Thursday This Is Your Spell – A Silver Spell

A Silver Spell
from ShadoeRose

This spell takes 1 week to perform.

Needed:

• Small bowl
• Green candle
• Candle holder
• Seven shiny dimes
• Matches

Situate a small bowl of any material in a place of prominence in your home, somewhere you pass by every day. Each day for seven days put one dime in the bowl. Next, obtain a green candle, any shape or kind. Before you begin, fix in your mind the idea that you are a prosperous person. See money as being no problem. Imagine money coming to you, as you need it. Place the bowl of dimes, the candle and a candle holder on a flat surface. Hold the candles in your hands and feel the power of money. Feel the avenues that open to you when you have it. Sense the energy within money which we as human beings have given to it. Place the candle in the holder. Pour the seven dimes into your left hand. You will create a circle surrounding the candles with the dimes. Place the first dime directly before the candle. As you place it say these or similar words:

"Money flow, money shine
Money grow, Money's mine."

Repeat this 6 more times until you've created a circle around the candle with seven gleaming dimes. As you say the words and place the dimes, know that you're not just reciting and fooling around with pieces of metal. You're working with power - that which we've given money as well as that which is within yourself. Words, too, have energy, as does the breath on which they ride. When you've completed this, light the candle. Strike a match and touch its tip to the wick. As it puts up the fire, sputters, to a shining flame, see money burning there. See the power of money flowing out from the seven dimes up to the candle's flames and then out to the atmosphere. Blow out the match and settle down before the glowing candle and money. Sense the feeling of money in your life. Visualize a life with money to spare - a life in which bills are quickly paid and money will never again be a problem. See yourself wisely spending money, investing it for your future needs. See money as an unavoidable and beautiful aspect of your life. Kill off any thoughts of debt, of taxes, of doubt that you can achieve this change. Simply see what will be. After ten minutes or so, leave the area. Let the candle burn itself out in the holder. Afterward, collect the dimes, place them back in the bowl, & "feed" it a few coins every day from then on. Money will come to you.

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – To End Poverty

To End Poverty
from Dark Moon Mysteries by Timothy Roderick

In this working you will clear away the psychic dead wood of the past, such as poverty and ill luck, to foster a new cycle of growth and prosperity. It clears away the psychic dross that keeps you from taking the actions needed to create a prosperous life. Remember, abundance flows from the Goddess and God. They are abundance. Connecting with the Gods in their aspect of abundance is connecting with that same part of yourself. When you yield to nature, to the Gods, nature will yield its bounty to you.
Moon Phase: 4th quarter, last night of the dark moon.
Purpose: to end a cycle of lack.

Items Needed:
The following dried herbs and resins:

• powdered sandalwood
• pine needles
• rosemary
• copal
• fresh rose petals.
• Optional: saltpetre.
• White parchment paper.
• A box of crayons, colored pencils, or markers.
• An incense burner, chafing dish, or cauldron.
• A self-igniting charcoal (Three Kings brand is a choice).
• The usual tools for constructing a magic circle.

On the last night of the dark moon gather your herbs, combine them in a mortar, and grind them together. Make as much as you like, but you will only use about one tablespoon of the dried mixture total. After mixing, set it aside for a moment. Next create a circle on the floor using the fresh rose petals. Bring all of your ingredients and tools into the rose petal circle and cast a dark moon circle, using the petals as the boundary of the sacred space. Once the circle is cast, set aside all of your tools and sit in the circle's center. Do the following meditation before continuing with the magical work.

Ending Poverty Meditation: There is a place deep inside of you where poverty lives. Close your eyes and take a few slow, relaxing breaths. Imagine that you are traveling inside your body to that place where poverty lives. Take note of where that place is inside of you. Also take note of what this entity, poverty, looks like. What is it’s shape and color? What does it say to you? When you have taken note of all this, return to waking consciousness and continue with the magical working.

Using the crayons, markers, or colored pencils, draw the image of poverty you saw on the white parchment paper. Underneath that image, make a list of the effects of lack on your life. How does poverty manifest in your life? The next step is a little more difficult, but on that same page make a list of the things you do to help keep poverty alive. What is your part in perpetuating poverty? When you are done, sprinkle the herb mixture into the center of the parchment paper. If you choose to use saltpetre, sprinkle in a half teaspoon now. Twist the whole bundle shut, so that the parchment makes a little pouch containing the herb mix. Light the charcoal and set the paper pouch on the charcoal. Soon this will smolder. As it does, imagine that the spirit of poverty is leaving your body. Imagine that you cut off all life support to poverty, imagine how you will not cooperate with it any longer. When the herbs are completely burned, the spell is done. If any paper remains, light that on fire. Be certain tat nothing but ashes remain. Banish your circle and bury the ashes in a spot that you are not likely to tread upon. The magic is complete.

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

Thursday This Is Your Spell - A Spell of Attraction to Sell A House

A Spell of Attraction to Sell A House

As with any magical working, the first step is to do the mundane work:
List the house with a good agent, clean it from top to bottom, put a sign out front and an ad in the paper, and tell everyone you know that you're selling it. Assuming that's done, begin your ritual by obtaining a green candle.Green was a traditional color for prosperity spells long before they decided to make U.S. currency that color: It symbolizes a green and fruitful harvest. Now, go outside your house to some spot where you can see the house but not be disturbed (i.e. standing in the middle of the road is not recommended). It's best to do his at a time when the street is relatively quiet. If possible, face the house from the same side that a prospective buyer would when seeing it for the first time. Sit or stand comfortably, holding the candle. Close your eyes, relax and take a few minutes to begin breathing regularly and establish your concentration. (If you've ever done regular meditation or prayer, establish that same frame of mind.) Now visualize the house through a  stranger's eyes. In your mind, envision brilliant sunlight, whether it's there in real life or not. Mentally walk from the driveway to the  front door (or whatever entrance is closest), then into the house As you do this, envision the house as the most beautiful it can be. If the paint is clean and white, envision it positively gleaming. If there are plants in the yard, envision them not just thriving, but seeming to beckon the passer-by, reaching their little green selves up into that same brilliant light. In your mind's eye, walk through the entire house with the eyes of a stranger, dwelling on every good point it has. Do not let thoughts of its flaws disrupt your concentration (this is the tough part). That same brilliant sunlight pours through every window and door. See it fill up each room as you enter When you have been through the entire house, go back the way you came. Envision the light from each room pouring into your mind, through your body, and out through your hands into the candle. Like a battery, the candle will absorb this light energy. Take a few moments in each room to let this happen. (There's a lot of light; it won't diminish in the room when it pours into you.) Now mentally go out through the same door and stand in the driveway, seeing the house covered with brilliant light. Again, feel the light that surrounds the house pour into you, and from you into the candle. When you're done, continue to sit or stand for a few moments with your eyes shut,and let any excess energy that remains in your body flow naturally into the ground. Then open your eyes. Light the candle at an appropriate time - the night before a showing might be good. A Witch would probably wait for the full moon (a time of bounty) or the first quarter moon (a time for new beginnings). An astrological magician might do so on a Monday (the day of the moon) or a Thursday (the day of Jupiter, the Bestower). As you light the candle, intone the words of the spell:

"Fill my home with energy,
that it may bring me prosperity.
Light and beauty fill my home,
That its new owners soon may come."

Let the candle burn all the way down. (I hope you didn't get one of those 15-hour ones!) What this visualization does is to fill the house with positive energy. Buyers respond to this energy whether they're aware of it or not. By dwelling on all your home's good points, you've filled those places in the house with special energy so they won't be overlooked. Also: Before each showing, subtly scent the house with cinnamon - incense, potpourri, maybe one of those lamp rings. Besides being a prosperity herb, cinnamon's aroma makes
people think of home cooking, which will make them want to settle down there.

