Fall Equinox Spell for Balance

The fall or autumnal equinox, known as Mabon on the Pagan Wheel of the Year, starts today, Monday the 22nd at 10:29 EDT. Many calendars show it tomorrow, the 23rd, in part because of the difference in time zones Why fall begins Monday. (In fact, my Llewellyn calendar says it is today, my cute cat calendar says tomorrow.) It doesn't really matter when you celebrate, though. Blue Moon Circle got together yesterday.

Cider in the chalice, ginger cookies & homemade bread & fresh tomatoes--it must be Mabon!

What does matter is that once again, we are shifting gears; moving from the long bright days of summer to the more measured pace of autumn. Things aren't necessarily obviously slower yet, as we still have to finish the harvest (whether actual or metaphorical), but we can tell the things are winding down.

On the equinox, the darkness and light are equal, so this makes the day the perfect time to do some magickal work for balance. Who couldn't use more of that in their lives?

Here is a spell for balance from my book, EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK (Llewellyn, 2010).

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

Everyday Food Magick: A Magickal Spring Salad

When I was asking people what they wanted to hear about here, Ekaterina said she'd like to see some "nice and easy recipes with magical elements inside." Here you go, Ekaterina!

Most of us have issues finding time to do much serious magickal work in the midst of our hectic lives (me included, alas). One way to get around the problem is to integrate magick into some of your everyday activities, and one of my favorite ways to do that is with food.

I’m pretty sure that this is something our witchy ancestors did, too. That picture you always see of a witch stirring a steaming cauldron? You probably thought she was concocting some kind of exotic potion, right? Nope—stew. Or possibly porridge. Of course, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t muttering a spell over the cauldron anyway.

How to you take your regular food preparation and turn it into something magickal? The same way we do any other magick: with intent, focus, and belief.

Say you want to add a little prosperity magick to your breakfast and you have oatmeal in your cauldron—er, pot. As a savvy witch, you know that oats are associated with prosperity. So as you stir them, you concentrate on your intention to bring out that quality in the food, focusing on imbuing the oatmeal with prosperity-drawing properties with each swirl of the spoon. Believing that your magick will work just makes it more powerful. Adding a little maple syrup will give it an additional magickal “oomph” and also as a bonus, make it taste even better.

One of my favorite spring salads uses fresh veggies, fruits, and herbs of the season, many of which are great for prosperity work, with a little love magick thrown in (because who couldn’t use  more love?). It is fast and easy to make, pretty to look at, and very good for you. Plus it is delicious. It is one of Blue Moon Circle’s most requested spring feast dishes, and I often eat it a few times a week when the spinach and strawberries in my garden are ripe.

The ingredients include baby spinach (prosperity), topped with sliced strawberries (love), basil and/or parsley (love and protection), sunflower seeds (luck and success), and a sprinkling of candied pecans or almonds. All it needs then is a little light vinaigrette (I just use olive oil and balsamic vinegar, but you can use whichever dressing you prefer), and voila! Magick on plate!

 

I would like to read more about some nice and easy recipes with magical elements inside. - See more at: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2014/05/curious-about-my-readers.html#sthash.6mplvsRq.dpuf

I would like to read more about some nice and easy recipes with magical elements inside. - See more at: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2014/05/curious-about-my-readers.html#sthash.6mplvsRq.dpuf

I would like to read more about some nice and easy recipes with magical elements inside. - See more at: http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2014/05/curious-about-my-readers.html#sthash.6mplvsRq.dpuf

The Beltane Circle Project

Blue Moon Circle came over to my house today for a belated Beltane celebration and instead of doing our usual ritual, we worked on a spiritual project instead: tearing apart and rebuilding the outside circle we use for rituals during the warmer part of the year.

My friend Ellen (now a BMC member, and someone who came to rituals as a guest for years before she decided she was actually Pagan and joined officially) and I built the original circle the first summer I was in the house, 12 years ago. Blue Moon Circle has been using it since we started practicing together 10 years ago this spring. That's a long time. Not only was the circle in not-great shape (many of the rocks in the 9-foot-around circle sank into the ground and were mostly covered with grass) but a number of different people had come and gone in that time.

We decided it was time to freshen up both the circle itself and the energy in it, starting anew with both the folks who have been there since the beginning and those who were new to the group. We started out by cleaning up the post-winter mess, cutting back the brush that had overgrown the edges, and digging out the old rocks.

 This is how the circle looked when we started. (Our supplies are off in the left hand corner.)

