck or from a deck set aside just for magick
- An orange or yellow candle
- Incense of a solar or fiery nature (cinnamon, frankincense, orange, sandalwood, dragon’s blood…personally I like using a mix of amber, cinnamon and frankincense for this type of work)
- Essential oil or solar blend oil (similar to the herbs above) to anoint your candle if you wish
If you decide to anoint your candle with oil, take a few drops of oil in the palm of your hand and rub the oil into the candle from wick to center and then from base to center. This motion helps with drawing energy toward you, which is what you’ll be doing with this spell. Place the candle in an appropriate holder.
Take your Sun card and place it on your work space. Place the candle holder with your candle at the top of the card. Place your incense next to the card on the left (movement from left to right is the movement of bringing things towards us; the use of the incense to card our wishes and desires helps to draw those things into us and into our energy space).
Light your candle and incense.
Gaze at The Sun card with the candle light illuminating the image. Think about what the card means to you and some of the symbolism that is present in The Sun card. Draw up the energy of joy, happiness, youth, growth, and brightness. Feel this energy by recalling an event in your life that gave you the most clear and perfect feeling of joy and happiness you have ever experienced. This could be the birth of a child, your wedding day, the first time you went away on a special vacation; anything that makes you feel that sense of youthful joy and excitement. Hold that feeling while thinking of something in your life that you wish to give that energy to. Maybe you have a creative project that you’d like to see grow and bring you that kind of feeling at completion. Maybe you have a problem in your life that needs this sort of energy to drive you to find a solution. Imagine that feeling of pure joy surrounding you in that situation. See that project completed and feeling that feeling of celebration; see this troubling problem in your life resolved and feeling a sense of relief and happiness.
Now examine The Sun card deeply. Image that you are the child on the while horse, riding happily into the warm sun, surrounded by the scent of sunflowers and greenery. Whatever the image is on your card, place yourself as the character in that card or, if you card doesn’t have a character, place yourself within the card in a place that allows you to gain the full perspective of the Sun. How does the card feel to you? Can you feel the sun on your skin, the joy in the air? Draw that into yourself, taking whatever kind of time you need to fully connect with the card and the energy of the sun.
When you’re ready come out of the card meditation and imagine all that energy that you have gathered as a large, bright yellow ball of energy, your own personal “sun”, at the center of your body, at the solar plexus. See that ball of energy rise up through your body, out through the crown chakra (through the top of your head) and out into the Universe. Envision it flying off into the atmosphere, heading to your desire, and pouring out it’s energy into it, helping you reach your goal with grace, swiftness and ease.
Let the incense and candle burn out. When you’re finished you can leave the card out on your work space or place it in another special place in your home as a reminder until you see your goal come to fruition or you can take your card and place it back into your deck.
Remember that all magick requires work in the “real world”. Once you have cast this simple spell be sure that you take the practice steps needed to make your dreams come true. If you cast the spell for a job, make sure you get out and go to interviews. If you worked to help with a relationship, make sure you communicate with the people or persons involved. Make sure that you do what you need to on your own and the energy that you created and sent out through your spell will make the process easier and bring your goals to you faster.
Happy Solstice!
Burn, Baby! Burn! Small, safe, indoor ritual Fires
Jun 11th
One of my cauldron fires for Samhain.
When you’re an urban Pagan or Witch, or you’re someone that just doesn’t have the space outside to safely create ritual fires, you can sometimes feel like you’re missing out on getting to participate in some really great ritual experiences and spells. Certain Sabbats, like our upcoming Litha Sabbat here in the Northern Hemisphere, provide great opportunities for working with fire, but if you don’t have a place to do it or you don’t feel you can do it safely where you are, that can cause a little problem. Personally, I’ve never found the power of a plate of candles to be quite the same as that of an actually ritual fire, no matter how much energy or focus I put into it. Your experiences will certainly vary, but there are other options for those who, like me, would rather see the leaping flames of a ritual fire than just the soft dance of a candle for certain rituals and workings.
Cauldron fires can be a great, simple and safe way to bring the essence and energy of the ritual bonfire into your indoor workspace, or even to an outdoor space where an actual bonfire isn’t allowed, isn’t practical or isn’t safe. With a cauldron fire you are able to determine how big or how small you want your fire to be, how long you want it to burn, and even what sort of magickal energy you want to add to it by preparing it in specific ways. Creating cauldron fires is very inexpensive and allows for a safe indoor fire for petition magick, ritual bonfires, meditation and so much more!
What You Need:
- A Cauldron: This can be any size, but remember that the size of the cauldron will also determine the size of your fire. Small cauldrons used for incense burning are a great size option to have (these are usually 2-3 inches wide at the mouth) and the smaller sized cooking cauldrons used over campfires are a great general option as well for ritual and meditation (these have about a 6-7 inch mouth).
- A Cauldron Lid: Some cauldrons, like the incense cauldrons and the cooking cauldrons, often come with a lid. If you purchase a cauldron without a lid, have something on hand that is heat resistant and big enough to fit over the top of the cauldron; for example a cast iron pan or pot lid. This is so that if you need to put the fire out before it goes out on it’s own, you can do so safely. DO NOT pour water into the fire to put it out! This can cause splashing and can possibly cause leaping flames, hot derbies to fly out and, in general, make a big mess that could burn you or cause a fire. If you can’t get or find a lid, have a good one or two cups of dry sand available which you can pour over the fire if you need to.
- Rubbing Alcohol that is 70%-90% isopropyl alcohol: The higher the actual alcohol content the better your fire will burn and the less alcohol you’ll need to make your fire. Most rubbing alcohol is 70% so you usually shouldn’t have any trouble finding something in any drugstore or supermarket. You can also use grain alcohol if you have that on had, but personally I prefer using the rubbing alcohol. Try different things and find what works for you.
- Epsom Salts: These are also found in your local drugstore or supermarket, usually right near the rubbing alcohol and other over the counter medical supplies. This is used to create the base for your fire in the cauldron. Some people will use table salt or rock salt instead, and while you can use that, I wouldn’t recommend them as your first choice. Epsom salts absorb the heat and sustain the fire better in my experience, but in a real pinch you could use it if you had to. Epsom salts aren’t terribly expensive and you wont be using a ton of one bag will last you quite a while.
