Thursday This Is Your Spell – Witches’ Bottles

Witches’ Bottles

There are many legends connected with what are called 'Witches’ Bottles'....basically a Witches’ Bottle is a jar or bottle that is filled with something while being charged by a spell, and then sealed. They are often used to protect  a  house or home, since evil spirits are said to have to stop and count every item in the bottle before they can enter a home. Many things can be used in a bottle of protection ... you can use earth, sand, small pebbles, buttons, pins, crushed glass, threads, acorns, etc etc etc (in fact in one X-files episode the writer obviously used this when Agent Fox Mulder was saved from a vampire when the vampire had to stop and count all Fox's spilled sunflower seeds <LOL>!)

Making A Witches’ Bottle

First select the bottle you want to use. Your bottle maybe clear or tinted. If you're working with a colored bottle, choose a color that suits what you are doing. Tinted bottles are great for spells that use color correspondences. Once you have a bottle, wash it with warm soapy water, or cleanse it in the ocean. After you have washed it, magically cleanse it and bathe it in the light of the full moon. When the bottle is clean it is time to fill it. There are a lot of options when it comes to contents, such as very sharp objects like nails, pins, safety pins, needles, or sand, for protection from unfriendly forces. Filling a bottle with collected  herbs, resins, leaves, roots, and spices can assist you in creating any number of wards, spells, or talismans. Add a base oil or cider vinegar and you have wonderful gifts for your friends, that will not only enhance their magical life but also their cooking! Another option is filling the bottle with a variety of flower petals selected for their healing properties, attributes, or correspondences to planetary or other forces. (You may want to include a bit of alcohol, vinegar, or olive oil to preserve the flowers.)

As you can see, witches’ bottles have unlimited possibilities, are easy to make, and can be adapted to whatever need you may be trying to fill. Protection, love, health, or even just decoration, this is one of the most versatile tools in a witches’ possession. I am including several different possible creations today. Always remember though, make anything you do yours. No spell or recipe is set in stone, nor should it be. The powers in the world are mutable and adaptable as is any good witch, using what’s at hand to work her magic. These are guidelines. That being said, here are a few examples of possible witches’ bottles you can create : )

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* Kid's Button Bottle *

This is a good craft/spell project for pagan kids. Take an unbreakable jar with a screw on cap - or use a Rubbermaid type container. Have the child place pretty buttons in the bottle all the while saying:

"Button, Button,
Nine times nine,
Protect this house
And room of mine."

When the jar is full it can then be placed near the door to the house, or better yet under the child's bed! (You all know a child or two (or an adult <eg>) that is afraid that eviiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllll clowns live under the bed!)

 

Earth Witches’ Bottle

Using your projective hand as a funnel, pour fresh, clean soil into a long, small, clean, sterile bottle or spice jar. While doing so, charge the earth with protection, while chanting the appropriate rhyme of your own creation. Fill to the top. Cap the bottle. Place this near an entrance such as a door or window.

 

Red Wine Witches’ Bottle

Needed:

• rosemary
• needles & pins
• small glass jar with tight fitting lid or cork stopper
• red wine
• black or red candle (for wax to seal the jar)

Fill the the jar using the rosemary, needles and pins. As you're filling the jar, say these words...

"Pins, needles, rosemary, wine,
In this witch's bottle of mine;
Guard against harm and enmity;
This is my will; so Mote it Be!"

When as full of those items as possible, pour in red wine and shake. Seal with black or red wax. If you own your own house, bury this at the furthest most corner of your property. If you rent, place it in an inconspicuous place.

Herbal Witches’ Cleansing Bottle

Needed:

• large clear bottle
• sand
• dried rosemary
• dried lemon peel
• dried sage
• dry cedar
• black peppercorns
• dried lavender
• dried dill
• dried bay leaves
• dried rowan
• white candle (for wax to seal the jar)

Pour a layer of sand into the bottle, then add the herbs in layers. When the bottle is full, focus cleansing protective energy into the herbs and sand, and see a golden light radiating from the bottle. Visualize the herbs driving away negative influences. Cork and seal the bottle with white wax. Using a permanent marker, draw the Algiz rune

Image from Techno Feng Shui

on one side of the bottle, and on the other side draw a pentagram.

Set the bottle near your front or back door, and every six months uncap and pour the herbs out into the woods or you compost heap. Thoroughly wash and dry the bottle before filling it with a new round of herbs : )

 

Binding Spell

This spell is for binding a violent or dangerous person from doing harm. Caution: do not bind someone without very good reason. It doesn’t matter if you believe in Karma or Universal Balance or not. Belief doesn’t change reality. Also when considering a spell like this, remember magic isn’t always clean, pretty or nice…

Needed:

• photo of person to be bound

OR

• a piece of white parchment paper with their whole name written on it in black ink or dove's blood ink.
• 18 inches or so of black silken cord or black thick string, like embroidery floss.
• A small glass jar w/cork lid.
• A small white candle
• A small black candle

Light both your candles. Write the name on the paper or take the photograph in hand. Fold the paper or photo into as small a rectangle as possible. Take the cord in hand and begin to wind it around the rectangle, for a total of nine loops,
saying aloud in a clear, strong voice:

I (your name ), bind thee (name of offending person )
from causing harm to (name of victim here),
from exerting control over this person,
from influencing this person.
I bind you from making further plans with this person.
I call upon the angels, Auriel, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael
(or any other guides or deities you prefer.)
to assist me in this righteous cause!
As I will,
So mote it be.

