How to Dress a Candle for Spellwork

Candles are included in spellwork, and there’s a reason why. Fire magic is powerful — it can help transform energy, focus your desires, send intentions into the universe, burn away what you want to release, and more.

Candles are powerful on their own, but dressing a candle for spellwork can help amplify and intensify your spell. In this blog post, I’ll be breaking down how to dress a candle for spellwork. To get more of an intro to candle magick, check out this blog post.

WHY DRESS A CANDLE FOR SPELLWORK?

Dressing a candle spellwork can mean rubbing a candle in oil and/or rolling a candle in herbs. Using herbs and oils that support the intention you’re working with can help you amplify your spell, making it more powerful. 

Below, I share some correspondences for oils and herbs to help you decide how to dress your candles most effectively. 

HOW TO DRESS A CANDLE FOR SPELLWORK

Here are some loose guidelines for dressing your candles for spellwork:

1. Cleanse your candle. You can cleanse your candle with salt, smoke, sound, or any other cleansing tool that feels good to you.

2. Rub your candle in oil. As you do, focus on the intention of your spell.

3. Roll your oiled candle in herbs if you’re using them. Again, direct your energy towards your spell’s intention as you roll your candle. Stay present, breathe, and focus on connecting your intention to your candle.

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OILS, HERBS & CORRESPONDENCES FOR CANDLE MAGICK

Before I get into correspondences, a note about oils: you can feel free to use neutral oils like sunflower seed oil or coconut oil. When you work these oils, they act more as a vehicle for your herbs than an intention amplifier on their own.

Explore the Radical Candle Magic class.

If you want to use an oil that brings its own amplifying qualities, you’ll be using essential oils. If you decide to use essential oils, I invite you to be really intentional with them, buy small amounts only, and research as much as you can to find companies that are making them in the most sustainable and ethical ways possible. The same goes for herbs - do your research and make sure you’re gathering any herbs you use ethically. 

Featured deck is The Ritual Deck. 

For pleasure spells - Use red or orange candle colors. Use clary sage, lavender, or sandalwood oil with rose petals or other flower petals, ginger, or calendula. 

For abundance spells - Use green, brown, or gold candle colors. Use basil, cinnamon, or frankincense oil with cinnamon, basil, or ginger.

For creativity spells - Use orange, yellow, blue, or purple candle colors. Use tangerine or peppermint oil with verbena, bay leaves, or angelica. 

For intuition spells - Use blue, purple, or silver candle colors. Use myrrh, or clary sage oil with mugwort, chamomile, or rose petals.

For protection spells - Use brown, black, or blue candle colors. Use clove, cypress, or juniper oil with mugwort, mullen, or comfrey. 

For releasing spells - Use yellow, orange, or black candle colors. Use bergamot or geranium oil with cloves or rosemary. 

For love spells - Use red, orange, or pink candle colors. Use cardamom, jasmine or ylang-ylang oil with yarrow, oregano, or fennel. 

Want more on spellwork? Check out these blogs:

• Getting Started with Candle Magick

• Four Candle Magick Spells + Free Printable

• Spellwork and Witchcraft Ethics

• Your Spell’s Over, Now What? 3 Ways to Release or Repurpose Your Ritual Items

Egg History & Rituals for Ostara + The Spring Equinox

Ostara, also known as the Spring or Vernal Equinox, is the dawn of the fertile season on the Wheel of the Year. Light and dark are in equal balance and moving forward, the light of the sun will outshine the dark of night, pushing nature into a flurry of growth and expansion. 

This season corresponds to growth, fertility, manifesting, and the maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. The energy of this season calls you to begin taking concerted actions towards your desires. Eggs and hares are common symbols associated with this season, but their associations may not be as ancient as you thought.

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, no pun intended, on this one! So, before we dive into egg rituals for you to practice, I want to share a bit about the history (we do know) of Ostara. If you don’t care, skip on through to the egg rituals, but personally, I find the history of our rituals not only interesting but important in crafting a meaningful practice.

Eggs and Ostara, Where’s the Connection?  

There are a couple of stories that link Ostara to eggs and hares. One being that a hare out foraging for food found an egg and gave it to Ostara an offering for Spring (read a more elaborate version of this story here.) The other story speaks of Ostara finding a bird with frozen wings that she turned into a hare to save. The hare retaining its ability to lay eggs, laid an egg for Ostara as a show of gratitude. You can find variations of stories passed down similar to these or possibly have some in your lineage. 

As with much of Pagan and spiritual practices from the Celts and Anglo-Saxons, these traditions were passed down orally. However, there’s actually no written pre-Christian evidence of the Goddess Ostara and her connection to hares and eggs. Ostara is first mentioned in a text by a Christian monk named Bede in 725 AD. 

This isn’t to say that it’s not possible that ancient Northern European folks honored hares, eggs, and maiden Goddesses like Ostara and Freya during this season. Still, there’s no written evidence supporting these stories. Here’s a great article that dives deeper into the history we know about Ostara and her connection to eggs and hares.

Card feature from the Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky.

When Christianity dominated these areas, the oral traditions were slowly extinguished, as well as many of the ancient practices associated with them. So the truth is, we may never know if Ostara and her connection to hares and eggs were real. You can view this as a hardship or an opportunity. I choose the latter. Not having a script for our ancestors' ancient ways offers you an opportunity to go within and form personal meaning with each season. 

Give this post a listen here:

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Symbolism of Eggs

Regardless of how the connection of eggs came to be associated with Ostara and this season, their connection to fertility, life, and union is found worldwide. Vedic texts reference the cosmic egg, the Orphic egg in Greece, and the Serpent’s Egg in Druidic practices, just to name a few, all of which deal with the beginnings of life and fertility. 

Many of the ancient mythologies surrounding eggs tell stories of life, balance, and creation, which are all energies undoubtedly linked to the energy of the Spring Equinox. For these reasons, regardless of the history of eggs and Ostara, the egg is still a beautiful and potent symbol to work with during this season, or really anytime you’re focusing on fertility and growth. 

Egg Rituals for Ostara

Here are a few simple ways to weave eggs into your Spring Equinox rituals. Vegan? No worries, use fake eggs. As with most magical practices, your intention is the most important part. Working with fake egg-shaped decorations is an ideal substitute for the real deal. You can purchase egg shapes in paper, plastic, and wood at most craft stores. For the rituals shown below, biodegradable eggs made from paper or wood are best. Please, don’t bury plastic eggs!

1. Eat them!: Obviously, if you’re vegan, you can skip over this one. But if you’re not, enjoy eggs in your favorite way or bake with them to connect with their energy of creation. Consider holding the egg in your hand and infusing it with your desires that you’d like to manifest over the coming months. 

2. Decorate: Place plain or decorated eggs on your altar or in your home as a symbol of fertility, balance, and growth. If you’re using real eggs, you can blow out the contents of the egg with a needle and a straw; otherwise, fake eggs will work fine as well (raw eggs shouldn’t be used if left out for more than two hours.) 

3. Egg manifesting ritual: Write wishes, draw Runes or a Sigil on an egg (raw, hard-boiled, or a fake egg) in alignment with your desires. Bury your egg in the ground to let the fertile energy of the earth help it manifest. Amplify this ritual by burying your egg alongside some seeds. As your plants grow, they will serve as a reminder of your desires being manifested. 

4. Egg offering: Hard boil one or more eggs and leave them as an offering out in nature to give thanks for the season's fertility and growth. 

Now you can work with eggs this season and have a better idea of what we do know about their history in regards to Ostara. Remember, even though we don’t have written history, it doesn’t mean that Ostara wasn’t honored. In the end, this season is a time to work with the energy of fertility and growth, and if honoring Ostara, the hare, and eggs is a way that helps you do that, I encourage you to do so! Continue creating a practice that’s meaningful to you. 

Check out our past blog posts about Ostara here.

Your spell's over, now what? 3 Ways to release or repurpose your ritual items

You waited for the perfect moon phase, gathered your supplies, and sent your magic out into the world. Now, you’re left with the remnants of your magical workings. What can be done with your leftover jars and bowls of notes, rocks, herbs, and candle wax?

Whether your magical workings have come to fruition or not, you have quite a few options when it comes to releasing or reusing your past spells. In this blog post, I’m going to share three different ways to honor and release your sacred spells and objects. 

It is the very act of your spell and ritual work that releases your desires out into the universe. The remnants left behind can serve as helpful reminders, but repurposing or releasing your spell will not break or reverse anything. There are certainly some practices that may require you to keep the components of your spell intact, however, if that’s the case, you’ll undoubtedly know. Trust your inner guidance system. 

As you read through these options, know that you can use one or all of these methods to repurpose or release your spell objects. Some objects may not work for certain methods outlined below, in that case, it’s okay to combine. You can also check out this quick video I created for our Instagram page. 

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1. Burning Ceremony

Fire is a transformative tool, so this method goes beyond simply making space for new spells. If your spell has ended it may be time to let it transform in new ways. This method can also be helpful to aid you in detaching from the outcome of your spellwork. Fire is powerful!

A burning ceremony is a great option for spells that include paper, herbs, candle wax, and other burnable objects. Most candle wax is paraffin, which means it’s not ideal for burying in the ground, and reusing it can be time-consuming. If your spell has leftover wax, burning it is one of the easiest and safest ways to release it. 

For this method, you’ll need a large cauldron, fireproof dish, or outdoor fire. Depending on what the contents of your spell were, you’ll likely want to do this outside to prevent a huge plume of smoke from inhabiting your house. As you release your items into the fire, trust that the energy will continue to transform and benefit yourself and others. 

2. Release to the Earth

A gentler option is to release your items back into the Earth. For this method, it’s imperative that you only release items that are natural and biodegradable. For example, most candles are made from paraffin wax and are not suitable for this method. I also do not recommend burying glass jars or bottles. Herbs, plants, biodegradable papers, and crystals are ideal for this method. If your spell was contained in a jar or vessel of some kind, I recommend reusing it, see the next section for tips on this. 

Items that should not be given back to the Earth:

• Salt: salt can harm or even kill plants

• Candle wax: most candles are made with paraffin wax which is not biodegradable

• Anything that is not 100% biodegradable

You can bury your items in a meaningful location or in your backyard, the location itself doesn’t need to be special. If you live near a natural body of water, releasing them into the water is a great option as well. This method can be transformative like the fire but in a gentler way. I find this method is great for inspiring a sense of gratitude and giving thanks to Mother Earth.

3. Cleanse and reuse

For all the objects you want to reuse like meaningful crystals and items that don’t burn or biodegrade, you’ll want to energetically cleanse them. Because spell and ritual work evokes such strong emotions, it’s important to energetically cleanse items before reusing them for another purpose. Unless, of course, the energy you imbued your items with is something you want to keep around. However, if you performed a spell for letting go of a past relationship, and then want to use the same jar or tools for helping you gain a new career, it’ll be best to cleanse your items.

There are a variety of ways to cleanse physical objects. Here are a few simple techniques. 

• Place your items in salt overnight.

• Hold your items in cleansing smoke like rosemary, cedar, lavender, or some other herb in line with your spiritual heritage. 

• For rocks or other items that are waterproof, hold them in running water.

• Hold your items in your hands and call on any guides, spirits, or energies you work with to cleanse your items. 

No need to let your sacred space fill up with spellwork from the past! I hope you enjoyed these tips to keep your spell and ritual practice open and flowing.

Joyful Surrender in the Season of Shedding

Every plant and tree that cycles through the seasons knows that at some point, it is time to return inward and be held by the Earth. They don’t fight it and continue pouring their energy into their fruit until they know it’s time to turn inward or die. They surrender fully to the season and even continue expressing themselves and growing. The land has been whispering that there’s much more to surrender and it doesn’t always mean giving up. Surrendering can be joyful, even pleasurable. 

Fall is a season of contractions helping us descend into Winter. Similar contractions are present during Spring. However, the essence and energy of each contraction phase differ significantly. In the Springtime, the season of the Maiden and the curious air element brings contractions to push us up and out from the underworld into the first blooms of the season. It’s an expansive and seductive time that is the portal that pushes us out through the underworld. 

On the opposite side of the seasonal wheel, we have the Autumn Equinox, another season of contraction that pulls us down and into Winter, back into ourselves and the underworld. It is a season of surrender and shedding. Yet, it is also full of pleasure and fullness. It’s simply a different flavor than the Spring Equinox, and why wouldn’t it be? There’s a distinct difference between rising versus descending into the underworld. Both are sacred and needed. 

Listen to this post on my podcast here.

As I’ve sat with and observed the guardian Hawthorne tree that lives outside of my home over the seasons, I’ve watched her push her blooms outward in Spring and am now slowly watching her berries redden and ripen as the weather cools. Her energy in this season is still one of expansion, but it is different. It is not the “look at me” energy of the maiden with her seductive flowers. The energy I receive from Hawthorn this season is “look at all that I can hold” and “look at how much love I can give.” Her round berries mimic the fullness of this season, the fullness of immense holding, giving, and joyful surrender. 

The Hawthorn tree outside my home is not the only place I’ve seen and felt this energy. I can see it in the ripening apples, the browning grain, and the plants drooping closer to the earth below them. The easiest way to drift into the underworld is to surrender to it. In a society that, by and large, avoids the underworld and is generally death-phobic, consciously surrendering to seasons of slowness or stagnation might feel strange and difficult. It certainly has for me and continues to be a place of careful awareness. As usual, the earth, which you and I are a part of, offers constant examples of how we might do this from seasons, the moon, and our plant and animal kin. 

In this share, we’ll dance with the theme of surrender and ways to find more joy in it. I’ll share reflections on the water element and a simple practice to connect with water and the theme of surrender. I’ll also discuss the importance of struggle regarding surrender and a simple plant infusion to help you ease into the season.

Some seasons can feel more present than others if you are spiraling through a similar personal season. This season, as a mid-life mother with small children and a caretaker, feels P-otent. If you find yourself in a position of frequent caregiving, whether that be for your children, elders, or community, you might, too. It is helpful to name how seasonal shifts affect us differently depending on your current phase. Of course, part of this is being able to name and be with the phase you’re in. I’d like to offer you a moment to pause to think about what season your life seems to be spiraling through in this transitional time. Are you in a phase of discovery and exploration, radiance and expansion, giving and caretaking, surrender, and reflection, or somewhere else? Understanding where you’re in your sacred cycle might help you better understand and relate to the transformations happening in the land and seasons. Of course, there are always cycles within cycles, above and below, within and without. All is connected, so I trust you’ll find some meaning and medicine in this share, even if it doesn’t align with your season. 

Let’s begin our dance with surrender by exploring the element commonly associated with this season: water. 

