New Year’s Day Prosperity Spell

Every year on New Year’s Day I take a set of coins and acorns and throw them across the threshold of my home to help bring in good fortune in the coming year. My wish is not that I come into lots of money (though if i get any I am always grateful), but just that my family and I are taken care of and happy throughout the year. Also, that we share what we can to help others. I take the coins and acorns outside and hold them out to the universe and say:

Goddess of prosperity

Bring your favor into me

Coins of silver and gold

Wealth come over my threshold

Acorns, seeds from the sacred tree

Bring my spell longevity

Success to come throughout the year

Let it now enter here

After reciting the chant I turn and toss the items over the threshold of my home. It doesn’t have to be a hard toss, but enough to make sure that the coins land away from the door and into my house. I then come inside and close the door to seal in the blessing. Working through my front room I pick up the items and place them on my home altar around three candles that I have charged. I let the candles burn out completely before picking up the items and placing them inside a black sachet. I leave this sachet on my home altar for the entire year and repeat.

Wishing everyone blessings in the new year.

November Full Moon, the Maiden and the Owl

Last night’s full moon ritual for me offered some interesting insights into my life and what I should try to focus better on. I had long forgotten the feeling that I had when I connected with the Maiden goddess, yet last night she made it very well known that I had been neglecting her energies. Lately, I have been feeling like I more of a Crone so it was not surprising that this happened. I always find rituals to be insightful and spent the better part of the hour that I was in ritual communing with her and trying to better understand how it is that I am lacking the Maiden in my life and what I can do to reconnect with her. Winter did not seem like the best time of the year to connect with the Maiden to me, but I was reminded that it is during this time of the year that she is resting in the underworld awaiting her time to return in the spring full of life and regenerated. This actually made the best sense to me because it is during this time that I begin to focus my energy inward working on the things that are often neglected over the course of the lighter times of the year. I decided to take this message and see how I can begin to incorporate her more into my daily life.

I decided that I am going to begin by changing up some colors in my life. I have been wearing a lot of dark colors lately because I have been feeling like I need to be more grounded and reflective of negative energy. I work with the general public so this just seemed like the best choice. I am going to start to incorporate more bright colors into my wardrobe to add a sense of the Maiden into my life. My house is also a myriad of dark color and more earthly tones, so I am going to try to incorporate more brightness into my home as well. Bright color seems to always put me in a better mood and maybe it will bring more positive energy into my life, which is something that I feel is needed during this time of the year. Depression often sets in when the weather gets cold and dreary and this change seems like it will be just the thing to help keep my spirits up.

Another recurring theme from last night’s ritual was the symbolism of the owl. I have been contemplating for quite some time on getting a tattoo of an owl in honor of my grandmother. It was something that I discussed with her before her passing as an idea to cover up a very old tattoo that I have that no longer holds any meaning for me. She had always liked birds, and she always felt that owls brought good luck to her and her home. She told me she thought the design I showed her was a “wise choice.” I find it a good omen too since the owl is the symbol of the Greek Goddess Athena, the Goddess of wisdom. Athena also is a virgin Goddess, therefore a continual reminder to connect with my Maiden energy. I don’t have any owl totems in my home presently, but I will definitely be looking into getting one to keep on my home altar to remind me to connect with this Goddess.

I hope everyone else enjoyed their full moon, and found it as insightful as I did.

Banishing Candle

I had someone approach me wanting to know if I could help them with getting rid of negative energy from their home and their life. I created the following candle for them to burn while performing their ritual.

The recipe for the candle is as follows:

 

Wax
Black crayon
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp dill
1/8 tsp sage
1/8 tsp rosemary
1/8 tsp grass clippings
1/8 tsp pine needles
13 drops peppermint oil
13 drops lemon oil
13 drops lime oil

Melt wax and the black crayon in a double boiler, stirring only in a counter clockwise direction. Once the wax is melted add the herbs and oils. Pour into candle mold, reserving remainder for a second pour once candle has hardened.

Use candle for spells or rituals involving banishing negative energy.

A little bit of Prosperity Magic

Tonight I decided to give thanks for the universe for all the good things that have been going on in my life lately and to wish that they continue in the months to come. I am pretty sure the universe has heard my prayer. On the left are the candles I lit shortly after my initial prayer. On the right is exactly one hour later.

Am I an Elder?

