A Practical Guide To Witchcraft And Magic Spells Part 20

Traditionally, those celebrating this festival would light candles and place them at each window of their houses on 31 January or Candlemas Night, 1 February, and leave them to burn down completely. For safety reasons, nowadays, however, many people use the type of electric candle sets that are popular in windows in Swedish homes before Christmas.

A single, large, white candle was also lit in or near the family hearth as a centrepiece for the family feast on the same evening to welcome back the Maiden energies and to bring blessings on home and family. The traditional Brighid straw and beribboned crosses were woven and pa.s.sed though the candle flame, thereafter serving as amulets to keep homes, animals and barns from harm. These crosses, whose four arms extend at different points around a square centre, are still dedicated to St Brighid and are still kept in homes for protection.

a.s.sociations As before, if you wish to carry out a similar ritual, choose candles, crystals, incenses, etc. of the correct a.s.sociations to strengthen your ceremony.

Candle colours: White, cream and pink or any pale colour - these are a.s.sociated with innocence and gentleness Crystals: Garnet and bloodstones, also amethysts, rose quartz and gentle moonstones for awakening fertility and feelings Symbols: Ice, milk, seeds, first snowdrops or very early-budding leaves or flowers Flowers, herbs, oils and incenses: Angelica, basil, benzoin, celandine, heather and myrrh A Ritual To Release The Frozen Life Force Work after dusk on the eve of 31 January or on the following evening, 1 February, and perhaps incorporate the ritual into your Candlemas party. With close supervision, even children can join in the ritual. Place the candles in a deep holders and make the miniature straw bed perhaps in a deep metal bowl or even the family hearth, if it is no longer used for fires.

* On a table, your altar or the hearth, create a small bride bed of straw or dried gra.s.ses, decorated with coloured ribbons and any early flowers. Near it place a tiny fabric doll or any small doll to represent the Maiden G.o.ddess.

* Encircle the bed with seeds and newly budding flowers or greenery and behind it, at a safe distance to avoid the danger of fire, place a single, tall, white 'bride' candle.

* On a tray in front of the bride bed, place an earthenware jug of milk, a small dish of honey and a dish containing an ice cube or small amount of ice. Round these, again being careful to avoid fire risk, set a circle of small pink and pastel candles.

* Light first your 'bride' candle, saying: Bride, bride, enter your bower, your reign begins at this hour.The old hag her sway is done, winter's gone, new spring has won.

* Place the doll in the bed and then light the candles surrounding the jug deosil, saying: The maiden's wand of fire does melt the snow, Ice depart and spring flowers grow.

* Drop the ice or ice cubes into the jug of milk, stirring it deosil with a wooden spoon or birch twig, repeating the chant.

* Add a teaspoon of honey to the milk and again stir your jug deosil, saying: Flow, life anew, through bud and flower, the thrall of winter has no power; Flow, love and joy and growth and light, ice and snow begone from sight.

* Leave the ice to melt while you and any others present can place coins, flowers and ribbons on the bride bed, making wishes for the coming spring, for the land, the creatures, for others and for yourselves.

* When the ice is melted, stir the jug and very carefully pour a single drop on the bride bed, saying; See, bride, I bring the first milk, symbol of nourishment and fertility, honey from the warm South, heralding fertility and abundance and above all the life force now released that can transform wish into reality and sustain us through the days of cold and wet still to come.

For we have seen the spring and so I send you light, that light may be shed throughout the world.

* Blow your tiny candles out widders.h.i.+ns, naming for each a blessing that you ask for the world.

* Leave the 'bride' candle to burn through and the bride bed in place for the rest of the festival.

If you are working in a coven, you can create a real, full-sized bride bed and choose the youngest member to be the bride. I once carried out the ritual on television, in which all the crew came to kiss the bride, played by Becky, the presenter, and ask her blessing. In spite of their over-enthusiasm and the male presenter Carl's generosity in spreading honey on all who came near, the festival was well and truly a celebration of the return of life.