Lessons from water on surrender

Water is the element that many associate with the cardinal direction West and the season of Autumn. Early in my practice, I didn’t understand the connection between Autumn and the element of water. Autumn reminded me of leaves drying and dying. It seemed like the opposite of life-giving water. Over several years of working closely with water and themes of death, I have a more holistic understanding of water. Water is a life-giver, but water also asks us to be in flow with and surrender to change, including changes we might not always desire. Water reminds me that I do not need to love the changes themselves, but I can learn how to love myself in them. Water can be gentle, forceful, and everything in between. While walking in Autumn and water, you can surrender to her lessons by choice, or they can be forced on you. 

As much as we humans like to think we have complete control over our lives, we don’t, and water can be a potent reminder of this lesson. Water can and has swallowed us up in a moment with floods and sudden downpours. It is a reminder that the feminine creative forces are not always soft and gentle. They can and need to be forceful at times. Surrendering to where and how water chooses to flow requires deep trust. 

Joyful surrender offers a portal into being present and at peace with the unknown. I see the element of water as a wise teacher in this realm. 

There’s an easefulness that lives in surrender. It can be found in the waning moon, flowing water, an exhale, and the transition from Summer to Fall. Life is change. But, like the moon, who changes every night, she is still the moon at her core. You, too, will embark on endless transformations throughout your life but will remain you at your core. How would you move about the world if you surrendered to the unknowns and constant changes, both within and outside of you, knowing that you will remain you in the end? 

Of course, some of this is a personal belief and may not resonate because I believe in reincarnation and the soul. Like the moon, who dies each month, or the water, who cycles through different states of being, I trust that my essence will remain intact and carry on in some capacity. 

So how can we be more like water and surrender to our own cycles and others? It’s much easier to find the joy in any cycle when we surrender. Be with, watch, listen, feel, and commune with water. Here’s a simple practice I like to do in collaboration with water. 

Surrendering with water practice

I like to lean into this practice and the element of water when I struggle with surrendering to something and want assistance. You can practice this at home or a nearby creek or stream. I love doing this near flowing water, but if that is not accessible, visualizing or thinking about water works just as well. 

1. Open your practice in a way that you are comfortable with. For me, this looks like greeting, thanking the four elements and directions, and connecting with the earth. 

2. If it’s available and makes sense in your practice, orient yourself to the West, the home of the water element, and ask the water if you can bring your struggle to it for help. 

3. How you engage with water now will be unique to you. I like to imagine the water gently flowing through my body, including my struggle. If you are near flowing water, the sound or feel of the water can be helpful if it’s accessible to listen or touch the water. If you are not near water, you can visualize the water flowing around you, imagine how it would feel, or even dictate to yourself what it would be like. 

4. Imagine the water gently softening and soothing your struggle. You may notice the water slowly start pulling parts of it away, parts of your struggle that it’s time for you to release. You might become aware of how it feels to let go of aspects of your struggle and notice other sensations or knowings under the struggle. 

5. Stay with the water for as long as you’d like. When you feel complete in this practice, thank the water and consider giving an offering to the water. You might also want to write down anything that surfaced during your experience with water. 

All this said, joyful surrender is not always easy for me and might not be for you. I still struggle often. But I’ve learned to accept the struggle as part of the surrender process. I also think it has a lot of wisdom to offer. 

The Medicine in the Struggle

The relationship between struggle and surrender is, I believe, much of the medicine this season has to offer. I find the struggle is what gets me to a state of surrender. Sometimes, I have long periods of struggle. Sometimes, they’re short. I see struggle often in deathwork for the dying and their loved ones. There’s often a denial of impending death, but there will come a moment when that denial no longer serves. The time one sits in the struggle will be different for all, but it has value. 

Struggle can be found in the dance of fire and can illuminate what needs or wants to be tended. In the struggle, you can see what’s most important. The struggle is necessary. I do not share these reflections on joyful surrender to imply that it is better than being in the struggle. Being in the struggle is hard. But the struggle also has the power to illuminate. I don’t see the struggle as the problem, but it’s often our lack of resources to be with the struggle that prevents us from being with it. There’s nuance here, too. We all have different relationships and experiences with struggle. My prayer for myself, for you, and all of us is that we can have the presence to know when it’s time to stop being in the struggle and step into surrender, maybe even joyful surrender. Whether that surrender looks like asking for help, walking away from someone, acceptance, or something else will be unique. 

One of my favorite writers and speakers is Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, who often speaks of “fugitive spaces.” If you haven’t listened to Dr. Akomolafe, I highly recommend it and will link some of my favorite podcasts in the show notes. He’s featured on the For the Wild podcast and SAND often. I find his words and ideas to be a healing salve in these times. He speaks to “fugitive spaces” here and says, “We need trickster approaches, we need ways of dancing away, or dancing to, fugitive spaces; dancing to sanctuaries where we can shape-shift. Grieving, mourning, even allowing ourselves to partake in pleasurable activities in the face of the storm.” I feel these fugitive spaces are areas of play that do not insist on knowing or constantly striving for all the answers and instead offer a space to marinate in the mystery. When I think of fugitive spaces concerning climate change, I think of having conversations outside of how to curb climate collapse and instead focusing on how we might learn to love each other in climate collapse. I find this requires a great deal of surrender and often think of “fugitive spaces” when I think of joyful surrender and how surrendering can yield new possibilities found only in unknown spaces. 

In my day-to-day life, I don’t experience the idea of seeking fugitive spaces to disavow being in right relationship with the earth. Instead, I see it as an opportunity to shift my energy around the topic and my actions. For example, I am involved in local politics and often spend time canvassing for local candidates. I used to do this sort of work with a lot of anger. I’d be so mad that more people weren’t helping. I still do sometimes. More often now, I find myself looking for surrender in my political involvement. I still canvass, but I try to surrender to the parts of it that I love, like community building with like-minded people. I also don’t beat myself up if I can’t help as much as I’d like to. Perhaps there will be a tipping point when more and more of us will release the struggle of trying to force politicians, oil companies, and other people to care about this earth and, instead, lean into ways to love within it. That is the energy I am attempting to bring to my life, which is still a struggle sometimes. I still get angry and spin my wheels, thinking of ways to convince people to care about this earth and continue to change my own habits. But, more and more, I observe and ask questions like, “What or who am I truly struggling against right now?” “Is what or who I’m struggling with of my own making or out of my control?” “If it is out of my control, how might surrendering to it look and feel?” “Can I find any threads of ease or joy within what I’m struggling against?”

There’s medicine in our ability to surrender to the struggles of this current time. When we do, we can get a glimpse of what’s underneath them and perhaps even find new and beautiful solutions, love, and joy.

The joy available in surrender

There is beauty, magic, and deep wisdom in surrender. Surrender lives in the realm of the deeply rooted Wise Woman and the Crone, who trusts that there’s life and even beauty beyond the struggle. Surrendering isn’t giving up or accepting abuse. It’s choosing to sink deeper into the struggle to find the threads of love and creativity within it. It’s easier said than done. At least, it has been for me. I don’t have it figured out. I still get caught up in the questioning, fear, and anger. Sometimes, I overstay my welcome sitting in the struggle. Surrendering also doesn’t mean that everything I surrender to immediately feels amazing. Sometimes it doesn’t. Joyful surrender may not be the answer to the suffering of this world, but I see it as a powerful place to explore finding joy in the mess of life.

Plant allies for the season of surrender

Wherever you are in the world, plants are growing nearby to assist in this seasonal shift, whether you are experiencing Autumn or Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The magic of our plant kin is that they are so deeply connected to the pulse of Mother Earth that they know what is needed in each season for all to thrive. Here in the Midwest of Turtle Island, Goldenrod and Aster are prevalent and serve as physical and energetic supports for our descent into fall. I invite you to notice which plants are appearing in your local environment and, if it feels aligned, to engage with them. 

I love making infusions, what some might think of as tea, with the plants and flowers. An infusion is simply soaking plant material in hot water for a certain amount of time, sometimes 30-minutes, or as long as overnight. After pouring boiling water over the plants I’m working with, I like to allow my infusions to rest in the sunlight or moonlight depending on the energy the plants ask for or I am desiring. I was inspired to make a fall infusion with seasonal plants in my area from Dr. Jacqui of Xálish Medicine and recommend visiting this post she shared on Instagram all about it. 

As always, before creating an infusion with any plant, ensure that they are safe to consume and that they are not contraindicated for you by confirming with your healthcare provider. If you have goldenrod and aster in your area, they are generally considered safe to consume, however, always be sure to make sure they are safe for you specifically. I also recommend harvesting by asking consent before taking and leaving offerings. I like to keep a flower essence with me while I’m out to give as an offering. 

I created my infusion with a combination of foraged and garden-grown Goldenrod, Aster, Chokeberry, Hawthorn berry, Boneset, Sage, and Yarrow. It was delicious and felt like such a potent way to ease my body, physically and energetically, into the season. You could easily create an infusion of just Astser and Goldenrod for a simple fall infusion. 

As the flowers wilt and brown and as leaves shift colors in preparation for winter, I can’t help but notice the joyful surrender in the landscapes around me. I see it in the ripening fullness of the berries on the Hawthorn tree, the lavender plants in my yard stretching their flowers out further and further to catch the sinking sun, and busy squirrels and chipmunks readying their winter harvests. As I reflect upon these changes, I remember that I, too, am part of these cycles. I do not need to know the course of what will be for me, my family, or the rest of us to continue to show up in fullness. Or, perhaps, if I slow myself enough, like the earth, I will feel its pulse and know that all will always be well. I can joyfully follow the rhythms of the earth’s cycles both within and outside. I can serve where I feel called, even when I don’t know how it will look, trusting that if I surrender to my season, I will be guided. I hope within these reflections, you’ve found any permission you may have needed to surrender to your current season and maybe even find the joy in it. 

The Nurturing Mother of Late Summer

The golden glow of summer is present but slowly fading. Fruits are ripe as the land continues to give, and the Earth’s love for us can be seen, felt, and tasted. There’s much to celebrate and much to grieve. Burning land, displacement, and smoke-tinged air offer potent reminders of where we are. It feels like too much more often than not. Then I remember these cycles, even human-created, will continue with or without me and that soft spaces are needed. The Nurturing Mother of late summer holds out her bountiful arms to nurture our grief. Soft spaces exist to grieve and be held but sometimes need to be cultivated from within. 

In this month’s Seasonal Magic and Medicine, enjoy reflections on the Goddesses Ceres and Demeter, a short writing about our need for soft spaces, a guided journey meditation to connect with Nurturing Mother of Late Summer, and a ritual to connect with plants in your local environment. Click here to join my newsletter to receive these monthly Seasonal Magic and Medicine articles in your inbox. 

Ceres and Demeter

The presence of the Greek Goddess Demeter and Roman Goddess Ceres, who many believe are one and the same, move to the foreground during this season. Ceres and Demeter are Mother Goddesses of the harvest, grain, nourishment, protection, grief, and fertility. They help to ensure and protect a bountiful harvest while providing a warm lap for the impending grief of winter. 

L’ete, Ceres – Jean-François Millet (1864-1865). Wikimedia Commons.

In the case of Demeter, she knows her daughter, Persephone, who some view as an aspect of Demeter, will soon return to the Underworld for six months during the dark half of the year. Persephone returns to the Underworld by choice each year, rather than force, as a necessary aspect of the birth-death-rebirth cycle. Monica Sjöö references this in The Great Cosmic Mother, “As the Grieving, determined mother she descends to the Underworld–into social rebellion, role-reversals, personal madness, the dark journeys of introspection and disintegration that precedes creative, visionary power–to rediscover her own soul, retrieve the joyous daughter of self-determining life.”

Ceres was an especially beloved Goddess of the common people of Rome because she offered protection from the Roman empire and more closely resembled the original regenerative Earth Goddesses. I feel this protective essence of Ceres especially potent this season, in the land, and for the masses (human and more-than-human) demanding a liveable future. 

We see in these Goddesses an opportunity to be nourished by the land and be held in our grief as we honor cycles of death in the land and ourselves to “rediscover” our “own soul,” as Sjöö puts it. 

Creating Soft Spaces

Earth’s cycles persist. Embrace or ignore them, but know they won’t stop because you are them. Where’s your soft space, the unconditional embrace that helps you dance through these bright, burning unknowns?

Soft spaces exist. Flowers bloom, and trees fruit amidst climate collapse as their kin die, burn, or drown. They don’t hide away til it’s done. They lean in to be held and nourished from within and around. They allow it because they know they‘ll have a soft place to land, right here in the land. Swallowed up and held tight by the Great Mother’s embrace, all to rise and do it again. 

Who holds you, dear one, when you realize the soft spaces were paved over? Where do you lay your grief and gather your love, or do they lie dormant and stagnant within you? 

The cycles will persist, with or without you, and whiteness and money will never be enough to save you. Mother Earth will forever continue to birth, dance, and die.

Every phase has its place in her warm embrace, readying for death and rebirth to continue. She’s breaking the pavement of soft spaces paved over.

Where does it leave you, us? The soft, warm lap of the Great Mother, the Earth, whoever you call them, offers this respite and the wisdom to remember. Their love can be seen in weeds weaving through cracks and Orcas fighting back. Each example a reminder that cultivating soft spaces together makes us much safer. 

Is it time for you to allow or to come out from hiding? When we build soft spaces together, they’re much harder to crack. The flowers do not struggle to bloom or do it alone. They take their time, roots connected to all. Taking cues from above and below, guiding them to grow, dance, and die. They know their blooming signals an eventual return to the soft space of compost, yet they move right along. Maybe that’s why we deny our own mysterious callings. We know it’s a surrender to eventually going back home. 

So, I ask you again, who holds you, dear one, when you realize the soft spaces were paved over? Where do you lay your grief and gather your love, or do they lie dormant within? Perhaps, we can create soft spaces together, held in the warm embrace of a Great Nurturing Mother. 

Nurturing Mother Meditation

What are you grieving this season? Let’s cultivate a soft space within to give it a home. Join me in a live circle to grieve and be held by the great Nurturing Mother of Summer by clicking here. Or, follow these steps to have a meditation journey of your own. As always, modify as needed. 

Before you begin, bring something to mind that feels tender and needs grieving. You might decide to have a physical representation of what you are grieving. If so, you can have that with you for meditation, but it is not a necessity.

1. Create a sacred space for your meditation in line with your practice. There are many ways to do this, like lighting incense, a candle, calling upon guides, and honoring the four directions. You might also like to play soft drumming music, or nature sounds that help you meditate. 

2. Begin to focus on your breath and body. Spend as much time here as you need to feel aware and embodied. 

3. Close your eyes or gaze softly ahead and begin to visualize with your mind’s eye an environment that feels safe. If you work with any guides or allies, you can connect with them here and invite them on the journey. 

4. Notice a door appears, and if it feels aligned, walk through it. 

5. Out ahead, you see a great stone circle. Walk in through the East to the center. From the center stone, orient yourself towards the Southwest and notice a warm golden glow. 

6. As you exit the stone circle and walk towards the warm glow, become aware of how the environment looks, smells, and feels. 