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell -

Home Cleansing
source unknown

Needed:

• sagebrush stick
• glass of water
• bowl containing a shallow pool of water

This is a great spell used to clean your home of negative energy. Spell performed preferably during a waning moon but can be cast at any needed time for a cleansing during any moon phase.
Any evening after sunset, light the sagebrush. Have the glass bowl nearby. Blow out the flame and blow on the embers of the stick to increase the smoke. In each room of your house, Blow smoke in each of the four directions. Blow gently upon the burning stick as you face each wall of the room. Say aloud:

I clear this space of all negativity
And of the energy of people or things
That have no purpose in this household.
I ask that this clearing be gentle
And that all of this energy be returned to its source.

When you are done with your whole house, Return to the room you started in. Take the stick and dip it into the bowl of water to douse the embers. Take a sip of water from your glass. Say aloud:

This home is a gentle and supportive environment.
I offer gratitude to the universe that this is done.
So it be and so it is.

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

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Getting Pregnant Spell

The upcoming Ostara holiday is all about fertility, so in that vein…

Getting Pregnant Spell

You will need the following:

• ace of wands,
• 10 of cups,
• the SUN,
• something for a baby you bought specifically for this ritual (a bib, a small blanket...etc.....),
• 9 red candles.

Light the candles and lay out the tarot cards one by one.
Visualize yourself finding out your pregnant, staring at a positive pregnancy test. Repeat the following:

With these cards and with this spell
I call upon the good and helpful powers.
I desire to start a family
I desire energy and love to continue.
This small item (hold up the baby item)
Is the token of the commitment
We are ready to make.
We are ready to love our children
We are ready to teach our children
And we are ready to have our children
So it is - so it shall be!

Seal this spell with kisses and hugs followed by the actions necessary to start a family. Seashells represent fertility. She can create a small seashell altar in her bedroom. If she wants to add a deity, I'd use the Goddess of Willendorf. Any round and fertile/pregnant goddess will work, and there are many!

Holed stones are also symbols of fertility. Have her carry one her person or have her wear one around her neck as a charm.
Placing one by the bed or between the matters is also good.

Eat healthy! Diet plays an extreme part in fertility. Use visualization.

She must be relaxed. Also, studies show that when the man and woman climax together the woman has a higher chance of conception.

Full moons... In tribal times and pre-electricity, women would ovulate around the Full Moon and menstruate around the Dark or New Moon. One way to get yourself onto this cycle is to start paying more attention to the phases of the moon and also going out under the moon for even a minute or two.

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell - Floromancy

* Floromancy *
Unknown source

Floromancy means Divining with Flowers, btw, and is a fun activity for Ostara.

From Occultpedia:A type of divination, this time by omens taken from flowers. Floromancy is based on the belief that flowers radiate vibrations, react to a sympathetic or hostile environment and are affected by electric shocks.

One of the most popular uses for Floromancy is for love divination. In Victorian England, two flowers that had not yet blossomed would be paired, and the initials of certain lovers’ names would be placed on the stems. After placing the flowers in a secret place for 10 days, the diviner would then observe certain portents, such as, if any flower twined the other, it would indicate that the man and the woman whose initials were used were going to be married. 

The term Floromancy os sometimes also used for the belief that flowers have the power to cure disease.

 

From The Mantalogue:

Derived from Latin flor-, combining form of flos flower.

1973 Gibson Complete Illustrated Book of Divination & Prophecy (1989) 317: FLOROMANCY: Any interpretation of future prospects through the study of flowers or plants, including their colors, petals, time of planting, and where planted. Many omens concerning the gathering of flowers at Midsummer's Eve have survived to modern times; and the "good luck" commonly attributed to the finding of a four-leafed clover falls in this category.

1985 N. Drury Dictionary of Mysticism & Occult 90/2: Floromancy. Belief that flowers radiate vibrations and have curative properties in healing disease. According to practitioners of floromancy, flowers are said to respond to a sympathetic or hostile environment and are affected by electric shocks. Professor Jagadish Chandra Bose of Calcutta's Presidency College experimented with the effects of electrical currents on plants around the turn of the century and was convinced that plants possess a life-force or soul.
The most recent proponent of floromancy is American lie-detector specialist Cleve Backster, who wired three philodendrons to galvanometers on different occasions to see how the plants respond to nearby trauma. Backster monitored the plants as he placed a brine shrimp in boiling water nearby, resulting in its instant death. ..Backster's galvanometer reading showed significantly higher electrical resistance when the brine shrimps were being killed, than on other occasions - suggesting that the plants were responding "emotionally" to the traumas occurring nearby. Unfortunately, attempts to reduplicate Backster's experimental results have so far proved unsuccessful.

It is said that in the spring, if you happen to find the first flower of the season on:

• Monday - it is good fortune for the season
• Tuesday - your greatest attempts will be successful
• Wednesday - denotes a marriage
• Thursday - a warning of small profits
• Friday – wealth
• Saturday – misfortune
• Sunday - excellent luck for weeks to come

Take a question to your garden and randomly pick a petal off a pansy, without looking at it. When you examine your petal, the following information may be divined...

• If the petal has four lines in it, it is a sign of hope.
• Five lines coming from the center branch is hope founded in fear.
• Thick lines bent to the right means prosperity.
• Thick lines bent to the left mean trouble ahead.
• Seven streaks is consistent love.
• Eight streaks means fickleness in either you or those around you.
• Nine, a changing heart.

It was believed that wearing the blossom associated with your month of birth would bring exceptionally good luck. So here are the flowers and there month associations:

• January - Snowdrop, a symbol of purity.
• February - Violet, for kindness and faith.
• March - Daffodil, an emblem for sincerity.
• April - Primrose, for the new love springing up in the world.
• May - White Lily, for strength.
• June - Wild Rose, for healing.
• July - Carnation, for protection.
• August - White Heather, for good luck throughout the year.
• September - Michaelmas Daisy, for happiness.
• October - Rosemary, for kind thoughts.
• November - Chrysanthemum, for truth.
• December - Ivy, for fidelity and faithfulness.

And then there is that old "he/she loves me, he/she loves me not..." thing that you can do while pulling petals off flowers. :-)

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Ritual Use of House Cleaning

* The Ritual Use Of House Cleaning *
by Monti ElfDragon – Found in my collection of ‘Stuffs”
but also located online at Pagan Speak

I am someone who hates housework, who is totally disorganized, forgetful,and a stressed out mom of 3 little witchlets (each one a wyld chyld). I have a major problem of finding time for ritual and personal spiritual growth. Well, along came the Spellcraft Tapestry Spring Cleaning Edition. And I have discovered that I am starting to enjoy cleaning. I know this sounds silly. I can hear you housework haters out there........." this witch chick has lost ALL her marbles!"

Now, let me explain what I have started doing. This amazing thing that has turned a drudgery, something to be put off. Into something to look forward to. As a Kitchen Witch, I try to make everything I do, every moment in my life magical. Because I have so little time for ritual. I decided to incorporate specific rituals in everything I do. I have turned cleaning into a magical ritual. This works for me. It may not work for others in just this way, so experiment. Make it your own. I started to make my own cleaners. When I make them, I create them magically. That is, I ritually charge them with what is needed in my life. Or what I need to be rid of. I also magically charge any store bought cleaners with specific intent.

Each day before I start to clean. I ground and center. Then meditate on what I need to do that day. I meditate on what I want in my life(good habits,love, peace, joy, prosperity, etc.) And/or the things I want to be rid of,(anger, resentment, bad habits, strife, stress, etc.) I then light the appropriate color candle and incense. I have found that when I meditate on the things to do and the things I want/don't want in my life. I can visualize the need with the appropriate chore. As an example, I have been feeling the need for clarity and organization of thought and deed. The chore that came to me was; cleaning & polishing mirrors and glass. Cleaning is pretty mindless sometimes. So visualization comes easily. I just asked the Lord and Lady for what I needed. And visualized being organized(able to accomplish everything I set out to do). And, visualized myself with clarity of mind and purpose. I may not get everything accomplished that I set out to do that day. But I find that I accomplish more than normally.

