Tag: Candle

A SPELL TO REMOVE CURSES FROM YOURSELF

A SPELL TO REMOVE CURSES FROM YOURSELF

Ingredients

light 1 pink candle, 1 green, and a black candle.
Be sure that nobody else can see you (close all curtains, doors, windows, etc.)
Now, geta bowl full of water and put 3 drops of green dye in it.
Now that you’ve done that, slowly tip the bowl over each candle allowing them to be
extinguished while at the same time chanting:
“Juina Shelt Fonsed.”
You must do this very slowly and imagine the spell being lifted from your body and all the
good luck and fortune that will soon come to you and the evil that will go to the person
that placed the hex/curse upon you.

A SPELL TO BREAK THE POWER OF A SPELL

A SPELL TO BREAK THE POWER OF A SPELL

Ingredients

If you believe a spell has been cast against you, place a large Black candle in a cauldron
(or a Large Black Bowl). The candle must be tall enough to extend a few inches above the
cauldrons rim. Affix the candle to the bottom of the cauldron with warmed beeswax or the
drippings of another black candle so that the candle will not tip over.
Fill the cauldron to the rim with fresh water, without wetting the candle’s wick.
An inch or two of the candle should remain above the water.
Deep breathe, meditate, clear you mind, and light the candle.
Visualize the suspected spell’s power as residing within the candle’s flame.
Sit in quiet contemplation of the candle and visualize the power flowing and growing
with the candle’s flame (yes, the power against you). As the candle burns down, its flame
will eventually sputter and go out as it contacts the water.
As soon as the flame has been extinguished by the water. the spell will be dispersed.
Break your visualization of the spell’s power: see it explode into dust, becoming impotent.
Pour the water into a hole in the ground, a lake or stream. Bury the candle.

A SIMPLE REVERSING SPELL

A SIMPLE REVERSING SPELL

Ingredients

First for this spell you will need:
1 black and red reversing candle (You may find this in any occult supply shop, botanica, etc.)
or you may use 3 red household candles with the bottom portion dipped in black wax 1 bag of
reversing bath salts (or you may use solar sea salt which you have consecrated for this purpose)
1 bag of reversing incense, 1 piece of virgin parchment, 1 vial of reversing oil India ink which
has been consecrated for this purpose, a quill pen to draw upon the parchment.
First you must bathe in water with the bath salts, allowing yourself to air dry after.
Next, you dress your candle with the oil; anoint the candle starting in the center and rub the oil
towards each end (If using a jar candle anoint the top of the wax in a counter-clock-wise
circular motion, starting at the center and out). Write upon the parchment that which you
desire to be directed away from you in this case psychic attacks (if you know the source,
write that too). Light the incense and pass the parchment through the smoke, then place
the parchment under the candle. Light the candle while visualizing a white ball of light forming
above it. Then say with all of the force of emotion that you can muster:
“By incense’ smoke and candles’ flame,
Away from me I send all bane;
By cleansing water and power of salt,
Let any harm come to naught.
To any who would wish me pain,
May all their curses be in vain;
All that blocks me from success,
With this spell I lay to rest.
Harm to None and Good to all,
Lord and Lady hear my call;
As I do will, So Mote It Be!”
Repeat this chant three times As you say the chant, imagine the small white ball above the
candle growing and expanding until it encompasses you and anyone else who you desire to
protect. Imagine that any negative energy that meets this ball of light will be reflected off, never
touching you at all. After the candle has burnt out (about 6 or 7 days for a jar), take the jar
and any wax left over, and the parchment and place them in a brown paper bag. Take them
to a remote location and break the jar inside the bag and dispose of it. As you dispose of it say:
“Return to the elements from which thou camest!”
As you may have guessed, this is also a success spell in the form of reversing any negative
energies which may be blocking you from the success you desire, whatever form that success
will take. As for the form of the success; leave that to the Gods. Oh, and if you are using
household candles, remember to repeat the spell three nights in succession, burning each
candle and disposing of the remaining wax after all three have been burnt. This spell will bring
you much success and protection if done in the right way.