Place the paper into the jar. Urinate into the jar & cork. Seal all around the cork with the black candle wax. Let the candles burn themselves out safely. Place this jar in a place where no one will disturb it. Bury it if you must. Some prefer to keep it on their altar and send energy to it regularly.

House Protection Jar

Needed:

• 1 glass jar
• 1/2 to 1 cup salt
• 3 cloves garlic
• 9 bay leaves
• 7 tsp. dried Basil
• 4 tsp. dill seeds
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp anise 
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp fennel
• 1 bowl

In the morning, ideally on a bright sunny day, assemble the items. Place all in the bowl and say:

"Salt that protects, protect my home and all within."

Add the cloves of garlic:

"Garlic that protects, protect my home and all within."

Crumble the Bay leaves and place in the bowl:

"Bay that protects, protect my home and all within."

Add the basil and say:

"Basil that protects, protect my home and all within."

Add the dill and say:

"Dill that protects, protect my home and all within."

Add the sage and say:

"Sage that protects, protect my home and all within."

Add the anise and say:

"Anise that protects, protect my home and all within."

Add the fennel and say:

"Fennel that protects, protect my home and all within."

Mix together the salt and the herbs with your hands, throughout the movement of your hands and fingers lend energy to the potent protective items, visualize your home safe and as a shining secure place. Pour the mixture in the jar and cap tightly, Place it in your home with these words:

"Salt and herbs, nine times nine
Guard now this home of mine"

Inspiration Jar

Purpose: To bring on inspiration. For creativity.
Neede:d

• Mason jar
• Small crystal
• Dried orange peels (two-thirds)
• Dried mint (one-third)
• 2 drops orange essential oil
• 1 drop mint essential oil
• Square piece of black cotton fabric
• Rubber band
• Orange fabric paint or orange acrylic
• Orange ribbon

**Note: The color orange is the color of creative energies. The shading (how dark or light the orange is) that you use will denote the level of creative energies you wish to channel. A dark orange will take you deep into the creative energies while a light orange is less intense.
Moon cycle: No moon cycle is selected for this spell because all phases of the moon hold different levels of creative energies, including the dark moon. If you follow moon phases, choose the cycle that fits your purpose best.

Gather ingredients. With a clean and dry jar before you, place the mint first and then the orange peels inside, filling it up about two-thirds of the way. Add two drops of orange essential oil and one drop mint essential oil. More if you are using a large mason jar. Stir ingredients together. Take the small crystal in your hand and say something such as:

"Creativity come to me
In whispers and dreams
And visions that gleam."

Place the crystal inside the jar with the potpourri. For the lid, cover the opening of the jar with black fabric so that the side of the fabric hangs down over the edges about 2 inches. With a pencil, mark the center top of the fabric. Take the fabric off the jar, lie it flat on a hard surface. Using orange paint, acrylic or fabric paint, paint on a spiral. (for those of you who are like me – can trip over a breeze…while the paint is drying, cover the jar temporarily with a lid so that it doesn't get spilled. )

Associations:

• Spiral: The spiral is a symbol of the dance of life. It shows the continuous cycle of ourselves going inward (within ourselves/our psyche) and then going outward (expressing ourselves).
• Black: The black fabric in this spell is used as an absorption color. Black absorbs all colors, all energies. By placing the orange spiral on this we are signifying just what those energies are that the black is absorbing, all creative energies.

Once the paint is dry, place the fabric on the jar once again. The spiral should now be on the centered top of the jar's mouth. Holding the fabric in place, wrap the rubber band around the sides to hold it in place. Next, tie the orange ribbon overtop of the rubber band. Keep this inspiration jar in your work area, where you can smell it’s inspiring scents - where you do your writing, painting, drawing, or keep it by your bed to bring on inspiring dreams.

Money Jar

Needed:

• paper & pen
• seven dimes
• quart jar with screw-on lid
• bay leaf

Write your need on the paper and drop it into the jar. Take 7 dimes in your dominate hand and place them one by one into the jar. As each one drops, visualize it multiplying into huge amounts and say:

"Toward this wish, the money grows
by leaps and bounds - it overflows.
Coins that jingle, coins that shine
come to me now - you are mine."

Write your name on the bay leaf and drop it into the jar. Screw on the lid and place the jar where you can see it everyday, but where it is not visible to everyone who enters your home. Add a coin or two to the jar each day, and watch as money flows to you from unexpected sources. After you obtain the money you need, remove the paper and bury it outside.