Believe it or not, but scrubbing the toilet is great for getting rid of anger and resentment. Visualize all your anger and resentment into the toilet bowl, add it to all the yuck in the bowl. As you are scrubbing the toilet see yourself scrubbing away your anger, resentment, or anything you want gone from your life. Then flush, as the yucky water is flushed away, see those things you want gone being flushed away as well.

Cleaning the woodwork and oiling/polishing it down, is great for adding good things into your life. Although for me it filled me with wonderful ideas, thoughts and feelings(ways to reach my goals).

Laundry

I also magically charge laundry detergent to cleanse all psychic yuck that collects, as well as the mundane dirt. Imbue your fabric softener with things you want in you and your family's lives. Putting clothes away for me, the disorganized person that I am. Is a treat my family looks forward to. They are very lucky if it gets done in a timely fashion. So, when I fold/hang them I visualize order in my mind, in my life. As I fold my families clothes. I fill each article of clothing with love and peace for each member of my family. If there is some really nasty things going on in your life or the lives of family members, i.e. rough time at work or school, or an illness. A few drops of an appropriately charged oil in the laundry works wonders.

Scrubbing Floors and Walls

If you make your own cleaners, or if you use commercial cleaners, as you are mixing them up. Visualize the cleaner not only cleaning away the dirt and grime, but psychically cleaning your home/room of any bad psychic energies. When you mix up your rinse water, add a couple of drops of a protection oil, or a peace and harmony herbal infusion. The direction in which you clean will be determined by whether you are wanting to bring something into your life (clockwise), or getting rid of something(counter-clockwise)

Dishwashing and Spiritual Growth

I really must give Diane (St. Lucy, Mom) credit for this one. This is her sink meditation. Put a pagan picture above your kitchen sink, or something that comforts you (I have a lovely view of my woods as well as my prayer to Brigit, a few Witch Bottles, plants and such). As you run the water, stick your hands in the water and see the stream washing away all of the schmoo that builds up in your aura......and down the drain. Then make a mental note of something you want to get rid of, and visualize it coating the dishes. As you wash the dishes see the problem being washed away. It helps keep the stress levels down a lot. I also say my prayer to Brigit out loud as I'm finishing up the dishes. I also try to say it every time I am at the sink. Even if its just to get a drink of water.

"Great Goddess Brigit
I ask for your inspiration
In all my endeavors
Help me to learn new things
Please give me the gifts
Of poetry and creativity
Help me to clean out the old and musty
In my mind and heart
Show me how to make mundane tasks
A joy and Honor to you
Make my hands, my lips, my mind
My heart and my soul, a blessing to you
Forge me into your instrument
That I may be a blessing
To you and the Old Ones
As well as a blessing to all I meet
May they see your love and power in me
Teach me to Honor you in being
A wife, a mother, and keeping a home
I dedicate my life to you
My body, soul, heart, and mind
To your service
So mote it be ! ! “

Vacuuming

Vacuuming the carpet is when I come up with some of my best ideas. Also with 3 small witchlets, 2 dogs and 1 cat. I have to vacuum at least twice a day. Every other night after the family is in bed. I mix up some baking soda, salt and powdered herbs. I infuse this mixture with peace and love, and let it sit overnight to absorb odors, then vacuum it the next morning. It keeps the house smelling fresh and the family happy. At least once a month I use this vacuum cleaner spell to get rid of unwanted energies that may have built up. A simple ritual that can be adapted for just about any need or purpose.

Supplies:

• Vacuum cleaner
• Powdered herbs (for specific intent), mixed with equal parts
• Baking Soda and Salt
• Quarter Candles, Altar candles, Candle of intent
• Incense

Gather supplies at your altar (or the center of your house). Ground and center. If you are doing a home purification ritual put the quarter candles at the cardinal points in your home (not all in one room). Establish sacred space as you light the quarter candles. You can do a full blown circle, or this simple one; (for this one light the quarter candles before or after you establish sacred space, your choice. Or you can omit the quarter candles.)
Face north;

"Here in the center of the world I stand.
Earth is before me, Air on my right hand.
Fire is behind me,  on my left water lies,
As I stand here between
The earth and the skies."

At your altar, prepare your powdered herbs with a mortar and pestle, while visualizing your intent. Mix equal parts of herbs, salt and baking soda in a large ceramic bowl or vessel, still visualizing your intent. For increasing Magic, stir with your hands clockwise. For decreasing Magic, stir with your hands counterclockwise infusing it with your intent.

Starting at your front door move deosil for increasing; widdershins for decreasing/banishing Magic. Sprinkle the herb/salt/soda on your carpet. If you so desire you can draw (sand paint) runes, pentacles or other magical symbols of your intent, saying appropriate words for each symbol. Or words such as these for purification/house blessing:

"Begone and leave, all hate, strife, ill will, and bad luck!!
In the Names of the God and Goddess I cleanse this house!!
This home is a sacred sanctuary of peace
For Myself, My Family, and our Friends!!
Anger and misfortune have NO place here!!"

Do this in every room of your house. When done return to the altar. Visualize your intent. For purification, see the salt, soda, and herbs drawing in, absorbing the negativity, anger, strife, whatever is troubling your house. Cense your vacuum cleaner, saying these or similar words:

"I ask the Lord and Lady
And the guardians of the quarters
To bless this home,
Grant us harmony, knowledge, freedom,
Love, healing, perception, pleasure,
Friendship and happiness.
Grant us riches, treasure, prosperity,
Employment, stability,success,
Business and money.
'An it harm none, So mote it be."

Starting at your front door, vacuum in a clockwise direction. When finished, throw out the vacuum cleaner bag (outside). Visualizing all that psychic goop/bad luck/bad feelings / illness/whatever, is being thrown out with the bag.

These are just a few ideas that I have come up with that work very well for me.I also have 3x5 cards tacked up all over the place with all this information. In my laundry room, with my cleaning supplies, the inside of cabinet doors all over my house. My family thinks I'm crazy but it helps me jog my memory. Since I have started doing this, I have received many answers to my questions. Figured out ways to organize my time and life. Gotten rid of unwanted thoughts, feelings, anger and things that were keeping me down. I've welcomed the new thoughts, feelings and ideas into my life joyfully. I realized, that even though I don't have everything I want or need, that I am not where I want to be"yet", I am well on my way. Each day, I wake up to the joy that life has to offer. I am becoming more patient with myself and others. I am accomplishing more each day, and feeling good about myself. I am more at peace.

I still find I get sidetracked, but I try to get back on track quickly. And figure out why I got sidetracked in the first place, and ways to prevent it next time.

The following are some oils and herbs that I have found useful in ritual cleaning:

Oils

Prosperity: Almond, Bergamot, Honeysuckle, Mint, Peony, Bayberry, Hyssop, Clove, Ginger, Nutmeg, Pine, Basil

Healing: Carnation, Mimosa, Rosemary, Sandalwood, Eucalyptus, Lotus, Clove, Pine, Lavender, Myrrh

Protection: Basil, Frankincense, Lavender, Myrrh, Bergamot, Cinnamon, Cypress, Rose Geranium, Rosemary, Sandalwood, Gardenia

Purification/Cleansing: Bay, Benzoin, Chamomile, Camphor, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Frankincense, Lavender, Lemon, Lemon Verbena, Myrrh, Peppermint, Pine, Rosemary, Sandalwood,

Success: Bergamot, Clove, Ginger, Lemon Balm, Apple Blossom

Happiness: Lavender, Lily of The Valley, Marjoram, Apple Blossom, Lotus, Magnolia, Basil, Orange

Peace: Lavender, Gardenia, Passionflower, Skullcap, Cumin Seed, Lilac, Magnolia, Narcissus, Rose, Tuberose

