Thursday This Is Your Spell - Summertime Magical Spells For Witchlings

Summertime Magickal Spells For Witchlings
From Baby Magic by Vidar Andrewson - Mind Fire

Decide what rituals are suitable for your child's age and which ones are too much for them. I have tried to make them as simplistic as possible.

• Bubblemagic: Have you ever blown bubbles when you were a child? This rite is quite simple but will work if the right mindset is in order. First go out into nature, on a hill, in a field etc on a windy day if possible. Tell your child to make a wish and blow the bubbles. When they blow the bubbles their wishes are put inside the bubbles and carried up to the Gods & Goddesses. There the bubbles pop and the Gods & Goddesses will see their wishes and grant them. Explain to them that sometimes the bubbles will pop before getting there, due to being attacked by Loki's forces who take the form of bugs, birds, crosswinds, people and other things. If they say a little prayer before the bubbles are blown to ensure a safe journey of the bubbles to the Gods & Goddesses then that will help them do beginning invocations.
• Kite Magic: Hand make a kite with your child(ren) doing most of the work. On the kite write messages of what they want, wishes. The message can be anything they want the Gods(desses) to hear. It can have a poem written on it, or a request or a simple happy birthday to the God during Yuletide for the beginning of our year. The thought being that the higher the kite goes it gets closer to the realm of the Gods and they can read it easier. If the kite string ever breaks and the kite is lost maybe the Gods have decided to keep the kite? Don't lie to them but let their imagination decide what happened to the kite. If you lie to them they'll never believe you again or will have doubts about what you say in the future.
• Balloon Magic: Write on a piece of paper your wishes, a song, poem or whatever you want the Gods(desses) to see. Roll up the paper and insert it into a balloon. Inflate the balloon with helium and let it fly on the end of a string <but don't let it fly away because balloons are not environmentally friendly>. A good variation to this would be to put a handful of birdseed inside the balloon so that when it pops the seed will feed the Goddesses children, the birds.
• Water Magic: Work together to make a boat made of wood or out of scraps of wood. Fill the boat with fish food and a leaf that your kid has written his/her wishes onto. Before your child sends the boat into the water have them say a prayer of what they wish and that in exchange for granting their wish they have fed the Goddesses children, the fish.
• Magic with Fire: You will need to supervise your kids with this one. Have them write down everything that makes them mad onto a piece of paper and then have them toss it into a fire. If they want wishes to be granted by the Gods(desses) have them write, or draw a picture or what they want on a piece of paper and toss it into the fire. Tell them that as the paper gets burned up it turns into smoke and is carried up to the Gods and then magically turns back into a piece of paper and lands on their alter where they read it.
• Home For the Faeryfolk: If you have access to a forest this one is cool. Go out to the forest and assist your child in building a home for the faeryfolk there. Don't use two-by-fours but branches instead. Make it as elaborate as you wish. Tell your children that sometimes the faeryfolk take on the form of animals and will move into the home you've built for them. To lure them into the home put a variety of fruits and vegetables inside and a note to them stating that you've built this home for them and if they wish they can grant you your wishes. When the winter snows start piling up they will be very happy you've built them a home and stocked it with food. They may feel grateful enough to grant you your wishes. There is also a post on making Faery Furniture here.)

These are only a few of the spells I am working on. feel free to use these and pass them around. Permission is granted to put these in publications as long as credit is given to me

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

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 Smattering of Midsummer Spells

A Smattering of Midsummer Spells
Melanie Fire Salamander, at Widdershins

 

As a pagan, you may well light a bonfire Midsummer night and jump it, for Litha is a fire festival. Likewise, you may stay up to greet the Midsummer dawn. If you do, keep a pair of garden shears handy. Midsummer's Eve at midnight, Midsummer's Day at dawn and Midsummer noon are prime times to collect plants sacred to the sun or special to the fey. In fact, any magical herb plucked at Midsummer is said to prove doubly effective and keep better. Divining rods cut on Midsummer's Eve are said to be more infallible, too. You can charge your charms, depending on their purpose, at midnight, noon or in dawn's first light.

