Shadow Magick for New Beginnings

It's official, after nine years I will be leaving the Grey School.  I've been everything from a student to a Board member at the school and it's time for me to do something different.  I've loved being a part of such an interesting organization, but it's time for me to spend more time on my personal work.  It's a huge change and it's also the perfect time for a bit of shadow work. 

Whenever we make big changes in our lives we create the opportunity for altering our own energy patterns.  Any change in our regular activities creates a bit of momentary chaos in our energy flows before things settle into new patterns.  We can take advantage of that confusion and chaos to deliberately forge new and better patterns, rather than letting the chips fall as they may.  Here is a little spell designed to help shift your energies into more advantageous flows when you make a big change.

Shadow Magick for New Beginnings
To be done at the time of any large changes in your life (e.g. moving, getting a new job, at the end or beginning of a new relationship, etc.), if it can be done during the new moon - all the better

Ingredients

• 1 white tea light
• 1 black tea light (I tend to stock up on these during Samhain season)
• prosperity incense (try something with cinnamon or bergamot)

Set the stage for the working in your usual manner.  For me this means casting a circle, calling the quarters, and calling on my Deities.

Incantation
*light the black tea light to honor the past* 
I come this day to end one chapter of my life and begin a new one.
I have spent countless hours and untold amounts of energy forging my path through this world.  Today I change directions.
I honor the work I have done and the energy I have spent.  I honor the lessons I have learns and the gifts I have received.  I honor the challenges I have been offered and overcame.  

 My past has created the person I am today and I am thankful for it, but now it is time for change.


*light the white candle in honor of the future*
Today I begin anew.  I start new endeavors; I choose a new path, a new direction.  
I have learned from my past and have moved on.  
I welcome new lessons and new challenges, fitting for the new person I have become. 

*light the prosperity incense*

Today I usher in new prosperity for myself.
Today I start afresh.
I have grown from who I was and deserve new and better things.
I know I will make new mistakes and face new obstacles and I embrace the challenges they will bring.
I honor my past, as it has shaped me.  I honor my present as it is who I am.  I honor my future, for it is who I shall be - let it be better.

As I do will so mote it be.
 
  
 

Prosperity Ritual

Last week I found out that my boss is moving on to another job at the end of the month.  This woman is quite possibly the best boss I have ever had.  She's been my partner in crime on a massive implementation project, a shield against the insanity of other managers, and a sympathetic ear when I've needed it most.  I'm kinda devastated that she's leaving. To add insult to injury, she's leaving the week before we roll out the implementation we've been working on for the last year and a half - so I get to do it by myself.  But wait, it gets worse.  She let me in on some confidential info that the firm is going to be shifting things somewhat in the very near future.  My job is secure, but it's likely that I'm going to get a lot more responsibility dumped on me with no extra recompense.  Lovely.  Just fricken lovely.  So I decided it was apropos to do a prosperity ritual as soon as possible.

The day after I found all this out I trucked on over to Edge of the Circle to stock up on some gold chime candles and some money drawing incense.  I figured that I needed to do something fast because my boss was trying to fast-track a raise for me before she left and I wanted to give that as much energy as I could as soon as humanly possible.  I also wandered into a cute little art shop in Ballard (whose name escape's me) and got some canvas artist trading cards to make a talisman for myself.  I have a pretty decent herb and oil stash at home, so I wasn't too worried about those ingredients.

I had planned on doing my ritual in the hour of Jupiter on Thursday, but life interfeared and it just didn't work out.  I didn't want to wait a week for another Jupiter-Jupiter hour, so I ended up doing it during the hour of Jupiter on Friday.  Not perfect timing, but at least the moon is waxing.  I set out all my ritual components on my altar and got down to business.

I normally cast my circles using a sword, but this time I felt compelled to use a pair of arnis sticks as giant dual wands.  Apparently prosperity magick calls for super phallic circle casting - figures.  I then called the elements and deities, citing the powers associated with them I most wanted to bring to the ritual (abundance, clarity of thought, force of will, happiness, etc.).  I gave special attention to calling Jupiter, as that was the power I was banking on.  Then I explained to all the lovely forces I'd drawn up just what I wanted and why (to be paid what I'm worth in a job that doesn't make me want to jump off a bridge - not so much to ask I feel).  I lit my prosperity incense as an offering.

