A Continuous Candle Peace Ritual

I found this spell in Cassandra Eason's Complete Book of Spells and today seems like a good day to pass it on. The interesting thing about this spell is that my posting about it here is actually part of the spell itself.

It's a very simple practice: Take a white candle and dedicate it to peace, whether for a specific cause or the world in general. I am using a tall devotional candle I bought at a Catholic supplies shop. Light it, and say, There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of one candle. Then pass on the spell to someone else. (For example, you could hit the "Stumble It!" link at the bottom of this post... Just a suggestion...)

Although the idea is that the other person lights their candle before yours burns down, I think the bigger idea is to get more people thinking about peace and working toward it, in whatever way they can. Never watch the news and question that you have the power to affect what is happening on the other side of the world. As witches, we have not only the power, but the responsibility to put magickal and mundane efforts toward harmony.

Purification Bath Spell

Spring is in full force now in my area. Since we're now on the waning side of the lunar cycle, it's time for a clearing spell. Basically what I need to do is clear away some of the debris - mental, emotional, physical - that has been slowing me down. It is next to impossible to move forward when you're being weighed down with so much baggage.

The first step of the spell is a thorough cleaning of the house. I've actually been doing this for a while, culminating today when I take a big bag of stuff to Goodwill (not the Salvation Army). It's amazing what a relief that simple act can bring. But I'm also a witch, which of course means magickal action in addition to mundane.

This is a bath spell, which is something I don't do often. Obviously, washing yourself is a good symbol for purification of all types. What I'm doing this evening is filling up my tub with nice hot water. Into the tub goes a massive quartz crystal and some bath salts made by Smith & Vandiver. I'm using the "Refresh" bath salts, which I don't think they make any more. I've had them forever and it's high time I used them. In addition I will have on hand a white tea candle for purification. When you're a klutz like me, a tea candle is best in the tub to avoid setting the bathroom on fire. Some nice music playing finishes off the "ingredients." I prefer a mix of Enya songs for their ethereal ambiance.

Run the quartz crystal under warm water before you put it in the tub. You don't want to take a cold crystal and drop it into hot water; it could crack or shatter. Slicing your foot on broken crystal is not conducive to magick.

This is a mental magick sort of spell, really. Basically just slip into the water, light the candle, and let the elements do their thing. You've got them all: earth (salt and crystal), air (music), fire (candle), and water (bath). Visualizing your "baggage" dissolving into the water really helps. If you want to linger in the tub, empty it completely, imagining the detritus going down that drain, and then refill. Doing this cycle three times adds a little numeralogical magick to the mix.

Oh, and before you close the bathroom door, make sure you have something with which to light your candle. You don't want to get all comfortable in the bathtub and then have to run naked and shivering back out the door to get some matches. This is also not conducive to the magick. Trust me.

Woman of Power Spell

It's full moon time, people! Tonight I'm gonna get my witch on with a power spell. My goal for this spell is to become a more powerful woman and witch in every way. You know how there are those people who seem charmed, enchanted? When one of these people says something will happen, you know that it simply will. That's who I want to be.

For this spell I chose a special ring as a symbol of my power. It is actually the same ring I used for a fairly similar working back at around New Year's. Remember the blue moon that happened right around that time? I empowered this ring to be a tool to bring more magick into my life. Although it took a few months to manifest, it's obviously working now that I'm doing some kind of spell every single day! My hope is to extend that enchantment by not just bringing magick, but bringing forth my own personal power. In other words: I have magick, now I just want to be better at it.

I have a special candle for this spell, placed in a pentacle candle holder. It's another one of those Reiki energy charged candles from the Crystal Journey Candle Company. It's the same brand I used for the Motivation Spell and that worked wonderfully! The one I am using is called Power. I have the votive size and it smells wonderful, just like every other candle from this company. In fact, I'd buy it just for the scent: musk, clove, and patchouli. They should make this scent into an aftershave. It'd be much more appealing than that "Axe" crap.

