Snow Moon Ritual & Spell (February)

Recipe by Francisco Huanaco

This Full Snow Moon spell includes a simple candle ritual, a journaling page and a guided meditation to bring in renewal, restoration and manifestations.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 purple candle
  • Pen or pencil
  • Journal
  • Guided Meditation (optional)

HOW TO CAST THE SPELL

  • Find a calm, quiet spot where you are comfortable and will not be disturbed by anyone.
  • If you can see the Full Moon, look at it. If not, simply visualize it with the eye of your mind. Take three deep breaths to start channeling its energy.
  • Light the purple candle as you focus on your intention for this ritual.
  • Close your eyes and quiet your mind.
  • Think of all the patterns of renewal that occur in your life and keep them in mind as you journal. If necessary use the prompts included.
  • Ask the Full Moon for guidance or insight. If you’re working on a specific manifestation, say “Dear Full Moon, Help me manifest my wish.”
  • Be open and receptive to any messages. Contact from your Higher Self can come in many different forms. It might be a sense of peace, a jolt of energy, a feeling of knowing, a dream or a vision that provides an answer.

What Does the Snow Moon Mean for Zodiac Signs?

Below, learn what the February full snow moon means for each zodiac sign. Read your sun sign as well as your rising sign, if you know it.

  • Aries: This snow moon will bring a six-month cycle of romance, self-expression, and pleasure to a close for you, Aries. “The snow moon may highlight an incredible period of self-growth through exploring hobbies, pastimes, and other creative ventures,” Simmons explains. “Aries may also notice a difference in love and sex, especially if there is a relationship in the works! Either way, Aries should focus on who and what sparks joy during the snow moon.”
  • Taurus: The last six months may have felt like hibernation for Taurus, so the snow moon will mark the end of an introspective period. “Taurus may have created a sacred space to retreat to during this cycle or could have explored their family history,” Simmons says. “Creating their own family or establishing a home base may have also coincided with this lunar cycle. Taurus should reflect on what will help them feel secure physically and emotionally during the snow moon since this can create a foundation for Taurus’s life.”
  • Gemini: “As the snow moon comes to fruition, Gemini might be thinking about their communal and communicative involvement from the past six months,” Simmons says. “New friend groups and local hangouts could have become a staple in Gemini’s everyday life during this cycle. Past comments or chats may also be on Gemini’s mind.” Consider the snow moon the perfect time to commit to a local community while letting go of any past drama.
  • Cancer: Money matters will be the theme for Cancer’s snow-moon experience. “Security, stability, and value will be the main priorities since Cancer will be wrapping up a financially focused cycle,” Simmons says. “If it feels right, Cancer could use the snow moon to capitalize on financial opportunities while letting go of poor money habits that shake up Cancer’s security.”
  • Leo: The snow moon will mark the end of a self-focused cycle for Leo. “In true Leo fashion, this snow moon really is all about Leo,” Simmons says. “Leo should reflect on how they have become more genuinely comfortable with their identity and the skin they’re in over the last six months. Aside from this, Leo can also use the snow moon to let go of insecurities, self-doubt, and bravado.”
  • Virgo: Virgo will have an incredibly reflective, if introverted, experience during the snow moon. “The snow moon will call Virgo to look inward since the last six months have been more subconsciously focused on reframing Virgo’s mindset to be more positive despite not having all of the answers,” Simmons says. “As the snow moon rises, Virgo can challenge themselves to look on the bright side!”
  • Libra: People’s true colors will be revealed during the snow moon, especially for Libra. “Libra’s friendships and the greater community will be in focus since the snow moon will shine a light on genuine friends as well as fake connections,” Simmons says. “The snow moon is Libra’s reminder that life isn’t a popularity contest, so Libra should let go of any unfulfilling relationships.”
  • Scorpio: “The question of accomplishment will be on Scorpio’s mind during the snow moon,” Simmons says. “Where Scorpio started versus how far they’ve come during this cycle will come up, especially if the snow moon results in completing a major milestone. Regardless, Scorpio should focus on their achievements to boost their confidence during the lunation.”
  • Sagittarius: During this February full moon, Sagittarius might be pondering the silver lining of the last six months. “Opportunities to travel, learn, explore, and grow popped up during this cycle,” Simmons says. “Sagittarius may have had some incredible changes to progress in their journey, so the snow moon is the reminder to enjoy the journey instead of racing toward their destination.”
  • Capricorn: The snow moon will be Capricorn’s reminder that they have the power to make their life whatever they want. “Over the past six months, Capricorn may have struggled to regain control of their relationships, finances, and with themselves,” Simmons says. “But Capricorn has persevered through it all, so the snow moon will be Capricorn’s celebration for making the most of this transformative cycle.”
  • Aquarius: Aquarius isn’t one to readily commit, but the snow moon may encourage otherwise. “Although Aquarius prefers to be detached and aloof, the snow moon will bring Aquarius’s much-loved connections into consideration,” Simmons says. “The snow moon is the perfect time for Aquarius to reconnect with their partner, colleagues, friends, and more.”
  • Pisces: “As the snow moon rises, Pisces should think about what they need to incorporate into their daily regime to feel happy and confident,” Simmons says. “The last six months have been a period of trial and error. But now that the cycle is closing during the snow moon, Pisces should commit to the habits and routine that amplify a positive vibe.”

More Kitchen Witchery

Kitchen Witchcraft, also known as Cottage Witchcraft, combines hearth and home with magic and enchantment. The lines between the magic and the mundane are blurred as the Witch brings magic into everyday life and everyday chores. It’s not very ceremonial in nature; it’s about putting that spark of magic into everything as you go about your domestic duties.

The Kitchen Witch is the ultimate domestic diva, enchantress of the hearth and home or magical master of his domain. It is a wonderful way to bring magic into your everyday life.

Kitchen witchery is getting back to the roots of the Craft. Back before the “Burning Times” back before the Dark Ages, but back when the Craft was practiced by men and women working around their hearth-fires in their small and simple dwellings. They didn’t have kitchens, or even rooms as we know them today – but they had areas of their homes that were specifically for a certain purpose – sleeping, eating, cooking, crafting etc etc etc.

Back in the days where the village wise-men and wise-women were free and respected, when they were the people to turn to for help and problem solving. Their homes would be filled with the bits and pieces they would need for their Craft – herbs, sticks and stones, bottles and pouches. They would have used the same tools for their Craft as they would have used in their day-to-day living – cooking pot, cutting knives, wooden spoons, chopping boards, bowls…they may have used separate tools for magickal work than ordinary cooking, but the tools would have looked the same nonetheless.

Modern witchcraft is very often equated to Wicca, and to many they are one and the same. However, there are many that identify with Witch but not Wicca (there are also those who identify with Wicca and not Witch). Wicca is the religion, it has the ceremonial rituals, the distinction between magickal and mundane. Witchcraft is the practice, it’s the down and dirty end of magick.

Kitchen Witch, Green Witch, Hedge Witch – these are all terms for those witches not desiring to follow the theatrics of a religion, but who prefer to work their Craft, to connect on a daily basis to Life, to Nature, and where best to do that but in the heart of their homes? I’m not saying that Wicca doesn’t desire these same things, but they have different methods of doing it.

To a Kitchen Witch, the kitchen is sacred. It’s where the magick happens, whether it’s mixing up a potion, or cooking up a family dinner. Kitchen Witches use the same tools for magickal work as they do for mundane, as ALL work is magickal, and by using these tools, it puts in our energies and binds them to us, makes them more powerful and meaningful. We don’t save our tools for “best” – every day is a reason to get the “best” out from the back of the cupboard.

A Kitchen Witch is often a good cook also and knows a trick or two about keeping house. A house is more than just a home for a kitchen witch – it is their sacred space and the heart of the home, the place where this magick takes place – that is the kitchen…

“Kitchen witchery is a unique form of solitary witchcraft, which honours the mundane in life and finds sacredness in every day, simple acts. The kitchen witch finds pleasure and meaning in cooking especially, but also knows the secrets of making housework magical and turning the garden into a source of healing and wonder.”