- Herbs: We’ll talk in a bit about creating special fire blends for special occasions but always have at least one herb that can be used as an offering to the fire at the end of your work. Sage, sweetgrass, cedar, or lavender work as great general herbs for offerings but you can also use an herb specific to either your working or any spirits or deities that you called on during your work. You only need one herb and you’ll only need a small handful of it. Other herbs for our fire brew will vary and we’ll discuss that in a moment.
- A Ceramic Tile, Trivet or Other Fire-proof Surface: This is going to go on top of your working surface. You want to use something designed to absorb heat and protect your table top. You can also take a large pot, bigger than your cauldron, fill it about half way with soil or sand and place the cauldron on top of that to absorb the heat. NEVER place your fire cauldron directly on any surface!! You run a high and very probable risk of burning and ruining your work surface and possibly starting a fire.
- Any Other Ritual or Spell Items: When working petition magick with your fire you’ll want to have slips of parchment and a pen; if you’re going to be making general fire offers of herbs, twigs or flowers you’ll want to have those on hand as well.
- Matches: Using matches that can just be tossed into the cauldron to light the fire rather than trying to use a lighter, even a long one, is far safer and will prevent any accidental burns or flying sparks. Small, pocket matches from a matchbook are perfect for this.
A Word Of Caution!!!
Remember that you are working with FIRE! Fire, both in the physical and energetic sense, can be very unpredictable. Just because you are creating a contained fire doesn’t mean that something can’t happen to cause a mishap! Make sure that you are working away from any hanging fabrics like curtains, tapestries on your walls or hanging objects like prayer flags. One spark catching on an updraft is enough to cause your own curtain panel to go up in flames so be sure you’re not near such things. If you’re working indoors try and work away from windows that could cause drafts and cause your fire to blow around. If you’re working outside with this, be sure that you’re working away from hanging tree limbs, flowers, vines and plants. It never hurts to have a fire extinguisher near by just in case! But don’t worry! A properly created and used cauldron fire is not any more dangerous than burning a candle, so use the same precautions that you would use with burning a tray of candles in your space. And again, ALWAYS have your cauldron on a heat proof surface.
Creating Your Cauldron Brew
A cauldron brew is simply an infusion of herbs in your alcohol that you’ll be using for your fire created before hand. You can make these in accord with magickal timing or, if you don’t have the time to do that, you can work with more mundane amounts of time such as 1-2 weeks or even just a few days if that’s all you have. If you wish to use magickal timing, depending on the purpose of your brew you can work from one moon cycle to the next such as full moon to full moon for a psychic power brew or new moon to new moon for a brew to help bring new beginnings. If you want to create a brew for banishing, create your blend during the period of the waning moon and so on. The idea is to charge and blend the brew with the energies of that moon phase and during the phase itself. This way, regardless of when you use it, it will hold the essence of that moon phase and it’s magickal energy, making it part of your intention and allowing you to draw on that no matter when you use it.
To make a cauldron brew you’ll need to first declare your intention. Then pick 3-6 herbs that you’d like to work with that support your intention. The amount of each herb you use will be up to you but a good palm sized amount for each herb makes a good measuring part (if you wish to use a 1/2 part of an herb just use half a palm full, etc). You’ll then want to take your herbs, charge each one separately, grind each one as finely as possible in a mortar and pestle, and then blend them together in a blow, charging them with your collective intent. This is very much the same process as creating magickal incense and, in a way, you’re creating a sort of incense that will be part of your fire. If you wish you can even safe a little of your herbal blend to use as an actual incense in your ritual or magickal work that you’ll be doing with the fire.
Next you’ll need a jar or bottle with an air tight lid, like a canning jar or a cleaned and sterilized used food jar. Place your herbal blend in the jar and fill about 3/4, or a little more, with alcohol leaving room for shaking the contents freely in the jar. Cap tightly. Determine how long you will be letting the brew steep for. Each day during that time take a few minutes to shake the jar, filling it with energy and intent. When you come to the end of your steeping cycle filter out the herbs with cheesecloth or a strainer and keep the brew in a clean, labeled jar. Labeling the jar is VERY important, especially if you plan to make more than one kind of brew because they will all look the same and possibly smell very similar making it hard to tell them apart. Your brews will likely last you a while too. A 2 cup jar of cauldron brew can very easily last 8-10 smallish fires.
Creating Your Fire
When you’re ready to do your fire ritual, gather together all your items. Place your fire on your tile or trivet and fill with 1/2 inch to 1 inch of Epsom salts. Next take your cauldron brew, or plain alcohol, and pour over the salts. This is where things can get tricky; you don’t want to put too much in or the fire will burn for what seems like an eternity, but if you don’t add enough it will go out very quick or wont catch well. I find that adding enough so that the top layer of the salts appear to be wet but no pools of alcohol are visible is best. You DO NOT want to pour in more after you light it!!! You may find you have to try this out a few times before you find the best about for your cauldron and your needs.
Now it’s time to light the fire! If you have any ritual steps that you’d like to do before lighting the fire, like calling on any specific spirits or deities, you can do that now; speak any prayers or invocations, intentions or chants that you wish before lighting your fire. Then simply light your match and toss it into the center of the cauldron and you should get a little bit of a poof sound and then a nice blue and gold flame. The fire will put off a lot of heat, so don’t be alarmed. You will notice though that, especially if you cleared out all the bits of herbs from your cauldron brew, that there is virtually no smoke which is nice for people that have problems with smoke from outdoor fires.
As you near the end of you work toss in your offering herb to the fire as a thank you for the fire spirit’s energy and aid in whatever work you have done.
If you complete your working, ritual or meditation before the fire burns itself out and you wish to put it out either place your cauldron lid over it or carefully pour dry sand over the top. The cauldron will be extremely hot so do not touch or move it for a few hours once the fire is out. If you let the fire burn down on it’s own you will likely be able to reuse the salts for at least one or two more fires. If you had to use sand to put it out you will need to dump out the salts and use new ones next time.
This is a great way to create a small ritual fire to honor specific Sabbats and Esbats and it also allows you to safely and easily bring in the magickal power of a bonfire right to you indoor altars. Always work with respect and reverence for the fire and use practical safety precautions and you will find this to be a great addition to your rituals.
