Tag: Magick

Your Magickal Spell of the Day for June 15 – Ring and Ribbon Spell

Ring and Ribbon Spell

Are you ready to “tie the knot?” This spell strengthens the loving connection between you and your beloved.

Items You Will Need:

  • 2 rings
  • A piece of red or pink ribbon
  • A pen that writes on fabric

Best Time To Cast:

  • During the Waxing Moon
  • When the Sun or Moon is in Libra
  • On Fridays

The Spell:

  1. Write your name and your partner’s on the ribbon, along with a special loving wish.
  2. Slip the ribbon through the two rings and tie a knot, while you envision your wish coming true.
  3. Tie the ribbon and rings on your bedroom door.

How I Wish: Consequences in Spell and Wish Making

by blackWing

Do what you will and harm none.

Pagans have seen this message over and over again. We know it, we live it or we strive to live it. For most people, it means don’t carry out a form of magick or spell-casting that will harm anyone, including ourselves. Well, that’s pretty easy. I won’t cast a spell on mean Joe Schmuck, the pagan-hating neighbor, for throwing his garbage on my lawn. It also means I won’t call a curse down on the person who cut me off in traffic. I’m not talking about saying something like, “Damn you,” because in most cases that falls under the category of being an expletive. It doesn’t carry the force of magick or higher energy behind it.

Almost everyone will agree that the above forms of magick (spell-casting and drawing down curses) can harm, and they’re fairly obvious. What is not as obvious are the subtler ways we can harm someone. One common trap is love or attraction charms and spells. Many a “good” neo-pagan book written by upright followers of the path has listed spells that are potentially harmful. To cast a spell that brings beauty to you or makes you more attractive is a beneficent charm. However, there are spells that instruct “write the name of the one you love or want on a piece of paper” and perform a certain ritual. There are several versions, all of which are to attract someone specific and to bind them to you. That’s psychic and spiritual bondage — slavery. Those spells can cause serious backlash.

I found out the hard way many, many years ago when I thought I was practicing harmless witchcraft. I had inadvertently fallen in love with a man who was a customer where I worked.

When I figured out what was wrong with me (I was depressed), I did a spell of attraction. It should have been a spell that just made me more attractive. It might have been a spell that made me more attractive to that particular man, but that would have been manipulating his view and feelings. Instead, it was a spell to make him want me and be attracted to me. And unfortunately, I did a very powerful spell.

Did it work? In spades; I was terribly burned in the process. What I put out came back to me threefold. (Oh yeah, there’s that law for a reason.) I almost became an alcoholic, I had an eating disorder that went completely ballistic and I was dreadfully, emotionally wounded in the process of this guy realizing that he didn’t want me. I had done this in all innocence, believing unthinkingly that I wasn’t doing any harm.

Lucky for me, I woke up after the fact and realized what I had done. I didn’t do it again. Seven years later, with that man as far from here as is possible, I had a chance to mend and heal the old wounds and set things aright with him. No, I’m not with him, but there’s a peacefulness and a wholeness that took many years to accomplish.

We learn a lot from our lessons through life, if we don’t do irreparable harm along the way. That means that you can’t even heal someone unless they want to be healed. Now, on a psychological level, many of us know this to be true. You can’t change someone unless they want to change. But if a person is in a coma or hurt beyond asking for healing energy, what do you do? You can perform rituals to heal, but you have to send them out with the addendum, take the energy if you wish it. Some people don’t want to be healed, even if they are at death’s door. Some people do want to be healed, even if they’re trying to take their own lives and won’t ask for the help.

The ethics of healing with or without permission, even on the purely physical level, is one that everyone, from the medical community to shamans, is debating. It is a larger question for another article. There may never be a completely right or wrong answer. The situation I’m looking at, though, is that of manipulating, threatening or changing someone without their knowledge or permission, or against their will.

