Mirror Magick

 Mirror Magic

The symbolism of the mirror has a deep magical implication. It is believed that the mirror is able to introduce us to our own soul and even reveal the secrets of abundance and attractiveness.

Sense of Magic

The mirror is a special energy tool that can work miracles. Its magical properties have been known to mankind since ancient times. Myths about the Roman goddess Venus, the Egyptian Hathor, and the Japanese goddess Ishikoridome are all associated with mirrors.

Mirrors remember every event that has ever been reflected in them and are capable of connecting the energies of the astral realm and the physical world, to absorb and give back energy.

Enchanting

✶ Any reflecting surface has the same magical power as the mirror. Therefore, if your current wish is to receive a material item, perform a simple ritual: while walking around the city, look at your reflection in the window of a store that you like. Smile and imagine yourself with this thing, feel the energy of this moment. After a while your wish will come true.

✶ Each time you see yourself in the mirror, mentally draw the image you are striving for over your reflection. Imagine a golden stream transform you into that person. After that, walk proudly and confidently to conquer the world.

✶ When you place mirrors opposite each other and stand between them, you create a special portal. You can send any thought into it, and, having been reflected in many possible worlds, it will definitely come back to you and come true.

✶ Mirror boxes are a powerful magical object. As in the previous ritual, they reflect each other thereby infinitely multiplying any energy. Put a picture corresponding to your intention in such a box — it can be a sigil or any other symbol — and this power will augment every day.

✶ By placing a mirror opposite the source of negative energy you will send the negative impulse back. Therefore, in any situation that you dislike, visualize a big mirror between you and the external environment, facing the world, and with its opposite side facing you. Before going outside you can build a mirror protection around yourself, visualizing a wall of mirrors, a mirror cocoon surrounding you from all sides. The mirrors should face outward.

✶ To decorate your interior and attract energy of the sort that you require, you can cover the frame of the mirror with appropriate stones and minerals.

Useful Tips

✶ The shape of the mirror is significant for its successful use for magical purposes. Each shape has a magical meaning, according to which you can attract the necessary energy into your life.

Round and oval mirrors symbolize the energy of Venus. They are associated with the circle of life, cycles and unity and used for establishing harmony in your home and success in self-improvement.

Squares and rectangles symbolize balance and control over life situations. It is a reliable and powerful force, based on the symbolism of the four elements. Such mirrors are used to attract stability.

The octagon stands for energy and power. It has a special significance in the concept of feng shui and Western spiritual schools as a symbol of the main and additional sides of the world, as well as the eight sun festivals. It blocks unwanted energies, strengthens abilities, and improves health.

✶ It is believed that concave mirrors absorb energy, while convex mirrors repel it.

✶ Just as all magical objects, mirrors need to be cleansed and charged. To do that, it is enough to clean it once a month any way you like and place it under the moonlight or sunlight.

✶ If the mirror is used for practice, it should be covered with a thick, dark cloth at all other times.

- from MoonX

A Spell For Peace & Happiness

A little magick for your home is a good practice. While browsing through my Book of Soells, I found this. All the items needed are common kitchen herbs and spices. The others items needed are easily found and you may very well have them in your home.

I have cast this spell many times over the years and suggested its use by others with much success. Everyone can use a little extra peace and happiness in the home, don’t you think?

A Spell For Peace And Happiness In The Home

Perform this spell after the first crescent of the new moon appears. Energetically cleanse your home in whatever manner you usually do.

You will need;

an orange or Happy Home* candle

lavender buds, rose petals, wood betony, Rosemary, cumin seeds and cinnamon. 

three drops each of bergamot, clove and vanilla oils (a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract may be used instead of vanilla oil) plus a touch extra for candle anointing. 

Matches or lighter

A pink, lavender colored, or white pouch

Candle holder

A bit of glitter if you have some

Some rose quartz piece to surround your candle and pouch.

Mix herbs and oils together well and enchant in the usual manner. Place the mixture into a  small pouch. Keep this with the candle as it burns. You will then place it in a closet, cupboard, or somewhere around the home, hidden from view.

If you are using a plain orange candle, anoint with a touch of each oil, and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of glitter, enchanting for purpose If using the Happy Home candle, you may anoint with a bit of oil and add some glitter, then awaken and ask for the candle’s assistance for your purpose.

Place the candle in its hold, pouch nearby, and surround with pieces of rose quartz.

Burn the candle for three hours each evening until it is completely consumed. Chant this charm three times after lighting:

Peace and happiness fill our place,                                All is well in our family’s space!

Any candle remnants may be added to you pouch.

(Both Crystal Journey and Coventry Candles make lovely Happy Home candles) 

(copyright 2012 E A Kaufman)

Blessings dark and deep!

Hallows Everyday 4

A Magic Potion Just For You

Find a very tall black hat;

Fill it with a squeaky bat.

Catch a clever shiny crow;

Gather up the pumpkin's glow.

Call your black cat home to you;

Summon up a ghost or two.

Throw in lots of special treats,

Like candy corn and lizard feets!

