The Modern Witchcraft Grimoire Read online

  Tuesday

  Tuesday is ruled by the planet Mars and named for the Nordic god Tiw (or Tyr), the invincible warrior whose attributes include strength, attainment of desire, and manifestation of the will. Perform spells and rituals for strength, courage, daring, or success in any type of competition on Tuesday. If you’re doing a spell to help you stand up to an adversary, overcome an obstacle, or reverse an attack on you, Tuesday would be a good day to perform it. It’s also a good time to build your psychic defenses through protection rituals.

  Wednesday

  The planet Mercury rules Wednesday. In Roman mythology, Mercury is the messenger of the gods. Astrologers connect the planet with communication—both spoken and written—as well as with various types of mental activity and short trips. Rituals and spells for Wednesday involve communication, education, sending and receiving messages, and intellectual pursuits. This is also a good day to connect with spirits or do divination, perhaps by using a pendulum, runes, or the tarot.

  Mercury’s Retrograde Periods

  Every four months, the planet Mercury goes retrograde for approximately three weeks when it appears to be moving backward through the sky. Mercury rules communication and thinking in general, so your mind might not be as clear as usual during retrograde periods. Your ability to communicate with others may be hampered as well. Usually, these aren’t good times to do magick, as confusion, lack of clarity, and mistakes can occur.

  Thursday

  The planet Jupiter rules Thursday, and the day gets its name from the Norse god Thor. In mythology, Thor, the god of thunder, wields a mighty hammer; thus he’s sometimes linked with strength, justice, and legal matters. If you are trying to influence the outcome of a legal proceeding or political matter, you may find that enacting a spell on a Thursday gives you an edge. Astrologers connect Jupiter—the largest planet in our solar system—with growth, abundance, and good fortune. Do spells for prosperity, career advancement, or any type of expansion on Thursdays. Because Jupiter also governs the zodiac sign Sagittarius, which astrologers associate with long-distance travel, Thursday is a good time to do travel spells.

  Friday

  Venus, the goddess of love and relationships, governs Friday. The Nordic goddess Freya, the patroness of powerful women, passion, and love, gave her name to this day. As you might expect, spells, rituals, and charms relating to matters of the heart are best performed on Friday. Venus also rules the arts and beauty, so if you want to stimulate your creativity or make yourself more attractive, do a spell on Friday. Friendships and social occasions can also benefit from Venus’s influence—hold group rituals and celebrations on a Friday.

  Saturday

  As its name indicates, Saturday is ruled by the planet Saturn. Astrologers connect Saturn with limitations, endings, and the past, as well as structure, stability, and the business world. Do spells on Saturday to end an unwanted relationship, to bring a successful close to an endeavor, or to create strong boundaries. Protection spells and banishing rituals can benefit from Saturn’s power. Do spells to strengthen a business venture, rein in spending, or encourage stability in any area of your life on this day. Saturday is also a good time for past-life work and rituals to honor those who have left the physical world.

  BRING MAGICK INTO EVERYDAY TASKS

  We spend most of our daily lives engaged in mundane activities and routine tasks. However, you can enrich ordinary undertakings with magickal energy—and why not? Kitchen and hearth witches embrace this concept; they consider everything in their homes sacred and imbue every household chore with magickal significance. For example, you can view sweeping the floor free of dust and dirt as simultaneously cleansing the space of negative energy.

  Nowhere is this practice more evident than in cooking. When you prepare food, you put your personal energy, intention, and love into nourishing those who will eat what you cook. And the herbs you use to season your dishes contain magickal properties—you’ll learn about these in Chapter 16. Consider incorporating the following practices into your daily routine:

  As you cook and clean, use affirmations to bless your home and loved ones.

  When you open the kitchen door say: “May only health, love, and joy come through this door into this home.”

  While stirring a pot on the stove or a mixture in a bowl say: “Thanks be to all beings who contributed to this meal.”

  While serving food say: “May the food I share nourish my loved ones in both body and soul.”

  While sweeping or vacuuming say: “May all harmful, disruptive, or unbalanced energy be removed from this place.”

  When you turn off the kitchen light at night say: “Bless this kitchen, and keep those of us who use it safe and healthy through the night.”

  Design your own household rituals and magick practices. You may also enjoy studying the ancient Chinese art known as feng shui, which associates each sector of your home with certain parts of your life. Feng shui teaches you how to magickally manipulate energies and bring about results in your world by making adjustments in your living space.

  A Kitchen Witchery Spell

  This spell uses “kitchen witchery” to sweeten a frustrating situation. You don’t have to be a gourmet cook to carry it off—your intention is what counts.

  Piece-of-Cake Spell

  Things aren’t going as smoothly as you’d hoped. Perhaps a project is taking longer or costing more than expected; a romance has hit a snag; you have to deal with a lot of uncooperative people at work or at home. It’s time to use your witchy talents to rectify the unpleasant situation.

  TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS

  A cake mix (or ingredients for making your favorite cake recipe)

  Food coloring

  A large bowl

  Spoon

  Cake pan(s)

  Candles

  Matches or a lighter

  Collect the ingredients needed for this spell and preheat the oven.

  Cast a circle around the area where you will do your spell—in this case, your kitchen.

  Follow the directions for making the cake, according to the package or your favorite recipe. You may want to choose a flavor that suits your intentions: chocolate or strawberry for love, cinnamon or mint for money, almond or vanilla for peace of mind, anise for protection. As you work, focus on your objective and imagine you are sending your intention into the batter.

  If you like, add food coloring to tint the batter to match your intention: pink for love, green for money, and so on (see Chapter 12 for information about color symbology).

  Stir the batter using a clockwise motion if your goal is to attract something or to stimulate growth of some kind. Stir counterclockwise if you want to limit, decrease, or end something.

  Pour the batter into the pan(s) and bake.

  When the cake has finished cooking, let it cool, and then ice it with frosting in a color that relates to your intention. You may want to decorate it with symbols, pictures, and/or words that describe your objective.

  Add candles of an appropriate color. The number of candles should also correspond to your goal: 2 for love, 4 for stability, 5 for change, and so on.

  Light the candles and concentrate on your wish. Blow out the candles.

  Share the cake with other people who are involved in the challenging situation, so that everyone benefits. Each person who eats some of the cake takes the intention into him- or herself and becomes a co-creator in the spell’s success.

  “We come into this world with precious gifts that are meant to be shared, if each one of us takes the time to send healing and love to the world, we truly can change the lives of many and the world around us.”

  —JASMEINE MOONSONG

  Treat Your Entire Home As Sacred

  The Buddha once said, “Wherever you live is your temple if you treat it like one.” Sacredness is more a matter of attitude and behavior than of trappings, and it doesn’t require a building or props. Nonetheless, creating a sacred space is an important part of practici
ng magick, and witches often use tools and processes to establish safe havens in which to work.

  We talked about creating sacred space in Chapter 5. You can designate a specific area as the sacred space where you’ll perform your spells and rituals, write in your grimoire, meditate, and so on. However, if you prefer, you can see your entire home as sacred. Sacred space is a place of peace and calm, but it is not necessarily “between the worlds” as defined by a magick circle. Sacred space is what goes into the circle, or it can simply exist on its own.

  When you’re in your sacred space you can still interact with the ordinary world—you don’t erect barriers. When you use sacred space, you make the existing environment holy, as opposed to creating a whole new surrounding. You remain open to the good energies in the area instead of sealing yourself away.

  Sacred space is a wonderful alternative to a circle if you seek to create a harmonious atmosphere for a gathering of people, particularly if the attendees are of mixed spiritualities. You can create it without anyone else’s knowledge by purifying and harmonizing the energy of the area. Envision the area cleansed of all “bad vibes” and project your intention for peace and joy into the space. Thus you remove distracting, harmful, or stale energy and in its place leave a positive, comfortable feeling.

  Creating sacred space for other people who may not share your beliefs does not manipulate them in any way, nor does it disrespect their own religions. You are offering them a peaceful and balanced environment in which to study, discuss, eat, or mingle. Try creating sacred space before a dinner gathering during the week, when everyone is tired and stressed out, or before a family get-together where conflicts are likely to arise. Watch how everyone relaxes in the serene energy. That’s everyday magick at its best.

  Chapter 7

  SPECIAL OCCASION SPELLS

  For millennia, people on earth have observed the sun’s apparent passage through the sky and the seasonal changes that resulted. Ancient structures, such as Stonehenge and Newgrange, Ireland, accurately marked the solstices, indicating that our ancestors carefully tracked the ever-changing relationship between the sun and our planet.

  Across many lands and many centuries, myths explained earth’s seasons as the Goddess’s journey. During summer, she brings life to earth. During winter she descends into the underworld and loses everything—her power, her identity, her true love, or all of the above. Through recognition of her divine essence, her supremacy is restored, and life on earth once again flourishes. In some tellings, the Goddess’s consort—the Sun King—undertakes an annual trip through the sky, arriving at significant places at certain times of the year to mark what we call the “sabbats.”

  Wiccans today divide the sun’s annual cycle, known as the Wheel of the Year, into eight periods of approximately six weeks each. Each “spoke” corresponds to a particular holiday (or holy day). These special days or sabbats, based in early agrarian cultures, afford unique opportunities for performing magick spells and rituals.

  You may choose to organize the sections of your grimoire around these sabbats. Some witches like to start a new book of shadows each year on Samhain. Be sure to record in your book what you experience on these important days—not only the practices in which you engage, but your thoughts, insights, feelings, and dreams as well. Do you celebrate the sabbats with special festivities? If so, describe what you did on each one, with whom, what you ate, what you wore, the results of your spellcasting, and so on.

