Monday Magic: Lightness of Spirit

It has been a while since I have done a Magical Monday post, and while Monday is almost gone, I'm pretty sure I can still sneak one in.

This is a simple spell, but one we can all use from time to time. It's from my book, Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (Llewellyn). I hope it brings you all a little lightness... (You can light a white candle if you like.)

Lightness of Spirit

God and Goddess, hear my plea

Shine your light and love on me

Turn my burdens into Air

Letting go of fear and care

Ground my body to the Earth

Give my spirit joy and mirth

Wash away my tears in Water

With your love of son and daughter

Burn away the gloom with Fire

And grant the lightness I desire.

Magical Monday: A Spell for Bravery

In honor of Memorial Day, which we in the USA are celebrating this weekend (even though it is actually at the end of the month--that's the way we roll here), here is a spell for Bravery.

Most of us don't have to go into actual battle, thank goodness, but life can be a pretty daunting experience sometimes, and most of us have circumstances now and again where we could use a little more courage. I hope this spell (from Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook, Llewellyn 2010) helps you when you need a little boost.

BRAVERY

Goal: To boost courage when needed

Optional Extras: Orange or red candle, piece of carnelian or tigers eye—if you want, light a yellow candle for air, a red candle for fire, a blue candle for water, a green candle for earth and a white candle for spirit

Notes: This is a simple spell and can be said any time you need a boost. Write it down and tuck the paper in a wallet or pocket if you need to, or carry the stone with you.

Gods grant me courage

To face what lies ahead

And deal with the challenges

In the best way possible

Earth lend me strength

And make me strong and grounded

Air blow fear away

And keep my head clear

Fire burn away doubt

That would sap my will

And water calm and sooth me

So I might go with the flow

Spirit burn strong within me

That I might be brave

In the face of difficulty

Gods grant me courage

Gods grant me courage

So mote it be

Magical Monday: Anxiety Spell

I often get requests for spells and other magical advice and tidbits. Just this week, one of my readers sent me a message on Facebook saying that she needed a house blessing for her new home, but she had already packed all her books. She wanted to know if I could help.

Anyone who has been around here for more than a couple of weeks can probably guess that my answer was, "Congratulations on your new home! And yes, of course I can." I sent her a copy of the house blessing and consecration spell out of my second Llewellyn book, Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook.

But then it occurred to me that since I got these questions fairly often, other people might enjoy a weekly dose of magic. So I declare today to be the first Magical Monday, and I will try to post something witchy every Monday. We'll see how it goes. It may not be a spell. We'll see. And hopefully those who aren't magically inclined will still get something out of these, whether it is an idea for a prayer or spiritual practice (remember that just because something is "magical" doesn't mean it can't be helpful for someone who isn't a witch) or even a story or character idea for the authorly folks who visit here. I'd love some feedback, to tell me if y'all are finding these helpful, entertaining, or you know, not.

Today we're going to start with another spell from the Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook--this one is for anxiety. Let's face it, most of us deal with anxiety in one form or another, whether it is brought on by work, our home life, money worries, or something else. Me, I'm afraid of thunderstorms, and one is moving into my area, so I'm feeling more than a little anxious. (I know, I know, lots of people love them. I'm not one of them. The energy makes me twitch like crazy, and I know too many people who have had direct hits to their houses, including my parents and my best friend. If you enjoy them, all the more power to you!)

I hope this spell is helpful for whatever it is that makes you anxious.

Goal: Dealing with and lessening anxiety

Optional extras: White candle, lavender, lemon balm or calendula essential oil, rose quartz tumbled stone or pendant

Notes: Calendula is an especially good oil for calming anxiety. It can be quite expensive, but a little bit goes a long way, and if you have ongoing issues you may want to keep some on hand. If you wear jewelry, try finding a rose quartz necklace or pendant that “feels” right to you. You can anoint both the candle and the pendant or stone with whichever oil or oils you chose.