Sacred Salt Jar

This is not only great to have for oneself, but it makes a nice gift to someone special if you happen to know what scents they like or stones they like. Since what you put into it is "yours", it is like giving a part of yourself, too. This mixture is excellent to charge stones in and to "simmer energies". Once it has blended
for a few months, a pinch can be added to rituals, etc., bathwater or as a gift to Mother Earth. You can also make a "starter salt" as a gift for a friend. You can also give of your own sacred salt mixture to a special friend to help blend powers and energies when they make their own  sacred salt mixture : ) 
The mixture should be made and kept in a covered stone or Earthen jar, but can be made and kept in a covered glass jar until you find one that is suitable. There are different schools of thought on what kind of salt to use. Some use rock salt, some Earth salt and some sea salt, some even use normal table salt. Whatever salt you use, make sure that it is "natural" and not iodized.

Blend the salt with chopped or ground herbs, tiny crystals, small stones, nuts seeds,  jewelry, locks of hair, ground incense and a few drops of your favorite oils, anything that you wish. Even rose petals and other flowers. When you have cleansed and charged stones and crystals by sun and Moon, place them in this mixture to store until you wish to use them or give them as gifts.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions / recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog

VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS by Margaret Morrison

This has always been one of my favorite stories - mind you I said story not Christmas story. AS pagans in today's world, many feel a need to be defensive about their chosen belief system, sometimes rightfully so. But for a pagan to completely renounce "Christmas" and all that comes with it makes them - in my opinion - no better that a Christian who refuses to acknowledge the pagan roots of the holiday. Everything is what you make of it. Just because the population in general believes that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christianity's Christ child, and all the hoopla has grown up around that belief, doesn't mean a person should deprive themselves of the all of the fun & happiness that goes along with it.
Decorating a Christmas tree is FUN. Shopping for gifts (for me at least *grin*) is FUN. I truly enjoy finding that one gift that will be perfect, yet utterly unexpected. The surprise & happiness I see on the face of a friend or family member when they see, not only something they wanted, but realize "Hey this person KNOWS me! They PAY ATTENTION to me - what I say and what I do!" And the  realization that I truly do consider them a friend, someone worth knowing well enough to buy a gift that won't sit in the back of a closet...that makes me happy.
I read somewhere that the act gift giving making a person happy is a sign of co-dependence and indicates "a problem." Yeah well, whatever. I disagree. Shouldn't making someone you care for happy make you happy in turn..? How that indicates a problem is beyond me.
Anyways, I imagine many readers have seen this before, but it's my blog, so I can post whatever I want PPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTT ! ! ! !
I also think it's a good reminder - to people of ALL faiths - to loosen up, enjoy, and accept what's offered. Christmas, Yule, Solstice...really, how many holidays get the honor of being celebrated by almost the whole world? ...At the same time? What matter the neighbor's reason for their celebrating? We're all doing it together.....

I tried to find some kind of link to Ms. Morrison, but good googly moogly! there seem to be a bazillion of them!

VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS
by Margaret Morrison
Copyright © 1999 by Margaret Morrison