Blessings: Benzoin, Cumin Seed, Rue

Harmony: Basil, Cumin Seed, Lilac, Narcissus

Love: Rose, Jasmine, Basil, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Lavender, Lemon, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Lime, Neroli, Orange, Palmarosa, Rosemary, Yarrow, Ylang-Ylang

Herbs

Purification/Cleansing: Anise, Bay, Calamus, Chamomile, Camphor, Cedarwood, Eucalyptus, Fennel, Hyssop, Lavender, Lemon, Lemon Verbena, Lime, Mimosa, Parsley, Peppermint, Pine, Rosemary, Thyme, Valerian, Vervain

Protection: Angelica, Anise, Balm of Gilead, Basil, Bay, Bergamot, Calmus, Carnation, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Cinquefoil, Clove Clover, Cumin, Cypress, Doll, Rose Geranium, Heather, Honeysuckle, Hyssop, Juniper, Lavender, Lilac, Mugwort, Orris, Patchouli, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Pine, Rose, Rue, Sage, Violet, Woodruff

Peace/Harmony: Cumin, Gardenia, Lavender, Lilac, Loosestrife, Meadowsweet, Narcissus, Pennyroyal, Tuberose, Violet

Love: Apple Blossom, Basil, Chamomile, Catnip, Chickweed, Cinnamon, Clove, Gardenia, Rose Geranium, Ginger, Jasmine, Lavender, Lemon, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Marjoram, Mimosa, Myrtle, Orchid, Orris, Peppermint, Rose, Rosemary, Thyme, Tuberose, Vanilla, Violet Yarrow

Healing: Allspice, Angelica, Bay, Carnation, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Citron, Eucalyptus, Gardenia, Heliotrope, Honeysuckle, Juniper, Lemon Balm, Mugwort, Peppermint, Pine, Rose, Rosemary, Spearmint, Thyme, Violet, Willow, Wintergreen, Yerba Santa

Prosperity: Allspice, Basil, Bergamot, Chamomile, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Clove, Elder, Ginger, Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Nutmeg, Orange, Patchouli, Peppermint, Pine, Sage, Woodruff

To make an infusion to add to your rinse water steep 1 to 2 small handfuls of herb in 1 quart boiling for 30 minutes. I hope you find something useful in this article. Like I said before experiment, make it your own.

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Breaking Ties

Breaking Ties/Banishing A Person From Your Life
found at khakani’s mystical world

This is a spell for love gone wrong, for ending a personal, family or business relationship that you no longer wish to be in. It is a fire spell. To work it, gather herbs of protection and an image of the person (photograph, poppet, etc.) -Something written in their own  hand, a lock of hair, a piece of clothing or a personal object will also do. Put everything into a fireproof container - iron cauldron, marble mortar, whatever - and set fire to it as you perform the spell. It should make a very satisfactory blaze that reduces to ashes. The ashes can be buried or washed down a drain. Flush them down a toilet if you are very angry. Dispose of all the objects that connect you to the person: gifts, letters, photographs, etc.  It is especially important to get rid of jewelry. Move house if you have to. Be careful with this spell.  It's permanent, so don't use it unless you really mean forever. It's also powerful.

By basilisk and bloodstone
By the garlic in the fields
By the poppies and what they yield
Invisibly I make my shield
To detect thee and deflect thee
By dragon's blood and salamanders
By horses when their hooves strike sparks
By the dragon breathing flames from the Book of Life
I erase thy names
I cut the cords and unlock the chains
I sever all the ties by which we were bound
And with impenetrable walls myself I surround
Against thy power and its source
Against thy evil and its source
Vesta, Pele, Lilith, Kali, Kali, Kali
I banish thee forever from me
And any harm from thee to me
Doubles back and tables turned
Thou shalt by thyself be burned
Lilith, Vesta, Pele, Kali Ma, Kali Ma
By the power of three times three I banish thee,
I banish thee, I banish thee I am set free So mote it be! "

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell - Spell For Depression

Spell For Depression
found at khakani’s mystical world

Needs:

• 3 black candles
• 3 white candles
• cedar chips
• rose petals
• catnip
• cinnamon

Go outside, somewhere where you can feel the air, and open a circle. Kneel in the middle of the circle facing east. Place the candles in a semi-circle in front of you, and light each one. On a fire proof plate, start a small fire of cedar chops. Sprinkle the rose petals, catnip and cinnamon in the fire while saying:

Earth and Fire, Water and Air
Hear my prayer, Hear my prayer
Take this depression, Take it away
Give me the strength To face a new day.

When the fire dies down, splash a little blessed water on the fire. Take the wet ashes and throw them as far from you as you can and say:

With these ashes go my pain,
From the healing fires,
New strength regained.

Thank the elements for hearing you, and close the circle.

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Candle Magic for Candlemas

* Candle Magic for Candlemas *
Talisman Winterhawk L.C.W. U.L.C. PhD.;
New Moon Pagan Wicca Witchcraft Occult Shop

As in ancient times before civilization, fire has always been used to promote a feeling of safety and warmth. When our forebears found that sticks in the fire would burn longer and brighter with the fat from a kill on it the first candles were born. Fire has always held a sacred position in the hearts of human kind. The use of candles whether from animal fat or bees wax was common by the 5th Century A.D.

In the Middle Ages they found that bark from trees, berries, and other dyes could be added to the fat or wax for coloration. Michelangelo used ores to give candles a blue color. The Catholic Church found that using red candles brought a higher level of energy to their High Mass. Our Wicca mothers used to add hemp or aloe to green candles for financial gain. With the advent of color psychology we now know why yellow would be a good color to stimulate the intellect. The full list of candle colors and their associations are as follows**:

White

• Day – Monday
• Planet – Moon
• Purity, Truth, Sincerity, High Spiritual Ideals.

Gold

• Day – Sunday
• Planet - The Sun
• Attraction, Persuasion, Charm, Confidence
• Zodiac sign - Leo

Yellow

• Day – Wednesday
• Planet – Mercury
• Stimulates the intellect. Anything to do with the mind or the brain
• Business
• Zodiac sign - Gemini

Green

• Day – Friday
• Planet – Venus
• Vitality, Money, Balance,
• Zodiac sign - Virgo and sometimes Taurus

Blue

• Day – Thursday
• Planet – Jupiter
• Lighter... Tranquility, Understanding, Patience, Health
• Darker... Impulsiveness, Depression, Changeability
• Zodiac sign - Sagittarius The more teal or blue green belongs to Aquarius

Red

• Day – Tuesday
• Planet - Mars.
• Lighter... Honor, Love, Morality
• Mid rage... High levels of energy. Sexual energy.
• Darker... Martial pursuits, hate, vengeance
• Zodiac sign - Aries, darker red - Scorpio

Orange

• Encouragement, Adaptability, Stimulation, Attraction.
• Zodiac sign - Taurus

Purple

• Day – Saturday
• Planet – Saturn
• Ambition, Power, Royalty
• Darker... Restriction
• Zodiac sign - Capricorn and Pisces. The more lavender belongs to Libra

Brown

• Planet – Earth
• Keeps thing as they are. The darker the color the more stagnant things become.

Black

• Reversing, absorbing.

Silver / Gray

• Cancellation, Neutrality,
• More Silver... True Moon Psychic Powers.
• Zodiac sign - Cancer

Why does Candle Magic Work?

As a candle burns it releases not only it's wax but it's color into the atmosphere. Whatever has been connected with the candle- as in the form of embedded energy - or written on the candle will transmigrate to a plane where it can do what you have intended and focused on it to do. A candle, like everything else used for a magical purpose, has to be consecrated. Use a general consecration for candles. They are creatures of Fire or of Art.

After consecration a candle must be dressed. This consists of anointing the candle with a special oil you have chosen for the purpose in mind. If you are drawing money to you I would suggest "Money Draw Oil". If you are healing a friend I would use "Health Oil”. The recipes for these and other oils and incense are in Herman Slater's  "Magickal Formulary"  or Scott Cunning ham's The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews . Both are excellent.