A REVERSING SPELL

A REVERSING SPELL

Ingredients

You want to get three red candles, and (if possible) 1 black candle.
(if you can’t get a black candle without raising eyebrows, go ahead and get a
brand new black permanent marker. Do not use this marker for anything else
but this type of spell if you can help it.) Also. if you have access to any essential
oils, get some rue oil or get hold of some bulk rue … and a small bottle of olive oil.
A small candle holder and a clean piece of paper and a red pen to write with are
the next things.(again, a new pen if possible, saving it for this type of spell. A good
thing to do is to get a variety of colored pens to save for doing specific spells.)
Melt the black wax of the candle in a double boiler and dip the lower half of the red
candles in it, making the black wax coat the bottom half.
Or, if you must, cover the lower half of the red candles with the black magic marker.
On a night where you can block everyone out for a while, take a bath with either sea
salt or regular salt (1 tsp. is enough) and a bit of rue oil or rue (cut or ground, doesn’t matter).
Do not towel dry yourself, go ahead and air dry.
(You can wear whatever you normally wear to do spells, but you definitely want to air dry.)
Then, get out the rue oil or, in a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of ground or cut rue and
1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil. Coat one candle with the oil or oil-herb mixture, anointing
from the middle out, going counter clockwise. Do the bottom half first, then the top.
You’ll be doing this spell over three consecutive nights, so save the rest of the candles and
the oil in a safe place. On the piece of paper, write down what you’d like to see reversed
from you; i.e. bad luck in love, financial problems, trouble from an enemy, inability to find
what you need in your life, etc. Get thoughtful and make sure it’s something you really
want to send away. Place the piece of paper under the candle holder (it would probably
be smart to put this in a pie plate or some other fireproof container), charge the candle with
your desire to see these things or trends gone, and light the candle, using a lighter only (no matches).
Do this again for the next two nights, and once you’re done, burn the piece of paper, seeing your life
as if a weight lifted from it. If there’s any leftover wax, collect it in a brown paper bag and bury that
someplace far from you, or throw in a trash can across town! Then forget about it, don’t worry over
it, just know it worked. You can do this whenever you feel the things in your life are not going the
direction you’d wish, and different candle colors can be used for specific reversals.
This is for general, overall reversals.

To Return a Hex

To Return a Hex

 

Light three black candles, and as they burn, speak this charm for thrice return:

Broken this spell, broken this curse,
By these candles, by this verse.
Reflected back, three times three,
Your hexes have no effect on me.
Curse return, by candles three,
Burn away and set me free.
Live and learn, crash and burn,
Three times three, this hex return.
With harm to none, this lesson be told;
Whatever is sent out, returns three-fold.

Allow the candles to burn themselves out. Do this five nights in a row, during the Waxing Moon, at dusk – as the sun dies and darkness descends

Ladies of Winter Candle Spell (Wolf Moon)

Ladies of Winter Candle Spell

Wolf Moon
 
 
The Ladies of Winter live on the star to the north of the North Star. They bring sleet, hail, and snow, and the solstice sun. Mother Berchta is the mother of the Ladies of Winter. She carries a magick Yule wand and wears an enormous overcoat. She is tall and appears as either a beautiful woman or an ugly wrinkled hag with white eyes. She is often on her horse and accompanied by a troop of elves, faeries and ghosts. It is customary to light a candle in her honor to bring abundance to you.
 
For this spell, you will need a white candle and jasmine-scented oil.
 
Dress the candle by rubbing a few drops of the jasmine oil into the candle body. As you do so, imagine what you want to ask from Mother Berchta. Be clear as to what you want.
 
Light the candle and dedicate it to Mother Berchta. Say:

“I dedicate this candle to Mother Berchta tonight.”
 
Take several minutes to gaze at the candlelight and think about Mother Berchta bringing abundance and good fortune into your life. Be clear as to what you want. Remember the Ladies of Winter reward the kind spirited and punish the mean spirited. When you are done, allow the candle to safely burn down.

Calendar of the Moon for Friday, Jan. 27th

Calendar of the Moon

Rowan Tree Moon

Color: Orange-red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon a cloth of orange-red set a row of red candles, Brigid’s cross, and a bell.
Offerings: Votive candles. Quicken a newborn idea into birth.
Daily Meal: Hot drinks with every meal. Keep food warm.