Simmer, bubble, stew and wait...

Then it's time to celebrate!

Laura J. Perin, needlework designer

www.twohandedstitcher.blogspotcom

Blessings nine!

Our Demeter The Bountiful Ritual

I thought I'd share our Demeter the Bountiful altar since I finally managed to get the photos from one of the gals. We had a beautiful ritual and feast afterwards. There were ten of us and most had never attended a ritual such as this. There was a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm on their parts, which really made me remember how it was for me when I started participating in women's rituals. All of us joining together to honor the goddesses. It was beautiful.

I wrote the ritual based on my standard one for this celebration, and made sure each woman had a task. They all did wonderfully and are looking forward to our next celebration, The Autumn Equinox. I'm pretty excited about it too!

We cast our circle, recited our invocations and blessings, made a little charm, performed a bit of divination, cast our offerings and libation into the garden, then feasted. A wonderful evening celebrated with wonderful women!

Blessings nine!

An Old Charm Found in Cornwall

A spell to repel one's enemies, dated around 1700, was found in Cornwall, UK. Here is a link to the story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/4388248.stm

Urine, salt, and three new nail, points down, all put in a jar - sounds interesting!!


Blessings nine!

Herkimer Diamonds

Triple Herkimer Diamond cluster

collection of E A Kaufman

There are suggestions that this stone, the Herkimer Diamond, NOT be worn for any long length of time. I, and a few others I know, will dispute this. Personally, I have three small Herkimer diamonds wrapped together as well as a single Herkimer - I wear one or the other EVERY day without any adverse effect. Many of the other stones I wear have a Herkimer included in the wrap, a trademark of the artist who does the wrapping. I wear a number of different stones daily, but one in particular, besides the Herkimers, is a rainbow quartz with a magicians cut and black tourmaline - I always wear these three stones so I'm not sure if these other stones balance the energies of the Herkimers, but I don't really think so. I received my first Herkimer from a neighbor, a herpetologist, who went to Herkimer, NY on a snake hunt. He knew that I collected stones so he brought me one as a gift. Perhaps all these years of being connected to Herkimers enhances my ability to work with them - not sure. Of course, I am an experienced practitioner of the artes magickal, shamanic, and healing, with a strong connection to crystals and stones, I'm sure that helps too.

Single Herkimer Diamon with baby penetrator

Three Herkimers wrapped in gold

collection of E A Kaufman

This is a stone of attunement, allowing us to tune in or link to higher spiritual beings and their realms, as well as other folks while we work magick or healing. While it will clear chakras and allow energy to flow in the body, this does not happen without intent and work. I personally feel energy move and shift easily,  I attribute some of this to the assistance of my Herkimers. I have read that these beautiful stones enhance creativity, telepathy and allow one to access past life information so one can release blockages related to those lives. This release is gentle and activates the light body.

Labradorite with Herkimer dangle, various Tourmalines with Herkimer,

Lemurian Seed with Herkimer, Sugilite, Herkimer, and Amethyst.

collection of E A Kaufman 

For healing, Herkimers make excellent elixirs - used to spray rooms or people, it purifies and detoxifies. Melody, in her book, Love Is In The Earth, suggests that Herkimers can be used for dispersal of toxins in the body, correcting imbalances in RNA/DNA as well as the metabolic rate. Most of you are aware that detox can sometimes be unpleasant and uncomfortable depending upon the issues. Although Herkimers allow for a more gentle detox, it still can be uncomfortable. Calming and stress relieving to all bodies, physical to etheric, Herkimers release tensions in muscles and other body tissues.

Magickally, circles, compasses, and sacred space can be gridded with Herkimers, although personally I find the Herkimer Diamond to be more  effective when used in the center of a gridded circle, the circle itself being gridded with selenite points at each of the four directions and, for me, the cross directions (NW, SW, SE and NE. A very powerful energy realm can be manifested in this way. Be warned that some may react to this intense energy, being effected very strongly, resulting in sleepiness, slower reaction time and thought processes, a sense of out of body-ness as well as encounters one may consider to be hallucinations - they likely are not hallucinations. This compass is truly in another place. The feeling of the energy can be likened to walking through water. This being said, the resulting magick/manifestation/healing when gridding with Herkimers alone can be powerful indeed. The psychic centers of participants are opened, and connection and communication with other realms can be intense - for witches, this is a whole other ball of wax. All of this can only manifest if the correct procedures and intent are used - otherwise, chaos along with the shit hitting the fan can be the result - no kidding!!! It has taken me some time to properly control a Herkimer gridded circle and I don't do so lightly - my butt has been kicked more than once - but no pain no gain, I always say, LOL! Seriously, it isn't a joke, use cautiously and wisely. Gridding your bed or room is fine, gridding a magickal circle or compass is another thing altogether.

Herkimers are really the witch's or magician's stone, enhancing the power of spells and other magickal workings. It is definitely an excellent aid to have at hand. 