To dress a candle correctly, liberally dab some oil on your finger. Touching the top of the candle say, "As Above". Touch the bottom and say, "So Below". Starting at the center touch the candle with more oil and move your finger to the top. Lift you finger off and place it again in the center and stroke the candle to the bottom. Do not move your finger in an up and down motion. This confuses the energies. Do this until the candle is coated. There are many other things you can do to embed a candle to your purpose. You can etch runes in it; a name on it; a purpose for it to perform.. Really the list is endless.

If you are doing a Solar spell consult the table for the proper hour, i.e., Sunday on a Sun hour. Consult the celestial guide to see if Mars and Saturn are not square, in opposition or conjunct to your purpose (unless you are trying to wreck havoc... watch that Karma) and that the Moon is not V/C. (void of course). For a spell that is to bring things to you the Moon needs to be "waxing" . For a repelling or banishing spell the Moon needs to be "waning".

Simple Spells, Mixed Spells, and Complex Spells

All the formulas given here have the same basic concepts. They are timing, intent and focus. For timing one would go to an astrological table (celestial guide), days and hours table. For focus refer to an herbal listing magical properties of each, (and possibly a gem or stone guide too), and last but not least an oil and/or incense formularies. (Not easy being a Witch is it?). Next decided whether the spell is going to need a Deity push (invoking the God and Goddess of your choice) or maybe just an elemental. Decided how much power this spell will need. (You wouldn't use a nuclear weapon to blow out a match but you do want to make sure that the spell will work.)

Simple Candle Spell

A simple candle spell consists of usually one candle of the necessary color, the special purpose oil and the matching incense. The spell will be performed on the correct time with all necessary symbols engraved on the candle. The candle is lit and allowed to burn all the way down at one time.

Mixed Candle Spells

This gets a little more complicated. There are 1 day spells as the one above, 3 day spells, 7 day spells, 14 and 21 day spells. I have yet to see a 28 day spell work. (Something about the Moon going full circle nullifying the spell...try it if you don't believe me..). 3day,7day,14day,and 21 day spells all have the same thing in common. They are started on the appropriate hour and last only one hour per day, that is to say... If we are doing a Solar spell we would start on a Sunday in the first hour (Sun hour for that day) and let the candle burn for only one hour. The next day we would light the candle in the first hour which would be a Moon hour on a Moon day. Lastly we would light the candle again on the first hour of the last day and that would be a Mars hour on a Mars day letting the candle burn all the way down on the third day.

A note here about putting out candles. do not blow out a candle***. Snuff it. Blowing out a candle finalizes the energy not to mention pissing off the Fire elemental. The only time you would blow out a magical candle is when you need and emergency STOP. There will be a backlash so be prepared. Regardless,  if the Moon is Void of Course on any of the other days you would still follow through just as long as when you started the spell the Moon was in a positive aspect to your intent.

Adding power is really a simple process. Before starting the spell write a chant that you will do upon lighting the candle each day. Once the process of the spell is underway (the candle is lit) one could write a petition to a Deity or an elemental using Dragon’s Blood Ink on parchment and burn it with the incense in the thurible. Further, one could use a sigil or seal and do the same thing. A sigil or seal can be placed under the candle and burned later after the spell is complete. The combinations are endless. Specific gems and stones can be placed around or near the candle to give it more power. Herbs can be embedded or sprinkled around the alter area for more potential too.

Complex Candle Spells

Complex candle spells require some space. The idea behind them is that you are building a world with candles and influencing that world by moving the candles around as you would have events move in the physical plane. When candles move toward something then that "thing" is getting closer to the person the spell is for. As the candles move away from a person then that "thing" is moving away in turn. In a complex spell there are many factors to contemplate. What color candles do I use for what? What different incenses and oils for what candle, and how many different sigils or seals are necessary? Before attempting the complex variety I would suggest reading all the information there is. These are the hardest to reverse. In general a candle spell looks like this:

• Gather materials i.e.., what color candle, type oil and incense
• Will I need inks?
• Will I need to write on the candle?
• Do I need to invoke the God and Goddess?
• What is the Timing?
• Cast a circle (not absolutely necessary but I do it).
• Consecrate candle.
• Write on candle (if desired).
• Dress Candle
• Write petition (if using one)
• Add incense to thurible
• Light Candle and meditate on intent
• Burn petition in thurible ( if using one)
• When the spell is complete if you are trying to invoke something cast the ashes to the wind and bury the excess wax in a secret place. If you are banishing something, throw the remains in the garbage.

To reverse a candle spell (this works for most other spells too)

• Gather all melted wax, burned incense
• recopy all sigils, seals and even the chant used in the spell you want to reverse or stop.  (Sometimes it isn't available due to throwing things to the wind or putting things in the garbage... get what you can!)
• Gather up a gray candle.
• You will need reversing oil and incense.

On a waning Moon duly cast a circle. Place the candle in the middle of the alter. Place all the items from the spell you want reverse or stop around the gray candle. Using your athame point at the gray candle and say:

"These things have I enmagicked
be will now cease to exist,
Go back the way you have begun,
cease now and desist.
With harm to none and no alarm
the energies dissipate,
Return all things now as they were,
I relinquish them to fate.
Nema, Nema, Nema."

(make banishing Earth Pentagram and light candle) (let burn all the way)

**I am including these colors as this is how the article was written, however, these associations may not be accurate for you. I truly believe much of the most effective magic is instinctual. For me the color associations are different, i.e. orange is for calm & peacefulness…Do what works for you and you will find it does – work for you that is *grin*

***additional note from dawtch – I disagree with this theory – that blowing out a candle “scatters” the spell intent, so they should be snuffed. I guess I am just too logical – in my brain, “snuffing” a candle will also “snuff” the energy and force it back into the candle rather than releasing it to the Universe. Conversely, when you “blow out” a candle, rather than “scattering” the energy as many claim, it seems to me, you are sending it on it’s way. This is something that I believe is “to each their own” much like the elemental/directional associations. I have always followed what I believe to be correct, and have not noticed any  diminishment of the effectiveness of my spells :)

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Imbolc Hazel Spell

* Imbolc Hazel Spell *
by Edain McCoy; From Llewellyn's 2002 Witches' Datebook

The energy of the Hazel Moon is good for contacting spirits and for enhancing shape-shifting or astral projection rituals. It has a solid reputation of protective energy, especially useful for the protection of travelers. Hazel wood also makes an excellent shield for deflecting negative intent when made with this goal in mind. To craft a simplified version of a hazel shield to protect yourself, your home or office, your car, or your barn,

You will need:

•  at least nine hazel nuts
• some thin cord in gold or white
• hammer and nail.

Empower the nuts as emblems of protection. Hammer a hole through them large enough for the cord, then string them together, making a binding knot between each. Hang these in your home and say,

"Hazel, raise the shield so high,

So tall and wide that none slips by;

Protect, deflect, and quell all bane,

Make all around me safe again."

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.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Snow ***Merry Christmas!!!***

* Invocation to the Snow Queen *
By Lilly Willow; © Copyright 2000

I looked and looked for a source for this, but couldn’t locate anywhere on the web. But I think it’s beautiful & should be shared… if this is yours, and you have a site you’d like others to visit, please contact me

Once upon a dark and frigid night,
through the still and silent forest,
a faint, cloaked figure beckons me.
The Snow Queen.

Her delicate alabaster hands
with their long pale icy fingers unfurl.
A blustery wind begins to chill my face,
as the sky's feathery flakes drift down,
blanketing the woods with alabaster.

Closer, and closer now, I see her breath,
soft puffs of tiny frosted crystals,
that catches the gossamer silvery moon's light
Whispering my name with her ancient voice,

I soon grow weary and curl up to rest.
She embraces me with her primordial ice
and then is gone, the Queen of Winter,
leaving no footprints in the snow.