Luis/Gamelion Invocation

Call: Now is the quickening of the year.
Response: Now is the time of the first movement.
Call: Now the child stirs in the womb.
Response: Now the seed stirs in the earth.
Call: Now the plains flood and our fire is threatened.
Response: Now the cold water drowns our spark.
Call: Now is the time of the hard struggle.
Response: Now is the month of desperation.
Call: Now is the time of desperation to live.
Response: Now is the time of desperation to be born.
Call: We turn in our sleep as the earth turns.
Response: We dream with the sleeping earth.
Call: Each of our dreams is a lit candle in the dark.
Response: Each of our dreams is a single point of hope.
Call: They shine faint and alone in the night of struggle.
Response: They are alone as we are alone.
Call: Yet we are not alone in our dreams.
Response: We are not alone!
Call: We will keep our fires burning.
Response: We will burn against the night!
Call: We will warm our dreams with the force of life.
Response: We will not die alone in the cold!
Call: We will ward off all evil.
Response: Only good shall pass our gates.
Call: We will care for each other.
Response: We will never cease to care!
Call: We will survive the winter.
Response: We will survive!
(Repeat last two lines twice more.)

Chant:
Protect the flame that warms your dreams
And dreams shall never die.

Light a Candle, Cast a Spell

Light a Candle, Cast a Spell

by Melanie Fire Salamander

In Northern European societies, Imbolc or Candlemas traditionally fell at a time when, with the end of winter in sight, families used the animal fat saved over the cold season to make candles. I don’t butcher stock, and I’m not planning to render meat fat to make candles, but I like connecting with the past through candle-making. And though the days are longer now than at solstice, they’re still short enough that a few candles help.

To further your magickal purposes, you can make a spell candle for Imbolc — a candle into which you imbue a particular magickal purpose. Once you’ve made and charged your spell candle, you burn it over time to further your intention. I find spell candles particularly good for goals that require a period of continued energy to manifest, for example a new job, and for things I desire recurrently, for example peace and harmony for myself and the people around me.

Also, Imbolc is traditionally a time of initiations, of divination and of all things sacred to the goddess Bride, including smithcraft, poetry and healing. To align with the season, consider making spell candles dedicated to these ends.

You can make two kinds of candle, dipped and molded. For spell candles, I’d recommend molded candles, so you can include herbs and other ingredients that wouldn’t mix evenly with dipping wax.

Things you need

  • Cylindrical glass container or containers
  • Paraffin-based candle wax
  • Double boiler or other large pot in which to melt the wax
  • Wick
  • Scissors to cut the wick
  • Popsicle sticks (tongue depressors), one per candle
  • Metal tab to anchor the bottom of each wick (a heavy paper clip will do)
  • Crayons, old candles or candle coloring for color, if desired
  • Small objects appropriate to your spell
  • Herbs appropriate to your spell
  • Scent appropriate to your spell

For your molding container, the best thing is the used glass from a seven-day candle. You can find seven-day candles all over, including at Larry’s Market. The Edge of the Circle Books has them, or check your local pagan store.

You can also use glass tumblers, jelly jars and the like. The larger the container, the bigger the possible candle and the longer it will burn. Seven-day candle containers have the advantage of having a good candle shape, so that the flame easily melts the wax at the sides of the glass. To accomplish your purpose, ideally you’ll burn the entire candle, leaving no stub, which is easiest to do in a container shaped like a seven-day candle’s. Make sure also that the glass of your container is fairly thick.

If you do use a seven-day candle, you’ll need to clean out any remaining wax. To do so, heat the glass in a pot of water to melt the wax. Be sure to heat the glass with the water, rather than introducing cold glass into boiling water, which might break the glass. You’ll need a bottle brush, detergent and some concentration, but it is possible to clean these containers.

Candle wax can be found at candle-supply stores and craft stores. It comes in blocks of two pounds each; the smallest amount you can buy is more than enough for several candles. For wick, again you’ll need a candle-supply or craft store. Lead-based wick, which has a thin thread of metal covered with cotton, is easiest to work with, but you can also use pure cotton wick. The popsicle stick, a craft store or drugstore item, is used to anchor the wick at the top of the candle.

If you do use a seven-day candle container, and the tin tab at the bottom hasn’t disappeared, save it. Such a tab anchors the wick to the bottom of the glass, making sure the wick lasts the length of the candle. If you haven’t saved the tab, you can use a heavy paperclip or buy the real thing at a candle-supply or craft store.

The remaining ingredients depend on the intention of your spell and should have associations appropriate to that intention. None of these ingredients is required — you can make a spell candle by simply making and charging it, or by charging an ordinary candle. However, as with any charm, the more energy you put into in its creation and enchantment, the stronger the spell. I give some ideas for ingredients following; for a full list of associations, check your favorite table of magickal correspondences, or see The Spiral Dance, by Starhawk; Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, by Scott Cunningham; or Aleister Crowley’s 777.