Anyway, once the sun sets I will be ready to begin. For this spell I won't just light the Power candle, but also one I have dedicated to the Goddess Brigid and the big one I light for important rituals. Then on the altar I'll place the special ring and the High Priestess card from the Legacy of the Divine Tarot. This is a beautiful deck and probably my all-time favorite. You can see a "living" version of it here. Take a look and you will see why I am choosing it for this spell. The High Priestess embodies a quiet but undeniable power. I'm not looking to rule the world. I'm just looking to rule my world.

I want to see where the energy takes me, so I'm not overplanning. I like spontaneity. I will begin by lighting the candles and saying a general blessing or prayer to the Goddess and God. Then I will state my intention and meditate on the card. This specific card has rich symbolism, and I suspect I will find myself exploring that. I may end up chanting whatever words of power come into my head, in this case probably something like, "I am power."

I realize this spell is, at least in part, also a recognition and celebration of the power I already have. I'll let you know how it goes.

Workplace Peace Spell

We're in the home stretch of busy season in my industry, and this week I expect to be tense. I've decided to charge an amethyst cluster for peace and harmony. I'll put it on my work altar, which is a special shelf at work where I keep some unobtrusive spiritual objects.

I have a couple of these amethyst clusters. They're not high quality. They were the first crystals I ever bought, at a kiosk in a crappy small-town mall. I remember the guy was selling these big chunks for $1 each - just the right price for a ten-year-old. Of course, this was long before I knew anything of witchcraft. All I knew was that they were sparkly and seemed a lot more valuable than what was being charged.

So I'll take one of these clusters, light a white candle, and charge the stone with peaceful energies. Breathe deeply, speak softly, stay centered, be at peace.

Money Spell With AzureGreen Candle

AzureGreen is one of my favorite supply companies. This being the last day I have off before the next full moon, I wanted to test out their Prosperity Ritual Candle. The owner of the shop where I bought it swears by these things. I realize there's a bias there, but if you saw this shop you'd understand my confidence in this opinion. The place probably has $5 million in inventory. It's like the Wal-Mart of occult stores, at least in terms how how much they carry and the amount of business they do. And it's 100% bricks-and mortar... no online sales.

Anyway, I wanted to burn this candle today since it's an 8" taper and those can take a while to burn down. It's a nice candle, a rich (ha!) dark green inscribed with Theban script and pleasantly scented with whatever they used to anoint it. Of course, I will follow the instructions on the site:

Before you light the candle for the first time, focus your will entirely upon it, visualizing your intended bounty being woven in and all around the candle. Let your mind fill with an awareness of the candle flame as a beacon, calling money and success to your door. As the candle burns down to its base, keep your thoughts set upon the positive manifestations of attaining this new found wealth and glory. You may choose to let the candle burn down completely at one time as it releases your ritually strengthened thoughts into the universe, or you can light and concentrate upon the candle 3 days in a row, making sure to snuff the candle at the end of each session, rather than blowing it out.

 Well, I sure could use some dough, so let's see what comes of it!

Spell for the Protection of Trees

Lately the trees in my neighborhood have been suffering from a very nasty disease. It comes every year, as soon as the weather starts improving. Is it a fungus, you ask? Dutch Elm perhaps? Nope. This unfortunate blight is known as assholus lumberjackus. When the illness sets in, you begin to see men sharpening their chainsaws, revving them up, and cutting down oaks that are older than their grandparents. While in other places people pay big bucks to have trees put in, here they pay big bucks to cut everything down. This year's epidemic is worse than ever. Every single one of my neighbors are infected.

I've said before, a little manipulative magick doesn't frighten me. I would consider this "gray" magick, in that what I am protecting doesn't belong to me. Indeed, the rightful owners of what I am trying to protect would object most vehemently to this spell. I honestly don't give a rat's ass. If they can pray for my soul, I can cast spells on their trees. It's not like I'm hexing their chainsaws to slip and perform impromptu amputations. Although, if one more of those morons wakes me up with that godawful sound, I might just change my mind!