Ostara, The Spring Equinox

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Time: From sunset on or about 20 March for three days (from sunset on or about 21 September in the southern hemisphere) Focus: The triumph of light over darkness, resurrection, new beginnings and opportunities; spring cleaning and casting out what is no longer of worth; fertility and conception, the winds of change.

At the spring equinox, the Sun rises precisely in the East and sets precisely in the West, giving exactly 12 hours of daylight and so heralds the longer days and shorter nights. As is so often the case, myth and religion are intertwined in the sources of their festivals that share the same dates. In the old Celtic tradition, Lugh, the G.o.d of light overcame his twin, the G.o.d of darkness, and at Easter, the Christian spring festival most closely a.s.sociated with the spring equinox, the resurrection of Christ is a.s.sociated with the restoration of light to the world.

The first eggs of spring were painted and offered on the shrine of Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon G.o.ddess of the spring. Her Norse counterpart was Ostara, the maiden aspect of Frigg, the Mother G.o.ddess, to whom the hare was sacred (this is the origin of the Easter rabbit). At the spring equinox, bonfires were lit and the corn dolly of the previous harvest (or in Christian times a Judas figure) was burned on the Easter fires. The ashes were scattered on the field for fertility.

Wake at dawn on Equinox morn or Easter Sunday and, it is said, you can see the Sun or in the Christian tradition, angels, dancing in a stream or river. The Green Man is another central figure that features in rituals at this time in southern and eastern Europe and especially among Romany communities. The Green Man, or Green George, as he is sometimes known, was the spirit of plants, trees and vegetables, fruit and vegetation, the male spring deity, consort of the Earth Mother and an early forerunner of both Robin Hood and St George.

The Mother G.o.ddess in her maiden aspect mated with the ascended Sun G.o.d or, in popular folk tradition the Green Man, so that the conceived infant would be reborn as the new Sun at the next winter solstice, thus ensuring the Wheel of the Year continued to turn. In the Christian church, 25 March is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary when Gabriel told her she was with child.

The energies of this festival are good for cleansing the seas and air of pollution, for new peace-making initiatives of all kinds, for beginning reforestation and regeneration projects, the reclamation of wildlife habitats and work to restore the indigenous trees and wildlife to an area. They will also support major att.i.tude changes towards international, national and local issues.

On a personal level, this is the time for clearing emotional and spiritual clutter and wiping the slate clean; for life changes, new beginnings, sowing the seeds for new projects that will bear fruit in the future, for herb gardening, for all matters of fertility and for putting new ideas into practice. Matters concerning children and young people and new flowering love are specially favoured.

a.s.sociations Candle colours: Yellow and green for the clear light from the East and the budding vegetation Symbols: Eggs, any spring flowers or leaves in bud, a pot of sprouting seeds, pottery or china rabbits, feathers Crystals: Aquamarine, jade, tourmaline, fluorite Flowers, herbs, oils and incenses: Celandine, cinquefoil, crocus, daffodil, honeysuckle, primroses, sage, tansy, thyme and violets A Spring Equinox Cleaning Ritual Use this ritual to welcome the winds of positive change. You can perform it on any of the three days of the rising equinox energies that precede the equinox. Alternatively, it can be adapted for cleansing away negativity and sorrows at any time. I give an alternative version in my book Psychic Protection Lifts the Spirit.

You can join with family or friends in a communal spring cleaning of a collective living area or works.p.a.ce. Alternatively, you can use it alone to help you to clear out not only physical clutter but also emotional and spiritual stagnation in those areas of your life and relations.h.i.+ps that would benefit from the winds of change.

This spell is another that I performed on TV and though it involved a lot of laughter and dancing - as all good rituals should - many deep sorrows and anxieties were anonymously placed in the cauldron. Our ancestors probably took such folk magick a lot less seriously and so were able to tune into the natural joyous energies of the season.

Begin your ritual in the morning. Open the windows and doors of the place in which you are carrying out the ritual. Alternatively, work in a yard or on a patio.