How to Become a Kitchen Witch

Become mindful and make yourself present in the moment as you’re going about your housekeeping, cooking and chores. Become aware of the magic and energy going on in the moment.

Begin studying magic, particularly green magic, folk magic and energy work. All magic is rooted in the same theories and works on the same principles, it just largely depends on how you wish to exercise it.

Start cleaning up your home and garden. It doesn’t have to be a show place, but it should be someplace that makes you feel warm and comfortable, someplace you find inviting. Your home is your own little sanctuary in this big old world.

Start planting a garden. No land? No problem—I have no land either. I keep a few dozen pots on wire shelving or hanging from hooks around the perimeter of a big screen porch with southern exposure. I grow lots of herbs, flowers, houseplants, and even a nice little salad garden of tomato, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, spinach, squashes and the like. These are mostly planted in old storage containers, coffee cans and butter tubs. Even if all you have is a sunny windowsill, there is a way to have just a few herbs.

If you can’t have a garden, collect dry herbs or purchase them in bulk from the local farmer’s market.

Foster an attitude of gratitude for your food. Give thanks not just at harvest festivals, but for every little meal and snack. Thank the spirit of the animals and plants that you consume and be aware of their power that you are taking into your body.

Connect to your animals and plants on a spiritual level. Stop thinking of them as lower life forms and start celebrating them as spiritual beings in their own right. Learn to listen, to read their signs, to communicate and learn their lessons.

Cook—cooking is a big part of Kitchen Witchery. You change your herbs and ingredients; you imbue your food with your magical desires and then consuming.

Begin learning some herbal remedies. I wouldn’t rush off and treat serious conditions on your own without a doctor’s care, and keep in mind that even culinary herbs in large doses can be very dangerous. But you can start with some simple things like making poultices for bruises, salves for bee stings or lotions for skin irritations.

Start to shift to a more organic way of life. Move away from the excess, the waste, the chemicals, the poisons. Start recycling and reusing things, begin composting for your garden, use herbs to create your own all-natural cleaning supplies.

Begin thinking magically in everything you do. When you stoke the fire or cook over the stove, when you shower and do the dishes, when you turn on the fan or dig in the garden, give praise to the spirits of the elements. When you cook, don’t just follow a recipe—turn it into a spell, and charge that food or drink with the energy of that which you want to work toward. When you do your spring cleaning, perform it with reverence as a purification of your temple. Don’t just suck up the dust bunnies under the bed with your vacuum—banish these negative entities from your life.

Before you know it, you won’t be looking at the calendar wondering when the next Esbat is or thinking about stopping by that New Age store for some spell components or ritual tools. Everything in your life becomes part of your magical endeavors, and this can bring an abundance of blessings and joy.

A common way of performing kitchen magic is by forming the cooking and baking into a spell. The most important ingredient in a home-cooked meal is Will. If you’ve ever watched Like Water for Chocolate, you know how powerful one’s Will can be while stirring a pot or batter or kneading a dough: the emotion and intent is swallowed into the body with each morsel, each grain and seed and herb and vegetable slice, with each spoonful of compote and each bite of sweet and sour fruit. Cooking and baking are therefore powerful methods of spellcasting, especially for healing, prosperity, abundance and fertility, and harmony.

  • Placing a crystal or amethyst on or near the stove is said to make food cooked there taste better by keeping negativity out of the bubbling pots on the stove and the pans of breads and baked goods in the oven.
  • Physical cleanliness is an important aspect of spiritual cleanliness in kitchen witchcraft. Maintaining organization, keeping spaces clutter-free, and sanitizing the home are essential, and all ought to be performed before any spiritual home purifications and protection charms, no matter your tradition. To the kitchen witch, honoring the home means honoring her goddess(es), and is a sacred practice.
  • Chants are a big aspect of kitchen magic, the simplest method of trance, utilized while cleaning or preparing a dish.
  • Stir the pot or batter in the direction most befitting your intent. The number of times a dough is kneaded, or the contents of a bowl or pot are stirred round can also be decided based on the sacred numerology of your tradition.
  • Every herb and spice has its own associations; use the ones most relevant to your Will.
  • This is the Mead Moon–why not brew some mead with magical intent?
  • Sigil magicians weave its way into kitchen magic. Create sigils with spreads and condiments across bread, in how you add ingredients to your bowl or pot, or in how you decorate the meal before serving.
  • Grow seasonal and organic foods and herbs in your garden, to be cooked in your kitchen and shared with your guests from the wild. The garden is sacred space, and can be used to bury offerings, pour libations, recite prayers and supplications; cast spells and charms, and interacts with the Land spirits and the sprites of your land.
  • Live more sustainably. Go vegetarian or vegan, purchase fair-trade, organic, all-natural products that aren’t tested on animals, recycle, compost, avoid chemicals and processed junk, utilize herbal remedies, and try to give back just a little of what you take, perhaps by doing a little restoration at your nearest forest, or removing invasive species where spotted.
  • Crafting is the sphere of the kitchen and traditional witch just as it is the realm of household goddesses and goddesses of destiny. Decorate your home with wildcrafts, woodcrafts, knits, quilts, tapestries, your loom, spindles, or spinning wheel, sculptures of the Gods, paintings, poetry, and other crafts made by your own hand. Creativity is a form of devotion.
  • Enchant your crafts and utilize them in charms and spells.
  • Other forms of folk magic have a place in kitchen witchery, including weather magic, ribbon charms, divination and prophecy (which most Hearth-goddesses practice), and candle magic.
  • Research the traditional foods of your hearth-culture or heritage, and their associated folklore. Food is how I have personally deepened my connections with my Afro-Caribbean, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish ancestry. There is just something so right about honoring your ancestors with their traditional dishes and imagining the lives they may have lived as you feast with the Dead. Check your local thrift stores for old, out-of-print traditional recipe books; you’d be surprised what you can find!

Goddesses of Hearth & Home

Kitchen witches honor the goddess of the Hearth, the sacred center of the home, the source of all life and where, in ancient times, the eternal flame, that little spark of the greater Sun, burned eternally. We are all familiar with The White Goddess by Robert Graves; he wrote that one symbol of “the White Goddess” was the omphalos, which he believed was the same white brick as the burning lump of charcoal of the hearth. The following are some popular Hearth-goddesses.

Many kitchen witches create shrines to their Hearth-gods in their kitchen. I’ve written about three–Hestia, Frigga, and Brighid–but other Indo-European Hearth-goddesses include Vesta, Matka Gabia, Gabija, and Berehynia; and Ceridwen, as the stirrer of the magical cauldron of Awen, is also commonly worshipped. Earth-goddesses are also honored, and the Indo-European Earth-goddesses are known as Mother Earth, Gaia, Demeter, Nerthus, Jorth, Danu, Aine, Prthivi, Dheghom Matr, the Cailleach/Bone Mother (the dark and dying Earth), Don, Ceres, and Tellus Terra Mater.

Hestia

The Hearth-goddess of the ancient Greeks, who crafted the omphalos, was Hestia. She was the first God who received the sacrifice at all public rites of offering, as well as first and last libations of wine at feasts, as ordained by Zeus, who is Her brother and reveres Her, as well. She is a protectoress, and in ancient Greece, anyone who prayed for Her aid at any of Her shrines in all households and court houses, received it. In Greece, the Hearth was the sacrificial altar, and Hestia as its goddess represented personal security and happiness.