I recently met up with a friend of mine for many years that I have not seen in some time that got me to thinking about the true meaning of “community” when it comes to Pagan folk. I have been struggling for some time dealing with an out of whack community where I live and it got me to thinking about if we really truly are even connected in some way with one another or if everyone in the recent insurgence of interested in the Pagan faith is just in it for themselves and trying to discount what others believe because they do not feel the same way. Then subject of being an elder was breached between us. This is something I have never really thought about in terms of my own spiritual journey since I always feel like I have so much to learn, but it seemed to resonate within me that I may be reaching that point in my journey where the term elder may actually describe me.

Why do I think I may be reaching elderhood? I really cannot answer why I feel this is the case without saying pretty brazenly that truly I have reached that point in my life where I just don’t take crap from people. Does that make me gruff around the edges, sure it does; but does that make me any less of a magickal person, no I do not think so. I can look at things and see the purpose of it on a spiritual level, but I do not feel the need to completely force my views on others and to turn my back on those who believe differently as I do. As unpopular as I am sure it will make me with some, I do not feel that everything in my life has to have some higher spiritual purpose. Sometimes I can just enjoy life for the joy of living, and it really doesn’t have to have a higher purpose. I also don’t feel that every time I meet up with my Pagan brethren that it has to be for some “mystical purpose.” We can meet up, have coffee, talk about the weather, our lives, our pets, and still have a meaningful connecting. That is afterall what I think the world is about, connecting with people on a human level.

Am I willing to teach what I know to people who ask me? Sure, why not. If I cannot pass along knowledge to others for the purpose of helping them grow as individuals why would I be on the path that I am on. I think we all should share our experiences and learn from one another. Am I cautious about who I am willing to teach things to, you bet I am. The reason, I have been burned in the past by people who have tried to use what I have taught them against me. (Yes, I am aware how this sounds) This I think is probably why I am not always open with people about what I do in magickal practice, because I do not want people to have the ability to use things in their favor against me for their gain. I don’t need to be a mind reader or even an empath to know when I am talking to someone if their intention is that of ill or if they are trying to see what I am willing to show them so they can tell others who have no business knowing. I take a pretty practical approach to teaching and I think for some this irritates them, because it’s not “getting into casting spells” which is normally what people ask of me and I am not willing to teach them spells I do. I am however willing to teach them the skills to cast ones of their own making. This I think is way more beneficial than giving them something that I have done, and it gives them the experience in learning what will work for them. The hardest thing I have a time teaching people is that not everything works exactly the same for everyone. So something that I created for a specific purpose that worked well for me, may not give someone else the exact same results.

So in the end do I know what makes a good Pagan elder? No, not really, and the reason for this is I really don’t have much contact with other Pagan elders and keep to myself as far as some of my more in depth magickal practice. What I like to think about when I think of elders in general (not just Pagan elders) is that they have something valuable to teach society. Whether people want to follow those teachings or not is completely up to the individuals who choose to listen to the teachings. I look up to many people in my life, not only on a spiritual level but a personal level as well. I see a complete disconnect with the younger generation of Pagans that I never saw before and maybe this is why I feel there is the shift in my own journey. I really hate to say that all I see are people in it for themselves, but in today’s culture that is kind of where it is going. If it’s not specifically about them, then it’s not important. We need to connect as people to work more effectively, and even though some of us may out grow our groups and move on to others that provide us with what we need we still need to remember to respect where we came from and the lessons we have been taught along the way.

I apologize if this is repetitive or sounds like I am rambling I just wanted to get it out before I lost it.

Releasing Stress

Today for some reason I was feeling an overwhelming amount of stress for the day, which normally doesn’t occur for me. I think it may be because I have focused extremely hard on achieving my goal of not biting my fingernails for the next month, so the stress was actually manifesting in my life. I decided that it would be a good idea to start with my stress cleansing today.

Years ago I came across a recipe for an Epsom salt bath recipe for children that involved using drink mix to color the salts so that it would color the water for them, and I decided that I would use this recipe for my own magickal working along with adding a few other elements to it for my purpose. Normally, I keep Epsom salts on hand in my house as they come in handy for many things and I can pick them up at the local dollar store so it is not terribly expensive. Rummaging through my cupboard for a drink mix that I felt would serve the purpose I found that I had some grape flavored Kool-Aid and I felt it would a good color for stress release. I added some lavender oil to the mix to give it that added extra stress relieving property and some baking soda for an added detox effect. Combining all of the ingredients into a large bowl I mixed them together focusing my intent on relieving stress from my life.

Next came creating the bath, I took one cup of the mixture into the bath with me and poured it under the running water. As I did so I charged the water with the intent of releasing the stressors from my life, and filling my life with love. Once the water was charged with the purpose, it was time to soak. I chose 30 minutes for my intent. During this time, I sat focusing on releasing all of the stress and negativity from my life and letting it flow into the water. After the time was up pulling the plug on the bath I waited until all of the water had drained from the tub before stepping out. That way all of the negative things were taken down the drain and away from me before exiting the bath.