* Place your cauldron - a large pot, wide-necked vase or jug will do - on the floor.

* Each of those taking part in the ritual should now write or draw on a piece of paper a representation of every redundant issue or bar to happiness and fulfilment that they wish to blow away on the winds of change.

* Draw a cross through the words or image, then tear it into pieces and drop it in the pot, saying: It is done, it is gone, no more to trouble me. Banished be.

* When all the papers are in the cauldron, you (or the whole group) tip the paper into the centre of the floor and scatter dried lavender on top, chanting: Out with sorrow, out with pain, joyous things alone remain.

* Then take your broom, a traditional besom if possible, and hold it horizontally. If you are working with others, everyone should take the brush-head of the person to their right and the broom-handle of the person to the left, holding them horizontally at a comfortable height for all of you.

* Dance nine times deosil round the paper and lavender, swirling faster and faster, and chanting: Three times three, the power I / we raise,Bringing with it happier days.

* Then sweep the paper and lavender out of the back door. If you are working out of doors, sweep it through out of the back gate into a gutter (you can clear up afterwards). As you sweep, say: Dust to dust, away you must. New life bring, welcome spring.

* After the ritual is over, try to leave enough time in the remainder of your day to go to the top of a hill. Take a kite (made from a biodegradable fabric if possible) and in your mind, tie any lingering doubts, fears and concerns to the kite's tail and let it fly away. If you don't have a kite, use a feather for each of your worries and throw them into the air. Hopefully, a child will find the kite, cleansed by the winds, and it will bring joy.

I know of a group of women who carried out a similar sweeping spell in the warehouse where they worked, using wood shavings for the negativity, and then swept out right through the yard into the packing bins which were later taken away by lorry. They commented that afterwards everyone was much more energetic and positive and the internal fighting and backbiting, which had been quite serious, melted away.

A Ritual To Wash Away Negativity Infusions can be made, using lemon, peppermint, pine or tea tree oil, to wash away negative feelings. Use 12 drops of essential oil to a bucket of hot water. Alternatively, add two peppermint tea bags to a cup of boiling water and leave to infuse for five minutes. Use your essential oil infusion to scrub or mop floors, yards, balconies, doorsteps or patios.

* Work in circles widders.h.i.+ns, saying: One for joy, two for gladness,Three and four to banish sadness,Five and six flee useless anger,Seven, eight, nine, linger no longer.

Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,Darker days now begone.

* Alternatively, strain and use the cooled peppermint liquid to sprinkle around rooms, to inject the freshness of spring emotionally and spiritually.

* Afterwards, place a vase of spring flowers, growing daffodils or hyacinth bulbs on a table in the centre of the room to increase the life force.

Beltain, The Festival Of Fire This Celtic festival of summer is also called Bel-fire, the festival of Belenus, Celtic G.o.d of light.

Time: Sunset 30 April-sunset 2 May (31 October-2 November in the southern hemisphere) Focus: The fertility of the Earth, creatures, crops, people and animals; the instinctive energies that can be manifest as pa.s.sion whether in s.e.xual terms or for any cause; the interconnectedness of all existence and the mutual dependency of one life form on another.

Beltain, which has survived as our modern May Day festival, marked the beginning of the Celtic summer when cattle were released from barns and driven between twin fires to cleanse them and to invoke fertility as they were released into the fields.

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Sundown on May Eve heralded the signal for Druids to kindle the great Beltain fires from nine different kinds of wood by turning an oaken spindle in an oaken sockets. This was carried out on top of the nearest beacon hill, for example Tara Hill, County Meath, in Ireland, home of the Tuatha de Danaan, the hero G.o.ds of old Ireland. Every village would have its Beltain fire, which was attributed with both fertility and healing powers.

Winter was finally dead at midnight on May Eve, when Cailleac Bhuer, the old hag of winter, cast her staff under a holly bush and was turned to stone. She would be restored six months later on Hallowe'en.