Five minutes before the Winter Solstice circle was scheduled to begin, my mother called.  Since I'm the only one in our coven who doesn't run on Pagan Standard Time, I took the call. Half the people hadn't arrived, and those who had wouldn't settle down to business for at least twenty minutes.
"Merry Christmas, Frannie."
"Hi, Mom. I don't do Christmas."
"Maybe not but I do, so I'll say it." she told me in her sassy voice, kind of sweet and vinegary at the same time. "If I can respect your freedom of religion, you can respect my freedom of speech."
I grinned and rolled my eyes. "And the score is Mom - one, Fran - nothing. But I love you, anyway."
People were bustling around in the next room, setting up the altar, decking the halls with what I considered excessive amounts of holly and ivy, and singing something like, "O Solstice Tree."
"It sounds like a...holiday party." Mom said.
"We're doing Winter Solstice tonight."
"Oh. That's sort of like your version of Christmas, right?"
I wanted to snap back that Christmas was the Christian version of Solstice, but I held back. "We celebrate the return of the sun. It's a lot quieter than Christmas. No shopping sprees, no pine needles and tinsel on the floor, and it doesn't wipe me out. I remember how you had always worked yourself to a frazzle by December 26."
"Oh honey, I loved doing all that stuff. I wouldn't trade those memories for all the spare time in the world. I wish you and Jack would loosen up a little for the baby's sake. When you were little, you enjoyed Easter bunnies and trick-or-treating and Christmas things. Since you've gotten into this Wicca religion, you sound a lot like Aunt Betty the year she was a Jehovah's Witness."
I laughed nervously.  "Yeah...How is Aunt Betty?"
"Fine. She's into the Celestine Prophecy now, and she seems quite happy. Y'know," she went on, "Aunt Betty always said the Jehovah's Witnesses said those holiday things were pagan. So I don't see why you've given them up."
"Uh, they've been commercialized and polluted beyond recognition. We're into very simple, quiet celebrations."
"Well," she said dubiously, "as long as you're happy."
Sometimes long distance is better than being there, 'cause your mother can't give you the look that makes you agree with everything she says. Jack rescued me by interrupting. "Hi, Ma." he called to the phone as he waved a beribboned sprig of mistletoe over my head. Then he kissed me, one of those quick noisy ones. I frowned at him.
"Druidic tradition, Fran. Swear to Goddess."
"Of course it is. Did the Druids use plastic berries?"
"Always. We'll be needing you in about five minutes."
"Okay. Gotta go, Mom.  Love you."
We had a nice, serene kind of Solstice Circle. No jingling bells or filked-out Christmas Carols. Soon after the last coven member left, Jack was ready to pack it in.
"The baby's nestled all snug in her bed," he said with a yawn, "I think I'll go settle in for a long winter's nap." I heaved a martyred sigh. He grinned unrepentantly, kissed me, called me a grinch, and went to bed. I stayed up and puttered around the house, trying to unwind.
I sifted through the day's mail, ditched the flyers urging us to purchase all the Seasonal Joy we could afford or charge. I opened the card from his parents. Another sermonette: a manger scene and a bible verse, with a handwritten note expressing his mother's fervent hope that God's love and the Christmas spirit would fill our hearts in this blessed season. She means well, really. I amused myself by picking out every pagan element I could find in the card.
When the mail had been sorted, I got up and started turning our ritual room back into a living room. As if the greeting card had carried a virus, I found myself humming Christmas carols. I turned on the classic rock station, but they were playing that Lennon-Ono Christmas song.
I switched stations.  The weatherman assured me that there was only a twenty percent chance of snow. Then, by Loki, the deejay let Bruce Springsteen insult my ears crooning, "Yah better watch out, yah better not pout."
I tried the Oldies station. Elvis lives, and he does Christmas songs.
Okay, fine. We'll do classical - no, we won't. They're playing Handel's Messiah.
Maybe the community radio station would have something secular humanist. "Ahora, escucharemos a Jose Feliciano canta `Feliz Navidad'."
I was getting annoyed. The radio doesn't usually get this saturated with holiday mush until the twenty-fourth.
"This is too weird." I said to the radio, "Cut that crap out."
The country station had some Kenny Rogers Christmas tune, the first rock station had gone from John and Yoko's Christmas song to Simon and Garfunkel's "Silent Night," and the other rock station still had Springsteen reliving his childhood. "...I'm tellin' you why. Santa Claus is comin' to town!" he bellowed. 
I was about to pick out a nice secular CD when there was a knock at the door. Now, it could have been a coven member who'd forgotten something. It could have been someone with car trouble. It could have been any number of things, but it certainly couldn't have been a stout guy in a red suit - snowy beard, rosy cheeks, and all - backed by eight reindeer and a sleigh. I blinked, wondered crazily where Rudolph was, and blinked again. There were nine reindeer. Our twenty-percent chance of snow had frosted the dead grass and was continuing to float down in fat flakes.
"Hi, Frannie." he said warmly, "I've missed you."
"I'm stone cold sober, and you don't exist."
He looked at me with a mixture of sorrow and compassion and sighed heavily. "That's why I miss you, Frannie. Can I come in? We need to talk."
I couldn't quite bring myself to slam the door on this vision, hallucination, or whatever. So I let him in - because that made more sense then letting all the cold air in while I argued with someone who wasn't there. As he stepped in, a thought crossed my mind about various entities needing an invitation to get in houses. He flashed me a smile that would melt the polar caps.
"Don't you miss Christmas, Frannie?"
"No." I said flatly, "Apparently you don't see me when I'm sleeping and waking these days. I haven't been Christian for years."
"Oh, now don't let that stop you. We both know this holiday's older than that. Yule trees and Saturnalia and here-comes-the-sun, doodendoodoodoo."
I raised an eyebrow at the Beatles reference, then gave him my standard sermonette on the appropriation and adulteration that made Christmas no longer a Pagan holiday. I had done my homework. I listed centuries, I named names - St. Nicholas among them.
"In the twentieth century version," I assured him, "Christmas is two parts crass commercialism mixed with one part blind faith in a religion I rejected years ago."
I gave him my best lines, the ones that had convinced my coven to abstain from Christmassy cliches.
My hallucination sat in Jack's favorite chair, nodding patiently at me.
"And you," I added nastily, "come here talking about ancient customs when you - in your current form - were invented in the nineteenth century by, um...Clement C. Moore."
He laughed, a rolling, belly-deep chuckle unlike any department-store Santa I'd ever heard. "Of course I change my form now and then to suit fashion.  Don't you? And does that stop you from being yourself?" He said, and asked me if I remembered Real Magic, by Isaac Bonewits. I gaped at him for a moment, then caught myself.
"This is like `Labyrinth', right? I'm having a dream that pretends to be real, but is only made from pieces of things in my memory. You don't look a thing like David Bowie."
"Bonewits has this Switchboard Theory." Santa went on amiably, "The energy you put into your beliefs influences the real existence of the  archetypal - oh, let me put it simpler: `In the beginning, Man created God'.  Ian Anderson." He lit a long-stemmed pipe. The tobacco had a mild and somehow Christmassy smell, and every puff sent up a wreath of smoke.  "I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than Bonewits tells it, but that's close enough for mortals.  Are you with me so far?"
