The Modern Guide to Witchcraft (25 page)

Hang the amulet inside your home, near the front door. Each time you enter or leave your home, touch the eye amulet for good luck and to reinforce your sense of safety.

Here’s another way to keep your home and everyone in it safe from harm of any kind—acts of nature as well as human menaces.

• Small clear quartz crystals
  
• A black cloth
  
• A garden trowel or shovel
  

• Begin on Saturday during the waning moon
  

Collect the listed ingredients. If you live in a house and have a yard, you’ll need enough crystals to completely circle your house. If you live in an apartment, you’ll need one crystal for each window and each door to the outside. Wash the crystals with mild soap and water, then pat them dry. If you have a large area to cover and a lot of crystals, you might need to continue this spell over a period of days.

Draw or find a picture of a pentagram and lay it on your altar, or another surface. Place the crystals on it and visualize them absorbing the protection represented by the pentagram. Lay the black cloth over the crystals, covering them completely. Allow the crystals to sit overnight.

In the morning, remove the cloth. Pick up the crystals, put them in a bowl or other container, and take them outside. Beginning in the east, bury the crystals in your yard one at a time, making a protective circle that surrounds your home. Position them as close together or as far apart as feels right to you. If you live in an apartment, start at the east and place a crystal on each windowsill (inside) of your living space. Then set a crystal in a safe spot near or above each exterior door. As you work repeat this affirmation aloud:

“Crystals wise, crystals strong

Protect my home all day long.

Crystals clear, crystals bright

Keep it safe throughout the night.”

You may also want to hang a pentagram on each door that leads into your home.

You already know that negative ideas and feelings attract negative situations. If you’re concerned that your attitude may be drawing unwanted forces to you, this spell can help you let go of those bad vibes you’ve been putting out. After an unpleasant situation has occurred, perform this spell to shift the energy and prevent future problems.

• 1 piece of white paper
  
• 1 pen with blue ink
  
• White carnations in a clear glass container
  
• Matches or a lighter
  

• During the waning moon
  

Write the following intention on the paper:

I now release [name the situation]

And create new, positive energy to carry me forward.

I trust this is for my highest good

And affirm my commitment to this new path.

Place the paper beneath the vase of flowers. Leave it there until the flowers wilt. When you throw out the flowers, burn the paper to complete the releasing process.

Are you facing a challenge that seems bigger than you can handle? According to many spiritual traditions, everyone has a personal guardian angel who provides guidance and protection when you need it. This magick charm reminds you that your angelic helper is always near at hand.

• A small silver or gold hanging charm in the shape of an angel
  
• A white cord or ribbon 18" long
  
• Essential oil of amber
  

• On Saturday
  

Collect the listed ingredients. Cast a circle around the area where you will do your spell. Slide the charm on the cord or ribbon and tie a knot to make a pendant necklace. As you tie the knot, visualize yourself safe, happy, and healthy. Say the following incantation aloud:

“Guardian angel, be with me.

Keep me healthy, safe, and free.

Guide my steps so I can see

What I must do. Blessed be.”

Put a dot of amber essential oil on the angel charm. Inhale the scent and let it calm your nerves. You may sense your guardian angel nearby. Imagine yourself placing your concerns in the angel’s hands, knowing that everything will be taken care of. Slip the necklace over your head and wear it for protection. Open the circle.

Locks on your doors and windows may deter human threats, but what about psychic ones? If you fear that someone is sending you “bad vibes” try this herbal protection spell.

• A large pot
  
• Two quarts of water
  
• A large bunch of fresh basil
  

• On Saturday, preferably when the sun and/or moon is in Capricorn
  

Heat the water in the pot. Add the basil and let it simmer for several minutes. Allow the brew to cool. Strain the basil out and set it aside to dry—save it to use in other spells.

Run a nice, hot bath. As the tub fills, slowly pour in the basil-infused water. If you like, you can add Epsom salts or sea salts—salt has protective and purifying properties, too. While you’re doing this, say the following affirmation aloud:

“I am now protected at all times,

In all situations,

Always and all ways.”

Soak in the bathwater for as long as you like. During this time, imagine yourself at peace, surrounded by pure white light, and sheltered from all harm.

It’s a dangerous world out there for animals, too. As anyone who’s ever had an animal companion knows, the threat of cars, other creatures, and entrapment loom large and can endanger our beloved pets. This spell helps protect Fluffy or Fido from harm.

• A collar for your pet
  
• Sage incense, or loose sage
  
• A marker that will write on fabric or leather
  
• Amber essential oil
  

• Any time
  

Purchase a new collar, made of leather or fabric, for your pet. Cast a circle around the space where you’ll be working. Light the sage and hold the collar in the smoke to cleanse it of unwanted energies. On the inside of the collar, write: “[Pet’s name] is safe and sound at all times.” Draw a pentagram at the end of the statement. The pentagram, as you know, is a symbol of protection. On the outside of the collar, write your name and phone number; or, get a pet tag made that includes this information and attach it to the collar.