Take a deep breath and light the candle. Spend however much time you need focusing on the flame and your breathing until you feel calm and peaceful. Then say the spell slowly, envisioning yourself surrounded by a glowing light filled with serenity. After doing the spell, wear or carry the rose quartz whenever you are feeling particularly anxious.

Let calm flow in like waves of water

With each breath in, with each breath out

Let tension ease like ropes unknotted

In magick’s light there is no doubt

The goddess wrap her cloak around me

Loving warmth and reassurance

That all will happen as it must

Gifting me with calm endurance

No more worries, no more stress

My burdens lie on stronger shoulders

I release anxiety’s weight

Turn into pebbles what seemed like boulders

Faith is mine and strength is mine

The love of those who stay unseen

Let calm flow in with every breath

I am grounded and serene

 

A Spring Prosperity Spell

Snowdrops in my yard

Spring is the perfect time to do prosperity work for the rest of the year. Nature is beginning to grow and burst into bloom, at least in most places, and we can use that energy to work towards positive increase in our own lives.

Keep in mind that prosperity doesn’t just mean having cash money in your hands (although that’s not a bad thing). If you ask for prosperity with an open mind, it may manifest in unexpected ways: a gift or aid from someone else, an unforeseen opportunity, or a situation that looks grim that turns out to be less so than expected.

For instance, I recently got a flat tire. While I was waiting for AAA to come and put on the spare, I asked the goddess to make the situation turn out as well as possible. You’ll note I didn’t specify “please don’t make this cost me any money.” There was a giant bolt in the side of the tire; even the goddess couldn’t fix that. But when I got to the place where I’d bought the tires, it turned out that there was enough tread on all the other tires that I only had to buy one, instead of two. And it also turned out that there was a road hazard warranty I didn’t remember, so the replacement tire only cost me $64 instead of $112. So in this particular case, prosperity meant that I was only out a little bit of money instead of the larger amount it could have been.

As another example, I was expecting a check from one of my publishers (an advance for the books I just sold, not huge, but enough to make a difference) and found out it was going to be delayed, possibly for months. My finances are precarious enough that this could have been something of a disaster, at least temporarily. Then I got word that I was getting an unexpected payment for books that had sold better than I’d thought. Again, not a huge amount of money, but enough to carry me through until the other check finally shows up. Ta da! A gift from the gods!

In this case, my own hard work was paying off in unanticipated prosperity. That’s an important thing to keep in mind, since Witchcraft isn’t just about “wishing” for something better, but also doing the practical work that will enable it to manifest when the time is right.

Now that spring is here, be sure to start planting the seeds for your own prosperity in actions and intentions. And while you’re at it, you may want to say this spell, just in case you need a little extra help.

Note: You may want to put a vase full of lush flowers in full bloom on your altar as an offering, and/or place a coin in front of you to represent the prosperity you ask for. If you are using a candle, green is a good color for this. For an added boost, try doing the spell on the night of the full moon. If you are at all concerned about your prosperity coming at a cost to others, you can always add “For the good of all and according to the free will of all,” at the end of any spell.

God and Goddess, hear my plea

Bring abundance now to me

Let the blessings overflow

And good things come to all I know

Send me that which I desire

Help me lift myself up higher

Steer my path so I might gain

And true abundance now attain*

*Originally published in Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook: Wonderfully Witchy Blessings, Charms & Spells (Llewellyn, 2010)

Great Reviews! Doing the Happy Author Dance

Nothing makes an author happier than a shiny new positive review of one of her books. Today, I got two! EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK was reviewed by two different people at the fabulous Facing North site--and both of them loved it, despite not being "spellbook" fans.

*does happy author dance*

Check them out, then if you want, come back here and tell me if any of what they said resonates with you.
http://facingnorth.net/Witchcraft/everyday-witch-a-to-z-spellbook.html

YAY!

From Russia With Love

No--I'm not talking about James Bond movies (or books, for that matter).