Oh, sure." I lied as unconvincingly as possible. Santa sighed heavily.
"When's the last time you left out milk and cookies for me?"
"When I figured out my parents were eating them."
"Frannie, Frannie. Remember pinda balls, from Hinduism?"
"Rice balls left as offerings for ancestors and gods."
"Do Hindus really believe that the ancestors and gods eat pinda balls?"
"All right, y'got me there. They say that spirits consume the spiritual essence, then mortals can have what's left."
Santa smiled at me compassionately through his snowy beard.
I rallied quickly. "What about the toys? I know for a fact they aren't made by you and a bunch of non-union elves."
"Oh, that's quite true. Manufacturing physical objects out of magical energy is terribly expensive and breaks several laws  of Nature. She only allows us to do that on special occasions. It certainly couldn't be done globally and annually. Now, the missus and the elves and I really do have a shop at the North Pole. Not the sort of thing the Air Force would ever find.  What we make up there is what makes this time a holiday, no matter  what religion it's called."
"Don't tell me," I said, rolling my eyes, "you make the sun come back."
"Oh my, no! The solar cycle stuff, the Reason For The Season, isn't my department. My part is making it a holiday. We make a mild, non-addictive psychedelic thing called Christmas spirit. Try some."
He dipped his fingers in a pocket and tossed red-gold-green-silver glitter at me. I could have ducked. I don't know why I didn't.
It smelled like snow, and pine needles, and cedar chips in the fireplace.
It smelled like fruitcake, like roast turkey, like that foamy white stuff you spray on the window with stencils.
It felt like a crisp wind, Grandma's hugs, fuzzy new mittens, pine needles scrunching under my slippers.
I saw twinkly lights, mistletoe in the doorway, smiling faces from years gone by.
Several Christmas   carols played almost simultaneously in a kind of medley. I fought my way back to my living room and glared sternly at the hallucination in Jack's chair.
"Fun stuff.  Does the DEA know about this?"
"Oh, Frannie.  Why are you such a hard case? I told you it's non-addictive and has no harmful side effects. Would Santa Claus lie to you?"
I opened my mouth and closed it again.  We looked at each other a while.
"...Can I have some more of that glittery stuff..?"
"Mmmm. I think you need something stronger. Try a sugarplum."
I tasted rum ball.
Peppermint.
Those hard candies with the picture all the way through.
Mama's favorite fudge.
A chorus line of Christmas candies danced through my mouth.
The Swedish Angel Chimes, run on candle power, say tingatingatingating.
Mama, with a funny smile, promised to give Santa my letter.
Greeting cards taped on the refrigerator door.
We rode through the tree farm on a straw-filled trailer pulled by a red and green tractor, looking for a perfect pine. It was so big, Daddy had to cut a bit off so the star wouldn't scrape the ceiling. Lights, ornaments, tinsel. 
Daddy lifted me up to the mantle to hang my stocking.
My dolls stayed up to see Santa Claus, and in the morning they all had new clothes. 
Grandma carried in a platter with the world's biggest turkey, and I got the drumstick.
Joey's Christmas puppy chased my Christmas kitten up the tree and it would have fallen over but Daddy held it while Mama got the kitten out. Daddy said every bad word there was but he kept
laughing anyway.
I sneaked my favorite plastic horse into the nativity
scene, between the camels and the donkey.
I came back to reality slowly, with a silly smile on my face and a tickelly feeling behind my eyes like they wanted to cry. The phrase "visions of sugarplums" took on a whole new meaning.
"How long has it been," Santa asked, "since you played with a nativity set?-"
"But it symbolizes--"
"The winter-born king? The sacred Mother and her sun-child? Got a problem with that? You could redecorate it with pentagrams if you like, they'll look fine. As for the Christianization, I've heard who you invoke at Imbolc."
"But Bridgid was a Goddess for centuries before the Catholic Church - oh." I crossed my arms and tried to glare at him, but failed.
"You're a sneaky old elf, y'know?"
"The term is "Jolly Old Elf...'  Care for another sugarplum?"
I did.
I tasted gingerbread.
My first nip of eggnog the way the grown-ups drink it.
Fresh sugar cookies, shaped like trees and decked with colored frosting. 
Dad had been laid off, but we managed a lot of cheer. They told us Christmas would be "slim pickings." Joey and I smiled bravely when Mama brought home that spindly spruce. We loaded down our "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" with every light and ornament it could hold. Popcorn and cranberry strings for the outdoor trees. Mistletoe in the hall: plastic mistletoe, real kisses. Joey and I snipped and glued and stitched and painted treasures to give as presents. We agonized over our "Santa" letters...by now we knew where the goodies came from, and we tried to compromise between what we longed for and what we thought they could afford. Every day we hoped the factory would reopen. When Joey's dog ate my mitten, I wasn't brave. I knew that meant I'd get mittens for
Christmas, and one less toy. I cried. On December twenty-fifth we opened our presents verrrrry slooooowly, drawing out the experience. We made a show of cheer over our socks and shirts and meager haul of toys. I got red mittens. We could tell Mama and Daddy were proud of us for being so brave, because they were grinning like crazy.
"Go out to the garage for apples." Mama told us, "We'll have apple pancakes."
I don't remember having the pancakes.  There was a doll house in the garage. No mass-produced aluminum thing but a homemade plywood doll house with wall-papered walls and real curtains and thread-spool chairs.  My dolls were inside, with newly sewn clothes. Joey was on his knees in front of a plywood barn with hay in the loft. His old farm implements had new paint. Our plastic animals were corralled in popsicle stick fences. 
The garage smelled like apples and hay, the cement was bone-chilling under my slippers, and I was crying.
My knees were drawn up to my chest, arms wrapped around them. My chest felt tight, like ice cracking in sunshine. Santa offered me a huge white handkerchief.  When all the ice in my chest had melted, he cleared his throat.  He was pretty misty-eyed, too.
"Want to come sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas?"
"You've already given it to me."  But I sat on his lap anyway, and kissed his rosy cheek until he did his famous laugh.
"I'd better go now, Frannie.  I have other stops to make, and you have work to do."
"Right. I'd better pop the corn tonight, it strings best when it's stale." I let him out the door. The reindeer were pawing impatiently at the moon-kissed new-fallen snow. I'd swear Rudolph winked at me.
"Don't forget the milk and cookies."
"Right. Uh, December twenty-fourth, or Solstice, or what?"
He shrugged. "Whatever night you expect me, I'll be there. Eh, don't wait up. Visits like this are tightly rationed. Laws of Nature, y'know, and She's strict with them."
"Gotcha. Thanks, Santa." I kissed his cheek again.
"Happy Holidays."
The phrase had a nice, non-denominational ring to it. I thought I'd call my parents and in-laws soon and try it out on them. Santa laid his finger aside of his nose and nodded.
"Blessed be, Frannie."
The sleigh soared up, and Santa really did exclaim something. It sounded like old German. Smart-aleck elf.
When I closed the door, the radio was playing Jethro Tull's "Solstice Bells.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Bonus Post - Oils, Powders, Inks & Wanderings