Creating a Goddess Box
Jun 5th
In our angel message for today we had received the card God Box from Doreen Virtue’s Angel Therapy Oracle deck. In it we talked about creating a vessel for giving up your needs, worries and prayers to the Divine. I have used this method for the last few years and put together a wonderful Goddess Box and have since created a method of making one. Here is for you to use as well to create your own Goddess or God Box for the use of working along side the Divine in working to release things that are no longer serving your highest good and for working to bring those things that you most desire into your life.
For centuries in various cultures the use of prayer boxes, often in the form of jewelry, has become an honored tradition. The use of community prayer boxes is a well known tradition in the Catholic and Christian faith where people of a congregation are able to write out their need for prayer and add it to a box which either a few individuals or a whole prayer circle will work on for those in need. We can create a variation of the prayer box to fit our needs, either as individuals or for covens or circles. You can call it a prayer box, petition box, or as I’ve always called it, a Goddess box. It depends on a few variations of how you craft it and your intentions when crafting it. As I share this process with you, if you decide to work with this, make the changes that you feel you need to for your own beliefs and traditions. I will be addressing this from the perspective of working specifically with the Goddess, so if you wish to work more with the God or just the Universal energy, you can make those changes.
A Goddess box is a physical box, one crafted with intent, designed to be a place to drop written prayer petitions. Petition magick, as we’ve talked about previously, is a wonderful way to work simple spells of intention, and the Goddess box becomes an aid to petition magick, as you’ll see through the process. So we’re going to start with talking about crafting a Goddess box.
You’ll need a few items to get your started:
- A plain wooden craft box. These are available at arts and crafts stores all over or you can use an old cigar box, an old jewelry box, or anything of the sort. We’re going to be completely changing it’s appearance so be sure that whatever it is you wont mind stripping it down, painting it, etc.
- Paints, markers, and related supplies. We’ll talk about colors in a moment.
- Stickers, stamps and craft paper.
- A piece of parchment or other paper. Pick something that you find visually appealing but something that you will be able to write on where the writing will stand out.
- A small sachet of offering herbs. We’ll talk about this in a moment.
- An image of a Goddess. If you’re working with a God, than an image of whatever God you wish, or other spirit or entity that you wish to call on to work with you. This can be an animal spirit guide that you pray and meditate with, or even an otherworld entity that you work with in this way. The idea here is that whomever you dedicate this box to is someone that you have worked with before, either in prayer, meditation or magick, who you are completely comfortable in going to with requests for help and aid.
- A stone or crystal. Again, we’ll talk about that in a moment.
- A small stack of slips of parchment or other paper and a pen.
First let’s talk about our intentions. The purpose of this box is to create a place to hand over certain problems, cares and needs to either a specific Goddess, God or spirit ally that you are confident and comfortable in working with through prayer, meditation and petition work. What you’ll be doing with your box is writing down your needs and placing the slip of paper within, along with speaking words of prayer and offering, to your chosen deity or spirit, asking them to help you find a way to resolve your problem. What we’re doing here is asking for a door to be open, a way to be shown, and in a sense laying our problem in the lap of the Goddess and asking for her guidance in gaining a solution that may be eluding us.
Keep this in mind while crafting your box and also keep it in mind when deciding who, if anyone specific, you wish to dedicate your box to. Consider this intention when picking out your colors and images for the box as well as when picking out the stones and herbs for the small offerings that we’ll be keeping within the box.
Creating an offering sachet – This is a simple step in the process of making the box and one you can either do first or last, it’s up to you. Gather together either a white spell bag or a small swatch of white cloth and white string or ribbon for tying it close. Pick two or three herbs that you can place inside that are used for offerings or that have the properties of thanksgiving. A few suggestions include tobacco, blue corn, desert or white sage, copal, cedar, or lavender. If you’re going to be working with a specific deity or entity that you know prefers something specific, then use that in your bag.
Fill the bag with the herbs and tie it closed. Hold it in your hands for a few moments, directing white light and your intentions of blessings and thanksgiving into the bag. When you feel that the bag is full with energy, you can set it aside. It will be going into the box when it is completed so keep it in a safe place in the meantime, like your altar.
Picking stones - Again, keeping in mind your intentions and the purpose of the box, we want to pick a stone to keep inside that is associated with something such as prayer, meditation or even directly problem solving. The way that I personally work with the stone is that I place it on top of the petition slip when I place it inside the box. You can do this if you feel so drawn to, or you can just leave the stone in the box as an aid to the work being done. A few suggestions for stones to use include quartz (clear or rose), danburite, fluorite, amethyst, or lapis lazuli. Take your time in picking a stone and really decide what energy you want the stone to add to the box. For example with the lapis you can call on its properties of truth and awareness to aid you in seeing the truth in a situation and clearing seeing the solution, where as you can use the powers of transformation and intuition held in danburite to help your prayer needs.
Once you have picked out a stone and acquired it, properly cleanse and charge it with your specific intention and then place it on your altar with your sachet until it is time to add it to your box.
Crafting the box – This is the part where you get to really be creative. You do not need to be a great artist to do this; this is part of why we have stickers and printed images to help us. If your box you’re working with is something that is going to be recycled from a previous incarnation, take the time to do any stripping of paint or finish that you may need to. Some things you can paint right over, but if you have something that has a shiny or varnished finish, you’ll need to strip it first otherwise your paint will either not hold at all or will chip quite easily.
Take some time to pick out colors that either reflect on you or your ally you’ll be dedicating the box to. You can use colors appropriate to specific deities, use the colors of the elements, or just use some off your personal power colors. Paint the box in whatever way you personally desire. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so be creative. Paint the inside as well, either using a solid color or do something that you might find personally magickal and empowering, like painting sigils and symbols inside it to protect and empower your work.
Allow the pain to dry overnight before moving on to adding any stickers, paper or printed images. Depending on the type of paint and the surface of the box you may wish to add extra glue to stickers since the adhesive may not hold. Add a picture of your chosen deity or ally to the top of the box and embellish as you see fit. A written dedication will be going on the inside of the box top, so you don’t need to add anything like that on the outside unless you wish to.
When you are done, set the box aside and again give it at least overnight to ensure all glues and adhesives have dried.