  Song of Amergin

  The “Song of Amergin” is one of the earliest examples of Celtic poetic mythology. Dating back to circa 1268 B.C.E., the song is an Irish liturgical hymn and could very well be used as a charge of the god. Consisting of metaphoric statements interspersed with queries, the “Song of Amergin” has been interpreted by Robert Graves to have direct correlations with the ancient Celtic calendar and alphabet. In Graves’s translation, the “Song of Amergin” describes a journey through the Wheel of the Year told through the beautiful poetic imagery of a Druidic bard:

  “I am a stag: of seven tines,

  I am a flood: across a plain,

  I am a wind: on a deep lake,

  I am a tear: the Sun lets fall,

  I am a hawk: above the cliff,

  I am a thorn: beneath the nail,

  I am a wonder: among flowers,

  I am a wizard: who but I

  Sets the cool head aflame with smoke?

  I am a spear: that roars for blood,

  I am a salmon: in a pool,

  I am a lure: from paradise,

  I am a hill: where poets walk,

  I am a boar: ruthless and red,

  I am a breaker: threatening doom,

  I am a tide: that drags to death,

  I am an infant: who but I

  Peeps from the unhewn dolmen arch?

  I am the womb: of every holt,

  I am the blaze: on every hill,

  I am the queen: of every hire,

  I am the shield: for every head,

  I am the tomb: of every hope.”

  The rich images contained in this verse suggest that the spirits of nature are irrevocably connected to the spirit of the gods and goddesses. Divine grace can be discovered anywhere—in hopes and fears, in achievements and disappointments, in shadow and light, in joy and pain, in life and death. All are valid expressions of Divine Consciousness.

  SAMHAIN

  The most holy of the sabbats, Samhain (pronounced SOW-een) is observed on the night of October 31, when the sun is in the zodiac sign Scorpio. Better known as Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve, this is the holiday people usually associate with witches and magick. Most of the ways the general public marks this sabbat, however, stem from misconceptions—it’s a solemn and sacred day for witches, not a time for fear or humor. Some religious groups that don’t understand its true meaning feel threatened or offended by Halloween and have even tried to ban it.

  The Holiday’s Significance

  Considered the witches’ New Year, Samhain begins the Wheel of the Year. Thus, it is a time of death and rebirth. In many parts of the Northern Hemisphere the land lies barren now; the last of the crops have been plowed under to compost, and the earth rests in preparation for spring.

  Witches view Samhain as a time to remember and honor loved ones who have passed over to the other side. That’s why Halloween is associated with the dead. No, skeletons don’t rise from graves nor do ghosts haunt the living on Samhain, as movies and popular culture tend to portray it—though you may connect with spirits and departed friends on this magickal night.

  Samhain Magick

  Witches believe the veil that separates the seen and unseen worlds is thinnest at Samhain. Consequently, you may find it easy to contact spirits in other realms of existence or to request guidance from ancestors and guardians. Samhain is also a good time to do divination, because insights and information can flow more easily on this sabbat than at any other time of the year.

  In keeping with the concept of an ongoing cycle of destruction and renewal, witches often choose to shed old habits or attitudes at this time, replacing them with new ones. Consider doing a psychological housecleaning on Samhain. On a slip of paper, write whatever you want to leave behind when the old year dies—fear, self-limiting attitudes, bad habits, unwanted relationships, and so on. Then burn the paper in a ritual fire. Samhain is also a good time to perform banishing spells.

  Rune Reading

  October 31, 2016

  How can I improve my career path?”

  Situation Obstacle Action Outcome

  Nauthiz Isa Othala Berkano

  Interpretation: Nauthiz clearly describes my feelings of being constrained and frustrated in my present job situation. Isa as the obstacle indicates I’m at a standstill and there’s no opportunity for advancement where I am now. Othala in the action position suggests I need to leave my current job and seek something else. Berkano as the outcome heralds growth in the future.

  WINTER SOLSTICE OR YULE
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  The Winter Solstice occurs when the sun reaches 0 degrees of the zodiac sign Capricorn, usually around December 21. This is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Also known as Yule, the holiday marks the turning point in the sun’s descent into darkness; from this point, the days grow steadily longer for a period of six months.

  The Holiday’s Significance

  Pagan mythology describes the apparent passage of the sun through the heavens each year as the journey of the Sun King, who drives his bright chariot across the sky. Some tellings describe the Sun King as the Goddess’s consort; in other stories he is her son. In pre-Christian Europe and Britain, the Winter Solstice celebrated the Sun King’s birth. This beloved deity brought light into the world during the darkest time of all—a theme echoed in Christianity’s story of the birth of Jesus in this season of the year. Thus, witches celebrate this sabbat as a time of renewal and hope.

  Yule Magick

  Decorating our homes at Christmas with ornamented pine trees and holiday greenery dates back to pre-Christian times. Because evergreen trees retain their needles even during the cold winter months, they symbolize the triumph of life over death. Do spells for strength, courage, endurance, and protection now. In a magickal sense, pine is used for its cleansing properties. The crisp, clean scent of pine needles can help eliminate negative energies from your home. You can clear bad vibes from your environment by burning pine-scented incense or candles.