7. With the warm sun overhead, call upon the Great Mother with your grief in hand. She will appear uniquely to all, perhaps as a person or not or as the land itself. Allow yourself to be guided in how you interact with her. 

8. Offer your grief to be held, again allowing your intuitive connection with her to guide you. 

9. Spend as much time here, perhaps sitting in her lap, weeping, or noticing the beauty and nourishment of the season. 

10. When you feel ready to go, thank the Great Mother, and head back towards the stone circle to the center stone. Pause at the center stone before exiting out the east and heading back to the doorway. 

11. Once through the doorway, thank any guides or allies who accompanied you. Open your eyes and return to your space as you are ready. Consider journaling your experience, looking around your room, and having food and drink to help reorient you to your physical environment. 

Plant Connection Ritual

This ritual is an invitation to connect deeply with a plant(s) in your local environment as a form of gratitude and nourishment. The plant world’s ability to continue to give fruit amidst our quickly changing world holds wisdom. 

This ritual does not require receiving anything physical from the plant (although it could) and might come through as an insight or simply through being present with a plant’s beauty. 

Vervain, Verbena Stricta.

You might find it helpful to take some time before committing to this ritual to become more aware of the plants growing in your local environment and notice if any particular plants call to you or if you notice some more than others. 

You’ll need:

• 20-40 minutes

• offering (smoke, water, stone, anything that feels aligned with your practice)

• plant(s)

1. Based on what is accessible to you and your body, go for a walk or find a place to sit where there are plants. Doing this does not require a lush forest or prairie and can be done with plants in your yard, community, or even a shopping center. 

2. Once you’ve decided on a location, find a plant you feel called to connect with and sit with or near it. Before connecting with the plant, consider asking permission to connect with it. If getting close to a plant is not accessible, you can perform this ritual as a meditation by visualizing the plant within your mind’s eye. 

3. Notice how the plant supports life and gives to its local environment. Does it have fruit, flowers, or seeds? Are there bugs, birds, or bees on or around it? Is it protecting the soil? Notice the plants, leaves, fruit, or flowers. What do you find beautiful about them? 

4. Consider asking the plant questions. Some to consider might be, “Tell me about your essence?”, “Who do you nurture?”, “What bring you joy?”, “Can I do anything for you?”, or “Would you like to give anything to me?”. Answers might come through as inner knowings, feelings, visuals in the mind’s eye, or inner dialogue.

5. Act accordingly, and as you can, if you receive invitations to give or receive from the plant. For example, if you feel the plant wants water, bring it. If you feel the plant wants to share itself with you in some physical way, allow yourself to receive it (of course, do not ingest anything unless you know it is safe to do so.)

6. Thank the plant for its energy and give your offering. 

As late summer slowly yields to fall, its beauty and bounty feel especially transient and tender. Our ever-turning cycles are a constant reminder that nothing lasts forever. Fortunately, lasting forever is not a prerequisite to savoring the fruit of the season, the joys of life, or the beauty of the earth. May your grief give way to soft spaces that allow you to be nurtured enough to descend into your own personal underworlds.

Honoring Imbolc and Brigid

Imbolc is our collective season of hope and renewal. I liken it to the star card after the tower. We've been deep in the cauldron throughout Samhain and Yule, and with the arrival of Imbolc, we can start to see the slightest stirrings of life and an increase in sunlight. Imbolc brings a palpable sense of renewed energy in the air.

In this share, you'll learn more about Imbolc, common correspondences, and ways to connect with the Goddess Brigid through rituals for the season. 

What is Imbolc?

On the wheel of the year, Imbolc is the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It occurs on February 1st and 2nd in the Northern Hemisphere and August 1st and 2nd in the Southern Hemisphere. Imbolc translates to "in the belly," which refers to a couple of things for this season. This season is often called "the quickening," which relates to the time in utero when the mother first begins to feel movement from her baby. The earth is starting to show signs of first stirrings as well. The second reference is that ewes often gave birth during this season, which was of utmost importance to our ancestors as it provided nutrient-rich milk to those in the community.

Imbolc is a time to tend to your hearth, home, and physical well-being on a personal and energetic level. It's also a time to tune into feelings of hope and renewal. Imbolc energy aligns with the early stages of a freshly waxing moon. It's a time to explore what's inspiring you and cultivate more of that inspiration. If you have specific goals or intentions in mind for the year ahead, this season is the time to form a solid plan and begin taking action. Like all seasonal celebrations, there's also a theme of community that weaves through Imbolc, which I find is often overlooked but important. 

Listen to this post on my podcast, AwenGuided by Spirit, here.

The Goddess Brigid, who we'll discuss in more detail, is strongly tied to this season. She is a Goddess of healing, fire, and the hearth. She brings inspiration and a renewed sense of hope like the season itself. 

I encourage you to honor these shifts when you feel called. There are no hard rules for honoring the wheel and the seasons. Trust your intuition. Your connection with nature is the most important part of working with the wheel. Each season is unique to you and your climate. 

I live in Arizona, and people often ask how I connect with the seasons here when it's just sunny all day, every day. Especially for seasons like Imbolc, when my ancestors were likely dealing with bitter cold and snowfall. The short answer is that I can assure you that if you're spending regular time outside, you will see shifts and changes for every season on the wheel. 

For example, not all trees lose their leaves here, but many do, and it is around Imbolc that those trees begin sprouting new growth. Another way I notice the shifts in each season, which has nothing to do with the temperature outside, is the length and orientation of the sun. No matter where you live, the sun begins to shine a little longer each day. In my house, I can see the sunrise from our kitchen window, and for a couple of hours every morning, we have to close our blinds a bit because the sunlight comes in so brightly. It's a physical reminder that the season of Brigid is coming. If you live in a climate that differs from Northern Europe, I invite you to begin noticing subtle changes, like where the sunlight comes into your windows at different times of the year. 

Now, let's take some time to explore the Goddess Brigid and her role in this season. 

Who is Brigid

Imbolc belongs to the Goddess Brigid, the Goddess of home, healing, fire, and smithcraft (among many other things.) Brigid is one of the Celtic pantheon's most well-loved and recognized Goddesses. So much so that she survived the test of time and Christianity, she even was adopted into Christianity as St. Brigid. She goes by many names, and you'll likely hear other pronunciations, including Brigid, Brighid, Brigantia, and so many others. All of them are options. I'll be referring to her as Brigid here today. 

One way to deepen your connection with Brigid is to connect with her in a guided journey. Get a pre-recorded exploration of Brigid and a guided journey to connect with her here.

There are two translations associated with Brigid. One is "exalted one," and the other is "fiery arrow" as you'll see, she lives up to both of these names. She was said to have been born with light radiating out from around her and fed milk from a sacred cow as a baby. Both milk and light are sacred to Imbolc and Brigid. She is a Goddess of birth and fertility and is often called upon during childbirth as a protective aid. Healing is another strong theme for Brigid. There are sacred fires and healing springs dedicated to Brigid throughout the British isles. 

Here's an excerpt from the book Brigid by Courtney Weber that beautifully captures Brigid's robust and contrasting energy.

This is the Goddess of the forge and the anvil, of poets, painters, and prophets. She is a Goddess of healing as well as battle, of fire but also water, love and death. She blesses small animals, guards orphaned children, and challenges authority. She has crossed the chasm of regional land Goddess to Christian saint and back again to contemporary Goddess of global scope. Distinct as the multitude of tongues that speak her name, and deeply rooted in creation, destruction, regeneration, and sometimes contradiction - this is Brigid.

Courtney Weber, Brigid

Brigid essentially took a "demotion" to continue to live on as St. Brigid as Christianity spread throughout Europe. Perhaps she knew she'd be reborn again in her full sovereignty in the hearts and minds of people across the globe. Another interesting point about Brigid is her connection to the sun and fire, which are often associated with Gods and masculine energy. She offers us a reminder not to become so rigid in the masculine vs. feminine energy binary or perhaps to let it go completely. We all contain these elemental energies regardless of how we identify ourselves. The forceful and action-oriented energies associated with fire can and should be owned by all. Brigid holds the power of fire, the inspiration of air, the healing powers of water, and the regenerative power of earth. She uses these elements from a seat of power and wisdom and invites us to do so. 

Copyright Cassie Uhl 2022, please credit when sharing.

We'll discuss more ways to connect with Brigid through ritual this season but first, let's explore common correspondences because they will very much come into play for the rituals. 

Correspondences for Imbolc

Understanding the correspondences of each season brings in so many additional layers. It also empowers you to craft your own rituals each season. In this section, I will share some common correspondences for the season and dive a little deeper into the overlaps between Imbolc, tarot, and astrology. 

Think of this list as a buffet of options to choose from to help you build personal meaning around the season of Imbolc. As always, if there are seasonal things unique to your environment, add that to your list of correspondences for the season. For example, here in the desert where I live, all of the citrus trees are fruiting and ripening at this time. Citrus fruits are certainly not a standard correspondence for this season, but they are for me. 

Themes: Renewal, new beginnings, hearth, home, cleansing, health, inspiration

Colors: White, green, yellow

Moon phase: waxing crescent

Herbs & Plants: rosemary, basil, bay leaf, angelica

Crystals: moss agate, quartz, green aventurine, kyanite, citrine, green opal

Foods: Milk, cheese, butter

Tools & items: Brigid's cross, white cloth, candles, fire, besom

Elements: Fire, earth, air

Cardinal direction: North East

Runes: Uruz, Kenaz 

Ogham: Birch, Rowan, Ash

Tarot card: The Star

Zodiac: Aquarius

Goddess: Brigid

Most of these come from my book, Understanding the Wheel of the Year. Grab it here if you'd like a handy physical guide of the correspondences for each season. 

Bringing in physical objects, like the ones I mention, in your altar or even as decorations in your home is a way to invite in the energy of the season. Working with altars in this way is a powerful way to build relationships with each season.

There are ways to work with these correspondences on an energetic level. At the beginning of this share, I brought up how Imbolc is much like the start card in the tarot. I find that Imbolc carries the same energy as the star card. Imbolc also falls within Aquarius season, the astrological correspondence for the star card. In the tarot, the light increases after the tower card. We start with the star, the moon, and then the sun. If we compare this to our seasons, we have the sun's increasing light with Imbolc, the Spring Equinox, and Beltane. 

I find that this season, and the coming seasons, are a potent time to explore themes surrounding the increasing light after the tower card in the tarot. There are a lot of layers to explore, and I think exploring the star card more deeply through meditation, journaling, or reading, can be a great place to start. I know that was a bit of a departure from the rest of this share, but I wanted to bring it up.

Let's talk rituals for this season because there are so many! You can already find a few Imbolc rituals on past blog posts. Here are some favorites. 

Rituals for Imbolc

In this section, you'll learn a few ways to connect with the energy of this season through ritual. We'll discuss candle magic, a ritual to connect with the Goddess Brigid, and some suggestions for cleansing yourself and your space in preparation for this season. 

Candle Magick for Imbolc

Imbolc has a strong theme of fire and inspiration, which makes candle magick a powerful option for this season. The sun's light is finally increasing at this time, it's a season of inspiration and taking action, and the Goddess Brigid embodies the energy of fire. 

One of the simplest and most powerful ways to connect with the energy of this season and Brigid is through candle magic. Something as simple as lighting a candle with intention can help you call in inspiration, honor Brigid, and honor the sun. Last year, I shared a full blog post and reel with steps to perform an inspiration ritual to call on Brigid for inspiration. Find the past blog post here and the reel here. If you're feeling uninspired, don't know what direction to go, or are experiencing a creative block, I encourage you to explore themes of inspiration through working with candles.

Watch a reel of this candle ritual here.

Here's an excerpt from The Magical Year by Danu Forest about working with candles of this season. 

To call in inspiration is to begin to see our life infused with spirit, to discover a new or renewed vision for greater creativity on all levels. To call in healing is to resolve the things that hold us back or limit our potential. We all have parts of our lives and bodies that need healing, and to give this aspect of ourselves a boost at this time of the year sets us up for a more empowered and happier future. To call in the blessings of the hearth or the forge at this time summons greater positive energy for our families, friends, and communities, with all our relationships, strengthened and blessed. 

Danu Forest, The Magical Year

Who doesn't need a little bit of that right now? This is one of the reasons I love candlework so much. Candles are such a powerful way to foster inspiration. Working with candles for ritual can also be so creative. You can keep it simple, or you can anoint your candles with oil, dress them with herbs, or add crystals on it or around it. There's a lot of room for play and experimentation with candles. If working with candles is new to you, I have some great past posts on the blog to get you started. Click here to check them out. 

Brigid Healing Ritual 

As we discussed above, Brigid is also a Goddess of healing. One of the many reasons she was associated with the Imbolc season was that it was a very challenging time for our ancestors living in Northern Europe. It is still quite cold for many people at this time of year. Our ancestor's food may have been in short supply at this point of the year, and disease may have been spreading as well. Imbolc is a season of hope because nature shows its first signs of waking up. Our ancestors would warmly welcome a celebration dedicated to the healing powers of Brigid at this time. 

A common ritual at Imbolc is to place a white cloth outside on the eve of Imbolc. Brigid is said to bless and infuse these white cloths with her healing energy. The cloths may then be used as comfort, healing, and a reminder of Brigid. Try this for yourself by placing a white cloth outside on the eve of Imbolc for Brigid to bless. You could use the white cloth as part of your altar spread, sleep with it, hold onto it to clean wounds or give it to someone sick. 

Renewal Bath 

The final ritual I'd like to share with you is a renewal bath. I love using baths as a form of ritual and energy clearing, and this is a beautiful season to use baths for this purpose. It's common to cleanse your space and yourself for the arrival of Brigid at Imbolc. This is one way to offer yourself a profoundly nourishing and cleaning experience, both physically and spiritually. 

This ritual is adapted from a "Lustral Bath" recipe in "The Magical Year" by Danu Forest, which I highly recommend! I made some additions to my version. Don't sweat it if you don't have everything you need. Use what you have. A bath with some table salt, a candle, and an intention to be renewed can be just as powerful. 

Watch a reel of the bath ritual here.

Renewal bath recipe

1. Fill a cloth bag with cleansing herbs of choice. About a 1/4 c. will do. I used lavender, sage, and mint. Let the bag soak in the tub as you fill it or hang it from the faucet to let the water run over it.

2. Light some candles to call upon the healing powers of the Goddess Brigid or to honor the increasing light of the sun. White, green, or yellow candles are great options. I adore the beeswax candles by Lit Rituals. 

3. Add about 2 cups of dried milk powder. Use coconut milk powder to make it vegan. Give it a good stir. Milk is strongly associated with Brigid and Imbolc. It will also make your skin super soft!

4. Add some fresh spring water, structured water, or charged water. Just a little will do. Water talks to water. By adding it to the bath, it will have a positive influence on all of the water in your bath. 

5. Add 1-3 cups of Epsom salt or any salt you have available. Plain or a scented blend works. I love the bath salt blends by Herbonyx.