Needless to say, we didn't wear our usual cool garb :-)

Once the debris was gone, we re-dug the fire pit, replaced the stones and found a few new ones to fill in the gaps, and planted flower and seeds around the edges to symbolize the growth and abundance of the season.

 Then we had a quick ritual to consecrate the new circle, complete with a (very small, because there were 30 MPH winds)) fire in the fire pit.

It's amazing how happy it made me to look at the end results, and to feel the great energy in our lovely revitalized sacred circle.

We "planted" our old group staff out in the circle. I'll go out later and move it to the edge of the area, and eventually it will fall apart and go back to the earth, along with all the old energy it contained. And when we're ready, we'll make a new one.

Sometimes it is good to reinvigorate old patterns, or to let go of even treasured things to make room for something new. What have you started anew lately?

Fast and Easy Daily Divination

Lots of people read their horoscope every morning, but for many of us, that is the only bit of “checking in” we do. After all, few people have the time (or inclination) to do a full tarot spread with their morning coffee. And mostly, we don’t need that much detailed information. Luckily, there are lots of fast and easy ways to get a quick hint at what your day holds, or what you need to know to make the most of it.

Years ago, when I was practicing with my first coven, my then-high priestess had us do an interesting experiment. Every day for a month, we pulled one rune stone at the beginning of the day. We wrote down the stone, and any flashes of intuition we got when we looked at it, and then checked in at the end of the day to see if there was, in fact, any relationship between the two. Not surprisingly, there often was.

This also turned out to be a great way of learning the runes themselves. I started out having to look up the meanings of each rune in a book [my favorite is Lisa Peschel’s A Practical Guide to the Runes—it’s old, but it is easy to use and understand], but by the end of the month, I was much more familiar with them. If you’re interested in becoming better acquainted with the stones or any other form of divination, try doing something like this. It’s a fun and practical way to learn. Either pull one out of a bag, if that’s what you store them in, or place them in a small bowl and just close your eyes and grab one.

If rune stones aren’t your thing, you can do this with tarot cards instead. If you’re not used to using the cards, I suggest starting with something basic like the classic Rider-Waite Tarot. That’s the one I started with, lo these many years ago, and I have been reading professionally for ages with this one pack. [It’s a bit battered by now, but it works so well for me, I’m rarely tempted to switch to something else, despite the bevy of beautiful decks out there.] However, there are lots of variations on the tarot card deck, and you can pick whichever one seems to “speak” to you the most loudly.

As with the rune stones, you can start your day by shuffling the deck and picking out a card at random. Sometimes one will even jump out of the deck at you. You can either ask a question (“What does my day hold?” “What do I need to know today?”) or just see what comes up. If you are dealing with something tricky, you can ask a specific question, like “Should I go out on a date with that hunky guy at the office?”

There are plenty of alternatives for those who don’t have or don’t like either rune stones or tarot cards. I have a number of interesting decks that I use for inspiration, answers, or just a way to get in touch with spirit quickly and easily.

One of my favorites, which I’ve used numerous times in ritual with my group Blue Moon Circle, is the Goddess Inspiration Oracle deck, by Kris Waldherr. She’s well known for her beautiful goddess-themed artwork, and this deck is filled with amazing images, as well as lovely descriptions of the 80 goddesses featured on the cards—yet another way to learn while being inspired and guided.

Another one I like is The Gifts of the Goddess: 36 Affirmation Cards by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber.

My current favorite was a Yule gift from my friend Rebecca Elson. She gets to preview lots of great decks for her blog, The Magical Buffet, and she knew I’d love this one when she saw it. The Conscious Spirit Oracle Deck, by Kim Dreyer, has lovely pictures and inspiring affirmations. I’ve taken to pulling one each morning, standing at my altar, and reading it out loud. Then I try to carry its message through the rest of my day. For instance, this morning’s card was number 18: Air Elemental. And the affirmation said, “I embrace the element of air and am open to all knowledge and wisdom.” Isn’t that a great way to start out the day? (Also, I have to do research today, so it makes a certain amount of sense.)

The simplest way to use any of these options is to choose one—runes or tarot or some other form of tapping into intuition—and simply pull one stone or card each morning. Take a minute to focus on it, and you’re done.

If you want to take it a step further, you can keep a couple of different options out where you can access them easily, and pull from whichever one calls to you the most that day. Or do runes one month, and tarot cards another.