Hestia never takes part in wars and disputes and has never accepted any amorous offers from her fellow gods; after being approached by Poseidon and Apollo after Cronus’ dethronement, She vowed by Zeus’ head to remain a virgin (for which He rewarded Her first sacrifice, for preserving the peace of Olympus). Hestia sat on a wooden throne with a white woolen cushion, and never took an emblem. The central hearth and sacred fire of the state or community was especially sacred to Her, and She was the keeper of the sacred fire in the Olympian hearth. The Homeric hymn to Her tells us a bit more:

Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the Far-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise: draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.

Frigga

Frigga is the wife of Odin and Queen of Asgard, and the only Being besides Odin Himself who is permitted to sit on His high seat Hlidskjalf and look out over all the Realms of the Universe. Friday is named for Her, and She is still remembered for ruling over love and marriage, in addition to being a seeress, though She never reveals Her secrets, and Her powers of prophecy caused Her great pain when She Saw the death of Her son Baldur, whom She loved dearly and who was killed by Loki, the Trickster having discovered the one thing that She couldn’t iamgine would kill Him: mistletoe. Frigg’s hall in Asgard is Fensalir, “Marsh Halls,” and She sits at Her spindle and weaves the destiny of Gods and humans alike. The Goose is sacred to Her, a symbol of her nurturing nature. She is invoked by women in labor and the dying.

The loving Mother who labored all of Midwinter Night giving birth to the radiant Baldur, Goddess of love, marriage, fertility, and weaving, who weaved the clouds and therefore brought rain to the crops, Frigga has a beautiful and complex body of myth behind Her.

Brighid

Also known as Bríd, Bride, Brigid, and Brigit, this Triple Goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann rules over poetry, healing, and smithing, as well as fertility and agriculture. In Her earliest incarnation, as Breo-Saighit, She was called the Flame of Ireland, and a goddess of the forge. The household fire is sacred to Her, and at Kildare, Her eternal flame was kept by nineteen priestesses. Brighid was also a sage, a wise-woman, and a prophetess; She dipped Her cupped hands into Her frith to divine that which was lost, that which was to come, and that which was far away. She is honored at Là Fhèill Brìghde (Scots-Gaelic) or Lá Fhéile Bríde (Irish-Gaelic) on February 1, also called Imbolc (“Ewe’s Milk”), during which festival Her figure is crafted, placed into a bed, and invited into the home. She, like Hestia, is a keeper of the sacred hearth; but is also extraordinarily diverse in Her skills and knowledge.

Let’s start with the basics

Salt~

Basic Ritual:

In a glass jar or bowl, mix 1/2 cup salt with desired herbs. While mixing, focus your mind on your intentions (i.e. protection, health, self-love). Picture your intentions manifesting. Feel the safety and peace rippling through you if your salt is for protection. Imagine your body (or your loved one’s) healing if you’re manifesting health. Picture that person up and about, running and jumping and feeling amazing! If your blend is for self-love, imagine yourself standing before a mirror, liking what you see. Smile at yourself. Tell yourself you are loved that you are human and you are doing your best, that your best is enough, that you are worthy of love, especially your own.

Once you can visualize the outcome in your mind’s eye, place the jar outside or on a windowsill where it will be exposed to the moonlight all night. In Goddess pose (arms above head like the “Y” in the YMCA dance), thank the Goddess Moon for lending her energies to your spell and take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is a full moon.

Leave the jar on the windowsill until the following morning. Cover it, put it on your magic shelf, and you’re done! Now you have a blessing salt you can use to protect your home or vehicle, to circle a table for a healing spell, or to bless a special piece of jewelry or crystal to keep with you to remind yourself that you are worthy of love!

These herbs can be added in any amount. Generally, I listen to instinct and see what the herb is saying to me (so to speak. I don’t hear herbal voices, but how cool would that be?!) If you find yourself drawn to one more than another, either by scent or smell or pure instinct, follow your gut! Magick is all about instinct. The best spells you will ever cast are the ones where you followed your intuition.

Protection Blend

Dill

Cedar

Clove

Sage

Lavender

Healing Blend

Cinnamon

Lavender

Pine

Rosemary

Sandalwood

Self-Love Blend

Chamomile

Lavender

Rose

Jasmine

HERBS AND SPICES

Cardamom — add whole pods to a charm bag or mojo hand for love and sex, dust in its powdered form on candles along with cinnamon for a sex me up spell, use whole pods along with dried rose petals, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla bean in olive oil for a love unguent.

Cinnamon — for hot herb magic action sprinkle a pinch combined with sugar outside your place of business to draw customers, use it to heat up love situations, dust a candle with cinnamon and peppermint in honor of St. Expedite.

Coffee — use it to compel people and “encourage” them to do what you want, serve a cup of coffee to someone that you need to bring over to your point of view, add a spoonful of sugar if you need them to be sweet to you and add a pinch of cinnamon if you want them to give you money. Murmur their name over the cup as you stir clockwise calling out your desire.

Bay Leaf — for victory, triumph, and success. Bay Laurel crowns were awarded to stellar poets and soldiers in Ancient Greece and Rome. They are also a key ingredient in traditionally made Archangel Michael packets and sacred to Archangel Michael.

Black Peppercorns — use in baneful workings when an enemy needs to feel the heat and vamanos! May also be used in harsher compelling workings-like when the insurance company is holding out on you-in the latter case combine with licorice root-which makes a delicious and soothing tea by the way.

Ginger — powerful protective ingredient found in herb mixes, anointing oils, and baths. Combine ginger, bay leaf, and cinnamon to protect your ability to success and prosper.

Kosher Salt –Kosher salt has actually been blessed and may be sprinkled along with cumin seeds around the circumference of your home for blessings and protection. May be mixed with oils and herbs for any number of spiritual baths, may be used to cleanse a room or space when combined with holy water.

Lemongrass –an essential ingredient for cleansing herb blends and bath mixes as well as communication blends. Used in road opening work. May be mixed with peppermint, sage, and kosher salt for an on-the-fly spiritual cleansing bath chock full of good herb magic mojo! Also, a key ingredient in Sacred Washes and Sprays.

Red Pepper — has a long history of use in herb magic and can banish unfriendly people from your life, “hot foot” unwanted visitors and in the cases of sweeter red peppers like Arbol chiles, a tiny pinch may be added to sluggish love affairs to get the object of your affection to respond/wake up!/contact you. If you are being visited by someone and you want them to leave sooner rather than later dust your broom with a bit of red pepper and sweep it out onto the path, they will use to enter your home, calling their name and stating that they need to keep their visit short.

Rosemary — encourages peace in the home, hang a few sprigs above the door tied with blue ribbon to foster a sense of serenity and tranquility. Combine in food with lavender, thyme, and garlic for peace and protection, add to charm bags for peace and gentleness, also aids memory and concentration.

Sage — Used for cleansing-this is sometimes referred to as Turkey sage-it’s not the white sage you find in smudge sticks, but it may be burned as a purification rite nonetheless. May be crushed and combined with Solomon Seal Root and Deerstongue leaf to inspire wisdom and eloquence in speech and speaking engagements.

Sugar — use to sweet people to you, combine with cinnamon for money, use to candy rose petals for love magic, create a lover come, lover stay body scrub by combining one cup sugar, half a cup olive oil (or almond oil if you have it), a handful of dried red or pink rose petals, lavender blossoms, and Cardamom pods-add one cinnamon stick to the jar and voila!

Vanilla Bean — fosters sweetness and home sweet home feelings. Stick in your sugar jar for peace and warmth in hearth and home, use in making truffles or ice cream for drawing and fostering love and romance. Another herb magic standby that I consider essential to always have.

OILS AND VINEGARS

Honey — though not specifically herb magic honey is a handy and common kitchen goody. Use in a honey jar to sweeten your romantic relationships, get the promotion, or make your in laws favor you.

Olive oil — may be used in place of any ritual anointing oil in a pinch, is the base for many hi altar or temple type oils, traditionally used to anoint a beloved’s foot after a foot washing ritual.