 

Charms traditional at Litha include those for courage, dream divination, fertility, invisibility, love, luck, protection, wealth, the restoration of sight and the ability to see the fey. Midsummer is a fey time, both by tradition and observation. The scent of the air is thick, green and juicy; it's lost its spring astringency and is simply lush. The whole world is stretching its limbs and frolicking. The fey are big on that. Especially for charms of love, gardening and magical abilities, the fey are a great help in herb collecting. In exchange, they like gifts of milk and honey, cookies, sweet liqueurs, or any sweet food, drink or liquor. They also like baubles, particularly pretty or shiny. Or cold hard cash - but in coin, not paper, and it's best if shiny. To stay in good with the fey and the herbs you collect from, leave enough of the plant or other plants of the type that the herb survives in the spot collected from. Remember too to always ask the plant before taking a cutting, and to wait for an answer. A quid pro quo usually works: a shiny dime, some fertilizer, or a bit of your hair or clothing - whatever you think the plant most wants.

Courage: Tuscans use erba della paura (stachys) collected on Midsummer's Day as a wash against fear. Steep the herb in hot but not boiling water, then rinse the limbs with long strokes moving outward from the torso. You might substitute wood betony, a relative more common in North America.

Dream Divination: Litha is a good time for foretelling things in dreams. Specifically, to induce dreams of love and ensure them coming true, lay a bunch of flowers under your pillow on Midsummer Eve. That's what the  girls of old Scandinavia did. For effective dream divination, remember to keep a notebook beside your bed. At bedtime, relax, ground and center, then clearly define your question. Meditate on that question until it's firm in your mind, and assure yourself you will remember your dream on waking. Then go to sleep. As soon as you wake, record your dream. One trick is to set an alarm clock so you're wakened artificially, which can help dream recollection. Dreams dreamed on Midsummer's Eve are said to be more likely to come true.

 

Fertility For Your Garden: For a lush garden, mix ashes from the Midsummer bonfire with any seeds yet to plant. (You still have time to plant cosmos and a handful of fall-blooming flowers.) Likewise, for fertility sprinkle bonfire ashes on any flowers or vegetables you have growing.

Fey Charms: To see the fey, pick flowers from a patch of wild thyme where the little folk live and place the flowers on your eyes. A four-leafed clover not only grants you a wish but also, carried in your pocket or a charm, gives you the power to see fairies dancing in rings. A good place to look is by oaks, said in Germany to be a favorite place for fey dances. To penetrate fey glamour, make and wear an ointment including four leaved clovers. St. John's Wort, also known as ragwort, has a strong connection to the fey and transportation. You might add it to charms to travel quickly. The Irish call the plant the fairy's horse, and the fey are said to ride it through the air. But beware: The Manx say if you step on a ragwort plant on Midsummer's Eve after sunset, a fairy horse springs out of the earth and carries you off till sunrise, leaving you wherever you happen to be when the sun comes up.

Invisibility: Collect fern seed on Midsummer's Eve for use in charms of invisibility. To become invisible, wear or swallow the seed (that is, the spores) you have collected. Such spores also put you under the  protection of spirits. The fern is said to bloom at midnight on Midsummer's Eve, either a sapphire blue or golden yellow depending on your source.

Love: Plant two orpine starts (Sedum telephium) together on Midsummer Eve, one to represent yourself, one to represent your lover. If one withers, the person represented will die. But if both flourish and grow leaning together, you and your lover will marry.

Luck and Human Fertility: As at Beltaine, leap the Midsummer bonfire for fertility and luck.

Protection: Herbs traditional to Litha (also know as St. John's Day) in England include St. John's Wort, Hawkweed, Orpine, Vervain, Mullein, Wormwood and Mistletoe. Plucked either at Midsummer's Eve on midnight or noon Midsummer Day and hung in the house, they protect it from fire and lightning. Worn in a charm on your body, they protect you from disease, disaster and the workings of your enemies.

Sight: Dew gathered Midsummer Eve is said to restore sight.

Wealth: The fern also has a connection with wealth. Sprinkle fern seed in your savings to keep them from decreasing. The alleged golden-yellow fern flower, plucked on Midsummer's Eve at midnight, can be used as a dowsing tool to lead to golden treasure. Alternatively (the Russian version), you throw the flower in the air, and it lands on buried treasure. Or, if you're Bohemian, you pluck the flower and on the same Midsummer Night climb a mountain with blossom in hand. On the mountain, you'll find gold or have it revealed in a vision. If you wait patiently till midnight on Midsummer Eve and see no such golden fern flower, perhaps invisibility will have to do.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

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.