Spell For Protection In The Snow
found on Wicca

You will need:

• A non-metal bowl
• One peppercorn
• A pinch of salt
• Pinch of powdered ginger
• Pinch of powdered cloves
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• A small square piece of red cloth (Preferably cotton)

Place the peppercorn in your bowl, visualize you traveling safely through the snow, guarded and protected. Say this:

"I charge you with protection.”

Place the salt in your bowl, visualize as above, and say:

"I charge you with stability."

Place the cayenne pepper in your bowl, visualize as above, and say:

"I charge you with warmth."

Place the ginger in your bowl, visualize as above, and say:

"I charge you with protection."

Place the cloves in your bowl, visualize as above, and say:

"I charge you with health."

Mix the assembled spices and salt with your fingers. Visualize yourself having safe travel, a protected and cozy time, happy play times in the snow, etc etc. Now transfer the herbs to the center of the cloth square. Fold in half, and then in half again and sew up the ends. Carry this with you during Winter tide. Make a new charm every snowy season.

Snow Magic
found at Wiccan Information

Snow is nature’s purifier. It insulates plants and seeds against winter’s fury and cleanses the earth. Snow is the perfect element for winter rituals. To remove negativity from the home, try this snowball spell:
As the moon wanes, make a snowball and stand outside your home. Hold the snowball and visualize red light streaming from every window and door, collecting in the snowball. See the light changing from red to blue. Place the snowball on the ground as you say:

“I release all negative (or name a specific problem) and let it return to the earth.”

Let the snowball melt naturally. If you live in an area without snow, use ice. Before winter purification rituals, place snow or ice in a white bowl and let it melt. Anoint your forehead, heart, feet and magical tools with this water. Then proceed with your spell.

And for the witchlets….or anyone who needs a break, really *grin*

Spell to Make It Snow – Part 2 (Pt. 1 is here )
Source Unknown

You go outside and kind of like run in place, or you can just run in circles while you chant

"Snow, snow,
You're there I know;
Please come down and touch the ground
And make it white all around".

You have to do it at least four to five times.

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.

Wednesday – Christmas Eve – Christmas History & Lore

* The Holly King and Other Lore *
From the earth Witchery Webpage; Source no longer available : (

The Holly King

From the Celtic tradition, we get a pair of ancient pagan images who fight for supremacy at Yule. The Holly King and the Oak King are probably constructs of the Druids to whom these two trees were highly sacred. The Oak King (king of the waxing year) kills the Holly King (king of the waning year) at Yule. The Oak King then reigns until Midsummer when the two battle again, this time with the Holly King as the victor. The Holly King, who has evolved into the present day Santa Claus, wears red, dons a sprig of holly in his hat, and drives a team of eight (total number of solar Sabbats) deer, an animal sacred to the Celtic Gods. Holly and mistletoe are traditional to the season through commemoration of the battle. The holly was hung in honor of the Holly King; the mistletoe (which grows high in the branches of oak trees) in honor of the Oak King. The Oak King and Holly King are mortal enemies at Midsummer and Yule, but they are two sides of a whole, and neither could exist without the other.

Santa Claus

Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman agricultural god), Cronos (Greek god, also known as Father Time), the Holly King (Celtic god of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian winter god), Odin/Wotan (Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse), Frey (Norse fertility god), the Tomte (a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year), and Thor (Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats). Julbock or Julbukk, the Yule goat, from Sweden and Norway, had his beginnings as carrier for the god Thor. Now he carries the Yule elf when he makes his rounds to deliver presents and receive his offering of porridge.

When Early Christians co-opted the Yule holiday, they replaced the ancient Holly King with religious figures like St. Nicholas, who was said to live in Myra (Turkey) in about 300 A.D. Born an only child of a wealthy family, he was orphaned at an early age when both parents died of the plague. He grew up in a monastery and at the age of 17 became one of the youngest priests ever. Many stories are told of his generosity as he gave his wealth away in the form of gifts to those in need, especially children. Legends tell of him either dropping bags of gold down chimneys or throwing the bags through the windows where they landed in the stockings hung from the fireplace to dry. Some years later Nicholas became a bishop--hence the bishop's hat or miter, long flowing gown, white beard and red cape.

When the Reformation took place, the new Protestants no longer desired St. Nicholas as their gift-giver as he was too closely tied to the Catholic Church. Therefore, each country or region developed their own gift-giver. In France he was known as Pare Noel. In England he was Father Christmas (always depicted with sprigs of holly, ivy, or mistletoe). Germany knew him as Weihnachtsmann (Christmas man). When the communists took over in Russia and outlawed Christianity, the Russians began to call him Grandfather Frost, who wore blue instead of the traditional red. To the Dutch, he was Sinterklaas (which eventually was mispronounced in America and became Santa Claus). La Befana, a kindly witch, rides a broomstick down the chimney to deliver toys into the stockings of Italian children. These Santas were arrayed in every color of the rainbow--sometimes even in black. But they all had long white beards and carried gifts for the children.All of these Santas, however, never stray far from his earliest beginnings as god of the waning year. As witches, we reclaim Santa's Pagan heritage.

Reindeer

Santa's reindeer most probably evolved from Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Eight reindeer pull Santa's sleigh, representative of the eight solar Sabbats. In British lore, the stag is one of the five oldest and wisest animals in the world, embodying dignity, power and integrity. From their late Autumn dramatic rutting displays, stags represented strength, sexuality and fertility. As evidenced by multiple prehistoric excavations of stag antler ritual costumes, the wearing of stag antlers in folk dance recreated the sacred male shaman figure called Lord of the Wild Hunt, Cernunnos, or Herne the Hunter, among others--he who travels between worlds, escorting animal spirits to the afterlife and sparking wisdom and fertility in this world. Likewise, the stag's branching antlers echo the growth of vegetation. In America, the stag represents male ideals: the ability to "walk one's talk," and powerfully, peacefully blend stewardship and care of the tribe with sexual and spiritual integrity.

In Northern European myth, the Mother Goddess lives in a cave, gives birth to the sun child, and can shape shift into a white hind, or doe. Therefore, the white hind was magical, to be protected and never hunted. In myth, graceful running women of the forest--who were actually magical white hinds--brought instant old age or death to hunters who chased them. To the Celts, all deer were especially symbolic of nurturing, gentle and loving femaleness. White deer hide was used to make tribal women's clothing. White deer called "faery cattle" were commonly believed to offer milk to fairies. In Britain amongst the Druids, some men experienced life-transforming epiphanies from spiritual visions or visitations by white hinds, balancing and healing their inner feminine energy. In Europe white hinds truly exist, and are many shades of warm white cream-colors, with pale lashes--otherworldly in their peaceful and modest behavior. To many Native American tribes, deer are models of the graceful and patient mother who exhibits unconditional love and healthy, integrated female energy.

Wreaths

The Wheel of the Year is often symbolized by the wreath. Its circle has no beginning and no end, illustrating that everything in its time comes back to its point of origin and travels onward, over and over again. Scandinavians began the tradition of hanging the wreath at Yule, the beginning of their new year, to commemorate new beginnings in the cycle of life. Today in rural Germany, a giant wreath, known as St. Catherine's Wheel, is a holdover from another pagan custom which involved sympathetic magic to lure the sun's warmth back to the earth. A giant four-spoked wheel with an effigy of a person bound to it, is lighted on fire and rolled down a hill. (The effigy probably hearkens back to a time when human sacrifices were made in plea to the sun.) In some traditions, Yule was a more important holiday for honoring the Sun God than Midsummer. In Winter, Mother Earth was cold and barren without the fertilizing power of Father Sun.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe was also known as the golden bough and was held sacred by both the Celtic Druids and the Norse. Mistletoe was used by the Druid priesthood in a very special ceremony held around this time...five days after the New Moon following winter solstice, to be precise. The Druid priests would cut mistletoe from a holy oak tree with a golden sickle. The branches had to be caught before they touched the ground.