I do have to say that after the bath I felt much less stressed out then I had during the day. Even as I sit writing this I am getting sleepy, which is a nice change for me. So with that I will bid everyone a good evening.

Bath Salt Recipe

4 c. Epsom Salt

2 c. Baking Soda

1 Packet Purple Kool-Aid Drink Mix

30 Drops of Lavender Oil

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Breaking a Bad Habit

As part of my journey into the realm of beauty I decided that I would take the time to try to break one of the bad habits that I have had in regards to my appearance for several years. For as long back as I can recall I have been a chronic nail biter. So much so that I barely have any fingernails left on either of my hands. I know that this is not a healthy thing for me to do and although it has not caused me any significant problems I know that it is not a very attractive thing to look at. I have tried everything over the years to stop myself from biting them. I know that it is something that I do out of nervousness or being stressed out. Therefore, I am going to try to focus on ways to try to reduce stress in my life and to also work out some of the things that make me nervous.

Current state of my fingernails

Right now I know one of the biggest stressors that I have in my life is the fact that I have recently lost my employment. I was at my job for a little over ten years when the company I worked for decided to close in the town that I live in. Although this was a welcome change for me, due to the fact that my job did cause me a high level of stress, it has become more stressful now trying to find alternative employment so that I can make ends meet. I never really fathomed that I would be back in the job market looking for work, but here I am out there trying to find something in the small town that I live in. I am determined to make the effort to try to make job hunting a bit less stressful for me and taking time for myself each day to work on being calmer about my current life situation.

I have decided that to help me out with this I will be attempting to do more meditation to focus on clearing my mind and relax. I have set out on the internet to see what I could find in regards to guided meditations to assist with this and have found there are some interesting things that I think I will try to help me with my process. I also will try to work some magick to help me with my goal as well. It is my hope that I will be able to reduce my stress and nervousness to a point where I no longer feel the need to chew on my fingers.

I created the following spell to assist me:

Nail Growth Spell

What you will need:

Tomato juice

Olive Oil

A Small Bowl

Place one cup of tomato juice and a tablespoon of olive oil in the bowl. First stir the ingredients together in a counterclockwise motion three times to banishing away the bad habit of biting the nails and recite the following with each rotation:

Stress and nervousness vanish

My bad habit now banished

Next, infuse the bowl with the intent of growing out your fingernails, and stir the ingredients in a clockwise motion three times to bring in the intent of growing the fingernails out to a healthy length and recite the following with each rotation:

Bring in beauty, bring in growth

To break my bad habit is my oath

As an incentive to help me work toward the goal of not biting my nails I have decided that I will treat myself to something if I am able to go without biting them for one month. I haven’t decided what that will be just yet, but I was thinking maybe a nice manicure if I am able to accomplish my goal.

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My Hope for 2016

Each year of my Pagan journey I take the time to work with specific attributes of life and attempt to document it through journaling. Sometimes the journey takes me into places that I am not always comfortable sharing with others, and other times I am happy to share what I have learned through my experience. I feel that since I have been on this spiritual journey for over half my life that people may benefit from seeing what I have learned through my experience. For the year of 2016, I have felt the overwhelming pull to focus on bringing love and beauty into my life. I want to focus on how to not only love myself better but also those who are in my life by showing them the love and appreciation that they deserve. I also want to focus on bringing more beauty into my life, not physical beauty specifically, but all around beauty of my surroundings and myself.

I also want to be able to convey through my experience that one does not have to spend an astronomical amount of money to become a more spiritual person or achieve goals. I think all too much that people in the Pagan community think that in order to be closer to the God and Goddess they must have expensive tools and clothing. I have never found this to be the case, my magick works just as effectively in my opinion as anyone else’s regardless of what I have spent on ritual implements. There are things that I have that I have spent years saving for, but by no means do I think they are the reason my magick works. It works because I believe in what I am putting forth into the universe. Quite a bit of my work is actually done through meditation and visualization, with the use of chants and incantations. I hope that I can help people to understand that whether they are starting out on this path, or have been on it for a long while that they can be just as effective by having a purpose and not just based on how many magickal artifacts they have accumulated.

This is a calling I have felt for some time, and I think it is long overdue for me to pay attention to in my life at the present. I am never sure where my journey will lead when I take on the work for a year and a day, however, it is always a learning experience. I feel that I can only grow by focusing on what I feel called to, and if I am able to relay my experience to others so that they may feel compelled to work on themselves in a meaningful way then I have done something worthwhile.