Vinegar (Red, White, Balsamic, Rice, etc) — great for baneful workings to break up people working against you-put them in a mason jar with vinegar, hot red peppers, and poppy seeds so that their conversations with each other become confused, inflammatory, and lead to break ups. Sour someone’s words or close the mouth of a gossip by taking a petition paper and placing it in a bottle with vinegar and alum.

Pantry and fridge

Flour — use to make bread for offerings at the altar, combine with other ingredients to make magically inspired cakes and biscuits, combine with salt and stamp with meaningful symbols to create a powerful ward against the evil eye that may be hung in the kitchen or home. Use arrowroot powder as a base for making your own sachet powders.

Butter — roll in herbs like Thyme, Lavender, and Rosemary for home sweet home vibes and serve at a family dinner. Reduce with garlic and a sliver of ginger and a pinch of red pepper and serve to a potential enemy so that you are protected, and they are banished.

Milk — set out as an offering to the faerie folk or as an offering to certain Spirits and Deities on the altar. You may also use milk as a vehicle through which personal concerns can be delivered when the milk is consumed by the target. In Conjure bathing with the milk from a black cow imbues one with special protective properties.

Herbs and Some of their uses~

  • Basil – (Fire/Mars)

A herb long considered divine which lends itself very well to rites of cleansing, exorcism, and protection. It can be burned as incense, added to magical herbal sachets, made into an herbal tea for use as a floor wash or room spray, or added to a magical bath. Basil soothes people’s emotions and anxiety making it excellent for general house cleansing. In folklore where there is basil, no evil lives, but it is still not one of the strongest banishing herbs – if you need something more “serious” I’d recommend bay, cloves, garlic, or rosemary. As an added bonus for witches, basil is also associated with flying and can be added to concoctions or baths to aid in spirit flight.

  • Bay – (Fire/Sun)

The Bay Laurel you put it in your soups and sauces but ancient Greek priestesses chewed the leaves to receive visions for supplicants at the temples of Apollo. The leaves of the bay laurel are excellent for concoctions for divination and the sight and are often burned or ingested to induce prophetic visions and dreams. Bay also has a long history of being used for purification, banishing, curse reversal, and protection from evil spirits and illness. Add dried bay leaves to holy water when sprinkling a space or object to purify it. Burn bay leaves to aid in curse reversals or the banishment of undesired spirits. For a bit of simple folk magic, write a wish on a dried bay leaf and then burn it hoping the gods and/or spirits will favor you.

  • Cinnamon – (Fire/Sun)

Besides its passionate aphrodisiac associations with Aphrodite, cinnamon is also commonly used in folk magic for “heating up” spells — whether they be for love, money, success, or protection. To “heat up” a spell means to make it happen more quickly or more strongly. Cinnamon is found in the ancient holy anointing oil recipe from the Bible and in ancient Egyptian incense recipes from a complex Kyphi to a simple blend of cinnamon, frankincense, and myrrh.

In root work it is an ingredient in the popular “fiery wall of protection” blend as well as other cleansing and protective incenses but is most commonly used to bring good fortune and prosperity to a business.  Burn cinnamon at your business and/or make a tea of it and pour it on your front step to bring in customers and their money. Try burning cinnamon in your home to quiet its energies or your children’s. And burn cinnamon with frankincense and myrrh to purify a person, object, or place of evil influences and attached spirits.

  • Cloves – (Fire/Jupiter)

Cloves most people don’t use cloves except for a pinch in apple or pumpkin pie once or twice a year – what a waste of all the homemade chai you’re not drinking! Cloves are one of the strongest and best herbs you can burn for protection as the smoke will protect you psychically and physically whether from a deliberate attack or an unconscious evil eye directed at you. Any time you’re worried about a possible attack – burn powdered cloves. If you’re dealing with something really nasty, burn garlic skins and cloves together, due to their protective and cleansing qualities, it should come as no surprise that most Florida Water recipes contain cloves. If you suspect someone is gossiping about you behind your back, stud a candle with whole cloves and burn it down or simply burn more powdered cloves while stating your intent.

  • Mint – (Air/Mercury)

Mint is uplifting, refreshing, invigorating, and delightful. There is nothing like the scent of fresh mint! It clears the mind and gives one energy. If you need a mental pick-me-up brew yourself some mint tea to drink or use it to rinse your hair after conditioning. Mint used for stimulating bringing activity and business making it another good herb for “heating up” spells and bringing prosperity. Slip some dried mint leaves in your wallet or cash register to attract money. Place fresh mint on your altar or working space to summon your spirits and double as a lovely offering for them in return for the magic you have planned.

Selling your house or business? Spray a mint hydrosol (or mint essential oil mixed with water) around the rooms or place some mint essential oil in an oil diffuser to attract a buyer. In root work, mint can also be used to protect from curses by stashing some leaves in your shoe or in a sachet you carry on your person. In folk magic, mint can be used to receive visions and enhance psychic abilities making it excellent for teas, smoking blends, incenses, or ritual baths meant to aid in divination, dream work, or visionary experiences.

  • Pepper – (Fire/Mars)

Everyone has black pepper in their home, but most don’t think to use it for magic. Pepper is a very potent magical herb, but it is also one that can be used for good or evil depending on the will of practitioner. Belonging to Mars it is often used for martial magic – both for defensive and offensive spells. Use black pepper in protection sachets around your home or on your person when you think you are being attacked.

Mix salt and pepper together and sprinkle in a circle around your land to remove and protect from evil influences. Root workers believe this will also prevent unwanted people from trespassing on your land whether it’s your mother-in-law or a nasty witch who has it in for you. For an even stronger blend, make your own witch’s salt (aka black salt) with black pepper, salt, iron scrapings (from a cauldron or cast-iron pan) and charcoal. Pepper is most used in folk magic for cursing and can be found in various powders, candle spells, and other recipes for causing harm. You can put in your war water or your hot foot recipes for some extra fire power.

  • Rosemary – (Fire/Sun)

Rosemary is a ritual herb par excellence used for just about every magical purpose under the sun including banishing, exorcism, healing, love, protection, and purification. Before our ancestors had exotic herbs and resins for incenses, they had rosemary and used it often. Rosemary can be burned instead of the standard frankincense to cleanse a space before ritual or spell work. Plus, who needs sage when you have rosemary? Plagued by evil spirits or the evil eye? Burn some rosemary, smudging yourself and your home. Burn it also for divination, to receive visions, or for spells of love, lust or healing.

Place sachets of dried rosemary around your house for protection and under your bed to ward off nightmares. Make a wash with rosemary to cleanse your hands before performing healing work or making herbal healing remedies. Stuff a poppet full of dried rosemary for a healing spell. Sprinkle rosemary water around a sick room to promote healing. Rosemary mixes very well with evergreen needles and resins as well as juniper berries for homemade multi-purpose incense which smells like a forest. Instead of more traditional floor washes, I like to use rosemary and lemon to cleanse my house. The moral of all this… use more rosemary!

  • Thyme – (Water/Venus)

We put thyme in our soups, gravies, and on meat, but the ancient Greeks burned it to purify their sacred temples. We can modify this ancient use by burning thyme as cleansing incense before performing spells and rituals. Thyme is known to be an excellent healing herb and in folk magic it is worn, burned, or added to ritual baths for this purpose. Tuck a sprig of thyme or a sachet of dried thyme under your pillow or mattress for a restful, nightmare-free sleep and to receive prophetic dreams or visions. Thyme is found in a Scottish fairy ointment recipe from the 17th century, and it is also believed that if you wear fresh thyme you will be able to see fairies. For a gentle house cleansing ritual, dip sprigs of fresh thyme into holy water and flick them about all the corners of your house for purification and to add loving energies to your home.