Another pitfall for the witch is using magick to get someone to leave you alone or ignore you. Yes, I was caught by this one too but not in as severe a way as the attraction spell. I had had problems with a certain person’s attitude and his behavior, so I did a ritual to take back my power that he was trying to manipulate, and to make sure that he would leave me alone. Well, the first part was fine. The second part fell into the category of me magickally manipulating him. It wasn’t even a problem I noticed until I had to talk with this person and found he did not remember having talked to me on previous occasions, and that he had not remembered even seeing me.

I had been much more careful how I had worded my ritual and in what I was doing, so in the long run there wasn’t as much manipulation or damage. It was essentially a protection and empowerment spell. I should have left it at protecting myself from harm, ill thoughts and so on and not in repelling a specific person. I’ve fixed that one after the fact, too.

Another area of magickal concern that has probably escaped most people’s attention is the Internet. In this day of instant communication, the same idea can fly around the globe in minutes. All of us have probably received the same joke within a day from various people in different parts of the country or world. One noticeable form of communication is the preponderance of chain letters. These take the form of adding your name to a list to possibly get the free trip to wherever, to spreading the news and good wishes for the dying child/man/woman with MS/cancer/brain tumors whose church/hospital/town will donate so many pennies per message, and lastly to the good old-fashioned chain letter. In this letter, there may be a touching story about caring for someone, or some truisms and proverbs or even a humorous little joke. At the end, inevitably, is the direction to send this to 10, 20 or 50 of your friends. If you do this, they’ll send it back to you to show their love or friendship, or more likely you will experience good luck, your fondest dream come true or, if you don’t send it out, you will have some type of bad luck like an elephant falling on your head.

These chain letters abound. Almost every time someone gets an e-mail account or starts discovering the ancestry of e-mail jokes, they pick up the chain mail torch and run with it. I received many and sent a few on. I started sending the jokes on and deleting the good luck admonition at the end. I started deleting them wholesale. I sent one out a while back that had great proverbs. It had the “get good luck and send this to your friends” blurb at the bottom. I deleted that and then added my own letter that said, “I’m tired of being threatened with luck.” That’s exactly what’s happening. Someone who “believes” that chain letters work, and who sends one on, is threatening a person with luck. Call it magick, juju or a spell if you will, but whether it’s good luck, bad luck or no luck, it’s still a threat or a promise.

As practicing pagans who believe “Do what you will and harm none,” it’s time to take responsibility for the power we put behind words, whether written or verbal. Even if they’re not our own, we empower them with our belief. This is the basis of magick and spells — belief. Our belief makes them strong, and if you send willy-nilly to people the good luck wish with “If you don’t send this on you receive bad luck,” then we are harming some.

Let’s put it in another perspective. How would you feel if a person came up to you and said, “I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, as long as they agree with mine.”? Or: “I wish you prosperity as long as you find the one true religion (fill in the blank here).” There is not much difference between these wishes and a good luck chain letter that says, “Unless you recruit and scare 10 more people with this, your luck won’t improve.”

There are many traps and pitfalls in spell and magick making. I might still get caught, but it happens less frequently. I walk ever more carefully with my eyes opened wider, and questioning with what-ifs all the more. The more adept one becomes, the easier it is to tap into higher power and more of that power. It is therefore more important to be extremely careful and check over rituals and spells for potential harm. As well, even our wishes can influence and change the world we walk in.

Like the Internet joke about the old lady/man who finds a bottle. S/he gives it a rub, and out pops a genie who says, “You have three wishes.” First wish: The old man/lady says, “I would like to be young and beautiful.” Poof, it happens. Second wish: “I would like enough money/wealth to live well and have all that I want.” Poof, it happens. Third wish: S/he looks at her/his cat and says, “Why don’t you turn it into a handsome/beautiful young man/woman?” Poof, it happens. The gorgeous creature walks toward the wishmaker and says, “Aren’t you sorry you had me fixed?”

Be careful what you wish for — you might get it.