It is my hope to be better at documenting my journey then I have been in the previous years. I welcome you along with me either way.

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Thoughts on Prosperity and Magickal Work

All too often people tend to view prosperity in terms of monetary wealth. Unless you are rich, you are not prosperous. Prosperity in my opinion is so much more than how much money I have. I do still view prosperity as somewhat monetary, but I have never had a lot of money and I would not consider myself any less prosperous than someone who has millions of dollars. I tend to measure my prosperity in terms if my life. I have a job, a roof over my head, food in my pantry, and friends and family that I care about. These are the things that I tend to also focus on when I am involved in magickal works. Not because I am afraid to lose these things, but because I am thankful for them and wish to show my appreciation for what the universe has provided to me.

There are a lot of books, TV show, and movies out now that focus on the Law of Attraction. The premise behind the law is that, like attracts like, so therefore by focusing on either positive or negative thoughts you bring the same types of things into your life. From a magickal standpoint, this is valid in my opinion as well. I have seen people cast spells to try to get something better than they have, but still after casting the spell, talk down about how they don’t have what they want. I have had countless conversations with people that they create their own realities through their thoughts and actions. These people will generally acknowledge they understand how this can be the case. Then I turn around only to hear them come back with how much something “sucks” for them, and yet they make no effort to make the “sucking” go away by changing the situation. I listen to people say things like, “I can’t get a job, no one will hire me,” or “I am always broke.” However, in looking at their life there have been no efforts even make to look for a job, and they are “broke” because they spend money on things that they do not need. Everyone in life is offered choices, and it is how we react to these choices that make us prosperous or not. I can only speak from personal experience with thoughts creating reality, but from what I have experienced the law of attraction does hold merit.

I hear many Pagans get a defeatist attitude toward magick because they seem to think that just because they asked for something it should be given to them and when it’s not, it somehow becomes the spells fault. If we all got everything we asked for all the time, there would not be much balance in the world. It also should be important to remember that when performing magickal workings that often time the spells are only as effective as the effort we put into them. If people have a defeatist attitude their lives are always going to seem like they are defeated and they won’t be able to see the good things coming to them. I know that I will not find a job if I never look, and I will never have money if I am always spending it on things I do not need. I have learned in my many years of magickal practice that the universe gives to me what I need from what I am requesting. It might not be exactly as I expected what I asked to come to me, but the request was still answered none the less.

I think it is important to remember that to be prosperous, we have to think positively. Look around and see where there is around you to be thankful for. These in my opinion are the things that make us prosperous. The support that we have from friends and family can also help us on the prosperous road of life, because with the loving support of individuals we are free to explore what makes us happy in life. If we are always walking around defeated we will be.

Truly Disappointed

Undoubtedly at this point any Pagan with a Facebook account has seen the uproar that a certain page has created. I am choosing not to provide the name of the page here only because I personally feel that continuing to give it, or pages like it, the free publicity just adds fuel to the hate fueled message provided on the page. What I wanted to address here is the true disappointment that I feel with many members of the Pagan community in how they are reacting to the page.

I know it is an outrage to many, myself included, that Facebook is allowing the page to continue to exist. I have not “liked” the page, but I have reviewed the content including many of the comments from members of the Pagan community. Although I grasp the concept of sarcasm I am truly ashamed in my community at the moment. Instead of being informative and providing quality information in response to the goads from the pages admin to create a conflict, individuals have been what my family refers to as “showing their ass.” I am aware it gets old to fight the stereotypes, but is it truly better to look like a horses ass to the entire Facebook world then to just not provide fuel to the fire? I am not advocating doing nothing, but the continuance of comment on the page will only keep it growing. People who want attention will continue to seek it whether that attention is good or bad.

This brings me to the outrage people express that Facebook allows this page to continue to exist after its continued reporting for “hate speech.” If you continue to frequent the page with sarcasm and jokes, Facebook will take the page as such and will do nothing about it. Quit going to the page and commenting. If something is truly offensive report it, but do not comment on it. I am not saying we need to remain silent in the face of prejudice and hate speech, but I am saying to think before you open your mouth (or in this case type it on your keyboard). I know it is easy to get caught up in the moment and reply with something crass or sarcastic, bit it truly only adds to the point that these pages are trying to make when we come across this way.

Instead why don’t we as a community try to rise above and send out positive energy into the world of cyberspace. I think more can be accomplished by taking an educated and polite stand then by dropping down to the level of the hate monger.