Kitchen Witchery

A Kitchen Witch is a Witch who focuses their magical practice on the home and hearth and uses things commonly found in the kitchen as magickal tools. Kitchen Witchery may be an expression of religious faith; a Kitchen Witch may focus his or her spirituality on ancestor spirits or hearth Gods or Goddesses, or it may simply be a creative outgrowth of a secular Witch’s homemaking activities – or anything in between. A Kitchen Witch may be a member of any religion or no religion at all.

How to Become a Kitchen Witch

  • Become mindful, and make yourself present in the moment as you’re going about your housekeeping, cooking and chores. Become aware of the magic and energy going on in the moment.
  • Begin studying magic, particularly green magic, folk magic and energy work. All magic is rooted in the same theories and works on the same principles, it just largely depends on how you wish to exercise it.
  • Start cleaning up your home and garden. It doesn’t have to be a show place, but it should be someplace that makes you feel warm and comfortable, someplace you find inviting. Your home is your own little sanctuary in this big old world.
  • Start planting a garden. No land? No problem—I have no land either. I keep a few dozen pots on wire shelving or hanging from hooks around the perimeter of a big screen porch with southern exposure. I grow lots of herbs, flowers, houseplants, and even a nice little salad garden of tomato, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, spinach, squashes and the like. These are mostly planted in old storage containers, coffee cans and butter tubs. Even if all you have is a sunny windowsill, there is a way to have just a few herbs.
  • If you can’t have a garden, collect dry herbs or purchase them in bulk from the local farmer’s market.
  • Foster an attitude of gratitude for your food. Give thanks not just at harvest festivals, but for every little meal and snack. Thank the spirit of the animals and plants that you consume and be aware of their power that you are taking into your body.
  • Connect to your animals and plants on a spiritual level. Stop thinking of them as lower life forms and start celebrating them as spiritual beings in their own right. Learn to listen, to read their signs, to communicate and learn their lessons.
  • Cook—cooking is a big part of Kitchen Witchery. You charges your herbs and ingredients, you imbue your food with your magical desires and then consuming.
  • Begin learning some herbal remedies. I wouldn’t rush off and treat serious conditions on your own without a doctor’s care, and keep in mind that even culinary herbs in large doses can be very dangerous. But you can start with some simple things like making poultices for bruises, salves for bee stings or lotions for skin irritations.
  • Start to shift to a more organic way of life. Move away from the excess, the waste, the chemicals, the poisons. Start recycling and reusing things, begin composting for your garden, use herbs to create your own all-natural cleaning supplies.
  • Begin thinking magically in everything you do. When you stoke the fire or cook over the stove, when you shower and do the dishes, when you turn on the fan or dig in the garden, give praise to the spirits of the elements. When you cook, don’t just follow a recipe—turn it into a spell, and charge that food or drink with the energy of that which you want to work toward. When you do your spring cleaning, perform it with reverence as a purification of your temple. Don’t just suck up the dust bunnies under the bed with your vacuum—banish these negative entities from your life.

Before you know it, you won’t be looking at the calendar wondering when the next Esbat is, or thinking about stopping by that New Age store for some spell components or ritual tools. Everything in your life becomes part of your magical endeavors, and this can bring an abundance of blessings and joy.

HERBS AND SPICES

Cardamom — add whole pods to a charm bag or mojo hand for love and sex, dust in its powdered form on candles along with cinnamon for a sex me up spell, use whole pods along with dried rose petals, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla bean in olive oil for a love unguent.

Cinnamon — for hot herb magic action sprinkle a pinch combined with sugar outside your place of business to draw customers, use it to heat up love situations, dust a candle with cinnamon and peppermint in honor of St. Expedite.

Coffee — use it to compel people and “encourage” them to do what you want, serve a cup of coffee to someone that you need to bring over to your point of view, add a spoonful of sugar if you need them to be sweet to you and add a pinch of cinnamon if you want them to give you money. Murmur their name over the cup as you stir clockwise calling out your desire.

Bay Leaf — for victory, triumph, and success. Bay Laurel crowns were awarded to stellar poets and soldiers in Ancient Greece and Rome. They are also a key ingredient in traditionally made Archangel Michael packets and sacred to Archangel Michael.

Black Peppercorns — use in baneful workings when an enemy needs to feel the heat and vamanos! May also be used in harsher compelling workings-like when the insurance company is holding out on you-in the latter case combine with licorice root-which makes a delicious and soothing tea by the way.

Ginger — powerful protective ingredient found in herb mixes, anointing oils, and baths. Combine ginger, bay leaf, and cinnamon to protect your ability to success and prosper.

Kosher Salt –Kosher salt has actually been blessed and may be sprinkled along with cumin seeds around the circumference of your home for blessings and protection. May be mixed with oils and herbs for any number of spiritual baths, may be used to cleanse a room or space when combined with holy water.

Lemongrass –an essential ingredient for cleansing herb blends and bath mixes as well as communication blends. Used in road opening work. May be mixed with peppermint, sage, and kosher salt for an on the fly spiritual cleansing bath chock full of good herb magic mojo! Also a key ingredient in Sacred Washes and Sprays.

Red Pepper — has a long history of use in herb magic and can banish unfriendly people from your life, “hot foot” unwanted visitors and in the cases of sweeter red peppers like Arbol chiles, a tiny pinch may be added to sluggish love affairs to get the object of your affection to respond/wake up!/contact you. If you are being visited by someone and you want them to leave sooner rather than later dust your broom with a bit of red pepper and sweep it out onto the path they will use to enter your home, calling their name and stating that they need to keep their visit short.

Rosemary — encourages peace in the home, hang a few sprigs above the door tied with blue ribbon to foster a sense of serenity and tranquility. Combine in food with lavender, thyme, and garlic for peace and protection, add to charm bags for peace and gentleness, also aids memory and concentration.

Sage — Used for cleansing-this is sometimes referred to as Turkey sage-its not the white sage you find in smudge sticks but it may be burned as a purification rite nonetheless. May be crushed and combined with Solomon Seal Root and Deers tongue leaf to inspire wisdom and eloquence in speech and speaking engagements.

Sugar — use to sweet people to you, combine with cinnamon for money, use to candy rose petals for love magic, create a lover come, lover stay body scrub by combining one cup sugar, half a cup olive oil (or almond oil if you have it), a handful of dried red or pink rose petals, lavender blossoms, and Cardamom pods-add one cinnamon stick to the jar and voila!

Vanilla Bean — fosters sweetness and home sweet home feelings. Stick in your sugar jar for peace and warmth in hearth and home, use in making truffles or ice cream for drawing and fostering love and romance. Another herb magic standby that I consider essential to have at all times.

OILS AND VINEGARS                           

Honey — though not specifically herb magic honey is a handy and common kitchen goody. Use in a honey jar to sweeten your romantic relationships, get the promotion, or make your in laws favor you.

Olive oil — may be used in place of any ritual anointing oil in a pinch, is the base for many hi altar or temple type oils, traditionally used to anoint a beloved’s foot after a foot washing ritual.

Vinegar (Red, White, Balsamic, Rice, etc) — great for baneful workings to break up people working against you-put them in a mason jar with vinegar, hot red peppers, and poppy seeds so that their conversations with each other become confused, inflammatory, and lead to break ups. Sour someone’s words, or close the mouth of a gossip by taking a petition paper and placing it in a bottle with vinegar and alum.

PANTRY, FRIDGE, AND MISC ITEMS

Crab Shell — powdered crab shell is the best on hand substance for reversing bad luck. Use it in doll babies, box spells, and candle workings-in the latter sprinkle the crab shell powder around the candle widdershins (in a direction contrary to the sun’s course, considered as unlucky; counterclockwise.) to undo damage. Work with salt, sage, bay leaf, peppermint, and/or ginger to invoke blessing and protection. You can get crab shells from your fishmonger-just ask! Typically the shells are worked with in powdered form so they need to be dried out, set them in the sun or oven-but if you put them in the oven open up the windows-they are a protein and they can get smelly.