Magic spells, the tool of the witch. The way to harness energies, shape them, and direct them to "do our bidding". The words "Magic Spell" conjure up images of a crone, dressed all in black complete with pointy hat, stirring a large cauldron over an open fire (or hearth fire) while mumbling to herself and adding any number of archaic, scary sounding ingredients to the boiling pot...

OK, how many witches do you think can actually afford that big wonderful cauldron, to start with..? Have you priced those things lately..? A not-so-big one is being sold on Ebay - 17" tall, 26" diameter for $150. Or you can go here and purchase a 45 gallon capacity one for $850 - plus "special truck shipping". That size is a bit closer to the cauldron usually depicted as being used by witches to brew up their potions and create the necessary ingredients for their spells. Did you read that..?

$850

Now maybe you can afford to spend $850 on a tool (and if you can, are you in need of someone to adopt..?) but I think it's a safe assumption, that based on just that information, you aren't going to find many witches standing around one of these in today's world.

Much like the above mentioned cauldron, many of the ingredients called for in spells seem (to the beginner or uninitiated) to also be out of reach. But this isn't so. Yes, they have scary or creepy or unusual names, seeming to be stuff out a fairy tale, but these ingredients are usually listed using their "folk name". Names like "Devil's Dung" (asafetida), "Witches' Herb" (basil), and "Little Dragon" (Tarragon) can be a bit intimidating when reading a spell you wish to adapt to your use. Where in the world would one find "Tree of Enchantment"  (Willow) if it wasn't known as willow?

There's actually an awesome website called Herbal Cross Reference where you can go for many interpretations.

Ok, so, on to my point (yes, I actually have one here somewhere...) A lot of spells also call for ingredients like Four Thieves Oil or Graveyard Dirt. Or require the intent be written in a special ink, like Dragon's Blood Ink, or Dove's Blood Ink. Much like herbs, the names for these "concoctions" can be a bit misleading - you don't (usually) need dirt from a graveyard when "Graveyard Dirt" is called for, nor do you need an oil made by melting down four thieves (although....) when "Four Thieves Oil" is called for.  Also, if you do happen to find yourself in the company of a dragon, I wouldn't recommend causing him or her to bleed just so you have a liquid to use as ink - that might be a bit detrimental to one's health...