I have encountered folks who get nothing from Herkimers or, for that matter, any other stone. They consider it "new agey" - not correct considering how old the use of stones in healing and ritual is. I feel this is because they just do not connect to the mineral realm, let alone this particular powerful stone. That's ok, not everyone does, others just need to work a bit to make the connection. I feel very lucky indeed to have such a strong connection to realms of Nature. As always, when asking for assistance, call the spirits of all stones, crystals, and minerals, with respect, love and integrity.

Blessings nine!



copyright 2010, E A Kaufman

Hallows Everyday 11

The Coven Spell

O ancient ones of heaven, earth and sea,


We chant the coven spell, thus shall it be!


To music of the night-wind blowing free,


We chant the coven spell, thus shall it be!

The owl hoots within the hollow tree,


The black cat runs by night silently,


The toad beneath the stone dwells secretly,


We chant the coven spell, thus shall it be!

To moon that draws the tides of air and sea,


We chant the coven spell, thus shall it be!


To god that bides beneath the greenwood tree,


We chant the coven spell, thus shall it be!

By Witches’ garter bound about the knee,


By staff and cauldron and all powers that be,


We will the thing in our minds we see,


We chant the coven spell, thus shall it be!

The Spell is flowing like the sea,


The spell is growing like the tree,


Like flame that burns and blazes free.


We chant the spell, thus shall it be!


We chant the spell, thus shall it be!


We chant the spell, thus shall it be!


It is!

Doreen Valiente

Blessings nine!

Hallows Everyday 10

Actually, that time of the year is here!!!

And who better to welcome it than three wicked witches!

I love this time of the year, as I have only mentioned hundreds of times. It inspires me to go outside in the darkness of night and sit by the lake, waiting for a spirit of this land, the water, my Matron goddesses, to make Themselves known to me. I like to walk out by my hedge and feel the energy pulsing, thick with magick, making me feel as if I am walking through water, cloaked in that magick.

Yesterday was the day sacred to Felicitas, goddess of good luck and good fortune, protectress of our peace and prosperity. I spent the afternoon attending to the mundane, then returned home, reading the cards for a friend. Later, in the evening, I had a bit of magick that needed doing and so I attended to that. Still later, after my magick was set, I lit a candle for Felicitas, saying a prayer that we continue to be blessed with Her protection, good fortune, and prosperity. When all was done, an offering and libation were made to Hekate and Felicita - a nice bit of homemade fudge-rich brownie and some Strega Liqueur. I took a bit myself too, sharing in the little feast.

The 11th marks the Meditrinalia, honoring Meditrina, Roman goddess of health, longevity, medicinal herbs and wine; another day to Hallow. The Romans made a libation to Her, mixing old wine with new. I have saved some old wine for just this occasion and into which I shall add a few sprigs of herbs to steep, finally stirring in a bit of honey. This I will mix with some new wine, to be opened at another little feast I shall make. As recommended by Nova Roma, a modern religious organization that recreates ancient Roman religion, I will mix the wines at my altar, sip them, then make my prayer. The first two lines of this prayer are from Nova Roma, the rest, my own addition.

Wine, new and old, I drink,

Of illness new and old I am cured!

Herbs, ancient, blessed by Her hand,

Meditrina relieves all ills.

To Her I give my thanks,

Hail, Meditrina, She who bestows health and long life!

Just a bit of the wine will be spilled upon my altar, while the rest will remain in the cup, sitting on the altar until the following day when I will take it outside and pour a libation. I will also make an offering of bread, herbs, and meat.

This is what being a priestess and witch is about, at least for me; honoring the goddesses, keeping holy the sacred days, assisting those who require my magickal help, being an oracle, lighting the flames that honor the Deathless Ones. How lucky I am to have been chosen to follow this path.

Blessings nine!  

Moving Through Summer

Here we are, the end of August already! And... a busy month it has been; working with my apprentices, a true joy as we have become close buddies; attending to powders, potions, magickal soap, snake skin, among other items for my little business, LadySpell Artes; jam making, and the usual stitching. Time goes more quickly than ever it seems, but I am so looking toward Autumn. It is my favorite time. I really need to get out of South Florida and get to somewhere with more obvious seasonal changes.

Early last week, just before we were bombarded with a tropical storm, we were experiencing almost daily thunder storms. One particular storm was so intense, I grabbed a pitcher and set it out in one of my hedges to collect the storm water. I managed to collect a nice amount that just vibrated with that storm's energy. I added a item or two for preservation and it sits in a bottle on Hekate's altar. I still have some work to do with it, but it is coming along fine. Nothing like a little potion making to set one's soul to singing.

At the shop I have been busy with all manner of spiritual and magickal counseling; so many folks believe themselves to be cursed, haunted, and just down on their luck. I am always happy to help, but it is sometimes a little wearying. However, then, in come my gals who are just looking for love and that brightens things up. Money is the other issue, we all seem to be working those candles for that - and it seems to be working! A friend won about $5000.00 in the state lottery! She worked hard for it and I am so happy for her. Another friend, who has worked very hard to make some changes for her and her family, has come through with great blessings. She came in to thank me, saying she knows it is me, but I informed her that while I may have advised, she did the work, she made the magick happen.

