Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Love Magic


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Valentine's Day, a full moon, and a Friday...to me you can't get much better timing to do a love spell! The last few days I have had a handful of people ask me for some love spell ideas, which I figured I would share on the blog as well.
First I would like to say that while I cannot control what other people do in their own magical practice, I personally do not endorse trying to manipulate or force someone to have feelings for another person. I do however think that there is nothing wrong to encourage a situation along where someone would naturally have feelings for another person. So this is the spirit in which these ideas are offered.

A Charm for a Current Romance


Last year I shared a working that I did for my own relationship, which I will go into a little further detail here.
This is a charm that would be suitable for people who are already in a relationship with someone, and might be something that you would like to do around your anniversary, during a threshold period of a relationship {such as getting married}, to strengthen bonds, or to simply bless and keep the love strong.
Starting on the Friday of the full moon take a pink or red candle and carve your names and intent {you can just make a heart, put the words "love" and so on if you wish} into the candle. For extra potency, you can anoint the candle with a love oil. Gather herbs {such as roses, lady's mantle, meadowsweet, and lavender}, stones {such as rose quartz} or other small items that are associated with love {such as snail shells}; if desired, also gather herbs, stones and other small items that are associated with other qualities that you wish to incorporate such as lust, fertility, harmony and so on. Also needed are personal effects such as hair, items that are worn or a photo to represent you both.
Set herbs, stones, and personal items/effects around the candle in some fashion {I stuffed mine into a tight-necked vase which I used as a candle holder {see example below}:
After you have everything set up, light a candle with a prayer of intent. I lit the candle over the course of nine days, although you could do it in one sitting should you wish or as many days as you feel is best for you.
Once the candle has be burnt down, place it along with the herbs, stones and personal items/effects into a charm bag or a piece of fabric and tie it with a pink ribbon {like the one pictured above}. Keep the charm bag somewhere in your home that you feel is important to you and your relationship, such as your bedroom or on a household shrine.

To Dream of a Future Love

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Under the light of the full moon gather plants that are associated with love {such as roses, lady's mantle, lavender and so on} saying:
"Moon, moon, tell me
Who is my true love to be
And when my true love shall I see?"
Wrap the gathered plants and place under your pillow to dream of your destined love and your future together.
To Attract a Love Interest


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 This is a spell that was inspired by a healing spell that a lovely friend shared with me. This is a spell that you could do to attract a specific person that you know or to attract an individual with the qualities that you are looking for in a romantic partner.  

Create representations of yourself and your love interest {incorporate names, personal effects/items and such}...these could be poppets, drawings or even just your names with your dates of birth on a piece of paper. If you don't have anyone person in mind, incorporate instead the qualities of the person you would like to attract {such as representations of those qualities or writing the words onto a piece of paper, such as "funny, caring, strong"}. 

Once you are finished creating your representations bind them together in some fashion, such as tying them together, while saying a prayer of intent:

"You for me, and I for thee and for none else;
Your face to mine, and your head turned away from all others."

Then place the bonded representations into a garden pot, put in some potting soil. Plant a seed {even better if it is of a plant associated with love!} saying:

"May our love meet as this seed reaches for sunlight,
May our love grow as the leaves unfurl,
May our love flourish as this plant blossoms,
May our love thrive long past it bearing fruit."

Tend to your plant with great care, as it is a representation of your desires.

To Mend a Broken Heart

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I think just about everyone will face heartbreak at some point in their lives, and it is a process to heal from it, so this suggestion is more of a meditative morale boost than a cure.

Cut out a heart on a piece of cardboard or paper and rip the heart in half. Alternatively, you can use a cut apple. Take some thread and a needle and start to sow the heart back together. Really take your time with this, focusing on healing saying a prayer such as :

"Tissue to tissue,
Vein to vein,
May my heart become whole again."
{Adaptation of a traditional Gaelic healing prayer}.


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Sláinte!