Your Magickal Spell for Tuesday, June 12 – Banishment Stirring Spell

BANISHMENT STIRRING SPELL

If you need to banish something from your life, prepare a pot of soup.
Draw a banishing pentagram in the soup, then stir nine times counterclockwise, saying:
“Blessed Lord, gracious Lady, hear my plea.
Remove (insert what needs removal) from me.
For the good of all, with harm to none;
once this is eaten, the spell is done!” Eat the soup.

Your Magickal Spell for Monday, June 11th – Spell To Force Another’s Hand

Spell To Force Another’s Hand

Are you tired of waiting for someone to act or make a decision? This spell encourages another person to show his or her true intentions and helps bring the matter to a decisive conclusion.

Best time to perform this spell:

  • Three days before the full moon
  • When the sun or moon is in Aries
  • On Tuesdays

Items you will need:

  • A bloodstone or carnelian
  • Gold paint
  • A Small paintbrush
  • Essential oil of carnation, ginger, rosemary or sesame
  • A piece of the person’s clothing

The Spell:

  1. Wash the stone, then pain the rune “Tir” or “Teiwaz” (which looks like an arrow) on it.
  2. Place the stone in the sun until the paint dries.
  3. Rub essential oil on the stone and wrap it in a scrap of the person’s clothing. If you are friendly with the other person, give him or her the stone before the moon is full and instruct him or her to keep it nearby at all times. If you aren’t on good terms, put the stone in his or her home, car, workplace, or yard. Or, if you know feng shui, placed it in the part of your own home that corresponds to that individual.

*Caution:  This spell motivates the person, but there’s no guarantee she or he will do what you want.

Which Dirt Is Which Dirt – Or – Do I Really Need To Use Graveyard Dirt

Which Dirt Is Which Dirt – Or – Do I Really Need To Use Graveyard Dirt?

With so much about graveyard dirt, most us assume that nothing else will do in our Voodoo, Hoodoo, curses or hexes. But that is not the truth. There are lots of places where you can gather dirt: places that are easy to access and depending on your intention, may even suit your needs better.

To collect your ordinary dirt, begin by looking around your surroundings, check to see what is normal around you. If you are in town, around the City Hall, you will find people walking, sitting, eating lunch, and just basically wondering around. All you have to do is blend in with them. You can sit down on the ground, pick up a stick and proceed to scratch and dig up some Earth. Or you can pretend you dropped something on the ground, if you are carrying a pencil, use it to scratch up some dirt. You can get your dirt quickly and no one will be the wiser.

Below you will find a few location where you can collect dirt. Also included is what you can use the dirt for after you collected it at these locations:

Bank:  Collect and use this dirt to bring money into your hands or to receive payment of a long overdue debt.

Church:  This dirt is wonderful when used to invite the assistance of positive spiritual forces. It also goes a long way toward protecting against the intrusion of evil spirits.

The Courthouse:  Use this dirt for anything even remotely involving legal matters. This could include contracts, court cases, general justice, and even money that’s owed to you. If your intent would benefit from the discerning eye of the Law, this is the dirt for you.

School, College, etc.: Whether it comes from a school yard or a college campus, this dirt is fantastic for efforts involving knowledge acquisition and retention. It can also be used effectively in magick to help you study.

Your Enemy’s Home:  Gathering this dirt might take great skill on your part and involve some sneaking around to collect it. There is no better way to cut your enemy off at the knees than to use dirt from his own home against him. Be very careful, you could cause possible harm to everyone living there. So you have to be extremely careful in wording your spell. Be specific as to who your enemy is.

Your Home:  Collect this dirt to protect everyone in your home and also provide a safe return for them. To protect your family members, sprinkle dirt in their shoes (every pair they own). Now if you really like someone to return to your home and visit you again, sprinkle dirt in their shoes too.