Speaking of money, the apprentices and I honored Ops on Friday night, a day before Her actual festival. We asked Her blessings on candles for various works, our creative and work-related endeavors, love and health, and of course, prosperity. Due to rain, we worked indoors, but with terrace doors open letting in the storm energy. Funny, the frogs outside rose up such a chorus at certain points in the ritual. I invoked my matron goddess, Hekate and they seemed to go crazy.  The energy during the ritual was intense, bringing emotions to the surface, and sealed our connection to each other and the Goddesses.

At one point during the rite, a frog jumped onto the the glass terrace door, bright green, and just hung there throughout the rest of the night. An omen, I think. It reminded me of the Frog amulet in Nancy Blair's Amulets of the Goddess. The frog is a favorite witch's familiar, and, according to Nancy, was sacred to the Egyptian goddess, Heket, known as the midwife to the gods. Nancy also mentions in her book that the word toad, in many languages, means witch or prophetess - interesting. She is thought to possibly correspond to Hekate, as well, so the appearance of the frog while invoking Hekate is certainly telling us something. The Frog amulet, when chosen, is about speaking out, speaking your truth, expressing yourself; who you are is important; a wise woman doesn't remain silent to protect others' shortcomings - rock the boat, make waves. The Frog amulet represents a vessel of transformation and that is certainly what has been happening in all three of our lives. More and more interesting.

On a mundane level - the jam making, or more specifically, fruit butter making is progressing. I snagged some wonderful peaches and made a lovely batch of spiced peach butter, nine half pints - oh yummy. Of course, I blessed as I stirred and added my Reiki symbols for good measure. That jam will make nice gifts at the Winter Solstice, although we've already dipped into one jar. That endeavor took place on Tuesday, then I worked some extra days at the shop the rest of the week, but planned to stop and get some plums I had spied while at the grocery store earlier in the week. I had planned to make the plum butter Sunday, but we got news of a tropical storm, Isaac. Well, I had some preparations to make, but most of the hurricane readiness was done back in early June; we aways prepare for the season. I decided to wait for the storm to pass since I didn't want to get stuck half way through the process if the power went out. Well, Sunday and Monday it blinked a few times as the storm pounded the windows and the wind whipped around Toadstool Condo, the cable went out - there went internet access, but we've come through just fine. It rained a pounding rain all day and night Sunday and even early Monday. My consort hasn't been out to check the strega-mobile and his truck for any damage as he is coming down with a cold, but I don't expect any issues!!! A cold, one of those summer colds, during a tropical storm! In any event, plum butter making shall commence tomorrow, actually later today.

On the stitching front, a tribute to Hekate is being stitched, and I am finally able to work on Salem Remembered again. I had lost one of the chart pages and couldn't find a replacement anywhere. You may recall my mentioning last year that the designer, Lisa of The Primitive Needle, died when swept away in a flash flood. I was working on another of her designs at the time - I have many - and it was difficult finishing that piece. I finally tried a few months ago to replace the chart, but no luck. A very nice gal at a needlework shop I had never purchased anything from, offered me hers when I told her what had happened. I will now be able to get that done and am very grateful to the generosity of this needlework shop.

Now... the blue moon! I have another rite for that, then the Autumn Equinox and my version of the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries!!! Ah, the apprentices are in for a magickal ride! (cackling madly!!)

Blessings nine!

What I've Been Up To

So... I have been quite busy with all sorts of Goddess festivals. There have been quite a few that I have been inclined to celebrate; I was really called to keeping holy these sacred days. It has been spiritually fulfilling to be so steeped in my practice as priestess. As witch, I have been kept busy as resident witch at the shop, advising and assisting folks in need, doing some readings, brewing potions and making herb blends. I do not foresee any change with that - business is brisk and I am happy as a clam.

On February 12th I celebrated the Festival of Diana as Protectress of Wildlife. I recited hymns to Her, made offerings at the hedge and lake. I also made sure my ducks had some special little cakes, the squirrels, seeds and nuts, the birds received a special seed mix and Sterling B had some lovely tuna with just a bit of tomato sauce which he loves - he was rescued from behind a Pizza Hut at about 2 months and was terribly malnourished. However, that was 14 years ago and he is healthy and still loves tomato sauce.

February 13th was my version of the Parentalia, Honoring the Ancestors. I dusted all the photos on the Ancestor Wall, placing sprigs of rosemary and some little miniature roses. I sat and remembered many good times and stories I had been told. I made a libation of my special brew which includes Strega Liqueur as well as an offering of cake and fruit.

The Festival of Ovens was celebrated on the 17th. In preparation for this, I had cleaned my oven - thank goodness it is self-cleaning! All I had to do was wipe it out after it cooled. The stove was scrubbed from bottom to top, smudged, crystals that sit on the back, cleansed, and all was consecrated. I then baked a lovely olive oil cake, keeping some for us, some for the ducks and an offering to my Goddesses.