"A long history exists of using animal names as a code for various plant substances. Among the reasons for this practice was the desire to maintain secret formulas. Unfortunately, when the formulas are obtained without understanding or even knowing of the existence of the code, all sorts of misunderstandings and tragedy may follow..."
The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Magic Spells

What I am going to do here today is give a few recipes for the most frequently called for ingredients that you could probably buy somewhere, but you really should make yourself if you intend to use them. I know there are many legitimate retailers of magical items available, but how do you know which is witch (I made a funny...)? Because the website is pretty? Oh it has a pentacle on it so it must be legit. Did you go in that store..? The smell was wonderful, and all those magic books - they must be legit! Even if it is, what do you know about the witch that prepared these items? What kind of energy did they infuse them with? Were they fighting with the hubby so full of simmering resentment when they made that love oil..? What kind of love relationship will you find when you use it in your spell..? How about that Uncrossing Oil? Will you find that it has been infused with energies that may cause your result to be far different from your intent..? It is ALWAYS the better option to delay a bit (if you haven't planned ahead) and make your own, charging them with YOUR energy and YOUR intent than it is to just go buy the stuff and hope that a) it really is what it claims to be, not just scented/colored water/oil, and b) it has the correct energies & intents to accomplish what YOU are wanting do, as opposed to what the person who made it thinks it should do...

Keep in mind these are NOT the only possible recipes for these oils/powders, just the ones that I have...

Oils

Banishing Oil

Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
Sulfur

Grind all ingredients to a fine powder using a pestle & mortar. Be sure to cleanse your tools between uses. Much like you don't want last night's dinner still in the pan when you cook tonight's, you don't want the last spell's energy to infuse the current working...

To make a banishing oil, cover the powder with castor oil and shake vigorously. (If the castor oil is too thick to "flow" well, add some Jojoba oil to thin it to the desired consistency)

Uncrossing Oil

Essential Oil of hyssop
Essential Oil of angelica
Essential Oil of frankincense
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Sprig of rue
Sliver of fresh garlic
A section of broken chain (from a key chain or necklace)

Add the ingredients to a jar filled with a castor oil and jojoba oil mixture (virgin olive oil also works as the base for a magical oil) The crucial ingredients are the hyssop and the chain. Add the other ingredients as desired (if you apply this mixture to yourself as part of your working, avoid exposure to excessive sunlight or tanning beds as the angelica oil will make you sensitive and likely to burn)

Magnet (or Lodestone) Oil

Place either seven or nine lodestones in a mason jar. Sprinkle them with magnetic sand. Cover the lodestones with a blend of sweet almond and jojoba oils. Close the jar and let the lodestones rest for seven days, exposed to sunlight & moonlight. Swirl the contents once a day. After seven days, strain the oil and it is ready for use (place in smaller jars for storage) 
**Feed the lodestones with magnetic sand, and they can be used to make more oil.

Courage Oil

Cinquefoil (Five-finger grass)
Gardenia Petals
Rosemary leaves

Grind together into a fine powder using pestle & mortar. Add to a blend of sunflower & jojoba oils. (You may also add High John the Conqueror root to the powder mix, or a piece of root to the oil)

Confusion Oil

Black poppy seeds
Black pepper
Asafetida
Sulfur (this can be obtained by buying wooden kitchen matches, breaking the heads off, and grinding, them removing the wood)

Grind the above into a fine powder and add to a blend of castor & jojoba oil. For malevolent spells (undertaken at your own risk and hopefully after much consideration) use baby oil or mineral oil

Attraction Oil

Grated lemon zest
Lovage
Vervain
Essential oil of lemon petigrain, melissa, may chang, or lemon verbena
Rose attar

Grind the first three ingredients using your mortar & pestle, then place them in a bottle with a lodestone chip. Cover this with sweet almond oil, the ass the essential oils drop by drop until you achieve a scent that pleases you.

Commanding Oil

For a powerful formula, combine sweet flag (calamus) and licorice to form a powder to be added to a blend of castor oil and jojoba oil. Other ingredient  combinations can be used as well... Vetiver & essential oil of bergamot. for a situation involving finances. (Oil of bergamot can cause serious pigmentation issues if applied to the skin then exposed to the sun or a tanning bed) 

Powders

Banishing Powder

Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
Sulfur

Sprinkle the powder on clothing, especially shoes of anyone you want "gone", it can also be sprinkled on the ground where your target will be forced to step in or over it. You would also sprinkle this in your working area and over the candles when performing a banishing spell.

Drawing Powder

(LOL) Confectioner's Sugar

Graveyard Dust

Sometimes a rose is a rose, and Graveyard Dust is just what is says - dust (or dirt) from a graveyard. More often though, when Graveyard Dust is referred to as an ingredient in a spell, the following powder is what is being called for. For which spells do you use one and not the other? Well quite frankly, if you can't make that determination based on other spell requirements and the intention of the spell, it's time to put up the cauldron and candles and either seek out a LEGITIMATE mentor, go back to the books, or just give it up as you are going to hurt yourself or someone else if you continue trying to perform magic and harness energies without the proper knowledge...