Hospital, Clinic, Doctor’s Office, Anywhere Medical:  Gathering dirt from any of these places for your efforts that involve healing. Keep in mind, no magick in the world should be substituted for good medical care or medicine. Also be certain that healing is what you have in mind when you add dirt to magick especially if it is a serious illness or possibility death. You are probably scratching your head over this one. But healing and staying alive are two different things entirely. If a person is in severe pain and you know deep down in your heart there is no chance for recovery, then death is often the best way to heal that person.

Garden or Flower Shop:  This dirt is often used in Love spells. It does make love sprout and grow. But if you are serious and perhaps your magick would interfere with a person’s free will, then don’t add this dirt to your magick.

Shopping Malls:  As you can imagine a shopping mall has an excellent reputation for attracting huge sums of money. For this very reason, obtain this dirt and use it well when seeking employment or increasing your cash flow.

Police Station:  Dirt from this area is collected and sprinkled along the baseboards of the home and along the edges of its structure to keep the family safe from harm. It’s not a good idea to use this dirt if you’re involved in any sort of illegal dealings, because you will probably be bringing the police to your very door.

Workplace:  There are lots of uses for this sort of dirt. It works well when included in an effort for getting a promotion or raise. But that’s not all. It can also be used to foil a co-workers or getting the dirt on the company, no pun intended!

Air Wands

There is some controversy in both Ceremonial Magick and Wicca as to whether the
Wand relates to the direction of the East or the South and whether it relates to
fire or air as an element. I am going to share here what I use and what works
for me. Others who work differently are more than welcome to share their usage.

The way I use the wand in my Magickal working is as the tool for the EAST the
element of air. I can’t PERSONALLY see the fire attribute, as I have problems
with the idea of a tool relating to an element that can destroy it. Since some
wands are made of wood and almost ALL of them were until the popularization of
Crystal work with the adoption by some NeoPagans of Native American practises
made the metal wand with a Crystal in it the latest thing. If I WERE to work
with people who used the wand as fire, I would certainly used a metalic and
stone wand of this type and NOT a wooden one. Again, this is personal taste.

The air element relates to communication, intellectual ideas, Linear Logic,
Clear and intelligent THINKING, and telepathy. It relates to the concept of
unity too, in that ALL of us – and all species of life – breathe the same
atmosphere. (note – I realize the plants use the Carbon Dioxide while we use
the air, which is why I said ATMOSPHERE)

The wand relates to the suit of RODS in Tarot and vice versa.

The Wand is a MALE tool, like the Athame. The FEMALE tools are the Chalice and
the Pentacle.

The wand is used to summon the Rulers of the 4 directions and to invoke the
Deities in casting a circle. In CERTAIN types of Magick it is sometimes also
used to cast the circle, but it is more common to use the athame for this. (or
the sword if it is a coven and they have one)

The Wand can also be used when invoking the spirits.

It is particularly helpful at times when wisdom is needed and in invoking the
spirits before tranceworking where specific information or guidance is desired.
It is also good for doing this for VERY important divinations when they are done
in a fully cast circle.

The wand is used in some traditions in a Spring Equinox celebration to create a
hole in the soil in which seeds, symbolizing people’s hopes, are planted –
obvious fertility symbolism.

The wand can hold a lot of power and be a very special and personal instrument.

There are some Witches/Pagans I know who use only the wand and the chalice as
their tools. Their thoughts on this being that the Pentacle is drawn from
ceremonial Magick – which is correct – so they want to eliminate it as they feel
it is necessary FOR THEM to get back to the roots of Wicca/Paganism. These
people also eliminated the knife/sword because they pointed out that in ancient
times Wicca was the religion of the Masses and the Peasants – who were not
allowed to carry weapons. These people use the wand to cast all their circles,
replacing it for ALL the purposes for which the athame is used.

Their are other groups, most noticably the Community of ISIS and it’s inner
circle the TEMPLE of ISIS in Salem MA., that use the wand for casting the circle
although they retain the athame – which they seem to use only for blessing the
chalice in the symbolic re-enactment of the fertility theme central to Wicca.
(PLEASE NOTE I SAID SYMBOLIC)

These are the major uses of the wand.