Ariadne was honored on the 24th. I spun a bit of thread with my drop spindle - not perfect by any means, in fact, rather bumpy and uneven, but I thought it was lovely nonetheless. This was draped on the hedge after being snipped in smallish lengths, as an offering. I worked on stitching a labyrinth design as well.

February 25th is the Time of Old Women, which I believe comes to us from Morocco. It is a time to honor our elder women for their beauty, age and wisdom. I spoke with some relatives (living) then gathered all the photos of the women in my family and DH's, and also Z Budapest, Marion Green, Patricia Crowther and a few others, to create an altar. I did some divination, calling on those who have passed, requesting a sign of some sort that they were watching over me. I was granted that favor. Libation and offerings at the hedge, as usual.

Sunday, the 26th, I honored Hygeiea, Goddess of Health. Her statue resides in my kitchen behind the sink. She was bathed, anointed with lavender and rose oils and Her "home" scrubbed and made tidy. Offerings of barley and herbs - nettles, dandelion greens, fresh oregano and rosemary were placed in a dish on Her altar.


On the 28th, I took a little ride out to the Everglades and left an offering for the Nymphs and Spirits of the Land there - the Nymphs of the Wetlands. Herbs, barley and a few flowers were the offerings I made.

March 1st was my day for purification for my oracle work. A special bath and anointing of oils was followed by my special oracle tea and then the working.

The Full Moon on the 8th is my next celebration and then a little quiet until mid-month when, once again, there will be a Goddess to honor and celebrate every few days. How lovely!

In the mundane world, my mother's second back surgery, this past Thursday, seems to have been a success. After many months of terrible pain, she woke up pain free. Two of my aunts are visiting, along with my nephew, so she is well cared for and I will see her very soon. Such a relief!

I have also begun music lessons again, am stitching and weaving like a mad woman, and creating everyday. Oh... reading too. Just finished a wonderful book by Alice Hoffman, The Dovekeepers, based on the story of Masada, with an interesting cast of magical women. The reviews by Hoffman's fans are not good - too long, too boring, too much mysticism. Ignore them! I didn't want the book to end, it captivated me. I recommend it for those who can understand and absorb the magic.

And now, into the arms of the Sleeping Lady, Mother of Dreams. May our rest be peaceful and renewing, and may we be blessed with sweet dreams as She, the Mother of All Things, watches over us.

Blessings nines!

Pomona's Magick

Today is the Feast of Pomona, a Roman goddess of fruit trees, especially apples, and abundant fruitfulness. She was considered to be a guardian of people, homes, gardens and orchards. Her name is from the Latin "pomum" - apple.

Of course apples have long been a symbol of many goddesses and their worship. It is appropriate at this time of year that we honor Pomona and the magick of apples, therefore I offer the following magickal suggestions.

Take apples, peel a few strips only of the apple skin, remove core and split in half reserving the strips of peel and core.  Place in a baking pan, flat side up, add a bit of butter, sprinkle with cinnamon, cloves and/or a little maple syrup. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes or until soft.  While cooking and eating, ask a blessing from Pomona for good health, protection and abundance. Be sure to save a slice to be presented as offering.

Take the reserved peel and wrap it around a sprig of thyme or oregano, perhaps even both, and a cinnamon stick. Using a knitting needle or awl, gently pierce the rolled peel in three places and stick cloves into each hole. Bake in a warm oven of 250 degrees for an hour or so to dry the peel and herb. Once dried, the peel can be added to an autumn pot pourri, used as offerings or in charms. Keep nearby when performing any divinatory or oracle workings.

Apples - sacred to many goddesses and a symbol of women's magick; enhances loving energies, love magick, wisdom and protection.
Thyme - cleanses and disperses stagnant energies while attracting new and positive energies. Also assists in opening the third eye.
Cinnamon - enhances magick, aids magickal focus and connecting to other realms.
Cloves - purifies, repels negativity and hostility, elevtes spiritual vibrations.
Oregano - brings joy, protective, good for wards.
Maple syrup - a sweetener - sweeteners sweeten people and situations; maple's magick brings protective, sheltering energy, as well as encourages good health, longevity and balance.

Don't forget to bury an apple or two outside your home, offerings for both Pomona and your ancestors.

copyright 2010 E A Kaufman - from the forthcoming, A Book of Artes & Charms.


Blessings nine!

My Favorite Witch!

(Be sure to turn off my playlist below)

Blessings nine!

Ritual Thoughts From the Autumn Equinox

Last night we gathered in our Sacred Temple, a place made Holy by the many rituals and workings done there. In that place, where the Goddesses have been invoked and honored, where the Ancestors and Spirits of nature around us and the Other realms, seen and unseen, have been honored, once again we made that space sacred to honor the turning of the season and welcome the Autumn of the Year, the waning time, the descent of Persephone into the Underworld, the mourning of Demeter, Her Mother, and the guidance and magick of Hekate, the Cosmic Soul.