6. Optional, make it extra decadent by adding some fresh flowers. Whatever is in season or you can find is great. 

7. Set an intention to be cleansed and renewed. Enjoy!

8. Add some cleansing smoke if you feel called. I used a renewal wand you can find in our shop here. 

9. When you're done, collect the herbs and flowers, thank them, and consider using them as an earth offering or compost.

There are so many ways to honor this season and Brigid. I hope you're feeling as excited about this shift as I am and empowered to bring it to life with ritual. I wish you a bright and hopeful Imbolc. 

Inspired Growth Candle Ritual for Imbolc

The Celtic Sabbat of Imbolc honors the midway point between the Winter Solstice and Spring. The Earth is starting to wake up, and even though it may be quite cold still, you can start to see glimmers of nature waking up. On a personal level, this is a season to allow inspiration to stir within you. Imbolc is a call to allow your inner transformations so you can grow into the highest and best version of yourself. Danu Forest says it best here.

"To call in inspiration is to begin to see our life infused with spirit, to discover a new or renewed vision for greater creativity on all levels. To call in healing is to resolve the things that hold us back or limit our potential. We all have parts of our lives and bodies that need healing, and to give this aspect of ourselves a boost at this time of the year sets us up for a more empowered and happier future." - Danu Forest from The Magical Year

The Goddess Brigid is closely associated with this sabbat. Brigid brings light, inspiration, and healing and aids in childbearing. It’s her whispers which begin to rouse both you and Mother Nature during this time of new beginnings. Brigid connects deeply with the fire element and is often referred to as the “Flame of Ireland.” For these reasons, candle work is especially fitting for Imbolc. Learn more about Brigid here and more about candle magick here.

For this Imbolc ritual, you’ll be calling on the Goddess Brigid to stir inspiration within you. The ideal time to practice this ritual is on the evening of February 1st or anytime on February 2nd. Brigid is associated with the color white, so a white candle will be best for this ritual. As with all ritual work, use what you have. Your intention is the most powerful part of any ritual or spell. If you don’t have one of these items, leave it out, it will still work. 

Inspired Growth Candle Ritual for Imbolc

For this ritual, you’ll need:

• A white candle 

• Rosemary for cleansing (optional)

• Bay leaf for success (optional)

• A sharp tool to inscribe your candle with

• Anointing oil for your candle (whatever you have on hand works, such as almond oil or even olive oil. For an extra layer of energy, try rosemary oil, chamomile oil, or basil oil.)

• Safe space to burn your candle

• Dedicated time to connect with your candle

1. Prepare all of your items and take a moment to center yourself. 

2. Using your carving tool, write “inspire me” on your white candle. As you carve your candle, visualize yourself opening up to receiving insight and wisdom. 

3. Rub your anointing oil over your candle and continue to visualize yourself opening up to receive inspiration from spirit. 

4. Roll your candle in any herbs you’re using, or sprinkle them on top.  

5. Place your candle in a fire-safe dish or holder and light your candle. 

6. When you light your candle, call on the Goddess Brigid to join you, inspire you, and heal you. You might say something like, “Goddess Brigid, I welcome your light into this space. I am open to your inspiration and healing. So it is.”

7. Stay with your candle as it burns. Take 2-5 minutes to sit with your candle and softly gaze at the flame. 

8. As the candle continues to burn, you can continue to meditate and connect with Brigid, you can write down any ideas that come to your mind, or you can simply rest and enjoy the healing light of Brigid. 

9. When the candle is done burning, take a moment to thank Brigid for joining you and thank yourself for taking the time to connect with the season. 

Just like nature grows without force, so will you. Trust that the stirrings of inspiration that you received are exactly what you need to grow into the highest and best version of yourself. Imbolc blessings, dear one!

Learn more about Imbolc and how to connect with this season here. 

Winter Solstice & Yule Spell Jar for Rebirth

The winter solstice, also called Yule in Germanic traditions, is the longest night and shortest day of the year. It is the time we have the most darkness, and after the winter solstice, the sun returns — growing each day.

Because of this darkness and the return of the light, the solstice is deeply associated with rebirth. A kind of new year for witches, if you will. In this blog post, I’ll share how to make a DIY spell jar for rebirth in honor of the winter solstice. This would be a great practice to do on the winter solstice or in the days after it! 

So what are spell bottles or jars? Spell jars are a form of folk magic that can be used for many different purposes. I share more about spellwork below - keep scrolling to read it!

A LITTLE ABOUT SPELLWORK

To me, spells are about directing energy in a specific direction. They’re about using magick, which Dion Fortune defines as “the art of changing consciousness at will,” for healing, manifestation, and connection. 

I believe that they can be simple, and all you really need is yourself and your energy. Other items, like the ones we’ll use in this spell, are supportive in infusing some extra magick and energy into the work — but you don’t need them to do spells.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

For this spell, you’ll need:

As with all spells, use what you have. Feel free to substitute items, and don't worry if you're missing something from this list. Your intention is the most important part of any spell!

• A glass bottle/jar of any size 

• Salt of any kind for protection

• A piece of paper and pen to write your intention

• 3-5 drops of oil that supports rebirth like eucalyptus or peppermint 

• Stones that represent rebirth to you like moonstone, green aventurine, and howlite for peace as you transform. Other stone options could include malachite, citrine, moss agate, or quartz.

• Dried or fresh herbs that support rebirth like spruce, pine, or nettle.

• Dried or fresh rosemary for clarity and protection.

• Cinnamon stick for luck

• Dagaz rune, which represents dawn. This can be placed inside your jar or drawn/painted on the outside of your jar.

• White candle

• Any other representations of rebirth for you 

Let yourself be intuitive with your spell ingredients, and feel free to use what you have around you! 

SPELL STEPS

1. Like any spell, you’ll want to center and ground yourself before working the spell. You might spend a few minutes meditating, letting your eyes drift around your space, or doing breathwork or anything else that feels grounding to you. Find ideas for grounding here. 

2. When you feel ready, cleanse each of your items. You can use smoke, sound, salt, or another cleansing technique you align with.

3. Write your intention for the spell on the paper to add into your bottle.

4. If you’d like, you can paint your bottle with symbols that represent rebirth to you.

5. After your bottle is ready, take your time to place each item inside your bottle intentionally. Raise energy as you do this, either with deep breaths or chanting. I recommend coming up with your own chant that focuses energy on connecting to your intuition and developing your intuitive abilities.

6. When you’re done filling your bottle, seal it, hold the vessel in your hands, and keep chanting or breathing as long as you’d like.

7. Light your white candle and place it on top of or next to your spell bottle. Be mindful of your candle surroundings and never leave your candle burning unattended. Tip: Melt the bottom of your candle with a flame to make it stick to the top of your jar.

8. Spend time meditating on your intention as your candle burns. Connect with the feeling of rebirth. Visualize rebirth moving through your cells, making you whole. What would it feel like, look like, even sound like, to be reborn?

9. Ground the energy after your meditation by placing your palms on the ground and returning any excess energy to the Earth.

I recommend placing the bottle on your altar, keeping it at the forefront of your consciousness while it works its rebirth magic. Keep your Yule spell bottle out for one lunar cycle, until Imbolc, or when you feel ready to take it down.Want more ways to connect with the season of Yule? Check out these articles from our blog: 

• Oracle or Tarot Card Spread for Yule

• 4 Ways to Honor the Winter Solstice

• 3 Ways to Bring Meaning to the Winter Solstice

Sinking into acceptance // 4 Rituals for the Waning Moon + Card Spread

The waning moon phase is nature's way of calling you inward. How can you truly know what you need to release, shed, or let go of if you haven't allowed yourself time to go inward and fully experience your emotions? This phase is your invitation to feel and allow.

The waning moon phases occur after the peak of the full moon to the dark moon. Energetically this phase represents a time of allowance, acceptance, and shedding.

Growing up, most of us are taught to bottle our feelings up rather than sinking into them and accepting what is. Acceptance doesn't mean rolling over and taking it or being okay with the status quo. Not by a long shot. Acceptance of the current moment means allowing yourself to fully experience whatever is bubbling up in you at the present moment. 

If things in your life, or the world at large, are not aligned with your desires and want them to change, you don't have to accept them as they are. What you do need to accept is your feelings about these situations. It's in the allowance and acceptance of situations that healing, growth, and change can occur.  

There's an opportunity to grow from every situation you're presented with, and this phase asks you to be open to the learning and evolving process rather than pushing against it. Imagine the energy of this lunar cycle as a big unconditional and loving hug. 

Here are a few keywords to understand the basic energy of this lunar phase. 

Energetic Themes for the Waning Moon

• Passiveness

• Acceptance

• Allowance

• Releasing

• Shedding

• Letting go

• Resting

The rituals outlined below will work well together, but if you don't have the time or tools to perform all of them at once, that's okay, do what feels most aligned with your needs. Keep reading for four ritual suggestions for the waning moon phase. 

1. Candle Ritual for the Waning Moon

Candles are an ideal ritual tool for this moon phase because they can be used as a very passive tool. I suggest using this candle ritual suggestion in tandem with one of the ritual suggestions below so your candle can burn as you sink into a ritual. There's more than one candle color that will work for this lunar phase, here are three suggestions, go with what feels best for where you're at, or use all three!

Pink candle: Pink candles offer soft and loving energy. This candle color is ideal for bringing in self-love and acceptance. This candle color is often suggested during the waxing moon phase to call in romantic love. For the waning moon phase, its energy will be used as a tool to call in self-love. 

Blue Candle: Blue candles offer peace and respite. If you've been in a cycle of overwhelm and feel like you can't catch a break, this is your candle. The energy of this candle can help you soften into the present moment to access your emotions better. 

Purple Candle: Purple candles offer inner wisdom and perspective. If you're in a place of allowance with your emotions but struggling with accepting them, the energy of a purple candle can help open you up to a higher perspective and shed light on why you feel the way you do. 

If candle magick is new to you, and you'd like to learn more about how it works and the process I outline here, check out this past blog post on candle magick basics. 

Once you've selected your candle color(s), you may want to anoint your candle with a specific oil. I suggest lavender, bergamot, rose, or geranium work well with the energy of the waning moon. If you don't have any of these available, a simple carrier oil, like almond or coconut oil, will work just fine. 

Anoint your candle with your oil, hold it in your hands, and impress it with your energy. Repeat this intention or something like it that feels good to you, "I love and accept myself as I am. I am allowed to feel the fullness of my emotions and will let them flow through me. I trust that Spirit will show me what needs to stay and what needs to go. So it is."Light your candle(s) and stay with it as it burns. 

2. Waning Moon Meditation

If you're going to do any of these waning moon rituals, meditation is my top suggestion. I covered this topic in-depth in a previous post, so I'm not going to spend too much time discussing it here. But, if you've followed me for long, you know that I adore meditation. 

Meditation opens you up to your inner world, which is step one in allowance and acceptance. As I said above, you have to take the time to explore your inner landscape before you can truly know what needs to be released. Meditation and internal reflection is the first step in this process.  

Click here to get my free waning moon meditation or here to read my previous blog post on meditating with each moon phase. 

If you'd like to add some supportive crystals to your waning moon meditation, I suggest rose quartz and a grounding stone of choice like obsidian, black tourmaline, or garnet.

3. Waning Moon Card Spread

Use this card spread with your favorite oracle or tarot card deck. These questions can offer guidance on finding more acceptance in your life and suggestions for releasing anything holding you back from your highest good.

If you didn't begin with the candle ritual or meditation suggestion above, take a moment to connect with your breath and ground yourself. 

1. In what area of my life do I need to soften my resistance?

2. What lesson does my resistance have to share with me? 

3. Where can I focus my energy to bring more acceptance into this area of my life? 

4. How can I integrate these lessons into my life?

5. How will I hold myself back if I am unwilling to explore my resistance?

6. What old ideas do I need to shed to come into more wholeness?

Be open and honest as your cards reveal guidance to you. The next ritual can help you uncover any confusion you may have about your reading. If your reading is initially unclear, leave it, be open to signs from Spirit, and revisit it at a later time. 

4. Write and Release

This ritual suggestion works well after performing either the waning moon meditation or waning moon card spread because you should be fresh with emotion and insight. Take some time to write about what came up for you. Alternatively, if tarot and oracle cards aren't your thing, you can use the card reading questions above as journal prompts. 

Writing is a powerful tool for exploring, feeling, processing, and releasing your emotions. Here's a conclusion from a study conducted on the healing benefits of writing: "There is power in written expression and the personal sharing of one's story. Writing shows promise not only as a therapeutic tool during intervention, but as an ongoing avocational activity with many personal and health benefits." 

Try to write without judging what you're writing and let your thoughts and feelings flow. 

Choose to release your writing in a way that feels good to you. You can burn the paper in a fire-proof vessel, bury your text in the earth, release it into a flower body of water (ensure that your paper is compostable if you do this method!), or something else that feels good to you. You cannot do wrong; the purpose of all ritual is to bring meaning and healing to your experience, so trust that the releasing method you select is what will serve you best.

 I hope you feel empowered to love and accept yourself fully, emotions, and all. Dance with all aspects of your being. Know that in each moment, even the uncomfortable ones, there is an opportunity to go deeper and find wholeness.

Walking the Path of Infertility & 5 Spiritual Tools to Help

Walking the path of infertility was one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced during this lifetime. If you’re walking this path, I see you, and I send you my love and encouragement because I know how hard it is. For four years, I was unable to conceive naturally, and I tried all the things. Eventually, after four years of walking the infertility path, I became pregnant and birthed my sweet twins, Ellis Andrew and Lillian Hart. Here I’m sharing some of the tools that helped me through this journey.

Let me preface this post with a gentle reminder that your experience is unique, and so was mine. Please, take what you like and leave the rest. My suggestions are based on my individual experience and may or may not work for you. 

I’d want to be extremely transparent about all of the tools that I relied upon throughout my infertility journey. I am a huge advocate for therapy and found a therapist that specialized in working with women who were struggling with infertility (she actually went through IVF herself!). If you live in Arizona and want her contact info, please send me a note here. I also used a variety of holistic and modern Western medical interventions, including acupuncture, massage, herbs, IUI, and ultimately, IVF. IUI and IVF are not for everyone, and certainly has its many downfalls, but it was the path I chose. 

The suggestions I offer you here have less to do with becoming pregnant and more to do with loving yourself where you’re at. I believe, for me, that the acceptance and peace I found around this issue is what ultimately lead me to conception. This isn’t the case for everyone, and as I said, this is a deeply personal path that is unique to each individual. Be open, but, if something doesn’t feel like a good fit, that’s okay! 

Berkano card featured from The Ritual Deck.

CREATE AN ALTAR

Having an altar gives you an area to hold space for all of the big emotions that go along with infertility. Early in my infertility journey, I made an altar for my unborn child. If you’re feeling this, go for it, but I’ll be honest and tell you that I took it apart in a fit of rage and rebuilt an altar for myself. I was so glad I did, and here’s why. 