Altar Pentacle

The Pentacle is a Magickal tool that some folks do not use. Their reasoning is
sound since it is obviously an adaptation from ceremonial Magick, as is the
athame. These people use only the wand and the chalice in their work. But I
like the use of the pentacle and athame because Wicca has always been quite ecclectic and drawn from several Pantheons and systems. So it doesn’t make any
sense to me to say we can draw on all systems EXCEPT the Kabbalah as used in
Ceremonial Magick. Also I like the way using all 4 of these main tools that
most traditions and practitioners share brings correspondences to the 4 suits of
Tarot cards and to the 4 elements.

The Pentacle is a flat disk, traditionally inscribed on copper and coated with a
clear finish of some type to prevent corrosion after it has been inscribed with
the continuos 5-pointed star or pentegram. This is not an open pentacle like
many witches wear. It is ENGRAVED on the disk. The reason being you put SALT
on this disk in circle and if it was open all the salt would be on the altar, on
the floor, everywhere but where you need it.

I have also, recently, seen some pentacles inscribed on slices of agate put out
by cauldron Crafts in Maryland that are JUST GORGEOUS. Since the pentacle is
feminine and relates to earth either the copper or the stone is appropriate.
However brass I find less so as it is usually considered a solar metal and
masculine. That is why I also prefer to avoid brass chalices. Copper chalices
are avoided because they give off a metallic residue that is poisonous into the
liquid, if they corrode – and alcohol in wine or ale and acid in wine or juice
WILL do this. But copper is perfect for the pentacle.

What you engrave on your pentacle is entirely up to you. The NeoGardnerian and
NeoAlexandrians (as well as the originals of these traditions) have very
specific symbols that they always use. Other traditions sometimes have specific
symbols they require as well. But others just use a plain pentacle, or tht
pentacle with runic symbols of their choosing or whatever has meaning to them.
I have seen beautiful pentacles – in fact our distributor of jewelry carries
them – that are pentegrams surrounded by inscribings of Celtic knotwork.

I have also seen some gorgeous stained glass altar pentacles – my favorite of
these was one where the points where the colors of the elements. The 4 lower
points were the Red, Yellow, BLue and Green my tradition ascribes to the
elements and the top one was silver for Spirit/Divinity. The center and
background were a lovely violet color. Obviously SOMEONE put a lot of work into
it.

One note – a specific coating I have found to work well on copper pentacles so
that the salt doesn’t destroy them is CLEAR NAIL POLISH. This has to
periodically be reapplied however.

The Proper Timing for Magick

Author: Taliesin McKnight

Timing is one of the most important things to consider when doing magick. Astrology can be likened to a great cosmic clock. It reflects the cycles and rhythms of nature. The proper alignment of the stars, the sun, the moon, and the planets should all be taken into consideration. Does this sound complex? I assure you it is not as complicated as it may sound. In fact, this may reduced to two things: the days of the week and the cycles of the moon.

The seven planets rule the seven days of the week. The names even derive from the planets in many different languages. In English these come from the names of the Norse planetary deities. Sunday is the day of the Sun; Monday is the day of the moon; Tuesday is the day of Tue (Mars) ; Wednesday is the day of Wodan (Mercury) ; Thursday is the day of Thor (Jupiter) ; Friday is the day of Freya (Venus) ; and Saturday is the day of Saturn. Therefore, for maximum astrological benefit, a love spell should be done on Friday, the day of Venus (planet ruling love) . In the same way, magick involving education may be done on Wednesday, which is ruled by Mercury. The planetary correspondences are as follows:

The Sun rules Sunday and is good for Success, luck, spirituality, knowledge, and healing. The moon rules on Mondays. This is a good time to do spells for intuition, dreams, astral travel, and communication with spirits. Mars rules on Tuesdays. It is a good time for effective magick involving battle, conflicts, protection, strength, overcoming adversity, and binding.