Laurel

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Friday, February 7, 2014

Imbolc {& Feeling a Tad Ill}


I hope that all who celebrate had a lovely Imbolc!
I am still getting over a particularly nasty flu that has left me out of commission for a better part of a week and will probably be the end of the weekend by the time I am almost back to my normal self. After spending hours every day in bed, I have been getting stir crazy, so I decided to get on with my Imbolc offerings and rest of the related activities I had not gotten around to yet. 


Prior to today I had done some crafting decorating my Brigid doll and Her bed, made some house blessing candles, and made some home protection charm bottles.


On the Eve of Imbolc {January 31st} I erected a shrine to Brigid, made offerings, collected snow for Imbolc water, and left out various charms and ritual crafting supplies in the hopes of them being blessed by Her night visit.


Today I made offerings of incense, tulips, berries in yogurt and honey, apple oat cake, herb cheese, whiskey, mead, and some herbal tea made today, along with singing a hymn {hopefully not sounding too much like a dying goose!}.

To finish off I did a saining ritual and a lustration, which will hopefully help in kicking the left over yucky sickness out the door! ;)

Sloinntearachd na Brighd/The Descent of Brigit


Sloinntearachd na Brighd
 
Brighid nighean Dùghaill Duinn
‘Ic Aoidh ‘ic Cuinn ‘ic
Criara ‘ic Caibre ‘ic Cais ‘ic
Carmaic ‘ic Cartaich ‘ic Cuinn.
 
Brighde nam brat,
Brighde na brig,
Brighde nan cleachd,
Brighde na frìth.
 
Brighde nan gealachos,
Brighde na bìth,
Brighde nan gealaphos,
Brighde na nì.
 
Brighde bean chomainn,
Brighde bean chobhair,
Brighde bean mhìn.
 
Gach latha agus gach oidhche
Nì mi Sloinntearachd na Brighd,
 
Cha mharbhar mi
Cha ghuinear mi,
Cha charachar mi,
Cha ghonar mi,
Cha spaltar mi,
Cha spùillear mi,
Cha saltrar mi,
Cha rùisgear mi,
Cha reubar mi,
Cha mhó dh’fhàgas
Brighde an dearmad mi.
 
Cha loisg grian mi,
Cha loisg teine mi,
Cha loisg ial mi,
Cha loisg gile mi.
Cha bhàth uisge mi,
Cha bhàth sàla mi,
Cha bhàth lighe mi,
Cha bhàth burn mi.
 
Cha laigh bruaill-brì orm,
Cha laigh suan-dubh orm,
Cha laigh druaill-drì orm,
Cha laigh luaths-luis orm.
 
‘S I mo chaombh chomainn
Brighde.
 
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English translation:

The Descent of Brigit
 
Brigit daughter of Dugall the Brown
Son of Aodh son of Art son of Conn
Son of Criara son of Cairbre son of Cas
Son of Cormac son of Cartach son of Conn.
 
Brigit of the mantles,
Brigit of the peat-heap,
Brigit of the twining hair,
Brigit of the augury.
 
Brigit of the white feet,
Brigit of the calmness,
Brigit of the white palms,
Brigit of the kine.
 
Brigit, woman-comrade,
Brigit, woman-helper,
Brigit, woman mild.
 
Each day and each night
That I say the Descent of Brigit,
 
shall not be slain,
I shall not be wounded
I shall not be put in cell,
I shall not be gashed,
I shall not be torn in sunder,
I shall not be despoiled
I shall not be down-trodden
I shall not be made naked,
I shall not be rent
Nor will Brigit
Leave me forgotten.
 
Nor sun shall burn me,
Nor fire shall burn me,
Nor beam shall burn me,
Nor moon shall burn me.
Nor river shall drown me,
Nor brine shall drown me,
Nor flood shall drown me,
Nor water shall drown me.
 
Nightmare shall not lie on me,
Black sleep shall not lie on me
Spell sleep shall not lie on me,
“ Luaths-luis” shall not lie on me.
 
My companion, beloved
Brigit.
 
~ All parts taken directly from the Carmina Gadelica Vol. III, save for some small changes.
 
{***Watermark on the image is due to recent image theft. My images are free to use for non-commercial purposes, just please give credit.***}