For me, so much of the infertility journey was me constantly doing and trying new things, often with little regard for my body and energy. I can’t tell you how many times Dr’s would say, “This procedure is perfectly harmless and painless!” only to discover that it was indeed painful and very emotionally taxing. I felt like a human pin cushion on an emotional rollercoaster. I needed a space for myself more than anything, not for my unborn child! My unborn children were totally fine; I was the one who was struggling. 

So, my recommendation is to focus on you and honor your feelings as much as you can throughout the process. One powerful way to do this is to dedicate a space to yourself and your feelings with an altar. Think of your altar as a container for all of the big things you’re not ready to face or need a break from. I would even visualize placing my big emotions in a safe little container stored on my altar until I was prepared to confront them. 

Check out the video below to learn more about creating an altar, embodying the mother archetype, and leaning into shadow for infertility.

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Altars work well for grief and hardships of all kinds! Click here to check out a post I shared a while ago about how to create an altar. 

EMBODYING THE MOTHER ARCHETYPE WITH BERKANO AND THE TRIPLE GODDESS 

You do not need to bear children to be a mother. This was huge for me in my journey. In fact, I even tattooed the Rune Berkano on my finger as a reminder. I decided to have Berkano tattooed on my finger after I came to a place of acceptance about possibly not being able to have my own children. I wanted it as a reminder that I could be a mother in a variety of different ways. Berkano is a Rune that represents creation, birth, and fulfillment. It is often associated with fertility and motherhood. 

The Triple Goddess symbol is another symbol I used to tap into the energy of motherhood. The Triple Goddess symbol consists of the waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon representing the maiden, the mother, and the crone. This lunar reminder suggests that we can embody all aspects of the Triple Goddess at different times in our life. You don’t need to be young to act like the maiden, and you do not need to have children to embody the mother. Beyond the archetypes associated with the Triple Goddess, the moon phases also point to a reminder that everything is a phase and nothing is forever, just like the infertility journey. Read more about the Triple Goddess in a post I wrote here. 

You don’t have to have these special symbols tattooed on your body to work with them! But if you want to, by all means ;) You can add these symbols to your altar, meditate on them, create art with them, and wear them. 

MEDITATION

There are SO MANY choices to be made along the infertility journey, believe me, I know. Here are just a few, “Should I try IUI or IVF?” “Should I adopt?” “Should I stop trying altogether?” “Why do I think I don’t deserve to have children?” “Should I switch to a new Dr.?”, “Should I go the holistic route first?”, “What are my limits with this process?”. These are just a few examples of some of the big questions that went through my mind during my infertility journey. 

When life hands you any difficult situation, meditation is a powerful tool for a variety of reasons. Meditation will help soothe your possibly stressed nervous system to give you the space to feel and process some of the big emotions and questions connected to infertility. Once you’ve gotten to a place where you’ve experienced some of your emotions, meditation can help again by giving you clarity around any questions or confusion you may have about your path. 

If you’re new to meditation, I suggest trying a 5-minute meditation every day and then bump it up to 10 minutes a day when you feel ready. Click here to read a great blog post about meditation and how to start and stick with a meditation practice. 

My final IVF attempt that resulted in the viable pregnancy of my twin babes happened when my meditation practice was the strongest. I was actually hosting a two-week meditation challenge on Instagram at the time. I was the most at peace I’d been throughout my entire infertility journey and can say, honestly, that I knew I’d be okay whether or not my final IVF resulted in pregnancy. Now, I don’t think it was only my solid meditation practice that made this IVF attempt stick, it was a culmination of several things, but I know that it certainly helped!

CRYSTALS ALLIES

I saved this tool for the end because, though I do believe crystals are mega-powerful, I also think they can be a crutch. I like to use crystals in tandem with other tools, like the ones I mentioned above, not as a solo tool. Personally, I think crystals work best when their energy can be layered with other actionable steps. 

Here’s my list of crystals to help with infertility, bonus they’re all also great for pregnancy and connecting with Goddess energy!

Card featured from The Ritual Deck.

Moonstone- Moonstone, in all of its varieties, corresponds to femininity, the Triple Goddess, the element of water, and cycles. Working with moonstone can serve as a potent reminder that everything you experience is a phase. On a physical level, moonstone is said to help regulate cycles within the body. Moonstone is a gentle enough stone to keep in the bedroom on your nightstand or under your bed. 

Carnelian- There’s nothing like scheduled sex that will take the passion out of your sex life! Carnelian connects with both the root and the sacral chakra, making it ideal for connecting with your passion. It is also another stone that can help heal the reproductive organs. 

Rhodonite- If you’re in the trenches of infertility, you’re going to need a lot of self-love and self-acceptance. Rhodonite is here to help. Rhodonite is also said to help with fertility directly, but I relied on it more for its emotional balancing. When I was TTC and struggling, I had a rhodonite mala necklace created for me and used it often during meditation. 

Smokey Quartz- If you’ve been at this long, then you probably already know that that 2ww (two-week wait) is one of the most anxiety-provoking times of the month! Not to mention your hormones are at their peak! Smokey quartz can be your grounding and anxiety soothing bestie during this time. 

LOOK FOR THE SOUL LESSON AND DIVE DEEP INTO SHADOW

My last suggestion, and it’s a pretty esoteric one, is to look for the soul lessons in your infertility journey. I believe, before we are born, our souls decide what lessons we need to learn while in human form to help us progress. For me, this is where therapy and meditation really helped. It became evident to me throughout my process that I had a deep belief that I did not deserve to have children and that to be happy, I had to struggle. 

Much of my infertility journey involved getting nice and cozy with my shadow side (learn more about shadow work here) and negative the storylines I was choosing to live in. In therapy, I explored my beliefs about being undeserving and where they stemmed from through EMDR therapy. EMDR therapy gave me the tools I needed to explore these darker aspects of my life and ultimately heal them. 

My meditation practice helped me become more aware of when these stories would come to mind, so I could look at them with clarity and not attach to them. For me, this step was not the sort of thing I did in a day or even a week; it was a long process. 

I could obviously write about this for an entire book worth of writing! If you’re walking the infertility path and have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here. Remember, there’s a lesson in everything, even when it’s hard. Nothing lasts forever, and you are always supported!

I hope these tools offer you some peace and healing. I’m sending you so much love, hope, and strength for your journey, wherever it leads you. 

6 Ways to Align Yourself with the Energy of Imbolc

Imbolc is a sabbat on the Wheel of the Year that happens on February 1st.

At Imbolc, the Earth is beginning to wake up and we celebrate the approaching return of spring. We are through the hardest and darkest part of the winter, and we begin to prepare ourselves to direct our energy outwards again in the lighter part of the year to come.

The word Imbolc means “in the belly” - offering us the promise of hope, renewal, of the awakening of the Earth again. 

Imbolc is also deeply associated with the Celtic triple goddess Brigid and her sacred flame. Brigid was one of the most powerful and most loved goddesses in Ireland, and she is the goddess of healing, poetry, and smithcraft. She is associated with the hearth, fire, the home, and water. At Imbolc, as the Earth reawakens, Brigid is said to be in her maiden aspect. 

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing some ways to align yourself with the sacred energy of Imbolc. Keep scrolling to read them!Page featured from The Goddess Discovery Book V2.

Page featured from The Goddess Discovery Book V2.

1. SPRING CLEANING

Imbolc is a beautiful time to clear some space for the new beginnings to come - physically, emotionally, and energetically. This could mean literally cleaning your home and donating things you no longer use, or it could be about letting go of an unhealthy pattern, belief system, or even identity. Whatever it is for you, it’s time to clear space in order to plant seeds for spring.

2. HONOR BRIGHID 

Honor the goddess Brigid in whatever ways feel good to you. Writing poetry, reading poetry, and making something with your hands are all beautiful, tangible ways to honor Brigid. You could also sit in meditation and ask Brigid to come to visit you and share messages with you.You can read more about Brigid in this blog post.

3. CONNECT WITH FIRE

As I mentioned above, this sabbat is deeply associated with fire, the sun, and the sacred flame that burns within. You might connect with fire by going outside during the day and sitting in the sun, lighting candles or burning a fire in your fireplace, meditating on the sacred flame within, or doing a fiery movement practice to open your solar plexus. Find a journey to fire here. 

Card featured from The Ritual Deck. 

4. CREATE AN ALTAR

Create a fresh altar with items and symbols that invoke new beginnings, hope, fire, and awakening. Some suggestions:

• Seeds 

• A Brighid cross (click here to learn how to make one)

• Fertility symbolism 

• Blackberry

• Tiger’s eye, citrine, or carnelian crystals 

• An image of Brigid - print one out or use her card from a goddess oracle deck if you have one 

• White and red candles

• Frankincense or dragon’s blood incense 

• A bowl of water 

As always with building altars, get creative and use your intuition!

5. TAP INTO YOUR INNER MAIDEN

Brighid is said to be in her maiden aspect at Imbolc, so we’re all invited to tap into our inner maiden. Connect with the young part of you that is playful, that believes in magic, that has a vivid imagination. Let yourself embody creation, pleasure, and desire - whatever that means to you.

6. PREPARE FOR SPRING

If you haven’t been resting through winter and really sinking into the winter invitation of sacred solitude, this is your last opportunity to connect with this energy. If you have been resting and feel excited about spring, preparing for spring could mean starting to plan, organize, and align yourself to set some strong foundations for spring growth.

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Wishing you a beautiful Imbolc, goddesses! You can find more rituals for Imbolc here and meditations for the Wheel of the Year here.

Understanding Waxing VS Waning Lunar Energy + How They Relate to Full Moons

The moon’s influence over the tides serves as a constant reminder of its continuous push and pull of energy. Each phase of the moon imparts a specific kind of energy onto you and any magickal workings you perform. When we zoom out and take a more straightforward look at lunar energy, we can understand it as expansive vs. contracting energy.

I’ve been sharing an annual moon phase calendar with my newsletter subscribers for the past five years. One of the most common questions I receive is how to use the moon phase calendar. This simplest and most effective way, in my belief, is to weave the waxing and waning energy of the phases into your life. 

It can feel overwhelming to keep track of every single moon phase and its ever-changing astrological sign. Working with each phase (new, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, etc.) is more nuanced but isn’t necessary to fully benefit from the effects of lunar energy. 

In a busy world where self-care is shouted from the rooftops, shouldn’t we be finding ways to connect with ourselves and nature in easier ways? Rather than skipping the ritual or the meditation because it seems like "too much"” I want to offer you easy methods to honor lunar energy. 

Cards featured from The Ritual Deck.

Waxing Energy Vs. Waning Energy

When we break down lunar energy into its purest forms, we have waxing energy and waning energy. Waxing energy is in alignment with growth, expansion, and abundance. Waning energy is in alignment with releasing, surrendering, and resting. 

When does the waxing phase happen?

The waxing phase of the moon cycle begins at the new moon and ends at the peak of the moon’s fullness. 

When does the waning phase happen?

The waning phase begins the moment the moon starts decreasing in light and ends at the dark moon. If you’d like some clarity about the dark moon vs. the new moon, check out this previous blog post I shared. 

Waxing Moon Energy Correspondences

• Elements: Fire and Air

• Yang 

• Action

• Growth

• Abundance 

• Celebration

• Accumulation

• Seeking

• Motivation

WaningMoon Energy Correspondences

• Elements: Water and Earth

• Yin

• Passive

• Releasing

• Letting go

• Surrender

• Acceptance

• Peace

• Review

• Integration

• Reflection

• Rest

Working With Waxing & Waning Energy Daily

Once you begin working with the phases of the moon in this way, you’ll likely feel more in tune with her energy. Rather than looking up the specific dates for each new moon and full moon, you’ll be in flow with the entire cycle of mama moon. You may begin to feel so in sync with her energy that you instinctively recognize waxing vs. waning energy on a soul level. 

In my practice, I rely on the energy of the waxing or waning moon for basic decisions throughout my day. Throughout my day, I may decide to do or not do certain things based on the moon being in a waxing or waning phase. 

Aid in Decision Making 

When faced with the decision to push forward or let it go, notice what moon phase you’re in for guidance. If you’re in a waxing phase, push on; if you’re in a waning phase, consider letting it go. This idea can be applied to interactions with people, manifesting work, and projects. Of course, there are times when you may not have the option to “let go” of a project that genuinely needs to get finished. If you’re in a waning moon phase and really need to complete something, you can still make a mental shift to let go of expectations and desired outcomes. It’s a subtle but powerful shift.

Burning Candles

Candle magick is one of the easiest ways to shift your energy. When you align it with lunar energy, it is even more potent. When I say “candle magick” in regards to daily energy work, I simply mean lighting a colored candle that’s in alignment with lunar energy, that’s it!

Candle colors that align with waxing energy: white, red, yellow, orange, green, gold

Candle colors that align with waning energy: black, blue, purple, pink, brown, silver

Here’s an example of how to apply this to a real-life situation. If you’re trying to bring more financial abundance into your life and it’s a waxing moon phase, light a green candle to expand your wealth, if it’s a waning moon phase, light a blue candle to bring in a sense of peace and acceptance around your desire to increase your financial abundance. 

Adding and Clearing Energy

When you get in tune with the cycle of the moon, you may find that you enjoy cleansing the energy of yourself and your space more during the waning moon phase. Because the energy of the waning moon is associated with releasing, clearing, and letting go, it will amplify your desires to cleanse and purify. Alternatively, if you feel the need to add energy to yourself or your space, the waxing moon phase will be in better alignment. 

Wearing specific crystals

One of my favorite ways to stay in sync with waxing and waning energy is to wear specific gemstones that are in alignment with the current energy of the moon. Here's a list of crystals that align with waxing vs. waning energy.

Waxing Moon Crystals: citrine, tiger's eye, green moss agate, sunstone, pyrite, sodalite, lapis lazuli, green aventurine, garnet, rainbow moonstone, turquoise, fluorite, kyanite, carnelian, and malachite.

Waning Moon Crystals: obsidian, snowflake obsidian, hematite, black tourmaline, rose quartz, smoky quartz, rhodonite, prehnite, larimar, black moonstone, onyx, jasper, labradorite, and bloodstone.

Full Moons & Waxing and Waning Energy

The different energy associated with the waxing vs. the waning phases of the moon is especially relevant for the full moon. The full moon is the most intense point of the lunar cycle, so understanding the waning vs. the waxing side of it is really helpful! The full moon can be broken down into three parts, waxing side of the full moon, 100% lumination (which only happens for about one minute!), and waning side of the full moon. If you are going to perform a more in-depth ritual, knowing which side of the full moon to perform it on will add a very intense and specific kind of energy to your ritual. 