Writing your dedication – On a piece of parchment paper, in your own handwriting, you are going to create a dedication that will be placed on the inside cover of the box. This can be a prayer, chant or blessing that you will recite each time you place something in the box. The following is a modification of what I have inside my Goddess box. You will want to modify this to fit your specific box. Write out your drafts and get your wording as you want it on notebook paper first and when you have settled on what you wish to say, write it on a piece of parchment cut to fit the inside lid of your box.
I dedicate this, my Goddess box, to the Lady of love, mercy and healing. Whatever I place inside this box I place at the feet of the Goddess. I ask the Goddess to nurture my needs and take care of me in my time of struggle. Within this box I place my hopes and fears, my dreams and anxieties. When I close the lid I know that they are now in the hands of the Goddess and she will guide me and show me what to do next. With this box I put trust in my inner knowing and in the Goddess. With this box, I foster a connection to the Goddess within and without. So mote it be!
Once the paper is dry, do any additional decorative steps you wish with it (e.g. aging the edges) and then firmly glue into the lid of the box.
Dedicate your box – For this next step you may wish to wait for the full moon or you can do it any time you wish. Gather together your box, slips of parchment and pen (these items will be kept inside the box at all times for easy and quick access), your crystal and your sachet. Bring them into sacred space and lay them out on your altar or work space. If there is a specific deity that you will dedicate the box to, evoke them into your space letting them know you are dedicating this special magickal prayer object to them and you wish for their blessings up it. You may wish to smudge the box with sage or cleanse it with all the elements and present it to the four directions as well to ask for their blessings as well.
Once you have presented the box to the deity/ally it may be dedicated to, or to the archetypal God/Goddess aspect, add your sachet, presenting it as well with words of intention, and then add the stone, again with words of intention. Add in your paper slips and pen.
Where to keep your box – You can keep your box anywhere that you wish, but try for a place where it will be out of reach of children and pets and where it will also be out of reach or sight from prying hands and eyes. This can be a great items for those of you that may need to keep your items somewhat hidden because of issues with family or roommates and it can easily blend in with other trinkets, decorations or jewelry boxes depending on how you have chosen to adorn it. You can always just keep it on a corner of your altar if you wish.
Working with your box - If you have a specific need right now, take a slip of paper and write it out. Hold it in your hands, sending your intentions, desires, hopes and worries into the paper. Recite your dedication/prayer for help to your ally. Place the paper in the box and then pick up your sachet. Hold it for a moment and draw on some of the energy of offering and thanks from it and then direct that energy to your ally, then return the sachet to the box. Close the box and leave it in it’s special place.
Once a solution to your need has been found, or things have worked themselves out, say a thank you to your ally and either send energy from your offering sachet again or leave another appropriate offering on your altar or at the box. Take your slip of paper from the box and, using a fire-proof container or cauldron, again say thank you, solidifying that your ally helped you and that you are thankful, and light the paper. Toss it into the container, allow it to burn down to ash, and then toss to the winds knowing that your problem is solved, resolved and gone from you.
Maintenance of the box – This box will become a living magickal tool for you if you use it regularly. You will want to recleanse and recharge the crystal periodically and you’ll also want to replace the herbs from time to time as well. When you do this, allow this to also be a time to change these items as well. If you want to try a different stone, do it then or use different herbs in your sachet. Listen to your intuition or even ask your God/Goddess/spirit ally what they would like.
This is a wonderful and simple tool to work with and one that you can really personalize to express your love of your specific patron deities or your closest of magickal allies. Make it more than just a place to put your problems, but an expression of your dedication to your path and the change that you desire to see in your life when you work with it.
Here are a few pictures of my own box from when it was originally crafted several years ago.
The top of the box.
The inside.
The Power of Words
May 1st
Most of us know that words hold power. A single word in a conversation with someone can change everything about how we feel about that person, how we perceive ourselves or how we handle a situation. Most of us would agree that picking and choosing words carefully, especially in emotional situations with another person, is a key component to how we manage our relationships. But one surprising place that many people aren’t always as careful is in sacred space using words in magick, spells and ritual. This, above all other times, should be a place where picking our words and the kinds of words we wish to use should be of extreme importance.
The use of words in ritual and the power they hold are reflected in the Hermetic Principle of Vibration which tells us that nothing rests, everything moves and everything vibrates. Our words and the energy we place within them vibrates on this plane and in the astral plane and helps to create the change we seek through working with magick. However when we use words who’s vibrations might not truly be ones that we wish to put out into the Universe, we are only detracting from our work. Sometimes the words, and the combination of words, may look good on paper and sound good when spoken, but does their true essence, their vibration, honestly reflect what we desire?
Many people when they first come to the Craft want to jump into spells and ritual right away. It’s the “fun part” of being a Witch and it’s the thing that often draws people to this path in the first place. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, the problem often comes from the approach that some which is held in the idea that these words written by someone else are the key, not fully understanding that it’s the intention and the vibration behind the words that are the real key.
I often find that in talking to people new to magick they are intent on gathering as many spell books, online spell collections and ritual collections as possible and then they just start working with spells as they are written by other people without really thinking of this power of words. This is one of the reasons that, personally, I advise against starting right off with spells, especially ones taken straight from the mouths of other Witches and magickal practitioners. Do you truly know the intent behind the words that someone else has written? Do you understand the meanings of all the words used? Do you know how to correctly say the words used? And what about the Gods or Goddesses mentioned? Do you even know who they are nevermind being able to say their names? Because the answer is often “no” to many of these questions people find little to now success in their magickal work and then become discouraged. Many then decide that Witchcraft isn’t real or doesn’t work while a small few decide that they might need to do more work, more study, and then return to magick. These end up being the “cream of the crop”, so to speak, and often become life long magickal practitioners who take up a serious study of magick and the occult.
Some might say that this shouldn’t matter; it shouldn’t matter where the words come from and that it’s the intention behind the words as they are spoken that matter. And to a point, that’s very true. But if you don’t stop to think about what’s being said, if you’re just saying it without taking the time to consider what you’re really saying and really putting your own intention behind it, then you run the risk of putting something out there you didn’t intend and instead taking on the intentions of the original author. And honestly, when it comes to working with the Gods, if you are calling on a God or Goddess that you haven’t taken the time to develop a proper relationship with before asking for their help, if you can’t take the time to learn how their name is properly pronounced, who they are and what they like for offerings (and then bringing that into your work), then you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t feel they have answered your call for help.