Young men and girls made love in the woods and fields on May Eve to bring fertility to the land as well as themselves; they gathered flowers and blossoms from the magical hawthorn tree to decorate houses and to make into may baskets which were left as gifts on doorsteps. This custom lasted well into Victorian times and is recalled in Rudyard Kilping's poem Oak, Ash and Thorn, which begins: Do not tell the priest our plight,For he would think it a sin,For we have been in the woods all night,Bringing summer in.

This echoes the woodland wedding of the G.o.ddess, the first May Queen, whose name came from Maia, the Greek G.o.ddess of flowers, whose festival occurred at this time and who also gave her name to the month of May. She married Jack o' Green, the G.o.d of vegetation -another form of the Green Man - and the deity of the green crops as yet unripened. He became Robin Hood to her Maid Marian. Once again, there is also a Christian connection here: the name Marian is a form of the name Mary, and St Bridget was called Mary of the Gaels.

The maypole, which we still recognise today, once symbolised the ancient cosmic tree and was the focus of fertility dances whose origins are unknown. Red, blue, green, yellow and white ribbons, representing the union of Earth and Sky, winter and summer, Water and Fire, were entwined and the spiralling dance stirred up the life force and fertility of the Earth. The maypole formed a central phallic symbol that could be 40 foot high and echoed the rising potency of the Sun, or Corn, G.o.d and the growing corn. Fires were lit and it was believed that the height the young men could leap over the fires would indicate the height the corn would grow and, since for safety reasons this deed was performed without clothes, the festival was one of joyous, unbridled s.e.xuality.

In modern times, this festival has a global significance and survival issues are to the fore. These may concern endangered species or the fight for the rights of indigenous peoples, for freedom of speech, action and belief everywhere. Also involved are the struggle to discover more natural forms of medicine and Earth-friendly products with fewer side effects, and all matters of the countryside.

On a personal level, Beltane is a festival potent for fertility magick of all kinds, whether to conceive a child or aid financial or business ventures to bear fruit. It is good for an improvement in health and an increase in energy as the Sun's light and warmth also gain intensity, and for enthusiasm and creative ventures of all kinds. It will a.s.sist the consummation of love matches, travel and job moves and all matters concerning young adults, especially those making commitments.

a.s.sociations Candle colours: Dark green, silver and red Symbols: Fresh greenery, especially hawthorn; any flowers that are native to your region, placed in baskets; dew gathered on May morning (girls should bathe their faces in it), coloured ribbons, twigs from the three trees sacred to the festival (oak, ash and thorn) or any other woods from your own area Crystals: Clear crystal quartz, golden tiger's eye, rutilated quartz and topaz Flowers, herbs, oils and incenses: Almond, angelica, ash, cowslip, frankincense, hawthorn, lilac, marigold and roses for love.

A Beltain Ritual For Fertility And Earth Energies Such a ritual can be used to encourage creativity and growth of all kinds. It may be performed either alone or in a group, with everyone present joining in the chants.

Use as many kinds of wood as possible in the kindling for your fire. Traditionally the magical trees were oak, ash, thorn, willow, birch, rowan, alder, holly and yew, but you can use wood indigenous to your region. An arboretum will offer a variety of fallen twigs.

* Light a small fire. (This may be either a small bonfire out of doors, or a fire in a hearth indoors. Barbecue pits are easily adapted.) If you are working in a group, each person can ignite the fire at a different place. If you cannot light a fire, choose a really large, fat, dark green candle as your focus. Place it on a wide, deep fireproof tray, secured in sand.

* If you are in a group, stand in a circle around it, with each person holding a taper. The first person lights their taper, then the flame is pa.s.sed from one taper to the next until the person holding the final taper lights the central candle. Each person can say the chant, with one voice after another joining in.

* As you build and light your fire or candle, say: fire of Bel, fire of the summer Sun and the ascending light, flame in my heart, my soul, my loins, that my life and light maybe kindled and flare upwards to greet the summer Sun.