Valerian
Patchouli
Mullein

Grind all ingredients together to form a fine powder, and use this mixture when Graveyard Dust (or Dirt) is called for.

Inks

I am including here recipes to create your own ink base, found at Make Stuff. Again, as with anything else magic related, what you put in has a big effect on what you get out. You can buy ink at most craft or hobby stores - probably even at Wal-mart or K-Mart in the office supply section, but you won't know what energies you'll be bringing to bear on you workings. No one ever said working magic was the easy way. In fact, if you want to do it "right" and be in full control of what you're doing, there is actually a lot of work involved, and you may find the more mundane options to be much easier...

Basic Permanent Black Ink:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp gum arabic
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp lamp black (buy in a tube or make by holding a plate over a lit candle)

Mix egg yolk, gum arabic and honey in a small bowl. Add lamp black to make a thick paste. Store in a jar. To use, mix a little paste with a little water to make a fluid.

Prussian Blue Ink:

Dissolve Prussian Blue (available as laundry bluing) in water. Makes a rich blue ink.

Brown Ink:

• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 4-5 teabags (or 4 tsp of loose tea)
• 1 tsp gum arabic

Pour boiling water over the tea bags in a large bowl, add gum arabic. Steep for 15 minutes. Squeeze tea bags to extract as much tannic acid as possible. Strain and allow to cool before bottling. Use with a paintbrush or quill pen, etc.

Magic inks are created by adding certain ingredients to ink. I will list here the necessary ingredients, and if relevant quantities.

Raven's Feather Ink

Burn one black feather, freely given (by a bird, not your buddy who went and plucked it), and add the ashes to ink.

Dragon's Blood Ink

Dragon's Blood (Dragon's blood, obviously, is not the actual blood of a dragon...rather, is is a plant resin and can be purchased any number of places both online & in magic stores. Mind you, for this, and most magical purposes, you want the RESIN, not an incense or other already processed form of the product.)
Alcohol (to dissolve the resin, it is not water soluble)
Essential Oil of Cinnamon

Bat's Blood Ink

Dragon's Blood
Alcohol
Essential Oil of Cinnamon
Essential Oil of Myrrh

Dove's Blood Ink

Dragon's Blood
Alcohol
Essential Oil of Bay Laurel
Essential Oil of Cinnamon
Essential Oil of Rose

Ok, I hope that cleared things up a bit for you. Being a witch and performing magic, REAL magic, not rabbit-out-of-a-hat magic is a way of life. It can be a very rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle if you have chosen to follow this path, but as I said earlier, it's not easy. There are a plethora of books, websites, groups & people that can offer you information on this subject, and very few of them agree. That doesn't mean any or all of them are wrong, just different from each other.

To follow a magical path requires effort, dedication, and a willingness to be open to all (in my opinion, anyways) in an effort to find what is right for YOU. What works for one, or even several, may not work for you. Nothing magical is set in stone. Associations vary  with situations, and what you associate with a particular thing - color, herb, stone - may be very different from what is generally accepted. That, again, doesn't make it wrong (and don't let anyone tell you it does). If you associate the color orange with peacefulness & serenity, then use of the generally accepted pink in a working you perform will not be as effective as it would if you used orange. Many people associate green with healing, but for me personally, when I envision healing energy, it is oftentimes more blue than green. That's what works for me. One of the major differences in MY workings involves the directional associations. The generally accepted associations are:

North - Earth
East - Air
South - Fire
West - Water

That makes your "set-up" look something like this:

In my head that makes no sense. With this "layout" you have elements counteracting each other rather than complimenting each other. When you are camping, and taking down your site for the last time, in an effort to make sure you leave no sparks of FIRE unattended, you bury your ashes with EARTH. Because EARTH smothers FIRE. When you are doing laundry, and your dryer is broken, you hang your wet clothes outside on a clothesline so the wind will hasten drying. Because AIR evaporates WATER.

In my head (which can actually be a bit of a scary place sometimes...) it makes much more logical sense to switch the locations of Earth and Air. Then you have a "set -up" like this:

Looking at this in a logical manner, we now make sense - back at your campsite, when you were first building your campfire, you piled a bunch of kindling into a pile, applied a spark, then gently blew on it (unless you are my hunny, then you just lit the portable torch, and held to a pile of wood until it caught...). Because AIR feeds FIRE. Without air, there is no fire. When Spring rolls around and it's time to plant the garden, you hoe the earth to soften it, place your seeds in the locations you've chosen, then water it. Because WATER feeds EARTH. Without water, the earth is barren and sere.

It seems to me that if you work your magic following the generally accepted principles in this area, you are causing friction amongst the very elements you are requesting assistance from. My magic has been much more effective since I have started using the associations that work for me which puts the elements into an arrangement where they are complimenting one another rather than working against each other...

Oh my, I do ramble on...and tend to take twists and turns I had no idea were even options when I started out...LOL. But, I'll be done for now. I hope this has helped more than hindered. I apologize for the rambling, but the elemental associations are a subject near & dear to me, and once I start, I tend to just keep going....

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.