We traveled into the dark realms, the inner and deep Earth, where healing, nourishment, fear, danger and knowledge of the Mysteries awaited us if we had the courage and abilities to find our way. We descended into that place belonging to our Matron, Mistress of the Three Realms, Queen of all Magicks, Cosmic Soul and, in fact, Dame Fate, Herself. 

She took us for an intense ride, but Her blessings were upon us as we traveled the Ghost Roads in search of ourselves and the path She has laid before us. May we be strong and able to achieve the tasks She sets us. For we are Hekate's daughters, by blood and bone, by spirit and choice, our choice and Hers! So we proclaimed it and so it is, by the waning moon, by the waning year and sealed with our blood!

To all of you, a blessed and happy Autumn Equinox, Harvest Home and Second Harvest. May you know abundance in all that is most important in your lives. Many thanks for visiting me here and allowing me to share my thoughts with you, for sharing your thoughts with me. And may She who is our Mother, always make Herself known to you, may She keep you well as you trod this path we have been given.

Blessings nine!

The Witch-flame of Hestia

As the Autumn Equinox approaches, I am planning my rite and celebration for this, the Witch's Thanksgiving and the second of the harvest festivals. Unlike many Pagans, I do not celebrate Mabon because it is a Celtic-inspired celebration. As I am dedicated to the Dianic Goddess path, I choose to honor those Goddesses whom I feel represent the mysteries of this time of year - Hekate, my matron Goddess, Demeter, who has given us the harvest and Persephone who begins Her descent into the Underworld.

In Ancient Greek religious rites a flame was always lit for Hestia first and extinguished last - for Hestia, thine is the first and last. Leaving the patriarchal overtones of Hellenic Greek religion, I keep this honoring of Hestia who blesses hearth and home. I am the keeper of the flame in my home, she who nourishes and sustains my little family guided and blessed in this role by Hestia. Both the hearth and stove are kept sacred to Her - a reclaiming of woman as Queen and Mistress of the Home. A woman may do anything she chooses today, any profession or none, being a mother and wife or remaining single, independent and free even when sharing her life with a partner. This includes honoring herself as the priestess of her home.

Before beginning any rite and also once weekly, I light a special flame for Hestia, to honor Her and show my devotion. For ritual workings, this becomes my witch fire; for the blessing of hearth and stove, a simple prayer and offering. I share here the invocation I use for the Equinox.

Invocation to Hestia For the Autumn Equinox

(recite and light candle or lamp before beginning the main rite)

You, Hestia, the Keeper of the Sacred Flame,

I light this flame in Your holy name.

(light the candle or lamp)

Come, be honored here in the home temple

of a Priestess of the Olde Ways.

Gathered together in this temple are those who

honor and revere You.

Receive our praises, Beloved Hestia.

As time stands still and the light fades,

Bring to this hearth and home Your warming fire.

Lady, light the flame in our hearts and hearths.

(an offering of incense such as cinnamon and clove or other such

kitchen herbs should now be made)

Hestia, Light of Heart and Hearth,

We offer sweet spices, we offer our praise.

Hail, Hestia!

(from the forthcoming, A Book of Artes & Charms, copyright 2011 E A Kaufman)

Blessings nine!

Marjoram in Magick

Marjoram

Most people have this herb in their spice cabinet. For the kitchen witch, it is a wonderful herb to cook with as well as an excellent herb for magick. It will help in spells for a variety of issues. Named after a city in Sicily, it is a common plant found everywhere. 

For protection, marjoram is quite powerful. Sprinkling the herb into corners or on window sills and at doorways, about the house or work place, will keep away bad luck and protect the inhabitants from harm or malicious intent. One should vacuum or sweep away each month at the new moon and replace with fresh.

Sicilians believed marjoram could banish sorrow. For grief, sadness or even mild depression, place some of the herb in a small pouch or square of cloth, add an apache tear and tie up. The buds of Balm of Gilead can be added to enhance the charm.

Around the home, add to food along with basil to ensure peaceful, happy energies for the family. It is especially useful for keeping love strong. Drink as a tea to gain love, happiness, healing, wealth and all good in general. Add to pot pourri with rose petals or tie up in a square of cloth and hang on the connubial couch to keep marital relations harmonious.

copyright 2011 E A Kaufman

Blessings nine!

To Obtain A Lover

To Obtain A Lover Who Will Be Forever True

You will need a red candle in the shape of a witch

A thimble

A small square of red cloth

A nine inch length of pink ribbon

Three drops each of the essential oils of rose and jasmine

added to a thimbleful of finest olive oil.

A small bowl with nine dried rosebuds, nine dried jasmine flowers, 

and nine whole cloves,

each as perfect a specimen as you can obtain. 

To these, add a thimbleful each of cinnamon, damiana 

and scrapings of dried orange peel.

 This will be your offering with a bit taken later to make a sachet

to keep for yourself.

Beginning just after you see the first crescent of a New Moon,

anoint the candle with the perfume oil as 

you call upon one of the Hidden Company to assist you.

Be respectful. Do not be greedy. 

Request the help of only one, 

one who is sympathetic to those longing for love.