I hope this breakdown of waxing vs. waning lunar energy helps you feel more confident in your ability to connect with the moon daily! You can find more in-depth rituals to work with lunar energy in the blog posts below:

• How to Journal with the Moon Phases + 10 Journal Prompts

• Meditations for Each Moon Phase + Free Guided Meditation

• 4 Rituals for the Waning Moon + Card Spread

• Rituals for Every Moon Phase // Free Printable Moon Cards

• New Moon Card Spread

• Yoga, Mantra, Pranayama for the Full Moon

• More Full Moon Suggestions

• Three Dark Moon Rituals

Full Moon High Priestess Mist

The High Priestess is the archetype in the tarot’s major arcana, who reminds us that we have all the answers we need within us. Ruled by the moon and associated with the triple goddess, divine feminine, and the story of Persephone’s descent into the underworld, the High Priestess, brings us deep within to awaken our connection to our wisdom and intuition.

I love working with tarot archetypes in different ways, and one of those ways is by making mists. In this post, I’ll be sharing how to create a High Priestess mist to connect you to your intuition - a connection that is your birthright. High Priestess card from The Starchild Tarot.

High Priestess card from The Starchild Tarot.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• A spray bottle

• Small tumbled crystal chips of amethyst or another stone you intuitively connect the High Priestess to (note that some stones dissolve or lose their luster in water) 

• Water charged under the full moon

• Witch hazel 

• Essential oils of frankincense, clary sage, and/or sandalwood 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MIST

The ingredient that may or may not take the longest to get (depending on where the moon is as you’re reading this!) is water charged under the full moon. I recommend charging your water on the night before the moon is technically full - so for example, if the moon is full at 8:30 am on Saturday, charge your water on Friday night, not Saturday night. 

All you need to do to charge your water is to place a bowl or glass of water under the full moon and leave it out overnight. Place some amethyst in your water if you'd like, but it's totally optional. You can drink your excess water or use it in rituals and spells! 

Once you have your full moon water, I recommend creating this spray on the day of the full moon. Here are your steps:

1. Fill half the bottle with witch hazel 

2. Add 25-30 drops of essential oils (if using multiple oils, split up the drops according to whatever scents you prefer!)

3. Add your crystal chips

4. Fill the rest of the bottle with the full moon charged water

5. Close the bottle and shake!

If you’d like, it can be nice to spend a little time meditating with the mist to set intentions for it to connect you with the High Priestess within you. Use the mist before doing divination work to infuse your space with High Priestess Energy, before meditation, and in ritual and spellwork around intuition.

Let your intuition inspire your use and enjoy! Click here to share your mist with us on Instagram. 

Three Dark Moon Rituals

The dark moon is one of my personal favorite times of the cycle. It’s the last few days of the waning time of the cycle, when the moon continues to shrink and eventually disappears from the sky.

Different traditions honor the dark moon at different times. Personally, I honor the dark moon when you can’t see the moon at all in the sky--which is technically the new moon. Others honor the dark moon the last few days before the new moon. I recommend using your intuition and noticing how you feel during these days to understand when to honor the dark moon versus new moon.

So what is the dark moon all about?

The dark moon is our time for radical rest, for deep clearing and releasing, and turning within. This is the time to cancel plans, to do shadow work, to go to sleep early and wake up late, and to pull tarot or oracle cards to tune in to your inner voice.

Keep scrolling for a few rituals to consider working with at this time.

WATER SPELL FOR CLEARING

One of my favorite spells to work during the dark moon is this simple water spell. Water is a helpful element for cleansing and purification, and this spell works especially well when the dark moon is in a water sign--Pisces, Cancer, or Scorpio. You’ll need:

• A large glass of water

• A piece of paper and pen

To start, choose what you’re focusing on releasing. Maybe there are blocks to self-expression, fear of being rejected, shame around your path, or blocks to abundance. Once you’ve decided what you’re ready to release (you’re welcome to spend some time journaling on this to get clear), start making a list of all the limiting beliefs and stories that you hold associated with this block.For example, let’s say you’re working with clearing blocks to abundance. Your list might hold beliefs like:

• I can’t make money doing what I love

• People with money are jerks

• It’s wrong to have money when other people have so little, etc.

Keep letting the beliefs flow! I tend to fill up a whole page when I do this spell.

Once you have your list, it’s time to work the spell. Ground yourself, cast your circle, and pick up your list. You’re going to say the first belief out loud, starting with “I clear the belief that ________ from my body” and then taking a big sip of water. Pause and notice, feeling and visualizing the water moving through your body, cleansing this belief from your system on every level.

Repeat this for each belief on your list, taking your time and really feeling the beliefs move out of your body.

Card featured from The Ritual Deck

When you’re done, use the energy of your palms to charge your last sip of water with what you do want - abundance, healthy self-expression, creativity, etc. - and feel your whole body being charged with this intention by the power of the element of water.

Give thanks to water and the Universe for their help, ground yourself again and open your circle.

CANDLE MAGICK FOR RELEASING

For this spell, you’ll need:

• Black taper candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame

• Black tourmaline, smoky quartz, or petrified wood

• A simple oil like grapeseed or bergamot essential oil

• Rosemary

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting rosemary smoke over them or visualizing light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving what you’re releasing into your candle as well as the glyph for Pluto, the planet that helps things die and be transformed. For your words, keep them simple and powerful by carving the basics of what you’re releasing like “fear” or “self-doubt.”

Anoint your candle with your oil and roll it in your dried rosemary. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your all of whatever you’re releasing - your fear or your self-doubt as in the example above - pouring into the candle.

Place your crystal(s) and candle on your altar, light your candle, and start meditating on the flame. Continue to visualize all that you’re releasing pouring into the candle, and watch as it burns and turns to smoke. Stay with this meditation until you feel a shift in your energy - until you really feel a release.

Let the candle burn out if you can or snuff out the candle and continue the same spell each night until the candle has burned completely.

SHADOW WORK TAROT OR ORACLE SPREAD

The dark moon is a deep invitation into shadow work.

What is shadow work?

Simply put, it’s an intentional exploration of our shadow side - the parts of ourselves that we reject, that we’re ashamed of, that we stuff down and hide. Click here to learn more about shadow work if you’re new to it!

For this ritual, you’ll want to create a ritual space - whatever that means to you. For me, it usually means cleansing my space with smoke beforehand, lighting incense, and lighting candles. Maybe you also like to take an essential oil bath beforehand, or sprinkle herbs in a circle around you.

All you’ll need for this ritual is:

• A journal and pen

• Your tarot or oracle cards

Spend a few moments grounding yourself, then shuffle your cards and pull a card for each of these questions:

• What part of my shadow is rising to the surface to be worked with?

• How has rejecting this part of myself manifested in my life?

• How can I show this part of myself more love and integrate it into my whole self?

Give yourself the gift of sitting with your cards after you pull them. Spend time meditating on your cards, journaling about them, or even painting with them to process and understand what their messages are for you.

Four Abundance Rituals

Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!

ABUNDANCE CRYSTAL GRID

Crystal grids are a beautiful tool for manifesting more abundance in your life! The ideal time to set up your abundance grid is at the new moon, and you can leave it up until the full moon.

Start by gathering your stones and cleansing them. Your abundance besties in the crystal kingdom are aventurine, citrine, quartz, moss agate, tiger eye, and kyanite! Try one of each stone, although if you have more than one, that’s great, too.

You’ll place your citrine stone in the center and arrange your other stones radiating out around the citrine in a way that feels good to use. Use the crystal grid in the Goddess Discovery Book or place your stones on a cloth or table.

As you place each stone, keep an image in your mind’s eye of what you’re trying to attract. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you receive the abundance you’re requesting.

After all your stones are in place, trace your crystals with a pointed quartz. Imagine the quartz connecting your crystals and unifying their energy. Try to connect with your grid daily until the full moon!

ABUNDANCE SPELL BAG

Spell bags, known in Voodoo as “gris-gris,” or to Native Americans as “medicine bags,” are one of my favorite ways to make magick. The waxing moon is the best time to do any abundance spell work, so try to do each of these rituals then if you can!Here’s what you’ll need to make a spell bag for abundance:

• Basil or a sprinkle of cinnamon

• 10 of Pentacles tarot card (or a copy of this tarot card if you don’t want to put the actual card in the bag!)

• A knob of ginger

• Honey calcite, pyrite, citrine, or green aventurine

• Anything else that represents abundance to you. For example, if you work for yourself you might include a printout of an email where a client booked a session with you.

Spend some time with your spell bag to infuse your energy into it. Hold it in your hands as you meditate on abundance, and breathe into it before you pull it closed!

ABUNDANCE CANDLE MAGICK

You can work with the magic of fire to help you call more abundance into your life! If you’ve never done candle magick before, read this blog to learn how to get started.For this spell, you’ll need:

• Green candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame.

• Tiger eye, citrine, and green aventurine

• Patchouli or frankincense oil

• Coins or money

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting herbal smoke over them or visualizing white light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving the Fehu Rune into your candle. Fehu is a powerful symbol of abundance. If you’d prefer to carve a specific dollar amount or item you’re hoping to attain you could carve this into the candle too.

Anoint your candle with the oil of your choice. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your abundance goal.

Arrange your crystals, money, and candle in a place where you can leave it up for a few nights. Light your candle and meditate on the flame. Visualize your abundance goal clearly, imagine yourself reaching your goal and what it would feel like to attain it.

You can continue this until the entire candle burns or snuff out the candle and continue the same ritual each night until the candle has burned completely.

Bonus! You can get this spell as a free printable spell card (along with spells for love, letting go, and connecting with your intuition) here.

ABUNDANCE TAROT or ORACLE CARD SPREAD

Turn to tarot or oracle to understand your blocks to abundance and what you can do to connect to more abundance. You can create a ritual space by grounding yourself first, lighting candles, burning herbs or incense, or doing anything else that feels right to you.

Cards from the Journey Tarot Kit

When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your cards while holding the intention to connect with the wisdom of your highest self. Draw cards for each of the following questions:

• What belief system or patterns blocks me from the abundance I desire?

• How to release this belief system or pattern

• How to open myself up to greater abundance

• My mantra for calling in abundance

Spend some time journaling with your cards and meditating on your mantra card. If you’d like, you can place your mantra card on your altar!

10 Ways to Increase Your Shakti Energy

How is a society that’s stuck in the patriarchy able to find balance? The answer lies in you. The answer lies in one person at a time increasing their Shakti energy.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “Shakti” before but do you know how to tap into this creative life force that is the personification of feminine energy? I’m going to share what this term means with you, but more importantly, how you can increase your own Shakti to help our world find balance. First, let’s dive a little deeper into what and who Shakti is.

What is Shakti

Shakti is life, death, rebirth, destruction, and creation. Shakti energy is the divine feminine force coursing through the cosmos and all aspects of our reality. She is the ultimate Goddess and the creative energy behind all Goddesses. Even though Shakti is a divine feminine force, it is present in all life forms, male and female, though it may be repressed in some. The balancing force to Shakti is Shiva or masculine energy.

Who is Shakti

Shakti is referred to as the “Mother Goddess” in Hinduism. She is the Goddess that guides all other Goddesses. Shakti is represented in the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Kali. Each Goddess utilizes Shakti energy differently and can be called upon for different purposes.

Kundalini Shakti

If you’re familiar with Kundalini energy, then you have probably heard the term Shakti used here as well. Kundalini Shakti refers to the idea that every being has Shakti energy coiled up at the base of their spine, waiting to be awakened. You may have already had a Kundalini awakening and not even known about it! That’s another blog post for a different day though!

Here are ten simple ways to increase your Shakti. Warning! Shakti energy is INTENSE. Be mindful of this as you practice the following suggestions. Build in some time to ground yourself after practicing any of these exercises and if it feels like too much, take a break for a few days.

10 Ways to Increase Your Shakti Energy

1. Activate your sacral chakra

Your sacral chakra is your hub of creativity and feminine energy. This chakra is located below your belly button and above your pubic bone. Imagine it glowing orange with each inhale and exhale to awaken it. Learn more about activating your sacral chakra in this blog post.

2. Tap into the water element

The water element represents femininity, so it’s the element to focus on to increase your Shakti energy. Let the water element wash over you, literally, by taking a soothing bath. Learn more about yoga poses for the water element here and ways to represent the water element here.

3. Meditate, meditate, meditate

Meditation in and of itself will help increase your Shakti energy (check out guided meditations here) but here’s a technique to give it an extra boost. Visualize your Shakti energy coiled up like a snake at the base of your spine. With each breath visualize this snake-like energy uncoiling and traveling through each chakra, lighting it up and cleansing it along its path. Continue until you reach the crown chakra. This meditation can be very intense and energizing, allow ample time to calm and ground yourself afterward.

4. Call on Kali, Durga, or Parvati

Remember the three Hindu Goddesses I mentioned above? Kali, Durga, and Parvati represent Shakti in Hinduism, calling on any of them can bring some extra Shakti into your life. Each Goddess will bring a different kind of energy. Parvati is a Goddess of love, Durga is a warrior Goddess, and Kali is the destroyer who ultimately brings balance. Learn more about connecting with Kali here. Goddess cards are from The Goddess Oracle.

Goddess cards are from The Goddess Oracle.

5. Follow the Moon

The moon has long been associated with divine Goddess energy due to its correlation with our menstrual cycles and the Triple Goddess. Try charting your cycle or journaling with the moon to connect to this moon energy. Learn more about the Triple Goddess symbol here and more about rituals for every moon phase here.

6. Grab some moonstone

Moonstone carries the energy of the moon and can serve as a potent reminder of her Goddess energy. Wear it, carry it with you, or place some moonstone on your altar as a glowing reminder of the moon and Shakti energy.

7. Get in touch with your shadow side

The imbalance of Shakti in our society is a direct reflection of our own imbalances. We so often focus only on our light, while directly under the surface our shadow side is seething. Take time to explore your light and dark to find balance within yourself. Learn more about shadow work here.

8. Practice the Shakti mudra

Guess what? There’s a mudra dedicated to Shakti! Try using this mudra during meditation or your yoga practice to increase your Shakti. Breathe deeply and focus on Shakti rising from the base of your spine.

9. Yoga asana practice

Let’s jump straight to the obvious here, Goddess pose. Remember when I said Kundalini aka Shakti energy is coiled at the base of your spine? Any pose that helps activate the base of your spine can help get your Shakti flowing, and Goddess pose certainly does this! Try to work different variations of this pose into your yoga practice or any postures that activate the sacral and root chakra.

10. Breathe Deep

Prana, your breath or life force, is Shakti. Any focused breathing can help increase your prana and therefore your Shakti energy. If you’re not familiar with any pranayama techniques, start with a three-part breath. Inhale, filling your lower belly with air first, then your middle section, and last your chest. Exhale in the reverse order. Practice this three-part breath 5-10 times and notice how you feel after you’re done. If you’re familiar with different pranayama techniques, try adding one into your practice daily. You can learn more about breathwork here.