So here's the spell. On my pentacle, I'm placing a small drawstring bag containing soil from the site and an acorn from one of the trees I'm trying to protect. Surrounding the pentacle are eight white candles dressed with protection oil. (I don't remember which recipe I used for this oil, but any of the various versions would be fine.) And surrounding the whole thing are small stones collected from the endangered site. I will light the candles and visualize the whole area bathed in protective white light. Here's the chant I came up with:

Power, rise up from the ground
White light, come from all around
Protect these trees, keep safe these lands
No more death here at men's hands.

When the candles burn down, I'll return the stones to the site. I will probably save one to keep in the bag with the soil and the acorn as a further symbol of protection.

Protip: When collecting soil and acorns, seal them in a plastic bag and freeze overnight to kill any critters. Acorns are especially bad - most of them will have insect larvae inside them that will hatch, escape, and inhabit your home.

By the way - and trust me, I'm totally ashamed of this fact - I just realized that today, Earth Day, is the perfect day to cast a spell like this. I love it when a plan comes together.

Motivation Spell

I am in need of some serious motivation! This spell is nothing spectacular, just a stone and a candle. The stone I am using is red aventurine, a material I've not worked with before. This stone is a red-brown variety of quartz. According to The Book of Stones, it is good for "helping those with low vitality with getting things done." In the past I've used ruby or zincite for energy with success, but the book opened to the red aventurine page and I'm not one to ignore serendipity.

The candle is Crystal Journey Candles' "Motivation." Its color very nearly matches that of the stone. The scent includes sunflower, myrrh, and frankincense, and is absolutely divine. I bought it at a store in my college town, the very store where I bought my first spell candles and supplies all those years ago. Inhaling this scent transports me directly back to the utter fascination and innocent wonder of being a new witch. It's going into a red candle holder. I'll put that and the stone on my copper pentacle and we'll see what comes of it.

Anti-Procrastination Spell

This is a busy time of year in my profession, and I have a lot to do. Unfortunately, I'm a chronic procrastinator. I decided to create a spell to help me end this habit.

Needed for the spell: paper, pen, banishing oil, black candle

There are two possible approaches to a spell like this, and which one you pick depends on the phase of the moon. During the waxing phase, you should work magick that will help you take action. During the waning phase you should work magick to stop procrastination. There's a difference between the two. One makes something increase, the other makes something decrease. Since the moon is waning, I used a black candle for removal and ending. If it were waxing or full I'd pick red or maybe orange, and use a symbol for action.

On the paper, I created a symbol of my procrastination problem. Such a symbol is personal and you need to design your own. Then I picked up the black candle and dressed (i.e., anointed or coated) it with banishing oil.

While doing this I charged the candle by visualizing my procrastination symbol being destroyed in a variety of ways, and the freedom I will feel when the problem is gone. Finally I placed the paper into my cauldron and put the candle on top. I lit it and let it burn down. You could also just put the paper under a regular candle holder, or even just burn it.

*Banishing Oil Recipe
Use 6 drops each of pepper, rue or rosemary, and clove essential oils. Add this to a half ounce of base oil (whatever you have on hand is fine - I use olive, grapeseed or jojoba). Be careful because many essential oils are volatile and can irritate the skin.

Commitment Spell

It seems that an appropriate way to start this blog would be with a commitment spell. The intent of this spell is to magickally seal a plan or commitment. It's sort of like an oath but a little less serious. With an oath, you're making a promise to a deity. With this spell, the promise is to yourself. Now, I'm not one to fear magick that changes the outer world or even - at times - other people... but the most powerful magick effects change on the self.

Needed for the spell: white candle, quartz crystal, spell box or drawstring bag, paper and pen

First, write or draw a symbol of your commitment on the paper. Fold it carefully around the crystal. Then hold the candle in your hands and strongly visualize yourself fulfilling the promise. (I visualized myself making my 365th spell post. With many readers, of course!) Mentally send the energy of this promise into the candle.

With the candle now charged, put it into a holder and light it. Pick up the paper-wrapped crystal and continue with the mental images. When you feel you've done enough, carefully drip some of the candle wax over the packet to seal it. Let the candle burn down completely to finish the spell. Store the packet in a special box or bag on your altar.