The easiest way to color candles is to melt crayons or old candles with your wax. To get a strong color, use more colored wax. Don’t mix colors, or you’ll end up with a muddy brown. You can also purchase candle coloring at a candle-supply or craft store. For color symbolism, check tables of correspondences; as always, your personal associations and preferences are the strongest and most resonant. Some common associations follow:

  • Red: Lust, passion, health, animal vitality, courage, strength
  • Pink: Love, affection, friendship, kindness
  • Orange: Sexual energy, earth energy, adaptability, stimulation
  • Brown: Earth energy, animals
  • Yellow: Intellect, mental energy, concentration
  • Green: Finances, money, prosperity, fertility, growth
  • Blue: Calm, healing, patience, peace, clairvoyance
  • Purple: Spirituality, the fey, meditation, divination
  • Black: Waning moon, release, banishing, absorbing and destroying negativity, healing
  • White: Waxing or full moon, pro-tection, purification, peace, awareness; good for most workings

Probably the most common small object to add to a spell candle is a written expression of intention. Candle makers often add semiprecious stones; you can add a stone appropriate to your intention, for example sacred to a deity who rules that area of life, or personally connected to you, say a birthstone. Depending on your spell, other small objects might suit. If you’re doing a spell to invoke the peace of the ocean on a still day, you could include sand or seashells. A candle to draw love might include small cut-out hearts, one to draw money pieces of dollar bill. Note that any added objects should ideally be flammable, or if not flammable small enough not to prevent your candle from burning.

You can use herbs suitable for incense to further your spell. Use herbs you can safely burn indoors. Herbs may make a candle smoke and can combine with the wick to create a large flame, so use them sparingly. Also, herbs tend to clump at the top and bottom of the candle, often producing a stub at the end that’s hard to burn. However, herbs are easy burnable ingredients to add in line with your intention, and if you choose the right herbs they’ll smell good. For lists of herbs, try any incense-making book, such as Scott Cunningham’s The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews or Wylundt’s Book of Incense. To make sure your herbs smell sweet, burn a pinch first.

Both the preceding books also discuss scents, which you can incorporate also. For a strongly scented candle, you’ll need to add perfume. It’s best to use candle scent, found at candle-supply and craft shops, or synthetic perfume oil. Essential oils are volatile and break down in the wax, leaving your candle with no scent at all.

The candle making processAs with any spell, start by considering what you want and what symbols represent your goal. Likewise, as always, don’t try to compel someone who hasn’t consented. Remember that what you do returns to you threefold.

Start by collecting your ingredients and planning your candle-making for a day and hour appropriate to your intention. Imbolc this year falls just after the full moon, so for spells of increase you might want to wait till the moon turns. Or phrase your spell to release something negative. If you need money, banish poverty. If you want love, banish loneliness.

Give yourself a few hours to make your candle or candles, during a period when you’re unlikely to have your concentration broken. Just melting the wax alone, depending on the volume melted, can take from 15 minutes to an hour. You’ll be using the kitchen, so make sure you’ll have it to yourself or that any visitors will be attuned to your purpose.

First, melt the wax in the top of your double boiler. If you want all your candles to have the same color, add the crayons or old candles now. You can use a single pot if you’re willing to watch the wax closely — you don’t want it to burst into flames. Break the wax into small chunks beforehand, so it will melt faster. Heat the wax over medium heat, but don’t let it boil. If you want candles of different colors, you’ll need to melt the crayons or old candles separately, then add clear wax to about the right volume in the pot and mix before filling your containers. Add candle coloring according to package directions.

While the wax is melting, pad your working space well with newspaper, because you will almost certainly spill some wax. Make sure all your ingredients and tools are handy. If you have herbs in unmanageable sizes, for example whole rosemary stalks, break them down so the pieces are a size to burn without becoming small bonfires.

Once the wax is fully melted, turn the heat low and let the wax cool till the wax on the sides of the pot starts to set, at approximately 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooling the wax a little helps prevent the creation of large air bubbles in your finished candle.

Now you’re ready to start forming candles. I usually cast a working circle at this point, calling my patron deities to witness, but without a lot of tools or formal setup. You can work as elaborately or simply as you like. However, I would recommend making the candle with focused intention, as well as charging it later.

Take a moment, then, to focus your concept of your goal. You might create a running mantra to repeat through the rest of your candle-making, or consider an image or group of images to help you concentrate. Be sure to state your intention simply and firmly. If it seems appropriate, write your intention down.

First, if you want multiple candles with the same scent, or you’re only making one candle, scent the wax now.