You might find that you’re already practicing some of these things regularly. If you’re not, don’t stress! No need to start implementing all of them right away, in fact, I wouldn’t recommend it. Start small and start with the tips that sound most appealing to you. Learn more about your chakras system, the moon phases, and more in The Goddess Discovery Book.

6 Ways to Support Your Goddess Sisters

Our society has a long history of pitting women against each other. Of making us fear each other and compete with each other. Of creating division and separation between us.

But we can choose to end that cycle. It ends with us. It ends with us every time we choose to uplift, love, and hold the women-identifying humans in our lives.

Below are some ways to support the women in your life.

Hold space for them

Holding space isn’t just your regular conversation where we mostly just wait until it’s our turn to talk. There are a few important keys to holding space:

Give your full presence

Give your full presence with deep listening and eye contact. Your friends can tell when you’re not really there with them (and you can tell when your friends aren’t really there, too!). Put your phone to the side and really focus on what they’re saying.

Non-judgment

Offering non-judgment to others starts with doing your own work on not judging yourself. This may be part of your shadow work process—click here for 5 simple steps to help you get started with shadow work.

Asking questions without giving advice

Try not to give unsolicited advice. Asking helpful questions to deepen your friend’s understanding of her own situation is so much more helpful because it allows the answer to truly come from her—not you.

Facilitate their growth

Sometimes we get stuck in fear patterns. Sometimes we want to shrink out of our fullness, our magic, our bigness. When your sister is falling into her fear, wanting to shrink, help facilitate her growth. Help remind her of her magic. Don’t give her your permission to shrink.This is about being honest and constructive. This is about not always telling your friend what she wants to hear. They may not appreciate it at the moment, but they’ll likely appreciate your honesty in the long run.

Support their connection with their intuition

You give your community a beautiful gift when you support their connection with their intuition. Our society loves to make decisions based on logic alone, and looks down on things seen as “impractical.” But by validating your sister’s desire to listen to and make decisions based on intuition, you help shakti rise.

The Goddess Discovery Books are a great tool to use for improving your intuition and are even more fun to work through with a group of Goddesses!

Understand and respect their boundaries

Have a clear, open conversation with your sisters about their boundaries. What is an acceptable way to handle disagreements? What do they need from you to feel safe and supported in your friendship? What do you need from them to feel safe and supported in your friendship?

Strong boundaries can keep your relationships strong. Respecting each other’s boundaries can help set the expectation for strong boundaries in other, more difficult relationships as well.

Celebrate their successes

When they rise, you rise. It’s easy to feel threatened by the expansion of someone close to you but remember: it’s not a competition.The world is an abundant, infinite place and one woman having something you may want doesn’t mean you can’t have it, too. Celebrate their expansion, their growth, their wins.

Create community

Grow together. Meditate together, do moon rituals together, cast spells together, go to talks, or do courses together. Gather together and share wisdom. Gather together and connect with your intuition. Support each other by not allowing each other to stay stagnant.

Start out by implementing one of these tools each month to get used to doing it and add on from there. Before you know it your circle of supportive women will be flourishing!

What crystals, symbols, and scents do you need most?

It can be overwhelming to know what crystals, symbols, scents, and other tools to rely on for different purposes. Here’s a quick guide for a variety of situations you may be seeking support for or, perhaps, you have a friend who needs support in a specific area?

Happiness

Who doesn’t want to be happier? Scroll through the tools below for symbols, crystals, scents, and herbs that can help you cultivate more happiness in your life.

Symbols & tools

Wunjo Rune is the rune of joy, pleasure, and harmony. Get The Ritual Deck to get your Wunjo Rune oracle card, a great reminder of joy to place on your altar or carry with you throughout the day.

Crystals

Citrine, a crystal of happiness, emits positive energy and can help you stay positive, attract your desires, and be more present in your life. That’s where the joy really comes from after all, right?

Scents & herbs

Brahmi, an ancient Ayurvedic herb, can help promote feelings of well-being. Try burning it in the morning as you do a gratitude meditation.

Grounding & Protection

There are so many reasons grounding and protection are important. For those of us who do energy work and psychic work, grounding can help us bring our energy back into our body, back into the lower chakras. Protection can help protect you from absorbing the energy of others, either in spiritual work or just in general as you go about your life (especially for anyone who lives in the city!).

Regardless of your work with magick, grounding and protection help bring you back into your body, feeling safe, supported, and cared for.

Get more tips for psychic protection here.

Symbols & tools

There are many symbols of grounding and protection in the magical world. Some of my favorites are:

• Algiz Rune, the shield rune for protection

• Salt, a tool that has been used as protection for centuries

• Root chakra, your energetic center of safety and grounding

• Dark moon, an invitation to ground into your body and shed negative energy

The Ritual Deck includes representations of each of these symbols, which can act as energetic stand-ins in rituals or on your altar.

Crystals

Use snowflake obsidian, a stone of cleansing negative energy and releasing blockages, or smoky quartz, the ultimate stone for grounding and balancing.

Scents & herbs

Clove is your go-to for protection. Spruce will help you ground, bringing you deeply into the present moment.

Anxiety Relief & Peace

Many of us struggle with anxiety in the modern world. It’s so easy to get caught up in what has happened and what might happen or could happen. The tools below help you relieve anxiety and connect with a sense of inner peace.

Symbols & tools

Blue is a soothing color that can help restore tranquility and peace. Try lighting a blue candle or working with the blue candle card in The Ritual Deck.

Crystals

The crystal kingdom has an abundance of stones to help soothe your anxiety and restore your inner peace. We love blue lace agate for its calming vibrations, labradorite to keep you from absorbing too much of other people’s energy, and howlite to help relieve stress and get better sleep.

Scents & herbs

Lavender can be used as aromatherapy to soothe mild anxiety, and chamomile has long been used to reduce stress and anxiety.

Abundance & Wealth

Who doesn’t want to call in more abundance and wealth? The tools below will help you connect with the abundance you desire to manifest in your physical reality.

Symbols & tools

The color green is associated with abundance, wealth, good fortune, and success. Light a green candle on your altar or work with the green candle card in The Ritual Deck.Fehu Rune is your Rune for bringing abundance of all kinds into your life, whether it be financial or other. Fehu can also be used as a useful tool to tap into the abundance already surrounding you. If you’re having a difficult time tapping into gratitude for all of the gifts you already have, Fehu can help fill your heart with gratitude. Check out a ritual to work with Fehu in this blog.

Crystals

Citrine is also known as the success stone. It’s associated with the solar plexus chakra and can be a powerful aid in manifesting wealth and abundance.Green aventurine is another stone well-known for attracting abundance, success, and luck. It’s also associated with the heart chakra, helping you to open to receive the abundance that is on its way to you.

Scents & herbs

Cinnamon has its roots in many cultures as a powerful plant for attracting abundance as well as success and healing. Try adding it to your coffee, blending it in your smoothie, and sprinkling it over a banana or your favorite dessert!

Love & Compassion

Turn to these tools when your heart chakra needs some healing. They’ll help you cultivate unconditional love and compassion for yourself and others. Find rituals to cultivate self-love here.

Symbols & tools

Use a pink candle when you’re working with self-love and compassion, or a red candle when you’re working with passionate love involving someone else.

Crystals

Rose quartz is your crystal ally for unconditional love and compassion. It’s a gentle healer for your heart chakra, a space where we can store so much fear and doubt.Carnelian is another beautiful stone of love, as well as faith and devotion. Use carnelian when you want to devote yourself to a healing practice or when you need to deepen your faith and trust in yourself.

Scents & herbs

There are many scents and herbs that help promote love and compassion! Try hawthorn, rose petals, lotus petals, or motherwort. Mixing a few herbs together into a tea or a bath can be lovely.

Cleansing Negative Energy

Sometimes, we’re not able to protect ourselves from negative energy. Life is life, and negative energy is sometimes inevitable. Use the tools below to cleanse yourself and your space of negative energy, especially after a difficult conversation, a break-up, or a stressful day.

Symbols & tools

Salt is an amazing natural tool to absorb negative energy. Use a representation of salt from The Ritual Deck, take a salt bath, use a salt lamp, or place a bowl of salt in your space.

Crystals

Black tourmaline, a dark stone for protecting and cleansing, is your go-to for cleansing negative energy. Try meditating with black tourmaline, visualizing all of the negative energy being absorbed into the stone.All-purpose quartz, the ultimate balancer, is another great crystal to have on hand for cleansing negative energy. Learn more about the magical properties and benefits of clear quartz here. Labradorite is also available to help you cleanse your aura. If your aura is weak, has tears, or holes in it labradorite can help. Keep your aura squeaky clean by meditating with a piece of labradorite or going around your entire body with a piece of it in your hand.

Scents & herbs

Rosemary and cedar can all help you cleanse negative energy. Burn them over yourself or in your space to cleanse, purify, and release.

Intuition & Psychic Abilities

These tools will help you open your third eye chakra, to connect with your psychic abilities and center of intuition. (We have a whole slew of blog posts to help you in these areas as well -- check out 5 Quick Tips to Improve Your Intuition,You Are Psychic! How to Determine What Psychic Gift You Have, and 3 Daily Actions to Improve your Intuition to get started.)

Symbols & tools

Your third eye chakra is the center of your intuition. It’s associated with the color purple, so try burning purple candles or connecting with the color in other ways like wearing it or including it in your space.

Crystals

Amethyst is a classic stone for your third eye chakra. It’s like a cool bath for your intuitive center, gently opening and awakening it to deepen your connection.Labradorite connects strongly to your third eye, making it ideal for honing your intuitive abilities. It can also help you connect with spirit guides and angels, and open the doors to the other side by helping you with astral travel. A multi-purpose stone for your intuition and psychic abilities, indeed!

Scents & herbs

Experiment with mugwort, lavender, juniper, and bilberry to open your center of intuition.

Connecting to the Moon

Symbols & tools

Work with representations of the moon in all her phases to connect with the lunar, divine feminine energy of the moon. The Triple Goddess is also here to connect you with the moon and its cycles, as well as the mother/maiden/crone cycle of life. Download your Triple Goddess free printable here.

Crystals

Moonstone, just like the name implies, is your crystal ally for connecting with the moon. It’s a dreamy goddess stone that channels the energy of mama moon into your energy field.Selenite received its name from the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene. Selenite offers the water element, connecting you to emotions, intuition, your highest self, and of course, the moon.

Scents & herbs

Mugwort is your go-to to harness the intuitive and psychic power of the moon. Burn it in your space to connect with the moon’s energy and your own inner Selene.

Femininity

Symbols & tools

The Earth element, represented as an upside-down triangle with a line across the bottom, and the Water element, represented as an upside-down triangle with no line, are both beautiful representations of the divine feminine, womb healing, and receiving. Work with the representations of these elements in The Ritual Deck.

The triple goddess symbol that I mentioned above, shown by two crescent moons with one full moon between them, is another beautiful symbol of the divine feminine. Besides the phases of the moon, it also represents the phases of womanhood we cycle through: maiden, mother, and crone.

Crystals

Rainbow moonstone is here to connect you to your inner goddess and divine feminine energy.

Strawberry quartz can also connect you to feminine energy as a gentle, loving stone here to fill you with the healing energy of love and open your heart center to give and receive love unconditionally.

Scents & herbs

Hibiscus, the flower associated with the Hawaiian goddess Pele, connects you with Pele’s fiery, passionate, and yet nurturing energy.

The lotus, whose petals represent the yoni, can connect you with your feminine energy and feminine center, the space of creation within you.

I hope you find this guide helpful for quickly finding tools to help you!

3 Goddesses to Call on for Samhain

Samhain pronounced So-win is considered the Wiccan New Year. It’s a powerful time of the year that is steeped in ritual and magick. During this special time, the veil between our physical world and the spirit world is the thinnest it will be all year. The thinning veil makes it the ideal time to practice magick and ritual of all kinds, it also makes it the ideal time to call in the energy of Goddesses associated with Samhain.

Most Goddesses associated with Samhain are considered dark Goddesses, they’ve been cast out, forgotten over the years, and sometimes unfairly associated with evil deeds. This “casting out” was often provoked by the patriarchy. The meaning and power behind these Goddesses have been twisted into something undesirable. Why? Because these dark Goddesses are extremely powerful women.

There are several Goddesses associated with Samhain but I’ll be focusing on three that I believe cover the greatest variety of needs. Today I’ll be sharing tips to invite the energy of Oya, Hecate, and Lilith into your Samhain rituals.

Keep reading for more information on each Goddess, what she can offer you, and techniques to invoke her energy. The cards shown here are from The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky, it’s my favorite Goddess Oracle because it contains several dark Goddesses. I recommend this deck for anyone wanting to become more acquainted with different Goddesses and their energy.

Oya for Transformation

If you’re looking to create an internal transformation this season Oya is your Goddess. Mighty Oya, a Yoruban Goddess, controls the rain, winds, and storms. She’s mothering, powerful, and has a strong desire to help women through their struggles to transform.

Oya represents the crone phase of the Triple Goddess and is closely associated with death and rebirth, another symbol of transformation. Sometimes parts of us must die or be let go of in order to transform into something greater. Allow Oya to blow her winds of change around your life to bring about something greater.

Tips for invoking Oya

• Wear wine or purple-colored clothing to honor and connect to Oya.

• Place purple flowers in your home or on your altar.

• Place a picture of Oya on your altar or somewhere you’ll see it regularly.

• The number 9 is Oya’s sacred number. Place an offering of 9 coins to Oya on your altar or in a sacred space.

• Meditate imagining the winds of change from Oya surrounding you daily until your transformation is complete.

• Light a purple and red candle for Oya. Purple for her and red to inspire action on your part.

Hecate for Magick

Hecate is considered the mother of all witches and of witchcraft. Her energy is ideal for Samhain because she is queen when it comes to performing spells, rituals, and magick of all kinds. Hecate is also the Goddess of the crossroads and is said to be connected to the physical world, the spirit world, and the underworld. Her connection to other realms makes her ideal for magick that concerns connecting with loved ones passed on.

If you’re planning to take advantage of this special time by performing magick or spiritual connections of your own, you’ll definitely want to call on the energy of Hecate to guide and protect you. Consider her the loving grandmother figure over your magick as you work. That said, Hecate is also extremely fair and just. She will give you exactly what you need and what is best for you, which may be different then what you have in mind!

Tips for invoking Hecate

• Hecate is represented by the waning moon or crone in the Triple Goddess symbol, so the ideal time to perform spells with her guidance is during a waning moon.

• Have an image of Hecate or the waning moon placed nearby you as you do your spellwork.

• Place a cauldron on your altar or wherever you perform magic work to represent Hecate’s magickal energy.

• Before beginning any magick or when trying to connect to the other side verbally call upon Hecate to guide and watch over you as you work.

• Represent the presence of Hecate with the number 3 or a depiction of a three-headed animal.

• Burn candles, especially black candles to represent her protection over you during spellwork.