While it is always best to write your own spells, this obviously isn’t something that every practitioner is able to do, depending on their experience with spellwork. If that’s the case then you might want to consider either holding off on spellwork until you have more experience through study and understanding of things like the Magickal Laws and Hermetic Principles, or at the very least take care to truly study and understand the spell you pulled from a book or website before casting it. Be sure you’re intention is always behind the words that you use. And never, ever feel as though you can’t modify a spell you find a book or on a website. None of these things are holy writ. If something doesn’t make sense to you take the time to find ways to rework it. This is how most people start out with learning how to write and construct their own spells, just by the simple act of learning how to modify the spells they find by other people.
Taking the time to choose your own words, taking the time to study the Gods and Goddesses found in the rituals who you don’t have existing relationships with, and having true intent behind your words used in sacred space for the purpose of creating change will help you to send vibrations out into the Universe and the astral plane that will bring you what you truly desire.
Herbal Magick In Your Kitchen
Apr 7th
For some people their first introduction to the idea of herbal magick comes from rifling through the herbs available in their kitchen cupboards. Sometimes this, along with a little kitchen magick, makes for the beginnings of a life long study into using herbs for spells and magick. A lot of the time when we start out looking into herbs for magickal use in the Craft we find ourselves drawn to books that might talk about more esoteric or lesser known herbs, and while it’s great to work with some of these herbs because just by the virtue of their being less common they feel more magickal, we can find so much of what we need for most of our magickal work right in our own kitchens or at the local supermarket.
Here is a list of 20 herbs that can be found easily in the supermarket, farmers market, or right now in your kitchen! Here you’ll have some of their basic magickal and healing uses. While a few herbs are noted as not being safe to be ingested by pregnant women, always be sure to do some extra research into herbs that you plan to take internally. And when you’re looking for something to use in magick and you don’t know what to use, often you’ll notice that an herb’s medicinal use mirrors it’s magickal use as well. So if you can find the medicinal uses of a common kitchen herb you can often use it for similar uses in magick. Reading through this list will help make that more apparent.
Anise – You can use anise for help with sleeplessness. Anise seeds can be placed in warm milk and allowed to steep, much like tea, for about 10 minutes, then strain the seeds out and drink. For magickal use anise can be used to promote magickal and prophetic dreams. Burn as an incense on charcoal in your bedroom before you go to sleep or use as part of an herbal blend used within a dreampillow.
Basil - Basil has a handful of useful properties including protection, banishing and drawing money. Steeping basil in some olive oil can make a great simple oil to rub on a green candle for money drawing. Basil can be burned as an incense to help with both banishment and protection, as well as ground into a powder and sprinkled around doorways and windows to help keep out unwanted visitors.
Bay Leaves – Bay leaves are known for their protective properties. Bay leaves can be scattered around the home for protection and it can ground up into a powder and scattered around the home to cleanse the space from unwanted energies, especially in the case of possible spirit activity. Bay leaves can also be used to help with astral projection and visions.
Caraway – When it comes to home healing, caraway has a number of different ways that it can be used. Crush up a teaspoon of caraway seeds and steep as a tea in a cup of hot water to help with digestive discomfort, flatulence, and stomach cramps. Magickally caraway seeds are known to help with fertility as well as lust. Caraway seeds can be used in place of rice at a wedding; when thrown at the couple as they walk from the ceremony it sends wishes of fertility for many children. The seeds can also be ground and steeped in warmed red wine as a sort of aphrodisiac.
Cinnamon – Most of us are aware of the many magickal uses for cinnamon. It’s known for being used in money and prosperity charms and is often used as an ingredient in prosperity oils and to dress candles for money magick. Another area that cinnamon has been know for in folk magick is love. Some of the folk spells of the past recommend baking cakes with cinnamon and serving them to someone that you wish to have fall in love with you. Others talk about adding cinnamon to wine or mead for the same purpose. Cinnamon can be used for love, money and promoting physical health and vigor.
Cloves – Cloves have wonderful antiseptic and anesthetic properties. If you have a toothache you can rub clove oil on the gum line of the problem tooth. You can also chew on a clove if you have problems with sore wisdom teeth. Chewing on cloves can also help with bad breath. Magickally cloves are used for protection and can be carried in your pocket or in a black charm bag for protection. Soaking cloves in water for a few hours can soften them and they can then be strung with a needle onto some thread and then hung around the home or car for protection. Ground and burned as incense, clove can help with visions and divination work.
Fennel – Medicinally fennel can be used to relieve hiccups; heat up 1-2 teaspoons of fennel in equal parts milk and water, strain and drink. The juice of fennel is said to help stop vomiting when drops are placed on the tongue. Magickally fennel is used as a protective and purifying herb. Grind dried fennel into a powder and sprinkle around the inside of the home for protection. Hung inside charm bags at the windows of the home helps to ward off negative spirits. Fennel seeds can be carried in your pocket for the same reasons and can be ground and burned for purifying the home of any unwanted spirits.
Garlic – Garlic is one of the herbs with a long and well known folk history for being used for healing and protection. Garlic can be used to prevent and ward off colds. With it’s strong antibiotic properties, it can be cooked and eaten when you feel the symptoms of a cold coming to help keep it at bay. Magickally garlic has a long history of being used to ward off evil. It is believed to be able to absorb negativity when placed around the home and when carried creates an aura of protection around you preventing negativity and unwanted spirits from attaching themselves to you; some people talk about using garlic in these sense by carrying a bulb of garlic with them when visiting cemeteries and places believed to be haunted.
Ginger – Ginger is a great help when you’re dealing with nausea. Candied ginger is a great thing to have around in the kitchen for general nausea as well as morning sickness for pregnant women. Candied ginger can be chewed like gummy candy or it can be placed in a cup of hot water and allowed to melt and steep into a tea. Dried and ground ginger can be made into a tea for the same purposes; placed in warm milk it can be given to kids for the same reason (the taste of ginger can be a little strong for kids so milk can help to lessen the intensity). When used in magick ginger can be used for love, money and power. The heat properties of ginger help to “heat up” a situation which make it great for love spells.
Lemon – Not a traditional herb, but found in many people’s kitchens, the juice can be used for treating colds by adding the juice of one whole lemon to a cup of hot water and drinking as a tea; some people also like to add about a tablespoon of honey to this as well to make it smooth and sweet to counter the bitter acidic nature of the lemon. Lemon peel can be added to sachets for love spells and can be burned for both love and longevity as an incense.