Mercury is the planet presiding over Wednesdays. This is a time for rituals for education, knowledge, divination, communication, and healing. Thursday is the day of Jupiter, and governs success, prosperity, luck, and leadership. Venus dominated on Fridays and can bring love, romance, heal relationships, and grant new friends. Saturday is governed by the baleful influence of Saturn. This planet grants protection, destruction, binding, curses, purification, and overcoming weakness.

In addition to the seven days of the week, the seven planets also rule the hours in the day. There are several different methods to calculating the planetary hours. One of these involves following the hours from sunrise to sunrise; another divides the hours between sunrise and sunset and divides them into 12 sections and the same is done for the period between sunsets. To avoid all the math and difficulty, a very simple and effective system omits this and simply uses the 24 hours from midnight to midnight. This has worked wonderfully for me and I see no reason to list the other methods. If you would like to examine other methods for calculating planetary hours, that information is readily available online or in other books on magick. For simplicity, just know that the planet for the day also rules the hour at 6 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm.

Now, to illustrate this, let us take an example. If you wanted to do a love spell, it would be a good idea to do this on Friday (the day of Venus) at 8 pm (the hour of Venus) . This acts as a magickal doorway in which the proper astrological conditions are right. In this way the magus moves with the cycles and the rhythms of nature. If one were to bind (or restrict) someone from causing harm to others, Saturday at 6 am would be a good time. The days and hours should be at least partially memorized. The easiest way to do this is to simply memorize which planets rule each day and to simply remember that the planet for that day also rules at 6 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm. In this way, it will not be necessary to look this up every time one wishes to do a spell!

The phases of the moon also have an important impact on the effectiveness of magick. The waxing (growing) phase and the full moon are good from creative magick and bringing things into your life; the waning (decreasing) phase and the new moon are used for destructive spells and getting rid of things in your life. This is the most stressed point in ritual timing in the Wiccan tradition.

The concept of moving with the phases of the moon is very ancient and is found in many different cultures. This can be seen as a more important element in timing than anything else. It is much better to go with the phases of the moon on the wrong day than to do it on the right day of the week and the wrong lunar phase. This aspect of magickal timing should not be over-looked. The full and new moons are peaks of the creative and destructive cycles. The mid-way points (the half moons during increase and decrease) are also times of great magickal power.

The last aspect of ritual timing is the moon sign. The moon passes through the 12 signs of the zodiac, remaining in each sign only for a few days. This is not as important a consideration as the other 2 timing concerns. Nonetheless, this can lend power to rituals and spells. When the moon is in an Earth sign (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) are good for financial concerns; when the sign is in an Air sign (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) are ideal for education and spells consistent with the characteristics of the element of Air. When the sign is in a Water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) it is a great time for spells that are connected to the Element of water and to emotions, artistry, and relationships; While the moon is in a Fire sign (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) it is a good time to do rituals of a fiery nature.

The individual characteristics of the sign (rather than just the element) should also be considered. This is not a very important aspect to magickal timing, so don’t stress too much over it. As I said before, though, utilizing this can only help and never hinder!

There are other lesser aspects to astrological timing. These would include the weather and the current Sun sign. The reason Sun signs are rarely considered is not so much that it is a weak influence, but rather that it is not practical to wait months just to do a spell, when it will probably no longer even be needed or be too late. This could also be a great aid if followed.

Weather is an issue as well. Storms are usually great for magick because it is a time of great elemental power. Furthermore, if one is doing a ritual involving the Sun, this should be done during the day and when it is sunny. One would assume this would go without saying. On the contrary, however, many people fail to recognize this simple concept. After all, it is only common sense. Thus, weather and the Sun sign can lend a lot of extra power to spells, if you would only harness that power with the use of correct ritual timing.