Celts believed this parasitic plant held the soul of the host tree. The priest then divided the branches into many sprigs and distributed them to the people, who hung them over doorways as protection against thunder, lightning and other evils. The folklore, and the magical powers of this plant, blossomed over the centuries A sprig placed in a baby's cradle would protect the child from faeries. Giving a sprig to the first cow calving after New Year would protect the entire herd. Now for the kissing part. Although many sources say that kissing under the mistletoe is a purely English custom, there's another, more charming explanation for its origin that extends back into Norse mythology. It's the story of a loving, if overprotective, mother.

The Norse god Balder was the best loved of all the gods. His mother was Frigga, goddess of love and beauty. She loved her son so much that she wanted to make sure no harm would come to him. So she went through the world, securing promises from everything that sprang from the four elements -fire, water, air, and earth - that they would not harm her beloved Balder. Leave it to Loki, a sly, trickster spirit, to find the loophole. The loophole was mistletoe. He made an arrow from its wood. To make the prank even nastier, he took the arrow to Hoder, Balder's brother, who was blind. Guiding Holder's hand, Loki directed the arrow at Balder's heart, and he fell dead. Frigga's tears became the mistletoe's white berries. In the version of the story with a happy ending, Balder is restored to life, and Frigga is so grateful that she reverses the reputation of the offending plant -making it a symbol of love and promising to bestow a kiss upon anyone who passes under it. Balder is sometimes seen as the sacrificed and resurrected god, who is restored to his people after the Battle of Ragnarok.

Lights

Winter was a time of death and stagnation in the eyes of early humans.The earth was barren and unproductive, shelter was drafty, disease was common, and food was scarce. Little wonder they did all in their power to assure the Sun's return each year. During the festivals of the waning year, fire became a form of sympathetic magick to entice the Sun back to the earth. Bonfires were lit; Flaming wheels rolled down hillsides; Burning candles were placed in windows. Candles were later placed in the boughs of evergreen trees, later evolving into lights on our holiday trees.

Honor the new solar year with light. Do a Solstice Eve ritual in which you meditate in darkness and then welcome the birth of the sun by lighting candles and singing chants and Pagan carols. If you have an indoor fireplace or an outdoor fire circle, burn an oak log as a Yule log and save a bit to start next year's fire. Decorate the inside and/or outside of your home with electric colored lights. Because of the popularity of five pointed stars as holiday symbols, this is a good time to display a pentagram of blue or white lights.

Saint Nick, Old Nick & The Good God Thor
Talk by Rel Davis,
Minister of the Unitarian Fellowship of South Florida,
1812 Roosevelt Street, Hollywood, Florida 33020,
December 18, 1993.

The festival of Christmas has always been a controversial one in Christianity. The Puritans banned Christmas altogether and during the Cromwellian period in England, anyone celebrating Christmas was jailed for heresy. Probably the most hated of all Puritan laws was the one abolishing Christmas and probably led to popular acceptance of royalty - at least the king allowed the masses to celebrate Yule!

In America, Christmas was generally outlawed until the end of the last century. In Boston, up to 1870, anyone missing work on Christmas Day would be fired. Factory owners customarily required employees to come to work at 5 a.m. on Christmas -- to insure they wouldn't have time to go to church that day. And any student who failed to go to school on December 25 would be expelled. Only the arrival of large numbers of Irish and northern European immigrants brought acceptance of Christmas in this country.

Even today, large segments of the fundamentalist movement oppose Christmas as a pagan holiday. In some homes, Santa Claus is called "Satan Claus" and St. Nick is considered to be identical with Old Nick. So who is this Santa Claus character who is really the main emblem of Christmas? The Church says that Santa Claus is nothing but Saint Nicholas, an austere bishop of Asia Minor who lived in the fourth century. There are two stories about Nicholas. One, the expurgated version taught by the modern church, and the other, the colorful one taught by early Christians. Let's look at the modern version first.

Nicholas was born into a rich family in the city of Parara but his parents died while he was only a child. He was raised an orphan and became a priest. When he did so he gave all his possessions to the poor, and especially to orphans. He made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and on the way a storm threatened to swamp his ship. He prayed and the storm was calmed. He is now patron saint of some sailors. When he returned he was elected bishop of Myra. Under Diocletian he was imprisoned but freed under the Emperor Constantine. That's the story. According to the church, his feast day of December 5 was transferred to Christmas by the Dutch, who called him Sinter Klaus.

The older story is a lot juicier. In reality, of course, there is no historical record of a "Nicholas" ever having been born. The story went that he was born a saint, fasting even as an infant. They said he would only take his mother's breast on Wednesdays and Fridays. According to the stories, he became a bishop because his predecessor predicted it in a dream, and he was the first person to enter the church the next day. He was said to bring back the dead from a magic cauldron. He could stop any storm at sea by ordering it to calm. He miraculously multiplied a shipment of grain so it could feed his entire diocese for two years, with enough left over for a new crop of grain. When he died, his bones exuded a huge quantity of holy oil capable of curing any known disease. One of his most famous acts of charity was the throwing of money through open windows to provide dowries for unmarried women. He really did not like spinsters and believed all women should accept the slavery of lawful marriage!

One group of Christians followed Nicholas' teachings. They were a gnostic sect called the Nicolaites who believed that the only way to salvation was through frequent intercourse between the sexes. Though they were brutally suppressed by other Christians, they recognized Nicholas, and his cauldron of regeneration, as a pagan fertility god. In fact, Nicholas was nothing but the ancient Roman God Poseidon in new guise. Poseidon was the god of the sea, possessor of a magic cauldron and capable of calming the sea with his voice. The Teutonic equivalent was called Hold Nickar, king of the nixies. A nixy was a sea nymph, like a mermaid or water fairy. He was the Danish sea-god. The English called him Old Nick and when the Europeans brought their "St. Nicholas" to England, they instantly recognized him as their own. By the way, the symbol of St. Nicholas in the church is either a phallus in a yoni (the older symbol) or three golden balls (later the symbol of the Medici family and now of pawnbrokers). Both of these are ancient fertility symbols.

Today, we think of Old Nick as synonymous with the devil, the Christian anti-Christ. Old Nick is a bad guy. His alter ego, St. Nick, however, is a good guy. Let's get back to Santa Claus, or Sinter Klaus, the real hero of Christmas. Christian scholars claim that the Dutch "Sinter Klaus" was really Saint Nicholas, and that "Sinter" is Dutch for "saint." Well, don't you believe it. The best evidence is that the term was originally "Klaus of the cinders," that is, the man from the chimney. This explains the color of his clothing (red and white, the color of fire.) The Dutch really weren't so stupid as to confuse December 5 (St. Nicholas' day) with December 25 (Yule). Santa Claus never was St. Nicholas. So who was he?

Let me quote from a nineteenth century book on nordic mythology, H.A. Grueber's Myths of Northern Lands, published in 1895. He wrote:

“Thor was the god of the peasants and the common people. He was represented as an elderly may, jovial and friendly, of heavy build, with a long white beard. His element was the fire, his color red. The rumble and roar of thunder were said to be caused by the rolling of his chariot, for he alone among the gods never rode on horseback but drove in a chariot drawn by two white goats (called Cracker and Gnasher). He was fighting the giants of ice and snow, and thus became the Yule-god. He was said to live in the "Northland" where he had his palace among icebergs. By our pagan forefathers he was considered as the cheerful and friendly god, never harming the humans but rather helping and protecting them. The fireplace in every home was especially sacred to him, and he was said to come down through the chimney into his element, the fire. Every Yule, the good god Thor would visit every home with an altar to him (i.e., every home with a fireplace!) and bring gifts to children, who would put out their sabots (wooden shoes) the night before. Good children would receive gifts of fruit, candy and pieces of coal to burn in the fireplace. “

He had another name to the ancients, Kris Kringle, Christ of the Wheel. This was his name as solar deity, reborn at the winter solstice, as the wheel (yule) of the sun turned slowly around. Again, the church pretends that Kris Kringle is the germanic expression, Kristkind (Christ-child). But if that is true, why has it always applied to Santa Claus, and not to the baby?