Next, cut a wick for each candle. The wick needs to be as long as your candle container, plus several inches. Thread the end of the wick through the metal tab or paperclip, or other object appropriate to your spell — for a money spell, you might anchor the wick with a folded bill. Then, drop the weighted wick-end to the bottom of the glass container. Making sure the weighted end sits flush on the bottom and the wick stays as straight as possible, wrap the other wickend around a popsicle stick and set the popsicle stick across the mouth of the glass. Make sure the wick-tail is in the center of the candle-to-be. The more centered your wick, the more evenly your candle will burn.

If you’re using unleaded wicking, pour a little wax around the tab at the end, then let it harden firmly. Then gently stretch the wick taut, and rewrap the top around the popsicle stick.

Next, add the nonwax ingredients to your candle. Drop your folded written intention, if any, and any other objects into the bottom of the candle glass. As each falls, imagine it adding strength to your spell. You can add herbs now as well, or you can add them to the top after pouring, if you want them to float down through the wax and be distributed through the candle.

When your objects and initial herbs are in, pour the wax. Pour evenly and slowly, and try to make sure your wick stays in the candle’s center. If you want to add herbs after pouring, do so directly afterward. If you want to scent a candle singly, now’s the time.

The next part is the really hard part — set the candle out of the way, and leave it alone! It will take up to an hour to harden. You can continue to meditate on your purpose, set up an altar to formally charge your candle, or take down your circle for the time being. You might want to check your candle in this interim period, as the top’s center may form a depression, which you can top off with melted wax. To this end, keep some wax melted.

When your candle’s solid, cut off the extra wick at the top, leaving about a half-inch.

Next, energize the finished candle with your intention. Cut your circle and call any deities or spirit helpers you like, if you haven’t yet, and restate your purpose. Then raise energy in your chosen manner. When the energy’s at its height, send it into your candle, then ground any excess into the earth, keeping what you need for yourself.

Finally, burn your candle. One of the great things about burning a candle in a glass container is that you can keep it going night and day in relative safety. Make sure, however, that the candle is in a place where no human or pet can knock it over, and where no combustible thing can fall across it. Also, at the end of the candle’s life, you might want to burn it while you can watch; it’s during the last inch or so that the glass will break, if it’s going to. Either way, just in case, burn the candle on a nonflammable surface, say an earthenware plate or a tile floor.

If you don’t want to burn your candle every day, burn it on days appropriate to your spell. For example, burn a love candle on Fridays, a day sacred to Aphrodite, Freya and other love goddesses. Again, tables of correspondences can help you figure appropriate days, or you can determine them astrologically. Or you can burn your candle when you feel particular need.

Ingredients for different intentions

If you can’t find or don’t like any of the following ingredients, by all means cut them, substitute or better yet create your own recipe from scratch! The stronger the associations for you and the more personal your candle’s creation, the more effective your candle will be.

  • For divination and psychic work: Purple coloring; a small image of an eye, for far-seeing; lemongrass, sandalwood, cloves, yarrow and a pinch of nutmeg; frankincense scent
  • For protection: No coloring; basil, vervain, rosemary, St. John’s wort and a pinch of black pepper; vetiver or patchouli scent
  • For healing: Pale blue coloring, bay, sandalwood, cedar, carnation, lemon balm; eucalyptus scent
  • For peace and harmony: Pale blue or lavender coloring; lavender, meadowsweet and hops; lilac or any light floral scent
  • For inspiration in the arts: Yellow coloring; a small image of a lightbulb; a piece of amber; bay, cinnamon, lavender, orange peel; scent of bergamot, or any citrus scent
  • To attract love: Pink coloring; small silk or candy hearts; rose petals; jasmine scent
  • To attract sex: Red coloring; sexual images; rose petals, ginger, damiana, ginseng, a vanilla bean; musk scent
  • To attract money: Green coloring; a folded bill or shiny dime; dill, lavender, sage, cedar, wood aloe; oak moss, vetiver or patchouli scent, or some combination of these
  • To get a job: Green coloring; a topaz or turquoise; pictures of tools you use in your work; bay, lavender, cedar, red clover, nutmeg; orange scent, or any citrus scent

As you make and burn your candle, attune to the season as well as your intention. Now is the time to ask Bride for inspiration and to light a new flame, beckoning the longer days to come.