I'm talking about this surprise package I got in the mail from the lovely folks at Llewellyn yesterday:




Yes, that's my book, EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z...in Russian :-) It looks very different from the original English version, doesn't it?




Still, I got a kick out of knowing that now witches in Russia could sit around a samovar, sipping tea, and reading my book!

Another great review!

Check out this great review for the new Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook

http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-of-everyday-witch-to-z-by.html

I love it when people love me! (Well, or my books, anyway.)

Happy Release Day to Me--Contest & book giveaway!

Happy release day to me!

July first is the official release date for my fourth book, EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK.

[Does happy dance.]

If you ask any author, they will tell you that no matter how many books they have out, it never gets any less exciting to have a new one hit the bookstores. It’s also a little scary. What if people don’t like this one? What if it gets bad reviews? What if no one buys it?

These things rarely happen, however, and I’m in favor of celebration over trepidation. So let’s have a virtual party here at the blog! I hope you’ll join me. There might even be cake…

In honor of the book’s release, I’m going to run a new contest. (This is in addition to the current contest, where to win all you have to do is be the first person to send me a picture of the book out in the world somewhere—at a bookstore, the library, or on your table at home.) There are three prizes:

Prize one is a signed copy of the new shiny book! Yay!
Prize two is a signed copy of my first book, CIRCLE, COVEN & GROVE: A YEAR OF MAGICKAL PRACTICE.
Prize three is something a little different. My publisher Llewellyn always sends me a cover flat of each book—the cover in flat form, suitable for framing. Very cool. Well, this time, they sent me a few extras. So one lucky person will win a signed cover flat of the Spellbook!

Here’s the way the contest is going to run. You can do as little or as much as you have the time and inclination for, and the more you do, the more points you earn. The person with the most points gets prize 1, the next gets prize 2, etc. In the case of more than one person with the same amount of points, I’ll pull names out of a hat to see who wins.

To get one point, all you have to do is leave a comment here. Easy peazy! [And you could still win if that’s all anyone choses to do.]

To get more points, you can do any or all of the following:

Post a link to either this blog or to the book (I’ll put links to Amazon and Llewellyn at the bottom of the page) on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or your blog. 1 point for every place you post it. [Be sure to come back and tell me you did it, and where!]

Buy the book anywhere you like (Amazon, B &N, Llewellyn.com. your local Indy bookstore) then email me a receipt proving you did so. Good for twenty points. And my eternal gratitude.

Keep in mind that you don’t HAVE to buy the book. Ever.

I hope you’ll help me celebrate the book’s release! And thanks for all your support—I really do appreciate you walking the path with me.

Deborah

Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Witch-Spellbook-Wonderfully-Blessings/dp/0738719706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277946896&sr=1-1

And here is the Llewellyn link:
(You can still get 15% off until the end of the day June 30th.)
http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738719702

CONTEST! Win a signed copy of the new book!

Hey all--the official release date of the new book, EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT A TO Z SPELLBOOK is July 1st. But I've already gotten my copies from Llewellyn, so it should be showing up everywhere else soon. My books are all carried by Borders, Barnes & Noble, and many Indy and New Age books store, so you never know where you'll run across one.

I just wanted to remind everyone that the first person who finds a copy of the book "in the wild" and sends me a picture, will get a free, signed copy! Of course, I'd love to see or hear about ALL the sightings :-)

Keep coming back here, too, because I have a few more contests in mind...

Who doesn't love a free book???

Look What Came Today From Llewellyn!

Some days it is pretty great to be an author. This is one of those days. About mid-afternoon, the wonderful FedEx guy showed up with a box from Llewellyn containing the proofs for WITCHCRAFT ON A SHOESTRING (which I need to edit and get back to Becky ASAP) and the first five copies of EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK. Isn't it perty?

Look at that purple cover!

And it has that shiny new book smell.

Everybody who wants one, just raise your hand...

It's here! The new book is in!!!!

I got an email this afternoon from Becky Zins, my wonderful production editor at Llewellyn, telling me that she had finished the final proof edits on WITCHCRAFT ON A SHOESTRING (due out in September) and she would be overnighting them to me so I could look them over ASAP.