* Take a twig, if possible oak, ash or thorn, and circle the fire or candle deosil, saying: fires of healing, fertile fires, bring what is needed, not desired. Heal the planet, bless the corn. Lord of Light, we greet your dawn.

* Carefully light the twig and allow it to smoulder and then hold it momentarily upwards, saying: fire of Bel, join with my fire and with all fires in all places on this day at this hour, rise in a web of glorious flame to empower the Sun, to be empowered and to flame within my heart forever.

* Cast the twig into the flames, then leap high in the air, crying: Ascend and bring fertility, power and creativity.

I do not suggest you try to emulate our ancestors and leap across the flames, as presumably the casualty rate was horrendously high.

* If you are using a candle, each person can in turn hold the end of the twig in the flame until it smoulders, then rest it on the tray and allow it to burn slowly down or go out.

* End the ritual by taking scarlet ribbons and spiralling round the fire or candle, waving them like flames, as you chant. Finally throw them into the air, away from the flame.

* Allow the fire or candle to burn down. Afterwards, make up small posies of flowers to leave on the doorsteps of people who you know would appreciate them - perhaps the ill or lonely.

Litha, The Summer Solstice Time: Three days beginning from sunset around 20 June (20 December in the southern hemisphere) Focus: Full potency, illumination, mysteries revealed; healing, the height of joy, fulfilment, the need to seize the moment.

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The summer solstice has been celebrated in cultures as far apart as Russia and North America, where Sun dances were an a.s.sertion of power and courage and in a new form still bring healing to the nations and the Earth.

The height of the festival is the first light falling on the morning of the solstice, like a shaft of gold across standing stones and stone circles, linking the dimensions. Many circles throughout Europe and Scandinavia, such as Stonehenge in Wilts.h.i.+re, are aligned to the summer solstice sunrise, as are a number of stone medicine wheels in America and Canada.

These places, built on centres of great power, have acc.u.mulated not only the power of the thousands of midsummer suns that have shone on this day since their creation, but the hopes and prayers of those who have and still gather at such places. These include priests, Druids, healers, warriors, monarchs and ordinary men and women who connect with fusion of Sky and Earth energies, the sacred and ceremonial marriage of G.o.d and G.o.ddess on this most magical of days.

There is a long-standing pagan tradition of lighting bonfires on beacon hills to strengthen the power of the Sun before it began its decline. On Midsummer Day, fire wheels were rolled down the hillsides, flaming tar barrels were swung on chains and blazing torches tossed in the air. In Sweden, they still hold a midsummer weekend with a midsummer tree, or pole, decorated with greenery and flowers forming the centrepiece of music and revels. There is feasting in towns as well as the countryside in what is a national event and thousands of people gather as they have for centuries at focal points such as the Island of Oland on the Stockholm archipelago.

St John's wort, the golden herb of midsummer and symbol of the summer solstice, was said to offer fertility and powers to attract love if picked at midnight on 23 June, the eve of St John's Day, or the eve of the actual solstice. Hopeful lovers would carry it or place it under a pillow.

The power of the summer solstice can be harnessed for tackling seemingly insoluble problems and bringing light and life and hope to those who are depressed or who have been unable through circ.u.mstances such as poverty to fulfil their potential. It can help to tackle global warming, famine and disease, and to prevent oppression of people and cruelty in intensive farming methods where livestock suffer for human greed.

On a personal level, summer solstice rituals are for courage, male potency and fertility, for achievement, success, confidence, health and happiness, for fulfilling potential and providing ever-expanding opportunities both physical, mental and spiritual. These spells are especially potent for maturing adults approaching middle age.

a.s.sociations Candle colours: Gold, orange or red to mirror the Sun at its height Symbols: Brightly-coloured flowers, oak boughs, golden fern pollen that is said to reveal buried treasure wherever it falls Crystals: Amber, carnelian, citrine, golden beryl, sunstone Flowers, herbs, oils and incenses: Chamomile, dill, elder, fennel, frankincense, lavender, St John's wort and vervain A Summer Solstice Stone Ritual This ritual can be used to absorb the courage, power and joy of the season. You can carry out this ritual at any time during the three-day period. You might like to perform it at dusk on the eve of the solstice or at one of the other traditional times, such as midnight, the dawn of the solstice day or noon. Alternatively, you may prefer to watch the actual solstice sunrise from a hill or an open place or even close to one of the sacred sites at dawn.