Marjoram – The flowers from marjoram can be boiled into a tea for relieving headaches and digestive issues (pregnant women should not take marjoram however as it can be dangerous). Used in spells for love, health, money and happiness the dried leaves and flowers can be added to charm bags and sachets and placed around the home to promote piece and happiness. Red or pink sachets made with marjoram can be tied to the bed to strength an existing relationship with your partner.
Mint – Mint comes in many forms and different forms can be helpful for different things. Peppermint is one of the most common and when made into a tea it can help with an upset stomach. Mint oil can be burned in an oil diffuser to help ward off incests. Mint oil can be used on yellow, gold or green candles for prosperity spells. Dried the herb can be burned for luck and money spells or it can be carried in a green charm bag with a piece of jade for money drawing.
Nutmeg - Nutmeg works medicinally as a digestive aid and can ease stomach upset. Magickally it’s used for a variety of love spells and has a long history of being carried for love and luck. A whole piece of nutmeg can be etched or carved with runes or symbols for prosperity and carried in the pocket. There are folk spells that suggest using nutmeg to ensure your partner remains faithful. The nut is cut into four pieces; one piece is tossed off a cliff, one piece is buried in the ground, one piece is burned and the last piece is boiled in water. You would then drink the water and save the piece of nutmeg from it, carrying it with you at all times and sleeping with it under your pillow.
Parsley – Parsley is another herb used for protection and purification in magick. But these cleansing properties extend to it’s medicinal uses as well. Parsley, either made into a tea or chewed, helps to cleans the body of toxins, relieve bad breath, and help provide minerals like iron to the blood for cleansing. The removal of toxins, as well as drawing on the protective properties of parsley can be achieved by using it in a hot bath.
Rosemary – Made into a tea, rosemary can be used as an aid for memory and mental clarity. This can be great for students when they are getting ready to study for a big exam. Magickally we can use rosemary for a number of different things including protection, love, luck, purification, healing and sleep making rosemary a great overall herb with so many diverse uses so it’s great to always have on hand. Burn it to cleanse a space of unwanted energy, use in dreampillows, hang rosemary springs by your front door for luck, protection and blessings. Rosemary oil can help with all of these as well; use rosemary oil to draw banishing pentagrams on your doors and windows to ward off unwanted visitors in all forms.
Saffron – Most of us might be familiar with saffron in a potato salad or on some grilled salmon, but we don’t see it used terribly often in a lot of magick. It has some great magickal uses though, and while it can be an expensive household herb, it can pack a good punch magickally. When it comes to any sort or magick that will call on the solar aspects of planets, the sun itself, solar deities or if you just need to heat things up a bit, saffron is a great herb to use. It can be used to make bright and deep orange colored dyes for altar cloths, sachet and charm bags and for dying eggs at Ostara. It can be added to love spells to increase lust. Add it to healing spells to help ward off disease. An old folk charm for pregnant women talked about wearing it in a ball or in a pouch over their stomach to ensure a quick delivery.
Sage – Sage is one of the most used and most familiar herbs to just about any magickal practitioner. Known for it’s ability to cleanse a space from unwanted energies and raise the vibrations of a room, it is burned and carried for cleansing and protection quite often. Sage can also be made into a tea and used to help clear up chest congestion and coughs when dealing with a cold. Medicinally it can also be made into a gargle and used as an antiseptic which is great if you have a cut or burn in your mouth or have recently had dental work down and are having pain afterward. Burn, carry or sprinkle around your desk or study area to help promote wisdom. Sage is extremely easy to come by either in the form or white sage in smudge sticks, fresh in the produce department of the supermarket, or dried in whole leave, ground and even rubbed form. Sage is another herb that is not recommended for pregnant women.
Salt – While technically salt isn’t an herb, it’s a mineral, it’s used in much the same way as herbs in a variety of magickal areas. Salt can be used for cleansing and blessing. Most of us know of using salt in ritual, mixed with water, to make blessed water which is then used for anointing others during ritual and sprinkled around the circle to cleanse and seal the space. Salt is also used to cleanse some stones and crystals and it can be used to remove negative vibrations from objects, people and spaces. Sprinkle around the home in the corners of rooms that have unsettled energy and use around doors and windows to keep out unwanted energy.
Thyme – This is another herb with a number of uses, both magickal and medicinal. Made into a tea it can help ease menstrual pains and when steeped in a hot bath it can help relieve various skin conditions including dry winter skin conditions and eczema. Made into a mouthwash it helps to ease and speed the healing of cuts, sores and burns in the mouth. Magickally thyme can be used in a bath to help you to build up the courage to deal with a difficult situation and to help you come to a logical solution to a problem that you might be facing. Thyme is another herb that can be added to a dreampillow to help aid with sleep and to help bring psychic and prophetic dreams as well as ward off nightmares. Carried or burned thyme can also help in healing spells.
Vanilla - Vanilla is another plant that is said to have aphrodisiac-like properties. Vanilla perfume oil can be a great anointing oil for love and beauty magick and can be used on candles for love spells, especially when you want to add some sweetness to your relationship. Vanilla bean can bring power and vitality, so carrying in a charm bag to restore your personal power can be helpful. Placed inside a bowl of sugar vanilla can infuse the sugar with loving energy and vibrations. The sugar can then be used to make foods and cakes meant to promote love and harmony.
Birthday Magick
Apr 5th
I thought this might be a fun little something to share. Today is my birthday and I thought I would share a few things for this particularly strong day of personal power that we all experience during the year. Many of us may remember making a wish and blowing out candles on our birthday cakes as kids; some of us still do this today, but when we were kids many of us were probably completely unaware that by making this wish by the light of a burning mini candle in an offering of flour and sugar we were working our first simple spells. With birthdays being a great day of astrological alignment for use, it’s a great time to set aside a few minutes to do some wish magick not unlike that stuff we did as kids.
One thing is the simple use of a small incantation when blowing out your birthday candles that you might be presented with. Recite this while visualizing your wish. When you blow out the candle see your wish and desire being carried on the smoke up to the Gods and the Universe to fulfill. I do not know the source of this rhyme; it’s one that I learned when I was quite young when I first started out with practicing magick.