 To the small bowl of flowers, spices, herb and fruit peel, 

add some of the perfume oil as well. 

Light the candle each night and burn for 13 minutes 

chanting the following charm over and over,

Red Witch of flame, burning bright,

Hear my request upon this night.

An offering sweet I make to you

To bring me a lover forever true.

For me to hold and me to keep,

One whose love for me is strong and forever deep. 

Extinguish the candle by pinching or snuffing after 13 minutes. 

Do not blow the candle out.

Continue burning the candle for 13 minutes each night 

until it is spent and will burn no more.

From the offering bowl, remove a thimbleful of the offering 

and place on a small square of red cloth. 

Gather the cloth into a sachet by bringing the corners together, giving a little twist,

then tie up the cloth with a pink ribbon, nine inches in length, making nine knots.

Gather any remnant wax and add to the offering bowl.

Take the bowl to some private place, better a hedge or crossroads, 

and scatter the offering there, saying:

Red Witch who was of the flame,

Accept this gift from a daughter of the Dame!

Turn three times widdershins while looking at the night sky, 

then walk away without looking back.

Hide the sachet of red cloth in some secret place, 

such as the drawer that holds your undergarments or stockings. 

~ from the forthcoming "A  Book of Artes & Charms"

copyright E A Kaufman, 2011

Blessings nine!

The Vestalia!

(ClipArt Etc.)

Comes Vesta,

To live in this beautiful home!

Come with warm feelings of friendship.

Bring Your intelligence,

Your energy and Your passion

To join us with Your goodwill.

Burn brightly at my hearth.

Burn always in my soul.

You are welcome here.

I remember You!

( Hymn to Vesta - unsure of source)

I am in the midst of my annual Vestalia celebration. The hearth has been cleaned physically and spiritually, and will be re-consecrated tomorrow evening. As for our stove, it has been scoured within an inch of its life; the oven burns away - self-cleaning! The ashes will be strewn in the wind during Friday night's ritual and re-consecration will follow. The altar also has received its share of dusting, rearrangement, additions of new items and removal of others. Each goddess statue has been bathed physically with a special brew, the base of which is rosewater followed by spiritual cleansing; re-consecration will take place during tomorrow's ritual as well. 

Why this celebration? The hearth and stove really are the heart's flame of the home, any home and especially mine. The stove is where I prepare our food, to nourish and nurture, many tinctures, infusions and decoctions are prepared there along with other magickal brews as well as baked offerings. The hearth brings warmth of heart, contentment and it is a place of many magickal workings as well. It is also the center of our home. Sacred flames are lit there many times during the week and my daily devotions are performed there. Naturally, I will honor one of the goddesses who is keeper of this place; the other being Hestia.

I have prepared my version of the mola salsa and will use it as an offering tomorrow night as well as a dusting for the pork roast that will be prepared, offered and eaten over the weekend.

(Priestess of Vesta, Lord Leighton)

I also honor, at this celebration, the Vestals themselves, who kept the flame alive and the temple sacred. They gave a great deal of their lives and incredible dedication, so I include those priestesses of long ago in my veneration.

May Vesta's flame burn brightly in your heart and keep your home alive with love and warmth, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Blessings nine!

Love Divination from Leland

(courtesy of http://mariesfreebies.blogspot.com/)

People who know I am a witch ask me for assistance with many things, healing, prosperity, revenge, divination and, most often, assistance with their love lives.  Whether they want a love spell (this is really the most requested service) or a reading to determine if they should be with a certain person, will find the right person or what to do in a relationship, I take it all very seriously. It is after all of paramount importance to them. Some may laugh that people are still looking for magickal assistance with love, but deep within, most actually want assistance as well. It is a timeless endeavor for the witch. I find that hearts (emotional) are fragile things so I try to give assistance whenever I can. I do not do love spells for anyone, but I will tell them what they can do to bring love into their lives and, of course, there is always divination to advise and guide.

I have, as mentioned previously, recently been browsing through Charles Leland's Gypsy Sorcery & Fortune Telling, originally published in 1891, my copy is a Dover reprint from 1971. He had a keen interest in folklore and so traveled the world publishing articles about his research. He is best known for Aradia or Gospel of the Witches and this book on gypsy sorcery.

There are as many love spells and ways to find one's true love as there have ever been people on Momma Earth. Gypsy Sorcery has many ways to divine the romantic future, all interesting and some strange. Do they work? They must have, at least sometimes, since they survive. If you are looking, why not try a few?

Gypsy girls of Transylvania, Leland passes on to us from a Dr. Wlislocki's Ethnographies and The Gypsy Lore Journal of June 1890, believed that spells to know one's true love were best carried out on the eves of certain days, New Year, Easter and St. George. A young lady was to throw her shoes or boots on a willow tree. If the shoes were caught in the branches, she would be married within the year. A girl could only use this technique nine times, although there is no explanation as to why. 

I have a friend, age 80, who was born and grew up in what was once known as Yugoslavia. She taught me that women there danced around trees and shook them for a variety of spells - perhaps to awaken and receive the assistance of the tree's spirit? She could not tell me why they did this, only that it was done for many kinds of spells.