* Take eight large, long, rounded stones, one for each spoke on the Wheel of the Year.

* Arrange them around the edges of a circle. The eight points correspond with the mid-winter solstice in the North, Imbolc in the North-east, the spring equinox in the East, Beltain in the South-east, the summer solstice in the South, Lughna.s.sadh in the South-west, the autumn equinox in the West, and Samhain in the North-west. (In the southern hemisphere, they will all move six months so that the summer solstice is in the North, etc.) * In front of each stone, place a yellow beeswax or gold candle and set a large gold candle in the centre of the circle. If you have a cauldron or large pot, you can set the central candle in that. Surround the central candle with flowers and herbs of midsummer, if possible freshly picked from an outside source, and any greenery.

* If you are working in a group, members can stand around the circle, one at each of the points of the year, with the rest of the coven standing in the North, in a line, facing the South. If you are alone, you may wish to adapt the ritual so the stones and candles are smaller. Place the central candle on your altar, which will on this occasion be standing in the North, facing the South, and move round the altar in a circle.

* Enter the circle at the mid-winter solstice (North), the position of the birth of the Sun, and light the central candle, saying: Sun, sacred centre of warmth, light, light and fertility, I greet you on this your time of glory.

* Behind the candle, light a semicircle of frankincense sticks, saying: Sun who has been from the beginning, King, G.o.d, Father, orb of inspiration, I greet you now at this your time of glory.

* Face the North and light the mid-winter candle, saying: The Sun is bom anew, see light grows, light flames to illuminate the darkness and promises renewal as the Wheel turns too.

* Move round the Wheel to face the North-east. Light the Imbolc candle, saying: The Sun increases and the maiden flames the white fields. You claim her as your own and so the year turns and life and light wax as day returns.

* Move next to the East and, facing this direction, light the spring equinox candle, saying: Once more you overcome the darkness; the throne of light is yours to ascend and longer days are won.

* Move to the South-east and, facing this direction, light the Beltain candle, saying: Your warmth brings green growth once more to the barren Earth. I kindle fires to draw your healing strength and the corn will grow high.

* Move to the South, face the direction of the summer solstice, light the candle and say: The Sun is at its height and all nature filled with power. The Lord and Lady of the Universe, Sky and Earth, are joined on this day.

* Around the summer solstice candle, scatter a circle of dried or fresh dill, St John's wort, vervain and clover (trefoil) - these are the herbs that bloom at this time and were used to exorcise harm and bring protection to home and people. If you cannot get any of them, use rosemary or any of the herbs of the Sun.

* As you scatter the herbs, say one of the variations of the old midsummer chant that can be found in folk legend in Europe. My favourite is: Trefoil, vervain, John's wort, dill,Drive off darkness at your will.Trefoil, vervain, John's wort, dill,May the summer suns.h.i.+ne fillAll with life and hope - and keepHearth and home safe while I sleep.

Scoop up some of the herbs in a tiny purse or drawstring bag. Keep it and place it beneath your pillow before sleep. You will, it is said, dream of the person who can make you happy and also, if you add some golden pollen to the sachet, of ways of increasing your wealth.

* Light the final three candles in turn, saying: Wheel turn, though light from henceforth falls,Turn year, till spring and new life calls.

* Leave your solstice wheel of candles to burn down.

* The following day, when daylight comes again, plant golden flowers and spend the day in the open air if at all possible, enjoying every moment of light until you witness the Sun setting in the West.