”A year has come,
A year has passed,
I’ll make my birthday wish at last.
Magick powers old and new,
Make my birthday wish come true!”
Candle magick is ideal on your birthday so even common, simple candle magick with a single candle in a color corresponding to your astrological sign, carved with your zodiac symbol and name, along with any runes or symbols representing a specific desire, can be a great way to cast a simple wish spell for yourself. Use these color correspondences to find your candle color:
Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18): Sky Blue
Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20): Lavender
Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19): Red
Taurus (Apr 20-May 20): Green
Gemini (May 21-Jun 21): Pink
Cancer (Jun 22-Jul 22): Silver
Leo (Jul 23-Aug 22): Gold
Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22): Navy
Libra (Sep 23-Oct 22): Green
Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21): Red
Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): Navy
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan19): Brown
I have also seen wish spells for birthdays that involve taking a piece of paper or parchment and inscribing
it with a rune representing something you desire for the coming year and place it under a new potted plant. As you tend the plant in the coming year you are symbolically tending your desire represented on the paper under the pot. This is a type of spell I’ve never used for a birthday working since it is very similar to spells oven worked at Ostara, however it does make for a wonderful method for wish spells regardless of when you work it.
Ideally magick worked on your birthday should be magick that might be considered “selfish” in nature. It’s a day to honor yourself and to prepare for seeing your wishes come to fruition over the next year. But, while doing that, also acknowledge and celebrate any accomplishments as well. Always give thanks for what you have before asking for more!
So whenever your birthday is, give it a little bit more magickal consideration. It’s a day that is all about you, so honor yourself and the Divine within.
Creating Color Altars
Apr 3rd
Using bowls of colored flowers as part of a color altar can help draw various energies and vibrations to your devotions and magickal work.
As we’ve already talked about in a past post, working with altars doesn’t need to be as intimidating as a lot of people tend to think it will be. We have talked about the various ideas of what an altar is and how we can create them, even in spaces where we don’t realize we can have them or in places where we would normally not think to put them because we don’t want to upset those around us who might not be in agreement with our spiritual path. So now that you’re not so afraid of having an altar, what can you do with them?
Many of us are familiar with the idea of creating a working altar, an altar designed for working magick or hold Sabbat or Esbat rituals. Creating a color altar can mean either creating an altar that will also be used as a working altar, but also it can be a place to gather and hold energy of a specific type in your home or ritual space. Color is a physical manifestation of energy wavelengths and with that comes a specific feel and power with each color. Think about how you feel when you walk into a room that’s painted a certain color, like a very bright orange, or how wearing all black makes you feel. Are there certain colors that automatically make you feel nervous or ones that make you feel relaxed? Of course there are because your body and mind are going to react differently to the different vibrations of different colors. So before we can really start talking about creating and working with color altars we need to first understand a little bit more about color.
Color is the visible spectrum of light made up of different light energy and wavelengths. The use of color for healing is most commonly found in a practice known as color therapy, also known as chromotherapy. A lot of the information that we know and use with regard to color is used in color therapy and is often found in our day to day lives without even realizing it. Color therapy and the use of color in healing goes back to experiments done by Pythagoras to see how color could help with health and vitality. There has been evidence that the use of color in this way also was done in ancient Greece and in the healing temples of Egypt. During these experiments and treatments the things that we know today to be true were being discovered; color can change how we feel, how we behave and how we live by the other types of energies that we draw in. By bringing in these different energies and wavelengths we can balance and change our personal energy as well. We find color therapy techniques a lot in chakra balancing, healing and cleansing.
In the practice of color therapy the colors used are often just the basic colors of red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple as well as indigo and black in some cases. In therapy the attributions to the colors may be a little different than what we usually see them as in magickal use. In therapy these colors are often classed with the following attributes:
Red: Stimulates and Invigorates. Has the positive qualities of empowerment, courage, self-will, energy and self-motivation. It’s negative qualities are impatience, dominance, aggression and self-centeredness
Orange: Warming and Energizing. Has the positive qualities of joy, enthusiasm, optimism, spontaneity and sensuality. Negatively is has the qualities of dependence, over-indulgence, and superficiality.
Yellow: Cleansing and Charging. Has the positive qualities of happiness, light-heartedness, agility, clear thinking and mental clarity. The negative aspects of yellow include argumentativeness, restless, evasive, and being over critical.
Green: Calming and Soothing. Has the positive qualities of balance, vitality, soothing, compassion, being fair-minded and relaxed. The negative aspects of green include envy, being jaded, mean and bitter.
Blue: Cooling and Protection. It’s positive qualities include sincerity, peacefulness, sincerity, trustworthiness, calm and tactfulness. Negatively blue has the aspects of being cold and withdrawn, manipulative and disloyal.
Indigo: Sedative. The positive qualities of indigo include empathy, wisdom, visions, depth and intuition. Negatively it has the qualities arrogance, fearfulness, deluded thoughts and isolation.
Violet: Cleansing and Inspiring. Positively it has the qualities of inspiration, artistic energy, spirituality, and nobility. Negatively it has the qualities of self-doubt, self-destruction, being a perfectionist, and being fanatical.
We can use a lot of these same energies and qualities when we work with color in magick, but we often have other colors that we work with as well that aren’t common in healing color therapy including black, white, pink, gray and many others. So here are some of the common magickal color correspondences that you can use with this type of altar work.
White: working with the higher self, purity, cleansing, forgiveness, removing unwanted energies, seeking the truth in a situation.
Yellow: air magick, intelligence, happiness, confidence, self-esteem, relieving depression, mental and emotional healing.
Blue: water magick, astral projection, creative energy, peacefulness, tranquility, protection, safety, healing of all forms.
Pink: true love, romantic love, emotional healing, beauty, nurturing, friendship, compassion.
Red: fire magick, passion, sexuality, sexual love, lust, fast action, anger, physical strength, courage.
Orange: attraction, luck, vitality, legal issues, real estate, encouragement.
Green: earth magick, money, fertility, employment, prosperity of all kinds, business matters, growth and expansion.
Purple: wisdom, psychic power, increase and development, influence of all kinds, royalty, confidence, ambition, spirituality.
Gold: honoring the God, money and fortune, divination, physical strength, success, achievement.
Brown: hearth and home, animal magick, partnerships, earth magick, problem solving, grounding.