Monday Make A-Interrupted Mercury going retro Again Soon!!!!

Since Mercury is fixin’ to go retro again (May 7 – Friday - fasten your seatbelts), and I have already encountered several people with computer issues – myself included : (  instead of doing the usual Monday Make A – today I am going to post some computer protection type spells today, and post Monday’s craft on Thursday This Is Your Spell -

Spell to Keep Computer Working
By Mary H

Cut out 7 stars from colored paper. Monday - white; Tuesday - red; Wednesday - green; Thursday - Purple; Friday - pink; Saturday - black; and Sunday - Orange. Chant over the stars:

"Magic stars so bright and true,
Protect my monitor and CPU
May my keyboard and mouse always work for me
By the Techno-Goddess.... so mote it be."

Place all the stars in a bag or box with sage, thyme, or rosemary. Each day of the week place the star on top of your monitor or computer that is the right color for the day. If after a week your computer still has problems, you can continue the spell for another week or two. In desperate situations, pick up the phone book and call your local computer wizard... LOL

* Computer Blessing *
by Zhahai Stewart

"Blessings on this fine machine,
May its data all be clean.
Let the files stay where they're put,
Away from disk drives keep all soot.
From its screen shall come no whines,
Let in no spikes on power lines.
As oaks were sacred to the Druids,
Let not the keyboard suffer fluids.
Disk Full shall be nor more than rarity,
The memory shall not miss its parity.
From the modem shall come wonders,
Without line noise making blunders.
May it never catch a virus,
And all its software stay desirous.
Oh let the printer never jam,
And turn my output into spam.
I ask of Eris, noble queen,
Keep Murphy far from this machine. "

Computer Possession?
Unknown author

Computer acting up and your virus scanner says your bug-free?  Consider that you may have an infestation of another kind. I had this very same problem and couldn't figure out why installs were going bad with random errors and the top-of-the-line equipment was glitching as if it were 20 year old scrap. No viruses and everything hooked up properly, too. I was stumped until I came into my office in the dark one night to get something. I saw this large, amorphous black thing zoom past my face and vanish into the area surrounding the computer. It was then that I realized that we had a ghost in the machine so to speak. I thought about that with some skepticism at first. A few days later, a friend of mine mentioned the fact that the Internet, to which I am connected on a daily basis, is a very powerful source of innovative, diverse energies. Therefore, it makes the perfect feeding ground for discriminating negative spirit and curious positive spirit alike. So in order to solve all of our magazine's computer problems, my Assistant Editor and I decided to perform a banishing/protection ritual before attempting to set the system straight for the 5th time. We mixed every oil we had with protection, cleansing and/or banishing powers into one rather potent batch of blended oil (with jojoba as a base). We smudged the machine and all of its accessories and asked the Lord and Lady to aid us in clearing all negative forces from the tools we use to spread their wisdom. We also invoked the spirit of Armadillo (Protection) to guard the equipment and offered some tobacco. We used the oil to inscribe a pentacle on each component of the setup (careful to keep it away from the open vents and crevices). Next, we taped two pieces of parchment with warding sigils and a brief written spell to each side of the computer's tower (the parchment and sides of the tower were also anointed with oil pentacles). We offered some sandalwood incense for all other spirits who wished to aid us in our task. As a final precaution, we sealed all entries to the room and the machine (including the plate where the phone lines come in and the air conditioner) with a pentacle inscribed with the oil. So far, the plague of problems seems to have ceased and all systems are operational. Sure, it looks a little odd to visitors to have the runes and sigils hanging on the tower, but I think it adds a unique flair to our office.

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 – 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

Thursday This Is You Spell – To Welcome The New Year

Happy New Year! Since many people are known to make ‘New Year Resolutions,’ and those resolutions generally revolve around breaking some kind of habit, today’s “Thursday This Is Your Spell…” will include some spells designed to help you break a habit, along with a House Blessing spell, a House Cleansing Spell, (to start the new year with a cleansed, blessed home)  and a ritual for Peace (don’t we all – or almost all, anyways – want peace..?)