Flour — use to make bread for offerings at the altar, combine with other ingredients to make magically inspired cakes and biscuits, combine with salt and stamp with meaningful symbols to create a powerful ward against the evil eye that may be hung in the kitchen or home. Use arrowroot powder as a base for making your own sachet powders.

Butter — roll in herbs like Thyme, Lavender, and Rosemary for home sweet home vibes and serve at a family dinner. Reduce with garlic and a sliver of ginger and a pinch of red pepper and serve to a potential enemy so that you are protected and they are banished.

Milk — set out as an offering to the faerie folk or as an offering to certain Spirits and Deities on the altar. You may also use milk as a vehicle through which personal concerns can be delivered when the milk is consumed by the target. In Conjure bathing with the milk from a black cow imbues one with special protective properties.

Working with the Days of the Week

To do this, we start at the beginning.

Sunday: Sunday corresponds to the sun, our closest star. This day is full of wonder and all sorts of magical potential for success, wealth, and fame. Sundays are for personal achievements of any kind such as working towards a promotion at your job, seeking fame and wealth, or being acknowledged for a job well done. All of these goals fall under the golden influence of the sun. Some suggestions for Sunday enchantments would include:

    Sitting outside at sunrise and calling on the goddess Brigid for illumination and inspiration

    Wearing gold jewelry or clothing that is gold or sunshine yellow to pull some color magic into your life

    Arranging a few sunflowers in a vase and empowering these “flowers of the sun” for fame and ambition

    Gathering up the common marigold flower and scattering it’s petals about to encourage prosperity

    Baking up a batch of cinnamon rolls for the family and enchanting them for health and success

    Snacking on a solar fruit, the orange, and enjoying the magical boost it brings to your life

Monday: This day of the week is dedicated to the moon and all of her magic and mystery. Mondays are for women’s mysteries, illusion, prophetic dreaming, emotions, travel, and fertility. Some suggestions for Monday enchantments would include:

    Getting outside and looking for the moon in the heavens. Sit under her light and absorb a little glamor. Call on the moon goddess Selene for practical help in magical issues.

    Invoking the god Thoth for wisdom and insight

    Empowering your silver jewelry under the light of the moon. Wear moonstone or pearl jewelry today to add a lunar and magical shimmer to your outfit. Be mysterious and subtle and wear moon-associated colors such as white, silver, and blue.

    Working spells for safe travel with a simple moonstone

    Gathering bluebells, jasmine, gardenias, or white roses to create a little garden witchery with the flowers that are associated with the moon

    Setting up a lunar Tarot spell today to increase your psychic powers

    Eating a lunar fruit such as a melon to be healthy, serene, and at peace

    Brewing up a cup of chamomile or mint tea and enchanting it for sweet dreams and restful sleep

Tuesday: Tuesday is a Mars day, and just like the god of war, this is the time to tap into magics to call for strength and courage. This day of the week is for rebels and warriors. If you are facing a challenge of any kind, need a boost to your courage, or want to enhance your passions, Tuesday is the day of the week for you. Some suggestions for Tuesday enchantments would include:

    Wearing the fiery colors associated with this day: scarlet, red, black, and orange. Don some of the more daring and bewitching colors of your wardrobe on Tuesdays and turn a few heads

    Carrying a bloodstone in your pocket or wearing garnet-studded jewelry to reinforce your convictions

    Working with protective and fire-associated plants such as the snapdragon, thistle, and holly to boost your shields and bravery

    Burning spicy-scented energy-enhancing candles to add a little magical aromatherapy to your home

    Cooking up a hearty meal featuring carrots, peppers, and garlic (all Mars foods and spices) to empower yourself for victory and success

Wednesday: Wednesdays are wild and wacky days. They are for communication, change, cunning, and the arts. This is a Mercury day, and just its patron god this day is full of contradictions, change, and excitement. Some suggestions for Wednesday enchantments would include:

    Pulling a little Wednesday color magic into your life by wearing purples or orange

    Carrying a multi-purpose agate with you and tapping into its various charms

    Working with magical plants such as the fern for protection. This plant will also boost the power of any other magical plants with which it is arranged.

    Incorporating lavender into charms and spells for transformation

    Using the charming scent of lily of the valley to improve your memory, or working with the aspen tree for communication

    Calling on Athena, patron of arts and crafts, for inspiration for a new project

    Fanning out a Tarot spell to increase you creativity

    Calling on Hermes on a Wednesday night to bring movement and good luck into your life

Thursday: Thursday is a Jupiter day. Here is the day of the week for prosperity, abundance, and good health. Thursday is “Thor’s day.” This Norse god gave the day his name and many of his attributes, including strength and abundance. Some suggestions for Thursday enchantments would include:

    Wearing a regal and royal shade of blue to see how it affects your mood and your magic. Other colors for the day include purple and green.

    Carrying a turquoise tumbled stone in your pocket to draw a little protective and healing energy your way

    Incorporating honeysuckle blossoms and cinquefoil foliage into prosperity charms

    Calling on Thor for abundance, or on the Roman god Jupiter for the ability to peacefully referee a fight

    Adding a few oak leaves—which are sacred to these Thursday gods—to your charms to see how much better your spell works out

    Casting a charm with wheat stalks for prosperity, and calling on Juno Moneta to bring wealth into your life

    Baking up some whole wheat bread and blessing it for abundance. Be sure to thank the gods for your family and your good health.

Friday: Friday belongs to Venus, both the planet and its namesake Roman goddess of love. This day is sacred to many other gods and goddesses of love such as Eros, Venus, Aphrodite, and the Norse goddess that gave the day it’s name, Freya. This day of the week is for magical topics such as love, birth, fertility, and romance. Colors for today include pink and aqua. Some suggestions for Friday enchantments would include:

    Carrying a rose quartz with you today to send out some gentle and loving vibes to those crabby co-workers

    Working a loving Tarot spell to charm a friend’s pregnancy with good health and safety

    Working a little flower magic to enchant a single pink rose for friendship and inner beauty, and setting it on your desk. Or try empowering a red rose for passion and placing it in your bedroom.

    Burning rose-scented candles to encourage the same effect. Call on Eros to “bring a passion for life” to your days.

    Sharing a romantic snack with your partner. Feed each other ripe, red strawberries. Those strawberries are love-inducing food, and are sacred to many love goddesses, including today’s patroness, Freya.

Saturday: This day of the week got it’s name from the god of karma and time, Saturn. This day is obviously associated with the planet Saturn and is our last day of the week. Traditionally Saturdays are great days for protection, banishing a negative situation, and generally a good time to clean up any magical messes that you have been ignoring. Some suggestions for Saturday enchantments would include:

    Wearing the colors of the day, black and deep purple. Here’s your perfect excuse to be dramatic and witchy. Empower these dramatic pieces of your wardrobe for protection and strength.

    Burning black candles to absorb negativity and burning purple ones to increase your magical wisdom and boost your spirituality

    Adding a touch of garden witchery to your Saturday spells by working with the pansy (in black or purple of course), the morning glory flowering vine, or the cypress tree.

    Carrying an obsidian, hematite, or jet tumbled stone in your pocket to reinforce your personal protection and to ward off bad vibes and sour feelings. You can also add these crystals to a candle spell on a Saturday night to really increase the punch of your spell casting.

    Cleaning your house and cleansing it while you are at it. Tap into those obstacle-removing vibes and the positive, concluding energies.

    Closing up the final day of the bewitching week with a bang by calling on Hecate for protection and guidance.

Every day is a magical day. Just how enchanting of a day it turns out to be is completely up to you.

Moon Cycles and Meanings

The Moon represents powerful feminine energy. It signifies wisdom, intuition, birth, death, reincarnation, and a spiritual connection. The cycle of the Moon is similar to the cycle of a seed: the seed grows into a flower, then blooms, and then dies.