Gray: binding, redirecting energy, repelling negativity, neutrality, traveling to other planes.
Black: banishing, secrecy, removing negative energy, protection, hex removal, night magick, spirit contact.
When you’re going to work with a color altar, the construction of it should be a clear expression of what it is that you are seeking to draw to you through the use of color. It should also be something that you get creative with. Your main focus should be color.
Start out by picking your intention. Let’s say you want to make an altar for helping draw a raise to you. For this you would work with the color green. Keeping green as your focus, you can being to put together your altar with the use of an altar cloth. Pick a cloth in the color of green that will be your main green. You can vary the shades of other items but use your altar cloth as the main color since it will take up the most space and create the most color on your altar. For this working you might want to go one step up and find an altar cloth that is green with threads of metallic gold woven in as well. Pick something that, to you, says money and success. Then decide from here what other items will be needed on your altar to draw the energy of money with the intention of getting a raise. Here are some other suggestions:
- A large green pillar candle that has been charged, carved with a large dollar sign, and anointed with a money drawing oil blend.
- Use green flowers, herbs and plants like fresh oak leave or acorns that are still green (remember, if you’re taking live plants from a tree or the earth to ask permission and leave and offering when you are done).
- Use green paper to cut out symbols related to money.
- Place actual pieces of green paper money in any denomination around the altar (remember, like attracts like).
- Use green stones and crystals around the altar like green tourmaline, jade, emerald, peridot, bloodstone and aventurine.
- Place other smaller green candles around the corners of the altar for ambient light.
- Use green, earthen bowls for water and salt on your altar or to hold ritual offerings.
- Use figurines of dragons that are green in color to call on their energies, or use green figurines of other creatures and entities that you might be drawn to.
When you’re done you should have a space where you can light a candle and some incense, as well as leave some sort of offering of either food, drink, herbs or stones that is drenched in the power color you are looking to use. You can then light your candle with some simple words expressing your desire and with some visualization and then leave this power center in your home to do its work. Each time you pass the area you might want to stop and just take a moment to feel the energy of the green color, see how it makes you feel. Does it empower you? Does it make you feel as though prosperity is coming your way? Tune into the color and let it’s energy work its magick on you.
Creating and working with these color altars is quite simple. It’s a matter of picking your intent, matching it to a color and then using that color to direct you in the creation of your altar and the casting of your magick. The real key is tuning into the color and letting it fully embrace you, your altar and your magick. When you want to work to draw more energy to your intent, simply visualize this color either around your goal (like the sense healing for a specific person, you can envision them surrounded in blue light that may be of the same blue color of a healing altar) or just send the colored energy towards the idea of your goal, just as you would with sending any energy in magick.
Get creative, let the use of the color be another way to express your desires and your magickal intent.
Ask A Witch: Do I have to use this stuff?
Mar 23rd
Here is another great question for “Ask A Witch” this time coming from Tracey!
When doing a ritual or spell is it imperative that you use exactly what is required in that spell as i live in the Southern hemisphere it is very hard to come by a lot of the requirements asked for in a spell or ritual as most of the books are from the Northern hemisphere. Any comments you or anyone else leaves will be most appreciated.
Thanks for the question Tracey. It’s a really good one because it’s a question that a lot of people have, especially when they’re getting started, regardless of where they’re located. There are a few different factors that play into this but I’m going to just point blank answer your question and then we’ll get into details and specifics. 
Do you have to use all the exact items that you find listed in a spell or ritual from a book (or any other source, really)?
No.
You want to consider a few different things when you’re looking at spells books. First of all, are the spells in the book more “ancient” and I mean that in a really loose way; are they written from the point of trying to portray old or ancient spell methods, or are they more modern day type spells. Some books, like “The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells” by Judika Illes, contain spells that are legendary folk spells from various parts of the world and contain material that is meant to give a sense of how certain types of spells were done, or may have been done, in time past. Some of these spells contain ingredients and elements that are either impossible to find or might seem unethical in today’s world of magick (depending on your beliefs and tradition of course). Then you have situations like yours were it just might be extremely difficult to find certain items because of where you might be located. It’s possible that a specific herb isn’t native to where you live and might be hard to come by or in short supply.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “where there’s a Witch there’s a way.” I think this is a great axiom to have in mind whenever you’re doing magickal work. Just because an item you find in a spell written by someone else either doesn’t feel right or can’t be obtained doesn’t mean you can’t work that spell. Making substitutions and making them confidently is an important part of any Witch’s practice.
If herbs are part of your concern you might want to get a copy of a book on herbs used for magickal purposes that has a good section on substitutions. A book like “Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs” by Scott Cunningham is a great reference to have on hand. There are also a number of great number of online resources that can help you with this. Something like a list of herbs and their magickal uses can help go a long way. The came can be said for a list of magickal properties for crystals and stones. When it comes to other items, like specific types of candles or incenses, again, modify and use what you can get. There’s no reason to have to bend over backwards to try and find a spell item that you isn’t easy to get or costs a ton of money. Remember the herbs and candles and stones are tools and they are not magickal in and of themselves; it’s the energy and intent you put behind them with your spellwork that makes them useful.
So if you come across an item that you can’t locate try these tips and steps to help you find out what you can use in its place that you can locate.
- Do some research on the item. Find out what it is (if you’re not even sure of that much…is it a flower, a root, and herb, etc). Find out what its magickal properties and uses are. Once you know what it’s specifically used for you can start to find something else that will work with it.
- What other associations can you find out about it? In the term of plants and herbs, find out what it’s astrological properties are, the parts that are used, is it poisonous, etc. When you have the magickal purpose and then these additional bits of information you can use them to find a substitute that matches this as closely as possible.
- Don’t feel that you have to follow a spell in a book to the letter. Modify and change things up; write your own incantations and be sure to insert your specific energy and intent into what you’re doing. The intention of an author who writes a book of spells is never going to be the same as yours and your intention and desire is what ultimately drives your work.
Really, when it comes to working with spells from books, it’s best to treat them like guidelines and suggestions. They aren’t sacred or holy texts and if you make changes to them, as long as you understand what you’re changing, what its original purpose was and why you’re changing it to what you’re changing it to, then you’re fine! Don’t be afraid to do it! These are the first steps to learning to write your own spells, which should be the ultimate goal of any competent and serious Witch.