To move a little more deeply (and I highly recommend trying this, at least for a month sometime), write down your stone or card, and any thoughts or feelings you have about it, and keep track of them in a small notebook or in your Book of Shadows, if you have one. (If you already journal, you can add this to your daily jottings.) At the end of a day, a week, or a month, take a look back and see if you can make out any patterns that could be helpful.

Asking for guidance and/or inspiration doesn’t have to be complicated or take a lot of time. You certainly don’t have to be an expert card reader to do it. (In fact, many folks like me, who do read professionally, can’t read for themselves at all. Ironic, isn’t it?) You just have to take the same amount of time and effort you would put into reading your daily horoscope. And honestly, this is likely to be a lot more helpful!

New Year, New Altar

It's always a good idea to start the new year out right. I like to have my house reasonably clean, but this year I took that a step further and dismantled, cleaned, and rearranged all three of my altars.

Needless to say, not everyone has three altars (or even one--if you don't have one, this might be a nice time to create one as a spiritual center to your home). But if you have even one, it is a good idea to periodically clear and cleanse it--nobody likes a dusty altar--and check in to see if it is still what you need in its current incarnation.

My main altar, in the dining room/office, gets cleaned pretty often for the most part, since I use it the most. I did, however, find that the top section was dusty and that some of the items that had been living up there no longer seemed right for the space.

In the end, I took almost everything off, changed the picture over the altar and everything sitting on top, and moved some things from my bedroom altar (which used to be my primary one, and now is mostly decorative) to this one. In fact, I also cleared off my "creativity" altar in the living room, switched things around there, and had three clean, shiny-energy, recharged altars to start the new year off right.

 The creativity altar, with items that connect to my current writing project.

The bedroom altar. The wood candle holder above, the star-shaped glass candle holders, and the candles themselves are all handmade by local artisans. The clay god and goddess figures were made by my former high priestess.

It feels really good to clear away the dust and cobwebs of the old year, and start out fresh.

Do you have an altar? If so, what kind of things to you have on it? And have you cleaned it lately?

Fast and Easy Protection Work

Y'all asked for it, so here it is. Let me know if you have any questions.

Fast and Easy Protection Work

I think it is natural to feel a little more vulnerable as winter approaches. The nights grow longer and the days colder, and some echo in the back of our ancestral brainstem tells us that soon food with be scarce and predators will prowl. (Which explains why I suddenly want to eat lots of fattening comfort foods. Thank you SO much, hindbrain.)

This makes the fall a perfect time to do some fast and easy protection magick. You don’t have to do long and complicated rituals, or even be a full-time full-on practicing witch. Folks have been doing this kind of work forever.

First, put together a quick herbal protection mix. In the best of all possible worlds, you would grow the herbs yourself (I do). But not everyone has a garden, or the inclination to grow stuff. So feel free to pick these up at a local health food store, New Age store, or even the grocery store, if that’s all you’ve got. (Herbs tend to be fresher and more powerful if you buy them loose from bulk bins, rather than getting them from the spice section, where they have often been irradiated, and might been years old. The bonus—they’re cheaper when purchased loose, and you can use what’s left for cooking later.) I use dried herbs because it is easier, but fresh will work fine too.

Mix together these herbs: basil, rosemary, and sage, crumbling the leaves with your fingers or a mortar and pestle. Place them in a container with some sea salt (regular will do if that’s all you have). If you’re going to use the mix outside, add some garlic powder. For inside use, maybe just a token sprinkle, so you don’t stink up the place. You can stop there, or add a few drops of any magickal protection oil. If you want an extra oomph, you can bless and consecrate this mixture on your altar, or leave it out under the light of the full moon. But if you’re in a hurry, it will work just fine as is. Putting this together will take you less than five minutes, but remember to focus on your intention—protection—as you combine all the ingredients.

Then go around your home and sprinkle the mixture while repeating the following spell. You can do it inside or outside (you may have to vacuum if you do it inside, but wait a day or two), and you can use the same spell to protect your vehicle. Again—this doesn’t have to take more than about five minutes, but it is important to really FOCUS during those brief moments. Put all your energy and will into your intention of protecting those things and people that are precious to you.

House Protection Spell

(works for cars, too)

I call upon the gods above

To protect and guard this place [car] I love

Earth and water, air and fire

Keep it safe as I desire

*

Protect my home [car] and those within

From pest and illness, floods and wind

From any who would cause it harm

Protect it with this magic charm

*

Keep safe and sheltered this my place

With shining light and shining grace

Earth and water, air and fire

Keep it safe as I desire

So mote it be

Stay safe out there, people!