Put four drops of essential oil on the collar, one at each end, on both sides of the collar. Open the circle. Place the collar in the sun for one day to charge it. Then fasten the collar on your pet to keep him safe.

(To be extra safe, ask your vet about having a tiny computer chip permanently implanted in your pet’s skin that will identify him to city pounds, veterinarian’s offices, and other agencies with scanners that can read such chips. See
www.homeagain.com
for information.)

Many spells, including those in this chapter, use affirmations or incantations. That’s because words have power, as witches and magicians of all stripes know. Spiritual and occult literature frequently mentions the power of the human voice. For millennia people have been reciting magick words as a way of asking supernatural forces for assistance. This is usually done by calling out the deities’ names. Speaking someone’s name is said to be an act of power, giving the namer influence over the named.

Magicians recognize the power inherent in some words and, therefore, incorporate those words into spells and rituals. For example, if a witch wants to banish a spirit, he might order it to leave by saying, “Be gone.” Many witches end spells with the words “So mote it be.” This phrase (like “so be it”) seals a spell.

You may choose to speak an incantation as part of a ritual or spell. Incantations, like prayers or blessings, can also be recited at mealtime or before going to sleep. If you prefer, write your incantation on paper and display it in a spot where you’ll see it often. You might enjoy adorning your words with colorful pictures and framing your artwork—or even stitch an old-fashioned sampler like our great-grandmothers did. The more energy you put into your creation, the more effective it will be. Creating incantations is fun—use your imagination. In the process, you may even discover a talent for poetry that you never realized you had.

Before we had modern surgery, pharmaceuticals, and state-of-the-art medical equipment, people turned to medicine men and wise women when they suffered health problems. These healers practiced magick to remedy diseases. Their knowledge of the spirit world and the healing energies in plants made them respected members of their communities. Today, healing remains a primary focus for many witches. Sometimes miraculous cures that baffle conventional doctors can be achieved through the same magickal practices that are used to attract wealth or love.

Holistic healing teaches that the mind and body are linked, and that our thoughts and emotions can produce illness or good health. This is most obvious in the case of stress, which we know can cause all sorts of problems, from headaches to digestive complaints to heart conditions.

The idea certainly fits in with what you know about magick and your ability to produce outcomes with your mind.

In magick, healing involves two steps:

1. Cleansing and/or purifying of the negative presence
   
2. Replacing the negative presence with something positive
   

In other words, you first need to clear away whatever is causing the problem, whether that’s a virus, an emotional issue, or something else. After you’ve accomplished this, you have to put into place something that will prevent the problem from coming back. That might mean a change in attitude, diet, or lifestyle. You may also want to do a protection spell to safeguard yourself or another person in the future.

Just as doctors ask questions before they treat a patient, you’ll have more success with healing spells if you understand your “patient” before you try to heal him or her. That’s true even if the patient is you. By taking inventory of your health, you’ll have a clearer idea about which spells will work best for you. Ask yourself these questions:

• Most of the time, is your energy high or low?
  
• In general, how would you describe your health?
  
• Have you noticed any particular patterns to your health?
  
• Describe your beliefs about illness and health.
  
• Are there certain times of the year when your health is better or worse?
  
• Do you worry a lot about your health?
  
• When was your last visit to a doctor? Why did you go?
  
• Do you have regular checkups?
  
• Do you have chronic health problems? If so, what are they?
  
• Do you get several colds a year?
  
• How much sleep do you need each night?
  
• When do you feel happiest and healthiest?
  
• Do you experience major fluctuations in your moods?
  
• Do you consider yourself a basically optimistic person?
  
• Have you ever sought “alternative” treatments for an illness or disease?
  
• Does anyone in your family have a chronic illness? If so, what?
  

Pay special attention to your answers for questions concerning your beliefs about health and illness. It may be that the three colds or the flu you get every year are directly related to your belief that getting three colds a year or coming down with the flu during the winter is normal. Read your answers several times. If you find that you hold negative or limiting beliefs concerning health, then changing these beliefs will do more for you than any spell.

“Your body is designed to heal itself,” writes Donna Eden in
Energy Medicine
.

In fact, we have all the tools we need to heal ourselves. It begins with an awareness of the subtle energies that give our bodies life. In China, this energy is called
chi
or
qi
. In India and Tibet, the energy is known as
prana
. The Sufis call it
baraka
. It runs through pathways in our bodies called meridians and is focused in seven major centers, or
chakras
, which extend from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.

Chakra
literally means disk or vortex. Imagine a swirling circle of energy of various colors and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what it looks like. When your energy is balanced, you’re healthy. When your energy centers are unbalanced or blocked, you get sick. Each energy center has a particular function and relates to certain organs and physical systems in your body.

Before it shows up as a physical problem, illness exists in the body’s energy field. When a medical intuitive, psychic healer, or shaman looks at an energy field, he or she can read your psychological as well as your physical health history. However, you don’t have to be psychic to pick up information about your own health or someone else’s. Sometimes your first impression, going “from the gut,” is enough. The more you develop your intuitive ability, the better you’ll get at receiving this sort of information—and knowing what to do with it.