Now that this has all been laid down and explained, let us take another example to make sure these concepts are well understood. Let us say that someone is looking for a new job and decides to do some magick to help the job search. The moon should be waxing (this is for bringing things into your life) and the spell may be done on a Thursday (the day of Jupiter) at 1 pm (the hour of Jupiter) on a cloudy day because Jupiter is a sky god. The moon should also be in the sign of Capricorn. This would be an extremely good time for such a spell. The conditions are perfect.

Does timing have to be followed? Of course not! In the preceding example, the job is probably needed immediately. It would be foolish to wait for the right conditions during such an emergency. Do spells whenever they are needed. However, WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT, the astrological conditions should be considered. If a spell can wait for the perfect conditions, then great. If they spell can wait a few days for the right day ruled by the proper planet, that is good too. But if the spell can’t wait that long, then do it now. The spell can be repeated when the stars, sun, and moon are aligned right if needed. The spell will still work. The point is lending extra power to your spells. That’s it.

Following the cycles and rhythms of nature is also another way of aligning oneself with the universe. In the ancient Mystery Traditions, from which magick derives, Man was seen as a reflection of the cosmos. One is moving in accordance with the universe. We are moving with the tides of nature. Can magick be done against these cycles and still be effective? Sure. But it is like swimming against a current. Why not “ride with the tide”? It may even carry you a ways if you would only let go and let the currents of the Great Mother take you. Thus, in magick we try to follow the ways of Nature. Magick is merely using Her ways.

Remember, that which separates the initiate from the vulgar is simply that the occultist is aware of the laws of the universe and uses them to his or her advantage while others do not use this power that lies in their hands.

 

How to Banish

Author: Taliesin McKnight

The first thing that one should learn to do in magick is to banish. This is a simple precautionary measure. Before conjuring things up, intentionally or unintentionally, banishing should be well understood. Banishing can be defined as cleansing an area (or person) of negative energies or entities. There are various hostile forces in the spirit world that need to be warded off at times.

There are three basic ways to get rid of negative vibrations. These techniques are used in virtually all systems of magick: Wicca, Voodoo, Santeria, ceremonial magick, to name just a few. Once the art of banishing is understood, then it can be done for others as well. After all, magick is not just about your base desires and self-glorification (sobering thought, I know!) , but about helping others. You will be a cunning man or woman, an instrument of the Divine. The three basic methods of banishing are the burning of herbs, the sprinkling of holy water, and ritual.

The burning of herbs is a very ancient form of exorcism (exorcism is another word for banishment) . But not just any herbs are used; they must be cleansing herbs! This may include such plants as vervain, onion, patchouli, and hyssop. You may now be asking yourself, do those herbs really have any power in themselves? This issue is highly debated in the occult community. Some are of the opinion that different herbs have various mystical properties, which can be harnessed and employed by the witch. Others, however, think that it is simply the belief in the mind of the practitioner that makes the employment of herbs effective. Whatever the case may be, virtually all forms of witchcraft regard herbs as highly powerful agents to be made use of in magick.

The basic technique involves burning the herbs and allowing the smoke to touch the area (or person) being cleansed. The smoke is said to drive away impurities. Warning: Do not merely use the incense sticks or cones! Many would-be magicians are conned (intentionally conned by the manufacturers) into using these. Typically, there is no herb in the incense at all. It is merely the “fragrance.” Thus, if you buy lavender incense, chances are there is no lavender in it. So try to avoid merely using the incense named after the plant.

There are various methods for procuring your herbs. The plants can be bought or grown. Most pagans like to grow their own so they can incorporate the seasonal practices of planting and harvest into it. They may also be purchased at your local metaphysical store or online. Another alternative is to simply go to the grocery store and just see what you can find. If nothing else then many of the herbs can be found in the “spices” section. Onion, garlic, black pepper, and rubbed sage are easy to find; these are all powerful herbs used for banishing. Tobacco can be blended with such herbs to help them burn. Tobacco is often used to replace sulphur in old grimoires. It is connected to Mars (the god of war) . The herbs may be burned upon charcoals. Smudge sticks are also quite popular. These are often composed of a mixture of rubbed sage and bluegrass.