 

Imbolc Is The Season for Cleansing

This Sabbat is a time of cleansing and newborn lambs, a good time for the Blessing of seeds. It is a festival of the Maiden in preparation for growth and renewal. Imbolc is a time to honor the Virgin Goddesses, along with the first signs of returning life in a frozen Winterland. In many places, the crocus flower is one of the first to show itself popping up through the snow, and so it is also a symbol of this Sabbat. Candlemas is a Festival of Light and is therefore celebrated by the use of many candles.

 

 

Symbolically, many Pagans choose to represent Imbolc by the use of Candle Wheels, Grain Dollies, and Sun Wheels – these may be used in ritual or simply as decoration. Candle Wheels are generally round decorated “crowns” made of straw or some type of natural woven substance which is ringed with either eight or thirteen red, pink or white candles and decorated with colored ribbons. In many Imbolc rituals, it is traditional for the High Priestess or the Maiden to wear this “crown” during the ritual at some point.

A Sip of Inspiration

A Sip of Inspiration

by Miriam Harline

Invocation/Meditation

You are in a dark room, empty of furniture, a box of wood rough-hewn. The window looks out on night. You smell woodsmoke, though there is no fire. You are cold, and you huddle on the floor, wrapping your arms around yourself.

The door opens, and standing in the doorway is a woman with long blonde hair. She wears a white dress, hanging in graceful folds, and no shoes. In her hand is a white candle, burning. “Rise,” she tells you; you do, and follow her.

Outside hangs black night, a sky dusted with stars, no moon. The ground is cold, frozen hard, but there is no snow. You follow the woman down a narrow path. To either side rise hills, grass tan when the candle shows it. You walk down; the stones under the hills begin to show to either side. Beside you, slowly, rock walls rise.

The walk down turns steep. You smell salt, hear waves crash. The land flattens, and under your feet is sand; you are on the seashore.

Ocean water pours across the sand, a margin of foam at its edge. The candlelight glows, a yellow globe on the water. You follow the woman still; you turn and walk above the surf. It is low tide.

A cliff rises ahead, to your left, and in the cliff you see a black mouth, a cave. It is so dark, black on black, you feel some fear. But the woman walks right up to it, enters the tall mouth, twice her height. You walk after her into the cave, still on hard-packed wet sand; when the tide is high, the cave floor must be covered in water.

The path of sand narrows between rocks; you continue along it. You turn a bend, and behind you can no longer see the sea, but you hear it still, rushing, sighing.

You walk on. To either side rise black walls of stone, occasionally veined with red. Ahead, as the path curves, you see not darkness, but golden light.

You turn another bend, and the cave ceiling rises; you are in a vast room, lit by candlelight. Before you is a line of eight women robed in white, all holding white candles.

One woman steps forward. She is blonde, like your guide, but taller, older, in the prime of womanhood. Her face is still, not smiling, full of pride. “Greetings,” she says. “What is your name?” You tell her.

“Why have you come here?” she asks. Your eyes go wide, because you have no idea; you were waiting, and were summoned, but you do not know why. But your guide steps up and whispers in your ear, “For inspiration.”

You repeat, “For inspiration.”

The woman who greeted you smiles; you have made the right answer. “Very well,” she says. “Come forward.”

All nine women turn, move further into the cave, form a circle. You see in its center a huge cauldron, waist-high, its legs straddling a fire. The cauldron is boiling, and from it rise rainbow bubbles that pop in the air, leaving a smell of spice and honey. “This is the cauldron of inspiration,” your greeter says.

Two women in the circle loosen their hands and beckon to you. You pass by them, and the circle rejoins around you. You stand before the cauldron. “Drink from the cauldron,” the greeter says.

Drink? you say to yourself. But the liquid in it is boiling. I will boil my hands. “Drink,” she says. “That is why you are here.”

You look around, in fear. These people are crazy. Then you catch the eye of the woman who guided you, and she smiles very slightly. You sense there is some magick here. Foolishly or wisely, you lower your hands into the cauldron.

The liquid is just cooler than lukewarm, delightful, like a bath on a hot summer day.

You cup liquid in your palms, raise it to your lips. The smell of spice and honey fills your nostrils. The liquid seems to shine upward into your face, rainbow colors. You sip.

An explosion goes off in your head. You fall backward onto the ground. You see stars, moons, suns, rainbows flare; a stream of firework, many-colored, falls from the sky. You hear music, whispers, laughter; someone close is speaking in your ear, you can almost make out the words….

After a long time, you wake on the floor of the wooden house. All is dark, and your head hurts. But now the house is warm.