Self-Improvement Spell

Items needed:

• wooden clothespin
• black felt-tipped marker
• small piece or pieces of paper on which you have written the bad habit (s) or trait (s) you wish to dispel
• some black thread
• a pin
• black pepper

Shield, ground and center, cast circle, charge of the Goddess. Sit quietly and meditate on changes you wish to occur. Raise power by chanting the following:

"This spell I do, within my rights to be free
Darken my house no more! Begone! Begone from me!"

Color clothespin with black pen and tie pieces of paper (mentioned above) around the clothespin and secure with black thread. Sprinkle clothespin with pepper, and then stick pin into clothespin while repeating the same chant. Raise energy with chant and send off. Ground, cakes and wine, thank the Goddess, open the circle. Bury the clothespin near your front door.

To Cleanse A Home of Negative Energy 

These are especially good measures to take when moving into a new place, beginning ritual activities in a new space, or to release bad feelings when an inhabitant has been sick or has died.
To cleanse a single room

Needed:

• newspaper
• a blue candle
• salt
• sage

On top of newspaper, set a blue candle. Surround with a circle of salt. Burn a little sage in the room. Light the candle, making sure it won't tip over. Close the door and let the candle burn down. When finished, take newspaper, salt, and candle leaving and bury far from your home.
To cleanse a house

Needed:

• four candles –black, white, purple or dark red, and blue
• salt
• sage
• rosemary
• basil
• lavender
• other fragrant herbs you find appealing
• broom

Select four corners. Set the four candles one in each corner: north - black, east - white, south - purple or dark red, west - blue. Sprinkle a little salt at each doorway and window. Burn sage in each room, paying special attention to windows and doors. Strew the herbs then sweep them up with the salt. Cast the swept herbs out your front door. *You may want to sweep them off your porch so they aren't on your property anymore.

House Blessing

Needed:

• red wine
• chalice or cup

Find the center point of the house. If there is more than one  level, then use the stairs as the center. Take a sip of wine at each turn. Face the East saying:

Lady of Love and power and all blessings,
Breathe Love into this house.
Fill the air with good.
Through you and in you, I bless this house.

Face the South saying:

Lady of Love and living and all blessings,
Warm this house with comfort.
Make whole its hearth.
Through you and in you, I bless this house.

Face the West saying:

Lady of tide and time and all blessings,
Let every hour flow sweetly in this house.
Make pure its tides.
Through you and in you, I bless this house.

Face the North saying:

Lady of earth and stability and all blessings,
Plant security within this boundary.
Make strong its defenses.
Through you and in you, I bless this house.

Drain the cup at the end. Turn to all four points twice more and repeat each time: You are blessed

Peace Ritual

Design this ritual to suit your needs. Choose candle colors that represent the things you seek peace for (e.g., maybe green and brown for peace on earth).

"From out of the dark and into the light
A circular mark, a candle burns bright.
I look towards the sky. . . my song do I sing.
Spirits soar high and gifts do I bring.
I offer my all! My mind, I then clear
Hearken my call! I feel you are near!
Candle burns higher; my spirits set free!
Hotter than fire, this magic will be!
Let magic come 'round, from under the ground,
To form with my sound and then, to be bound!
Around me I feel the magic so real,
Before you I kneel.. The spell I now seal!
Let all hatred cease And let there be peace!
These words that I say, with magic away!
This spell that I send is now at an end.
Let the magic I’ve laid, go forth and not fade!
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 - Russian Divinations for the Solstice

* Russian Divinations for the Solstice *
from 1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies, by Alfred Carl Hottes

Five piles of grain are placed on the kitchen floor. Each pile is given a name, such as Hope, Ring, Money, Charcoal, and Thread. We girls went to the henhouse and roused a drowsy hen. She is allowed to walk around the kitchen and choose a pile of grain. If she chooses Hope it means a long journey or the fulfillment of a great wish. The Ring, of course, means marriage; Money is wealth; Charcoal portends death in the family; and Thread means a life of toil. How the conversation flows when these divinations are made. Old songs were sung, and the old women and country girls could devise entire stories from the action of the hen.

Sooner or later one of the girls would slip outdoors, and standing just inside the gate, but with her back to it, she would kick her slipper high over her head into the road behind her. Then she would run to see in which direction it pointed, for that is the way from which a lover will come or the way she will go to be married. And, alas, if the slipper points toward the gate she will not be married this year. [Note from Honor: this is not necessarily a bad thing...]