The concept of holy water is found in many different systems of magick. Please note that this does not necessarily refer to holy water from a church. The use of holy water predates Christianity and is used in virtually all forms of Paganism. At its most basic, it is water mixed with sea salt. Various other formulas exist in which one mixes the water with various cleansing herbs such as sage, hyssop, and vervain. This is all up to the individual witch. The herbs are boiled in water and then are strained. This is how such herbal mixtures are made. Marie Laveau water (highly prized in New Orleans Voodoo) is one such example. It is composed of 1 cup of rainwater, 1 cup of spring water, 1 cup of lavender water, 1 cup of rose water, and holy water from a church.

Holy water should always be blessed in some way, which can be accomplished by an elaborate spell or a simple prayer. The water is then sprinkled in the area to drive away evil and any negative, hostile forces. This ancient practice goes back to the very beginning of magick.

Ritual is the last of the three methods. Of course, sprinkling holy water and burning herbs do serve as rituals within themselves, but there are other more elaborate forms of ritual. One of these is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. This ritual comes to us from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was a secret society that taught initiates the practices of ceremonial magick. Although this rite is derived from ceremonial magickal tradition, practitioners of many different paths and systems have used it. This is simply due to the fact that the ritual is so effective at cleansing the environment of negativity. Another technique is the ringing of a bell, a method used by a number of cultures.

Those of a Christian background may call on the power of God by invocation and prayer. Another practice is to cut an onion into quarters and to place these in the four corners of a room. The idea is that the onion will absorb the negative “vibes” and is later discarded or burned. Chanting may be employed or various candle spells may be used. Once again, there are countless rituals that can be utilized as rites of exorcism.

Remember, banishing is the first thing that should be learned in the practice of magick. From that point on you may proceed, somewhat safely, on the path of the occultist. The three methods outlined above (the burning of herbs, the sprinkling holy water, and ritual) are used in virtually all forms and systems of magick around the world. They are tried and tested methods that have been successfully employed by witches for many thousands of years. When all else fails, appeal to a Higher Power, however this may be defined.

Always remember that the Ancient Ones are there to aid you upon your path.

Today Is: Saturn’s Day – Day of Seatere, Seater, and Saturn and of Loki, the Norse god of tricks and revelry

Days Of The Week Comments 

Today Is: Saturn’s Day – Day of Seatere, Seater, and Saturn and of Loki, the Norse god of tricks and revelry. Saturday is ruled by Saturn, whose Magickal influences are: longevity, endings, and homes. Saturday comes under the influence of Saturn. Saturn’s influence directs our attention toward routine chores, customs, and conventional traditions. Saturday is a good day for furthering our ambitions through perseverance, patience, responsible action, and a sense of purpose . Saturday is a good day of the week to perform spells and rituals involving spirit communication, meditation, psychic self-defense, binding, and locating lost things or missing persons.

Today’s Goddesses: Ops, Rhea, Tellus Mater, Gaia, Eartha, Ge, Tonantzin, Asherah, Anath, The Shekinah, The Matronit, Mary, Gala, Herodias, Oddudua, Demeter

Today’s Magickal Influences: Duties, Responsibilities, Finding Families, Works Of Magic, Buildings, Meditation, Life, Doctrines

Today’s Energies: Female – Rules obstacles, overcoming blockages – Use for magick involving overcoming limitations, the elderly, endings, deaths, blocks, constrictions, and those restricting you.

Incense: Pepperwort, Assodilious, Black Poppy Seeds, Henbane, Lodestone, Myrrh

Perfumes: Hyacinth, Pansy

Color of The Day: Black

Colors for Tomorrow: Orange, Gold and Yellow

Lucky Sign: Saturday Is The Lucky Day For Capricorn And Aquarius

Candle: Black

 

References:

GrannyMoonsMorningFeast

Magickal Graphics