Lilith for Unleashing Your Inner Wild Woman

Get in touch with our inner wild woman through Lilith. Often branded as an evil Goddess she did not start out this way. Lilith is a Goddess not afraid to be wild, sexual, or speak her truth which quickly puts her in the category of being “bad” and “evil.” Her name quickly became synonymous with Satan and cruel and deviant acts. Lilith was blamed for anything undesirable about women and became associated with any woman not willing to conform to her wifely duties, or desiring to live an alternative lifestyle.

Lilith is not bad or evil. Lilith is the voice inside of you telling you to act when you feel you’ve been treated unfairly by the patriarchy. She is the voice that says it’s not only ok but good to enjoy sex and your sensuality. She is the voice calling for all women to stand up and fight for our power. If Samhain has inspired you to get in touch with your inner wild woman Lilith is here to let it come roaring out. Tread lightly with invoking Lilith, her energy is very powerful!

Tips for Invoking Lilith

• Place a picture or Lilith on your altar or sacred space to remind you of your ability to take your power back.

• Place symbols or replications of snakes on your altar to honor Lilith.

• Meditate on the energy of Lilith filling your being before doing anything you find scary or intimidating.

• Light a red or orange candle to honor Lilith. Light an orange candle for more sensuality or red for power and passion.

• Write down ways in which you’ve been suppressed and burn them in Lilith’s honor.

• During a full moon allow yourself time and space to call on Lilith’s energy to perform a dance or sensual act to allow her powerful energy to flow through you.

I hope you take advantage of this special time to connect with these powerful Goddess. You can find more rituals for Samhain here and meditations for the Wheel of the Year here.

5 Powerful Rune Meanings & Rituals

Runes are symbols that each carry unique universal energy. These special symbols were used by Nordic and Germanic cultures in Northern Europe as forms of language, for religious purposes, and as tools of magick and divination.

Runes an extremely versatile spiritual tool. You can use Runes together as a set, like an oracle card deck, learn more about using Runes in this way here. You can also hone in on the energy of specific Runes for specific purposes, that’s what I’ll be covering here.

Most Rune sets are comprised of 24 Rune characters, though this can vary some depending on the set used. I’ll be referencing five of the most frequently used Elder Futhark Runes here.

The cards shown in the images and rituals are from The Ritual Deck®, an oracle card deck I created based around rituals.

The Runes I’ll discuss today are Algiz, Fehu, Berkano, Wunjo, and Tiwaz. Keep scrolling for ways to tap into the energy of each one.

Algiz for Protection

Think of Algiz as a spirit guide or connection to your Higher Self always watching over you. This Rune is not only a symbol of protection but goes much deeper and wants to offer you guidance on your journey. Tap into the power of this Rune anytime you’re feeling lost, scared, or like you need additional protection.

Algiz Ritual

Create an Algiz wall hanging to protect you and to remind you of your connection to your Higher Self. This activity is ideally performed on the night of the dark moon, but it can be done during any moon phase. You’ll need one long stick (this will be used as the center of the Algiz symbol, so any size you’d like will do), two shorter sticks that are the same size (about half the size of the longer stick), and string. Place the two shorter sticks in a “V” shape at the center of your longer stick. The wall hanging should look similar to the Algiz symbol on the card. Wrap your string or twine around the three areas where the sticks meet until they’re stable, and then tie a knot. You can hang this symbol on your wall or place it on your altar.

If you are interested in creating another wall hanging for protection, check out this past blog post.

Fehu for Abundance

Fehu is here to shower you with abundance! This is your Rune for bringing abundance of all kinds into your life, whether it be financial or other. Fehu can also be used as a useful tool to tap into the abundance already surrounding you. If you’re having a difficult time tapping into gratitude for all of the gifts you already have Fehu can help fill your heart with gratitude for all of the abundance you already have.

Fehu Ritual

During the next waxing crescent, or any growth phase of the moon, create a Fehu carved candle. You’ll need a green candle, a toothpick, and a lighter. Using the toothpick, carve the Fehu symbol into your candle. As you carve the symbol, imagine yourself being showered with wealth, provisions and blessings. If your well is already full, think about your gratitude for all of your blessings as you carve the candle. Light your candle and gaze at it for short while, inviting the energy of Fehu into your space. Extinguish your candle when you’re done. Light this candle as often as you’d like throughout the waxing moon phase until the full moon.

Berkano for Manifesting

Bring your gifts and goals to life with the help of Berkano. This Rune is all about birthing new things into the world, this could quite literally mean birthing a child into the world or a new project. Whatever it is you’re trying to bring to fruition, Berkano is here to help bring it to light.

Berkano Ritual

To connect with the energy of Berkano, create your own Berkano charm during the next full moon. You’ll need a medallion of wood or a small stone, and paint or a permanent marker. Visualize the goal or desire you’d like to fulfill as you draw or paint the Berkano symbol on your wood medallion or stone. Once you’re done, take a few quiet moments to visualize what you’ll feel like when your goal is manifested. Place your Berkano charm somewhere you’ll see it regularly, or carry it with you.If you would like to learn more about manifesting with runes, click here to read a past post.

Wunjo for Happiness

Need more reasons to smile? The Wunjo Rune is here to help you make the decision to live in joy. This is a great Rune to use if you’re feeling down or anxious because it will help you see the good in things around you even if you’re going through a hard time.

Wunjo Ritual

Create an altar or sacred space for Wunjo as a reminder to find the joy in each day. You might find that Wunjo’s jubilant energy starts to bring more optimism into your daily thinking. This is a great ritual to perform on the day or night of the full moon. Use the Wunjo card from The Ritual Deck® or draw it on a card to place on your altar. Collect objects that bring you joy, such as pictures of happy memories, joyful flowers, or trinkets that make you happy. Other items to consider are green aventurine and a yellow candle. Get creative and have fun with this! Your Wunjo altar should make you smile anytime you gaze at it. Keep this altar up for as long as you’d like and try to make contact with it daily for one complete moon cycle.

Tiwaz for Strength

If you’re going through a challenge with another person or have a difficult decision on the horizon, Tiwaz is here to help you through it. Consider this Rune the warrior Rune. The energy of Tiwaz wants to help you find truth and justice, which is not always easy. Rely on the strength of Tiwaz for help during disagreements, legal battles, or making difficult decisions.

Tiwaz Ritual

Create a Tiwaz candle for any disagreements, difficult decisions, or legal encounters you have coming up. If you need a fresh look at the situation a white candle will serve you well. If you need momentum to help you make a difficult decision a red candle will serve you well. During the next first quarter moon or any waxing moon phase, gather your candle, a toothpick, and a match or lighter. The addition of a sodalite stone will help for speaking your truth and a tiger eye stone for energizing your solar plexus chakra. Carve the Tiwaz symbol into your candle and light the candle. Invite the just energy of Tiwaz into your situation. Sit with the lit candle as long as you like, and once you’re finished extinguish the candle. Continue to sit with the candle daily until the moon grows full, you’ve reached a decision, or your issue is resolved.

Getting Started With Candle Magick

If you’re on the fence about getting started with spellwork and magick, candle magick is the best place to start. Candle magick is simple, you don’t need much to perform it, and it’s powerful. You may even be using forms of candle magick in your home already and not even realize it!

I’m going to cover everything you need to know to get started with candle magick here.

How and why candle magick works

How often do you have a fleeting thought of acquiring a new object or setting an intention but neglect to follow through with it? Performing candle magick requires that you focus on specific goals and visualize them clearly. This often brings up emotion, connecting you even more to your desire. Think of the candle itself as a communication medium between yourself and The Universe. As your candle burns it is sending your request out into The Universe.

Candles also represent all four elements which make them a potent source of intention setting. The solid wax and wick of the candle represent earth, the flame represents fire, the smoke represents air, and the melting wax represents water.

All of these reasons combined make candles the ideal tool for spellwork and magick.

What kind of candles to use?

Any kind of candle will work, but you may find that you prefer specific kinds of candles for specific spells. I prefer to use 100% paraffin wax spell candles. They’re made specifically for candle magick, are easy to come by online or in new age shops, reasonably priced, and they come in a variety of colors.

Another great option is beeswax candles. They can be a bit pricier and harder to find but are a luxurious option because they’re 100% natural. Beeswax candles are said to emit negative ions (like a salt lamp), which is an added bonus.

If you don’t have either of these available, any candle will do, just be mindful of the color and scent of the candle as they will have an effect on the outcome. I cover candle color meanings in the last section of this blog post.

Preparing your candles

Before you start with any candle magick you’ll want to physically clean the candle and cleanse any negative energy from it. You’ll also want to anoint or “dress” your candle with oil. Keep reading for tips to perform both of these tasks.

Always begin with cleaning your candle first. To cleanse your candle start by inspecting it for any physical signs of dirt or dust. Next, you’ll want to cleanse the energy of your candle. You can do this by placing it under the light of a full moon, wafting cleansing herbal smoke around the candle, or by wiping it down with water.

Anointing your candle is an important step because it gives you the opportunity to imprint your energy onto the candle after it’s been cleansed. Select an oil that resonates with you or lines up with your intention. An essential oil or a simple baby oil will work. Put a couple of drops of the oil on your candle or your hands and rub it on the candle. As you rub the candle with oil focus on your desired outcome and imagine your energy and desire being absorbed by the candle.

Learn more about how to dress your candle for spellwork here.

Candle color meanings

These are basic meanings for each color:

• Red: Strength, passion, intensity

• Orange: Sensuality, vitality, expression

• Yellow: Inspiration, confidence, clarity

• Green: Renewal, abundance, prosperity

• Blue: Peace, respite, psychic protection

• Violet: Intuition, attunement, psychic ability

• White: Newness, purification, hope

• Black: Stability, perseverance, negativity shield

• Pink: Love, romance, friendship

Getting started

1. Safety first! Please ensure that you burn your candles in a safe space and never leave a candle burning unattended.

2. Select a candle color that is in alignment with your intention. It’s always best to perform candle magick with a new candle.

3. Cleanse and consecrate your candle keeping your intention in mind as you do this.

4. Light your candle and watch it burn while focusing on your intention. Sit and gaze at the candle for as long as you’d like or space the candle burning out over several nights. If you space out your candle burning, don’t blow out your candle, instead, snuff it out with a candle snuffer. The candle snuffer will help seal your intent rather than blow it away.

5. Be mindful over the next day(s) of how this exercise makes you feel about the intention you’ve set for yourself.

This is the easiest way to get started with candle magick. Get comfortable performing these simple steps and then check out this blog post with more detailed candle magick spells and receive a free candle magick printable.

How to Open Your Crown Chakra & Know When it’s Blocked

Your crown chakra, known as Sahasrara in Sanskrit, is the highest of the seven chakras in the traditional chakra system. It’s located on the crown of your head and is the center of your connection with the Universe and with your highest self.It’s where you’re able to channel messages from the divine, access higher states of consciousness, and deeply trust the Universe. An open crown chakra helps you connect with something greater than yourself, experience the interconnectedness of all beings, and know that you are truly taken care of by an abundant, loving Universe.When your crown chakra is blocked, it may manifest as:

• Feeling disconnected from the Universe

• Feeling disconnected from magic

• Experiencing loneliness

• Feeling like life is meaningless

• Disconnection from your spiritual side

• Experiencing migraines and headaches

• Strong attachment to material possessions and achievements

If any of those sounds like you, don’t worry. Our chakras are ever fluid, just like us, and they can change from day to day. Scroll down to get eight ways to unblock your crown chakra and experience a connection with the divine.

Slow down

Are you stuck in the “grind?” Waking up, going to work, taking care of all the necessary human things in life but not tending to your inner world?The first thing you can do to open your crown chakra is to simply give it space to breathe by carving out more time in your day to just be. To read a good book, take a salt bath, or take a leisurely walk with the purpose of just experiencing the pleasure of the outdoors rather than getting somewhere.

Do a ritual

Maybe it’s been a while since you sat at your sacred space and made time for magick. That’s okay! Open your crown chakra by doing a ritual that is meaningful to you, or try this simple one.You’ll need:

• Purple candle

• Pen

• Piece of paper

On your paper, write “I connect with the Universe” or a similar phrase. Create a sigil out of the phrase by removing all of the repeating letters and vowels, and connecting the lines together into a symbol.

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Breathe that intention into your sigil. Take a moment to visualize how you will feel when your crown chakra is open and energy is flowing freely.

Then, light your candle, and burn your sigil over it as you continue to focus on your intention. You might like to say, “As I burn this paper, I connect with the Universe.”

You can rewrite your sigil on another page and place it on your altar as an ongoing prayer to the Universe.

Affirmations

The crown chakra is not associated with a bija (seed) mantra like the rest of your chakras. Try meditating on one of the affirmations below instead.

• I am deeply connected with the Universe

• I trust the flow of the Universe

• I am a channel for divine wisdom

• I am a channel for divine light

• I am always open to receiving messages from the Universe

• I am magic

• I am light

• I am a deeply spiritual being

Use scents

Try using one or more of the oils below on your skin, in your bath, or in a diffuser to open Sahasrara:

• Frankincense for tranquility and meditation

• Vetiver to connect with the divine and your own spiritual nature

• Sandalwood to quiet your mind and ego

• Helichrysum to help you access higher spiritual states

• Palo Santo for healing, purification, and opening up to higher spiritual realms (be sure it comes from a sustainable and ethical source)

Learn more about balancing your chakras with aromatherapy and crystals from this past blog post.

Meditate

Find a comfortable seat and lengthen your spine from your tailbone to your crown. Start to breathe deeply, focusing on sending your breath to a white flower at the crown of your head.

As you continue to breathe, visualize this flower blossoming open, opening the crown of your head as a channel to the Universe, letting the bright white light of the divine enter your energy field.

When you feel complete, close with a deep breath in and a long breath out of your mouth.

You can also try one of our guided meditations here.

Crystals

Try working with rutilated quartz, clear quartz, sugilite, selenite, or amethyst to help you open your crown chakra. Meditate with them, place them on your altar or by your pillow while you sleep, and journal with them to see what comes up around what’s blocking your crown chakra.

Yoga poses

As we move up the spine to the higher chakras, they become more affected by meditation than by physical postures. But there are still some yoga poses you can use to open Sahasrara:

Headstand

This pose directly activates your crown chakra. It restores the flow of energy in your body and inverts the flow of blood towards your crown. If you have trouble balancing in headstand, try doing this pose against the wall— you’ll still get the benefits!

Savasana

The most important yoga pose. As you come into savasana, set your intention to open your crown chakra. Then remind yourself that it is safe to relax completely, and release into your savasana.

Half or full lotus pose

Lotus pose helps balance the body and mind, helping you tap into higher consciousness. Find a comfortable seat, and start in half lotus. If you’d like to go deeper, try the full version.

Pray

Send a simple prayer into the Universe: “Please help me connect with you. I am open and willing to receive messages.” Try saying this prayer or a similar prayer that resonates with you each morning when you wake up.