Some girls sit in a room alone with the doors closed. Two candles are lighted and two mirrors are used so that one reflects the candlelight into the other. The point is to find the seventh reflection and look until one's future is seen.

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.

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.

 

 

Thursday This Is Your Spell - More Money Spells

* Money Spell *

unknown source

Things you will need:

• Silver Dime
• Any money drawing herb (mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, Etc.)
• A money drawing oil (Mint, Patchouli, Bay, Virgin Olive oil, Etc.)
• Waxing Moon (From seven to fourteen days after the new moon).

Outdoors in a quiet spot (late eve works best). Hold the dime in your left hand (your left hand or your receptive one ). Anoint the dime with oil. Place herb on top of the dime (dime should be face up). Now charge the dime by holding your right hand over your Left (making a cup ) Visualize a green light filling your cupped hands until they fill full of this light. The Chant must be repeated nine times:

Silver Dime
Waxing Moon
Fill my cup with prosperity soon

Bury the dime and herbs face up in the earth. This symbolizes planting a seed of prosperity into your life. In the days following of this spell:
If you see a penny pick it up and give thanks that prosperity is coming soon.

* Voodoo money spell *

unknown source

To Bring Money You Need:

• 4 Quarters
• 1 green candle
• Sugar

Draw a cross on the floor with the sugar. Place a quarter at each point on the compass:
North, South, East and West. Place the green candle in the middle of the cross. Light the candle and say:

Money, money come to me
Be it by land or
Be it by sea
Money, money come to me

Let the candle burn out.

* New Moon Abundance Check *

author unknown

The time of the New Moon is a good time to affirm prosperity. This is called the New Moon Abundance Check, or the Law of Abundance check, this can be an actual check from your check book or a drawing of a check.

• Date the check.
• Where it says "Pay To The Order Of", write in your name.
• Fill in the amount you wish to manifest.
• In the Memo section you may want to note "Over and above expected income."
• Sign the check The Law of Abundance (or The Universe).

Tape the check somewhere you will see it often over the next 28 days...I tape mine near my computer. The first time I tried this I got $500 unexpected dollars. Last month no extra money came, but two potential new income sources presented themselves. It is best to write this check within 24 hours of the new moon. Some people put the check in their checkbook along with a deposit slip they have filled out. I do better when I actually see the check, it reminds me to affirm prosperity several times throughout the month.

* Money Spell for Quick Gain *

unknown author

This is a spell to gain money quickly. It should be used only when you absolutely need it and never for greed.

You need:

• 10 Dimes
• A Cup
• Blessed Water
• 2 Green Candles

To start this spell, cast a circle. Light the green candles and place the cup between them. Now, fill the glass with the blessed water and say:

Fill my pockets
Fill them fast
Fill them like I fill this glass

Next, take the ten dimes in your hand. Drop them into the glass one by one saying this as you drop each coin it:

I wish for wealth
I wish for success
I wish for happiness
I wish for gold
I wish for silver
I wish for riches
I wish for health
I wish for help
I wish for money to come my way
I wish for all this so mote it be

When you have finished this, place the glass on your altar and let the candles burn down. This should bring money your way in the next few days.

* Prosperity Pouch *

unknown source

Ingredients:

• Green or gold cloth and bag
• Cinnamon
• Patchouli
• Mint
• Basil
• Money oil, cinnamon oil, or heliotrope oil
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• Malachite
• Pyrite
• 1 Gold Candle
• 1 Green candle
• Prosperity incense

Directions: Empower all objects. Carve a prosperity rune or symbol on the candles and dress them with any of the above oils. Visualize your goal as you dress them. Add a chant if you like.

"Wealth and money, come to me
I deserve prosperity."

Light the candles on your altar or place of magic. Place the empowered herbs in the bag and ask for the blessings of Earth. Wave the bag through the incense smoke and ask for the blessings of Air. Pass the bag through the flame of each candle and ask for the blessings of Fire. Anoint the bag with any of the money drawing oils and ask for the blessings of Water.
Hold the stones and tell them what they are to do. Explain their magical purpose.
Add them to your pouch.
Take the cinnamon stick and drip some green wax on one end and gold wax on the other. These are 2 traditional money drawing colors but can also be viewed as colors for the Goddess (Green) and the God (Gold). Ask for their blessing on your spell. Say:

"For the good of all
and with harm to none
this is my will
And so it is done!"

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.