Yule was a time of feasting and celebrating the eventual end of the winter. The word Yul meant wheel and the day of Yul was the first day the sun visibly turned in its long drop toward the horizon, the day the sun-wheel turned. The month of December was also called Yule, but it was a different word, the word Geol or feast. December was a month of feasting to our ancestors. The aspects of Yule or Christmas are all of pagan origin. The mistletoe (banned by the early church, by the way) was an ancient symbol of rebirth, being associated with the menstrual blood of the mother. Traditionally, couples "kissing" or making love under the mistletoe would have a child of their own in the coming year. Later, the mistletoe was symbolic of engagement.

The holly was also sacred, maintaining its greenness on the sacred oak. It symbolized eternal life. The fir tree was the ancient grove of the Goddess brought into the house. We call it a Christmas tree, but the Germans use the old word, tannenbaum, literally "fir tree." Gift-giving, feasting, burning the yule-log, displaying circular wreaths (symbol of the sun's wheel), and singing carols (literally, "dances"!) are all of pagan origin. Even the creche, the manger scene, is of traditional origin, for this was always the season for the birth of the child- god. The infant surrounded by adoring gods (wearing the halo or sun-symbol on their heads) predated Christianity by many thousands of years as well. Baal was honored by similar scenes in ancient Palestine. Osiris in Egypt. Even the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus was borrowed unashamedly from ancient tales. Clouds of singing angels, the virgin birth, even the obligatory flight of the small child and the death of other infants - all occurred in similar tales long before.

There is really very little in Christmas that would not have felt completely comfortable to our pagan ancestors. Just remember when you sing the carols that the "virgin mother" is nothing less than the primal queen of heaven: Mariamne, mother of god; Aphrodite-Mari, mother of the ocean foam; Stella Maris, Isis' name as Star of the Sea; Maya, the oriental mother of the savior, and all the other forms of the ancient goddess.

Worried about the name of the holiday, Christmas? The Mass of Christ. That's an ancient term as well. Christ merely meant "the anointed one" and originally referred to the oiling of the god's phallus before intercourse. "Thou anointest my head with oil" had an altogether different meaning than today's theologians like to admit! A Christ was anyone who had been treated with oil -- usually a god. And the word "mass" is also pagan in origin. The Latin word is missa and was derived from the Persian word mizd, which was the communion cake used in Mithraic ritual. The mizd cake was said to contain the divine flesh and blood of the sacred bull-god sacrificed by Mithra. (Mithra, by the way, was born on December 25, of a virgin. His birth was witnessed by shepherds and magicians [magi]. Mithra raised the dead and healed the sick and cast out demons. He returned to heaven at the spring equinox and before doing so had a last supper with his 12 disciples [the 12 signs of the zodiac], eating mizd, a piece of bread marked with a cross [the symbol of the sun]. Any of that sound familiar?)

So Christmas is simply the "bread feast of the anointed god's phallus." Pretty darned pagan, wouldn't you say? The yuletide is a time of peace. Of joy. Of giving to others. It's a beautiful old holiday that Christianity has never quite been able to stamp out.

* The Yule tree (lore, correspondences, decorating, and consecrating) *
From the Earth Witchery Website; Source no longer Available : (

Lore

The Celtic Druids venerated evergreen trees as manifestations of deity and as symbols of the universe. To the Celts, these trees were sacred because they did not die from year to year like deciduous trees. Therefore they represented the eternal aspect of the Goddess who also never dies. Their greenery was symbolic of the hope for the sun's return. The Druids decorated the evergreen trees at Yule with all the images of the things they wished the waxing year to bring. Fruits for a successful harvest, love charms for happiness, nuts for fertility, and coins for wealth adorned the trees. These were forerunners to many of the images on today's Christmas trees. Candles were the forerunners of today's electric tree lights. In Scandinavia, Yule trees were brought inside to provide a warm and festive place for tree elementals who inhabited the woodland. This was also a good way to coax the native faery folk to participate in Solstice rituals. Some believed the Saxons were the first to place candles in the tree. Gradually sacred tree imagery was absorbed and minimalized by the Christian church--but it was never able to destroy trees' resonance within our collective unconscious completely. We realize when we plant a tree we are encouraging the Earth to breathe. And when we decorate our evergreen trees at Yule, we are making a symbol of our dream world with the objects we hang upon it. Perhaps a chain or garland, reflecting the linking of all together on Earth. Lights--for the light of human consciousness, animal figures who serve as our totems, fruits and colors that nourish and give beauty to our world, gold and silver for prosperity, treats and nuts that blend sweet and bitter--just as in real life. The trees we decorate now with symbols of our perfect worlds actually animate what we esteem and what we hope for in the coming year; as from this night, the light returns, reborn.

 Decorating the Tree

It's best to use a live tree, but if you can't, you can perform an outdoor ritual thanking a tree, making sure to leave it a gift when you're finished (either some herbs or food for the animals and birds). Start a seedling for a new tree to be planted at Beltane. If apartment rules or other conditions prevent you from using a live tree indoors, be sure to bring live evergreen garlands or wreaths into the house as decorations.

• String popcorn and cranberries and hang them on the Yule tree or an outdoor tree for birds.
• Decorate pine cones with glue and glitter as symbols of the faeries and place them in the Yule tree.
• Glue the caps onto acorns and attach with a red string to hang on the Yule tree
• Hang little bells on the Yule tree to call the spirits and faeries.
• Hang robin and wren ornaments on the tree. The robin is the animal equivalent of the Oak King, the wren of the Holly King. Each Yule and Midsummer they play out the same battle as the two kings.
• Hang 6-spoked snowflakes on the branches of the tree. The Witches Rune, or Hagalaz, has 6 spokes.
• Hang sun, moon, star, Holly King, faery, or fruit decorations.
• String electric lights on your tree to encourage the return of the Sun.

Consecrating the Tree

Consecrate the Yule tree by sprinkling it with salted water, passing the smoke of incense (bayberry, pine, spruce, pine, spice, cedar, or cinnamon) through the branches, and walking around the tree with a lighted candle saying:

"By fire and water, air and earth, I consecrate this tree of rebirth."

Christmas Tree Legends
(unknown source)

Many legends exist about the origin of the Christmas tree. One is the story of Saint Boniface, an English monk who organized the Christian Church in France and Germany. One day, as he traveled about, he came upon a group of pagans gathered around a great oak tree about to sacrifice a child to the god Thor. To stop the sacrifice and save the child's life. Boniface felled the tree with one mighty blow of his fist. In its place grew a small fir tree. The saint told the pagan worshipers that the tiny fir was the Tree of Life and stood the eternal life of Christ. Another legend holds that Martin Luther, a founder of the Protestant faith, was walking through the forest one Christmas Eve. As he walked he was awed by the beauty of millions of stars glimmering through the branches of the evergreen trees. So taken was he by this beautiful sight that he cut a small tree and took it home to his family. To recreate that same starlight beauty he saw in the wood, he placed candles on all its branches. Yet another legend tells of a poor woodsman who long ago met a lost and hungry child on Christmas Eve. Though very poor himself, the woodsman gave the child food and shelter for the night. The woodsman woke the next morning to find a beautiful glittering tree outside his door. The hungry child was really the Christ Child in disguise. He created the tree to reward the good man for his charity. Others feel the origin of the Christmas tree may be the "Paradise Play." In medieval times most people would not read and plays were used to teach the lessons of the bible all over Europe. The Paradise Play, which showed the creation of man and the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden was performed every year on December 24th. The play was performed in winter creating a slight problem. An apple tree was needed but apple trees do not bare fruit in winter so a substitution was made. Evergreens were hung with apples and used instead.

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