On these same eves, girls could go to a tree and shake it, taking turns, singing

Scattered leaves around I see,

Where can my true love be?

Ah, the white dog barks at last!

And my love comes running fast!

If she hears the barking of a dog while singing, the young lady will be "wedded and bedded" by the next New Year. This charm, he goes on to say, is very similar to one used in Tuscany and believed it to be of Etruscan origin. At night, on St. George's Eve (April 23, the date he is believed to have died or May 6 in the Eastern Orthodox calendar) gypsy girls would blindfold a while dog, letting it loose and placing themselves in various places nearby. Whomever the dog runs to first will be the first to be married. Wlislocki relates this to the game blind man's bluff and calls it an "anciently amorous, semi-magical, or witches' game, only that in place of the dog a man was blindfolded."

Another divination has a girl pull a hair from her head, tying a ring to it which is then dangled in a jar. The ring swings and as many times as it strikes the jar so it will be as many years until she is married.

On Whitsun morning (the seventh Sunday after Easter) girls would go outside and if there were clouds in the east, they would gather some twigs, throwing them in that direction while saying:

Fly my bird, fly I say,

Do not chase my love away.

On these days, the girls are not permitted to wash themselves, kiss anyone or go to church. They must also eat fish if it is Easter or St. George's Eve.

On Easter Sunday morning, they could boil water and try to divine the names of their future husbands in the bubbles. To find out whether a husband would be young or old, one would take nine seeds from a thorn-apple, dig up some soil from nine different places, gather water from nine places and with these ingredients, knead a cake and lay it at a crossroad. Her husband will be an old man or widower if a woman is the first to step on the cake; a young, single man if a man first steps on the cake.

I shall share one last divination, which I find the most interesting. On the night of St. George,  a girl should go to a crossroad with her hair combed back. She must prick the little finger of her left hand and spill three drops of blood on the ground while saying:

I give my blood to my loved one,

Whom I shall see shall be my own!

From out of the blood, a form shall appear showing her future husband, it will fade away slowly. She must then gather up the "mud-blood" and throw it into a river, otherwise the Water-spirits will lick up the blood and she will drown before the year is finished. Blood magic is always a serious business not to be undertaken lightly. 

There are many more, some silly, many interesting. Do they work? I leave it to those gentle, unmarried readers to find out.

Blessings nine!

Comes the Full Moon

The Man in the Moon is a Lady by Val Lempiala

A Song of Enchantment

A song of Enchantment I sang me there,

In a green-green wood, by waters fair,

Just as the words came up to me

I sang it under the wild wood tree. 

Widdershins turned I, singing it low,

Watching the wild birds come and go;

No cloud in the deep dark blue to be seen

Under the thick-thatched branches green. 

Twilight came: silence came:

The planet of Evening's silver flame;

By darkening paths I wandered through

Thickets trembling with drops of dew. 

But the music is lost and the words are gone

Of the song I sang as I sat alone,

Ages and ages have fallen on me -

On the wood and the pool and the elder tree.

Walter de la Mare

In my area, the full moon occurs on Wednesday, January 19th at 4:22 PM. I will be honoring this time and making my usual magick. In the meantime, there is a libation to be brewed and an offering to be baked, a round, plump barley cake, fragrant and  filled with herbs and spices, seeds and a silver coin.

I have been browsing through Charles Leland's Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling recently. There are many interesting tidbits, so I thought I'd share a few.

According to Leland, when a gypsy woman is with child, she will not, if she can help it, leave her tent by full moonshine. A child born at the time of full moon will make a happy marriage.

He goes on to say that "moon-worship is very ancient; it is alluded to as a forbidden thing in the Book of Job. From early times witches and other women worked their spells when stark-naked by the light of the full moon, which is evidently derived from the ancient worship of that planet and the shameless orgies connected with it." These men!!! Their fantasies and general misogynistic tendencies made them fear women and their magick. He further states, "In ancient symbolism the horns of the moon were regarded as synonymous with the horns of the ox - hence their connection with agriculture, productiveness and fertility, or the general principle, and from this comes the beneficent influence not only of the horns, but of horse-shoes, boars' tusks, crabs' claws, and pieces of coral resembling them." He includes the following, which many of us are familiar with.

Pray to the moon when she is round,

Luck with you will then abound,

What you seek for shall be found

On the sea or solid ground.

Notice that the moon is called "she" in this little poem as opposed to "he" or the familiar  "man in the moon." The moon has always mystified and even terrified people. Even now, when man has been to the moon, She still fascinates us, She is not just a large rock orbiting Momma Earth. Her effects can be felt by all, the pull of the water in our bodies as well as the seas, our emotions.  I was born during the dark moon - does it mean anything? Did it mark me as one of Hekate's own? Who knows? And those born during full moons, does that make them more inclined to follow a mystical path too? The dark of the moon, the full moon - liminal times? I ponder the powers of the moon and Her influences.

Blessings nine!