Once we are attuned to the Moon, we can activate her innate powers

The moon also represents our deepest personal needs. We can use the knowledge and energy of the Moon’s cycle to better connect to ourselves.

Each phase of the Moon’s cycle has a unique visual characteristic and spiritual meaning. Her cyclical course also signifies the rhythm of life within us.

New Moon

The Moon is positioned between the Earth and Sun so it cannot be seen from Earth. This phase signifies new beginnings. (3 DAYS)

Waxing Crescent Moon

‘Waxing’ means the Moon’s illumination is growing and ‘Crescent’ means less than half of the Moon is illuminated. This phase signifies intention. (5.25  DAYS)

First Quarter Moon

Exactly half of the Moon is illuminated and the other half is shadowed. This phase signifies decision making. (1 DAY)

Waxing Gibbous Moon

‘Waxing’ means the Moon’s illumination is growing and ‘Gibbous’ means more than half of the Moon is illuminated. This phase signifies refinement. (5.25 Days)

Full Moon

The Sun illuminates the entire moon. This phase signifies release and sealing of intention. (3 DAYS)

Waning Gibbous

‘Waning’ refers to the decreasing of the Moon’s illumination and ‘Gibbous’ means more than half of Moon illuminated. This phase signifies gratitude. (5.25 days)

Third Quarter

Exactly half of the Moon is illuminated and the other half is shadowed. We will see the opposite side than the First Quarter Moon. This phase signifies forgiveness. (1 DAY)

Waning Crescent

‘Waning’ refers to the shrinking of the Moon’s illumination and ‘Crescent’ means less than half of the Moon is illuminated. This phase signifies surrender. (5.25 days)

New Moon

The Moon is positioned between the Earth and Sun so it cannot be seen from Earth. This phase signifies new beginnings, and the cycle begins again.

Attune To Her Glow

As the closest astronomical body to us, the Moon has a powerful influence on us as spiritual bodies. The Full Moon offers the most profound energies that we can absorb, while the New Moon is the next most powerful energy.

One way to connect to this energy and influence is to use the Moon’s energy to help set our intentions and clear negativity.

The Moon’s cycle is 29.5 days and it represents a full life-cycle. Each phase of the Moon has a different meaning and rhythm to the body.

Color Meanings

For centuries candles of different colors have been burned to attract desired emotions, material wealth, or karma. Candles can be one of the most effective tools used for meditation, rituals and other ceremonies. The size of the candles you use is not important. It is the color and its meaning that matters!

Only fresh candles should be used. This avoids issues with candles that have picked up negative energies and vibrations interfering with the ritual or meditation and adversely affecting the outcome. Candles that are used to bring wishes to you, light with a lighter or lighting stick, candles that are used in banishing or pushing unwanted energy away, light with a match, and should be snuffed out, not blown out.

Meditate and establish a psychic link between the candle and yourself. Be specific in what you ask for and don’t get greedy. Do not use candles to put negative energy onto others. Always be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

Below you will find a list of individual candle colors and the meanings and uses associated with that color.

Black: Used in rituals to induce a deep meditational state, to protect and/or to ward off negativity. Can be used to banish evil or negativity as in uncrossing rituals; attracts Saturn energy. Burning black with any other color is said to dissolves all negative energies.

Blue: The primary spiritual color It’s used to obtain wisdom, harmony, inner light, or peace; confers truth and guidance. Other uses include healing, sleep, creativity, perception, calming wisdom, truth, loyalty, dreams, and the examination of emotions. Some say it represents the divine mother.

Blue (Dark): Promotes laughter and joy as well as loyalty. Can be used to attract Jupiter energy, or whenever an influence needs to be increased. Confers wisdom and self-awareness. Can be calming and assist sleep. Also used to influence truth, dreams, emotions, and loyalty.

Blue (Light): Another very spiritual color: it is used to increase peace, tranquility, patience, and calmness. It radiates Aquarian energy and can be used in devotional or inspirational meditations; employ where a situation must be synthesized.

Blue (Royal): Mostly used to confer wisdom, protection, and good fortune. Increases spiritual awareness. Also increases communication, which can cause change. Can bring about a deep meditational state. Used in rituals that need increased Saturn energy.

Brown: This is an earthy, well-balanced color It is used for rituals of material increase. It is said to eliminate indecisiveness and improve powers of concentration, study, and/or telepathy. Said to increases financial success. Also represents the home. Some say those born under Capricorn will be more potent in their work using it.

Gold: Fosters understanding and is said to bring about fast luck or money. Represents solar energy. It is used to heal all inner wounds, also to confer money smarts. Prosperity, wealth, money, attraction. Some also say it represents enlightenment, protection and the Divine Mother.

Green: Promotes prosperity, fertility, and success. Stimulates good luck, can increase money, harmony, and rejuvenation. Also represents Healing, health, and growth. Can be an important component in rituals involving Venus; attracts love, and social delights.

Green (Dark): Color of ambition, greed, and jealousy. Used to counteract these influences in a ritual. Also relates to personal goals.

Gray: Useful when pondering complex issues. Can neutralize negative influences without repercussions. Represents balance, encourages stability, helps develop psychic abilities. In magic, this color often sparks confusion; it also can negate or neutralize a negative influence.

Indigo: This is the color of inertia; stops situations or people; best used in rituals that require a deep meditational state. Also stimulates Saturnian energy.

Magenta: This is a combination of red and violet that oscillates on a high frequency. It’s used to energize rituals where immediate action and high levels of power or spiritual healing are required.

Orange: Used as a balancing element. Promotes mental agility, energy, success and stamina. It’s used to affect legal matters, success, action and promotion. Gives encouragement, adaptability and stimulation. Cleanses negative attitudes, situations and places.

Peach: Promotes restoration and rejuvenation. Confers a softness and gentleness.

Pink: Represents emotions from the heart and raises energies. This is the standard for all rituals that are used to draw love.

Pink (Dark): Represents friends and family, and healing in the family. Promotes romance, and friendship, brings hope. Can promote restful sleep.

Pink (Light): Represents devotion, love, tenderness and faith. Feminine energy.

Purple: Is used to obtain desires, power and success. Can stimulate idealism and psychic manifestations and help make contact with the spiritual world. Increases enthusiasm, desire and power. Is also powerful for healing, and spiritual development. Some attempt to use it for power over others.

Red: Represents physical pleasures. It can stimulate lust, courage, or strength against enemies. Can confer passion, love, and/or respect. Stimulates energy, health, fertility and will power. Draws Aries and Scorpio energy. Increases magnetism in rituals. Infers sex, vibrancy, and survival.

Rose: Rose is great for treating heart ailments, anxiety, depression. Good for people who suffer from nightmares. This graceful color increases admiration, love, friendship, fidelity, and calmness. Can also arouse emotions. It stimulates compassion for self and others, higher mystical powers and humor.

Silver: Encourages stability; helps develop psychic abilities; attracts the influence of the Mother Goddess. Also used to stimulate mental telepathy, clairvoyance, and intuition. Can be used for cancellations and neutrality. Stimulates psychometry, dreams, female power, and astral energies/projection.

Turquoise: Is a color that can be used for healing, prosperity, peace, growth, awareness, meditation, creativity, neutrality and cancellation. Often used to represent the Goddess.

White: This has the highest consciousness to protect, purify, and heal. Represents truth, unity, protection, peace, purification, happiness, and spirituality. Some say it can be used to replace any color candle in rituals. Used for concentration rituals and meditation work. Lunar energy.

Yellow: Represents attraction, charm, confidence and persuasion. Used to stimulate mental clarity, knowledge and concentration. Also used in healing. Like gold, it can serve for magic and rituals involving solar energies and deities associated with the sun. Stimulates logic, aids in overcoming mental blocks and promoting the self.

Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards

Visconti-Sforza Tarot

 Year: c. 1425
 Country of Origin: Italy
 Artist: Bonifacio Bembo (attributed)
 Designer: N/A
 Medium: hand-painted with oil paint, gold, and silver on heavy paper

photo source:

The Visconto-Sforza are the oldest tarot cards in the world. Thirty-five cards remain of this beautiful deck, which is remarkable when we consider their age and the delicate nature of the paper they were painted on. It is known as the Visconti-Sforza deck after the Duke of Milan, Filippo Visconti, and his son-in-law, Francesco Sforza, who commissioned the deck in 1425.

While woodblock printed cards existed at this time for the masses, this hand-painted set was both costly and unique.

Workshop of Bonifacio Bembo (Italian, Cremonese, active ca. 1442–died before 1482). Queen of Swords, from The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, ca. 1450. Made in Milan, Italy. Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground; 6 3/4 x 7 3/8 in. (17.3 x 8.7 cm). The Morgan Library & Museum, New York (MS M.630.23)

By the middle of the 15th century, the suit symbols of Italian cards were Cups, Swords, Batons, and Coins, and they remain so to this day. The pip cards were conventionally organized, with the repetition of the symbol indicating the value. In tarot cards, however, 21 trump cards, or tarocchi, were added, and these were figural, as in The Courtly Household Cards, with the fool at the bottom leading up to the emperor and pope at the top.

The earliest references to tarot all date to the 1440s and 1450s and fall within the quadrilateral defined by the northern cities of Venice, Milan, Florence, and Urbino. Because of the complicated nature of the game by that point, it is likely that it had begun evolving earlier in the century. Tarot cards employed the standard Italian suits, with values from 10 to 1 and with four face cards—king, queen, knight, and knave—for a total of 56 cards. Alongside them were a fool (matto), which was a wild card, and the 21 trump cards.

Tarot is a game of trick taking, as the many trump cards clearly indicate, and even though there are many variations (mostly minor), the rules of the game likely have not changed significantly since the 15th century. The present-day association of tarot with fortune-telling and the occult gained currency only in the 19th century and has nothing to do with the medieval tarot cards.

Left: Workshop of Bonifacio Bembo (Italian, Cremonese, active ca. 1442–died before 1482). Knave of Cups, from The Visconti Tarot, ca. 1450. Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground; 7 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. (18.9 x 9 cm). Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (ITA 109). Right: Workshop of Bonifacio Bembo (Italian, Cremonese, active ca. 1442–died before 1482). Knight (female) of Swords, from The Visconti Tarot, ca. 1450. Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground; 7 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. (18.9 x 9 cm). Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (ITA 109)

Trump cards are thought to have been invented in Europe, but perhaps not in Italy. The first trump-card game appears to have originated in Germany in the 1420s with a game known as Karnöffel, in which a suit of trump cards could beat only cards of a lower rank. Tarot and Karnöffel developed independently, and all subsequent trump games appear to have derived solely from tarot.

Three luxury tarot decks have survived from the mid-15th century. One of the decks is thought to have been made for Filippo Maria Visconti, the last duke of Milan of that name, prior to his death in 1447. Known as The Visconti Tarot, the deck’s 69 surviving cards are preserved in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Workshop of Bonifacio Bembo (Italian, Cremonese, active ca. 1442–died before 1482). Love, from The Visconti Tarot, ca. 1450. Made in Milan, Italy. Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground; 7 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. (18.9 x 9 cm). Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (ITA 109)

The other deck was more than likely made for Francesco Sforza, a mercenary commander who served in both Milan and Venice and married the only child of Filippo Maria Visconti. Known as The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, the deck was made sometime shortly after 1450. It is now divided: 26 of the surviving cards are at the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo and 35 are at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York. A third luxury deck, known as The Brambilla Deck (after a former owner), was almost certainly painted for Visconti before his death in 1447 and can be found at the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. All three decks are attributed to the workshop of the Milan court painter Bonifacio Bembo.

In The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, the highest trump is the world, followed by the angels. The remaining trump cards, in descending order, are the sun, moon, star, temperance, death, traitor, old man, wheel of fortune, fortitude, chariot, justice, love, pope, emperor, popess, empress, and mountebank, followed by the fool. The Visconti Tarot, the older pack, diverges from the standard: it has as many as six court cards per suit, including a male and female of all ranks. In addition to the more usual trumps, it also includes three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. It is uncertain if this pack was uniquely structured or if it represents an earlier stage before the tarots were standardized.

Left: Workshop of Bonifacio Bembo (Italian, Cremonese, active ca. 1442–died before 1482). Pope, from The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, ca. 1450. Made in Milan, Italy. Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground; 6 3/4 x 7 3/8 in. (17.3 x 8.7 cm). The Morgan Library & Museum, New York (MS M.630.4). Right: Death, from The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, ca. 1450. Made in Milan, Italy. Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground; 6 3/4 x 7 3/8 in. (17.3 x 8.7 cm). Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (ITA 109)

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Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

Tags: The Met CloistersThe Visconti-Sforza TarotThe Visconti TarotThe World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430–1540

What Are the Benefits of Astral Projection?

Phew, now that the scary part is over, it’s time to focus on all the amazing benefits of astral projection. Astral projection is an amazing experience, that almost everyone can have if they try hard enough.

Lucid Dreams Society does a great job of describing all the benefits of astral projections. We’re just going to name a few!

  1. Greater awareness of reality
  2. Enhances your curiosity and spirituality
  3. Helps you overcome the fear of death and the otherworldly
  4. Expands your consciousness
  5. Stimulates your personal development
  6. Helps you sleep better at night
  7. Brings a sense of inner peace
  8. Enhances your enthusiasm for existence
  9. Expands awareness, memory recall, and imagination
  10. Allows you to access past-life influences and other memories
  11. A profound sense of knowing instead of believing
  12. Takes you on adventures and brings joy
  13. Promotes spiritual and emotional healing
  14. Promote positive psychological changes
  15. Improves your self-worth, self-confidence, and self-respect

So, what do you think? Are astral projections and out-of-body experiences something you’d be willing to give a shot?

We certainly hope that your answer is yes because separating from your physical body can be a very life-changing experience. And, the best part is that every experience is individual, different for everyone, and you can tailor it to your liking. You can go on a pleasant, calm, and peaceful journey or decided to go on an extreme, fast, and wild adventures! The options are truly limitless, and it is up to you to explore them.

The Dark Side of Astral Projections

Many people will not even try to leave their bodies and start exploring a higher realm due to the possible astral projection dangers. When you separate from your body, the first emotion you’re going to feel is fear. You are exploring something unknown and you don’t know what can happen. And, so many people who experienced lucid dreams or astral projections have shared some scary stories.

As we mentioned, when you go astral you get the ability to visit other planes. And, sometimes, you can stumble upon a plane that isn’t compatible with your energy or frequency. When you do this, you will lose your sight, your hearing will likely be enhanced, and you’ll be really putting yourself at risk of getting attacked and drained. Wait, what, attacked?

Unfortunately, yes, you read that right. On those planes, you can hear and sometimes see creatures that would make you pee your pants in real life. These creatures can also appear in your material plane. What you should do if this happens is raise above them. Remember that it is all in your head, call for your angels or guides to help you, and focus on love and gratitude. Turn your back on these things and tell them to go back to where they belong.

Encountering creepy supernatural creatures doesn’t sound like much fun, but it is a risk many are willing to take due to the unforgettable experience. These creatures can’t hurt you physically and do any damage to your real body. And, if you’re wondering can you die from astral projection, the answer is no. Well, there wasn’t anyone who died and was able to report it anyways (haha, we’re trying to lighten up the mood with a joke).

One last question that may cross your mind is, can some of these scary entities steal your body. Luckily, we know the answer to this question, and it is no. Nothing and no one can take your body while you’re out. That isn’t to say that something can’t be standing right next to it and when you want to go back to your body it tries to tell you that you don’t. But always remember that those entities can only speak; they can’t prevent you from returning to your body.