In case you haven't figured it out by reading this blog, publishing is usually a matter of "hurry up and wait." You spend a lot of time waiting for things to happen, and when they do, you have a very short amount of time to deal with them.

When I wrote her back, saying, "No problem--I've cleared my plate," I got this in return:
"And when it rains, it pours . . . your latest book will accompany your proofs. They just came in from the warehouse! :)"

The book is in! The book is in!

By the latest book, she means, of course, EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK



The official release date on the Spellbook is July 1st, but since Llewellyn has received their copies, it may show up early in bookstore and online. Feel free to run out and look for it in a week or two, and be sure and tell me if you spot a copy.

In fact, the first person to send me a picture of a copy of EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK sitting on a bookstore shelf (or at their house!) will win an autographed copy of the book! Yes, I'm that excited.

You see, there is a lot of waiting when you write a book. The actual writing takes months, of course, and then usually there is about a year and a half before the book comes out. Which is why it is so darned wonderful to be able to say

THE BOOK IS HERE! (Or at least, nearly here.)Yay SPELLBOOK!

Spell Sundays

I'm celebrating the upcoming release of my fourth book from Llewellyn, EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK by sharing a few of the spells from the book on Sundays here and there. (The book will be out in July.)

Since we are about to enter Mercury in Retrograde, an astronomical time when things (especially mechanical and electrical things) tend to go awry, it seemed like a good time post the spell I wrote to deal with M in R. Hope it helps!

And in the meanwhile, if you're doing anything important on the computer, don't forget to back it up!

To do the spell: fill a bowl with water, and light a black candle (white is okay if you don't have black).

If possible, say the spell the day before Mercury enters retrograde (I think it starts Tuesday, this time around). The idea is to divert any negative or chaotic energy in the bowl of water--and thus, away from you. When Mercury comes out of retrograde, flush the "dirty" water or pour it out somewhere where it won't hurt anything.

Mercury in Retrograde
Trouble in a clear blue sky
Bringing chaos in your wake
Who knows where and who knows why

Mercury in Retrograde
Stay away from me and mine
Confine your energy to this bowl
Until the planets realign

Sunday Spells

My next book, EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK, is coming out in July (*dances with joy*). So I thought I would start giving everyone a little taste of what's in it, by sharing a spell on a Sunday each month.

I know that I--like many folks--am always striving to bring more balance into my life. So I thought I'd start with a Balance Spell. You'll note that each spell has instructions and "Optional Extras." These are tools you can use to boost the energy of the spell if you want to...but they are just that, optional.

I hope that some of you will find at least one or two of these spells helpful. I'm open to requests, too. If there is something you need a spell for, feel free to say so in the comment section. And if there's one in the book, I'll post it an a Sunday over the next couple of months.

Thanks for stopping by for a spell :-)


Balance



Goal: To bring balance to an off-kilter life or situation

Optional Extras: Four items to represent Earth, Air, Fire and Water (for instance, a rock, a feather, a small candle and a bowl of water), one black candle and one white candle

Note: Since this is a spell for balance, make sure your altar is set up in a balanced way. Start by visualizing the imbalances in your life or a particular situation (too much work or stress, not enough love) and picture them being balanced out by whatever you are lacking. If you are too overwhelmed to even figure out what you need, just feel yourself opening up to whatever the gods send in response to your prayer. Then light the dark and light candles.



Earth and Air, Water and Fire

Grant to me my heart’s desire

Balance now my troubled life

Wash away confusion’s strife



Even out the high and low

Gently soothe the ebb and flow

Dark and light in balance be

From extremes please set me free



Calm, serene and peaceful I

With ease and grace my days will fly

As above and so below

Balance to my life bestow



After: Stand up, close your eyes, and feel the new balance within and without. When things get hectic, remind yourself of that balance, but don’t forget to work on bringing in whatever you need to create it.