Next I assembled a mojo bag using a cotton tea bag (yes, I know it should really have been a hand sewn red flannel bag but I didn't have time to hit the fabric store).  I used a good tablespoon or so of calamus root, one enormous high john root, and a tonka bean, and then dressed it with some bergamot and vetivert oil.  I tied the bag shut using three tripe knots.

Then, I dressed my gold candle with the bergamot and vetivert oils and charged it.  I raised the energy by stirring up all the elemental powers in the room with my wands (they're weapons; they want to be swung around aggressively - I saw no reason not to indulge them).

I lit the candle and used the first three drops of wax to seal the knots of the mojo bag.  No wealth spilling out for me thanks!

While my candle burned I took out one of my blank artist trading cards and my colored pencils.  I took some time to meditate and decided to draw a talisman based on the sigil of Jupiter in Jason Miller's Advanced Planetary Magick.  I drew the sigil in blue, filled in with gold.  I sat it on a bed of green, sinking into brown earth, sinking into rock and magma.  Prosperity is always a seed rooted in the earth, to the imagery seemed to work.  I then filled in the sky with fiery orange for action and movement, to symbolize the prosperity energy firing off into the world to do its work.

I then made an offering of my favorite elderberry mead.  I took three sips and pledged the rest to Jupiter.  After that I was pretty keyed up and took a little time to ground.  

I thanked and dismissed the deities and elements, and dispelled my circle.  Once everything was open I took my mead outside and poured it into the garden to finish the offering.  Then I went back into my temple to hang out while the gold candle burned all the way down (never leave candles unattended folks, especially if you have cats!).  I put my talisman in my wallet (in the clear plastic pocket where your ID goes), that way it will both be next to the symbols of my wealth and will always be on me. 

The mojo will go into a special pocket in my work bag or be carried in my pocket.

Spell for Courage and Protection

Things have been a little funtastic in my life of late - and by funtastic I mean fucking stressful.  There comes a time for everyone when you just can't accept any more crap and you finally stand up for what you know is right.  Sometimes it's saying what other people can't or pointing out painful flaws in a plan someone is really attached to.  Other times it's calling out a bully or manipulator for what they're doing and making them look in a mirror.  Whatever the situation is, it's damned uncomfortable.  It's necessary, there can be no growth without discomfort, but it's not much fun.  It's been one of those weeks.

One of the big problems with really, deeply pissing someone off is that, whether they realize it or not, they will start throwing negative energy at you.  Most of the time this isn't a conscious thing, but it's happens anyway.  It can act a lot like a hex if you don't do something about it.  Some people might mirror it back to the sender, but in my experience that just makes things worse. 

Sometimes that negative energy can hit so strong you start to doubt the courage of your convictions.  You might know that everything you've said is true and needed to be brought out into the open, but it might get so hard that you start to wuss out.  Of course it's hard, doing the right thing is never easy.  Fighting for what you believe is hard, but it's necessary and worth it. However, when you're neck deep in psychic bullshit it's hard to remember that.

Here's a little spell to help you keep the courage of your convictions and to help you persevere in the face of adversity.

Spell for Courage and Protection

 Ingredients:
Firey Wall of Protection Oil
red candle
purple candle
small carnelian bead
rue
devil's shoestring
cinnamon chips
mandrake
tonka bean
high john the conqueror root
King Solomon incense powder
cotton bag

 Assemble all the components of the spell on your altar.  Call in any dieties you normally work with, or any protective forces you're friendly with. Explain your situation and why you need courage and protection.  Don't blame the other people, it just sours the spell.  Keep your intent positive and focus on what you need to accomplish that requires courage.  Explain this goal fully.  Focus on that goal and channel that energy into your spell components.

Put the herbs, carnelian, and incense powder into the cotton bag.  Tie the bag shut using a triple knot and then tie the strings around the bag to create a little package.

Then anoint the candles with the firey wall oil.  Put the red candle in its holder.  Light the purple candle from a tea light and then light the red candle with the purple candle.  Then set the purple candle in its holder.

Let the candles burn all the way down until they burn out (I set them in an iron cauldron filled with salt so they can do so safely).  Thank any deities or spirits you called on earlier and bid them farewell.  Now carry the bag with you until the situation resolves.