A Practical Guide To Witchcraft And Magic Spells Part 11

Do something positive to help a person, animal or place on the day after the third ritual. It need not involve money. You can re-light the oils at any time if energies seem sluggish and repeat the whole ritual a moon cycle later for as long as is necessary. There may be a lot of negative vibes swimming the other way, so persevere and be patient.

Incense Magick Incense has formed a central part of religious and magical ceremonies for thousands of years in lands as far apart as India and North America. It has been used for purification purposes, to invoke angels and to bind or repel demons by medieval magicians. It is said to release specific energies contained in its fragrance and to carry prayers and pet.i.tions to the G.o.d or G.o.ddess figure being invoked.

Since the 1960s, incense sticks, cones and burners have increased in popularity for home use, to create an atmosphere of calm, to induce love and cleanse negativity. Many people use them for meditation as well as for rituals for confidence, health, love, prosperity, psychic protection and success.

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Incense is now on sale in floral fragrances as well as the more traditional ones, such as frankincense and myrrh, and these are lovely both for home use and folk spells. Our ancestors would have burned flowers and leaves to create the same effect.

Like herbs and oils, incense can be empowered for specific purposes and can itself form a focus for a spell, as I describe later in this section. In formal magick, incense represents the Air element and is placed in the East of the altar. It is perhaps the easiest and most accessible magical substance and yet it can be a very potent form of magick. Incense burning differs from lighting essential oils, in that the fragrance is transmitted almost instantly on the smoke and so tends to be more concentrated and powerful than the slower-burning oils. It is therefore very effective for rituals requiring immediate action or the same intensity of effort from start to finish, rather than a gradual increase, perhaps of love or prosperity.

There are two kinds of incense. The first is non-combustible incense that is burned by smouldering it on charcoal blocks. This is made from powdered herbs, leaves bark or even pine needles mixed with a gum resin such as dragon's blood and has the advantage of producing clouds of smoke, brilliant for purification or for the climax of a spell. You can buy this type of incense prepared as loose powder, wood chips, granules or special paste, to burn on charcoal blocks or discs.

Traditional pract.i.tioners often make their own non-combustible incense, which can be very empowering, but it does take time and can be messy. On page 300 I have suggested an excellent book by Scott Cunningham that describes the process step by step and there are many Internet sites giving recipes and instructions.

To use this incense, place the smouldering charcoal block in a censer or thurible. Until you are experienced you may find it easier and safer to place it inside the censer first, and then light it. (A censer is simply a container for the charcoal. It may be a simple ceramic pot or a much more ornate vessel made of gold or silver. I would not recommend that you use the kind of incense censers on chains used in church services as the incense tends to go everywhere and can be quite dangerous.) Add your incense gradually, about half a teaspoon at a time, once the charcoal block in the censer is glowing but not releasing sparks. With practice, you will learn to add the right quant.i.ty to ensure a steady but not choking stream of smoke as part of the ritual. Many pract.i.tioners prefer to light it beforehand and just add a teaspoon of incense as part of the ceremony or spell when they need a billow of fragrance. Incenses with a greater proportion of resin and gum will last longer - hence the popularity of frankincense in religious ceremonies. When working in a group, you can ask one person to top up the censer if necessary during a long rite. If you are alone, make this part of your increasing power actions in a private ritual.

Practise using non-combustible incense before rituals and in time it will become as natural as lighting a candle.

The second type of incense, which many pract.i.tioners, myself included, prefer to use, is combustible incense, lit directly in sticks and cones. These are very difficult to make at home but the commercially produced versions are quick and easy to use and the fragrance of the sticks does not alter when burned. Some home-made incenses made from apparently pleasantly scented flowers can smell foul when they are lit!

Sticks and cones are very safe to use: just light the tip, and once it is glowing, gently blow out the flame. This means there is no danger to children or pets who may be around.

Incense is also sold as dhoops, pure incense in cylinders attached to long sticky ropes; these come from India and can be burned in a flat dish.

Long, broad incense sticks can be carried when alight if you are careful. There are also many kinds of incense holders available. If you have a holder that collects the ash, you can scatter this to the four winds to carry your wishes on their way.

Whatever type of incense you use, treat it as you would any other substance that is ignited: read the instructions carefully before use and take normal precautions.

Below I have listed some of the most common forms of incense. Some you have met before in herbal or oil form and so I have kept the a.s.sociations brief to avoid repet.i.tion. You may also find a number of these fragrances, especially fruit and floral ones, are available as scented candles. You can use these in your spells to focus on a particular need or quality you wish to attract.

Incenses For Magick Allspice Allspice is used in spells for money, strength and action.

Apple Blossom Use apple blossom for love, fertility, optimism, inner beauty and youthfulness. It is particularly good in rituals concerning babies and children.

Avocado Use avocado incense for desire, increase of beauty in oneself or the environment.

Basil Basil is used in rituals for fidelity and prosperity.

Bay Use bay for healing, prosperity, protection and marriage.

Benzoin Benzoin is used in rituals for money; it increases mental powers and concentration.

Bluebell Bluebell is used for faithfulness in love and betrothals.

Carnation Carnation is used for strength, healing and family devotion.

Cedar/cedarwood Cedar and Cedarwood are best for healing and cleansing redundant influences and negative thoughts.

Chamomile Like its herbal counterpart, Chamomile incense brings money, quiet sleep and affection, and is used in spells to do with all matters of the family.

Cinnamon Cinnamon is for spirituality, success, healing, psychic powers, money, love and pa.s.sion.

Cherry Cherry brings new love and divinatory abilities.

Cloves Cloves are used in spells for love and money; they repel hostility and improve memory.

Copal Use copal for protection and purification; it is especially good for cleansing crystals.

Cypress Cypress is for times of transition to a new phase, letting go of sorrow.

Dragon's blood Dragon's blood is used for love and protection, pa.s.sion and male potency.

Fern An initiator of change, travel and fertility, fern will also bring hidden wealth, maybe in terms of potential.

Fig Use fig for wisdom, creativity and creation, fertility, harmony and balance.

Frankincense Use frankincense for courage, joy, strength and success.

Freesia Freesia increases trust, especially after loss or betrayal; it also brings belief in a better tomorrow.

Gum arabic (acacia) Use gum arabic in rituals for dreams, meditation, psychic protection and development.

Heather Heather is used for pa.s.sion, fidelity in love and good fortune; it maximises opportunities and is particularly effective in weather magick, especially rain-making.

Honeysuckle Honeysuckle is used for money, psychic powers and protection.

Hyacinth Hyacinth a.s.sists in overcoming opposition in love; it brings happiness and desire for reconciliation.

Hyssop Hyssop is used for making a love commitment, for healing and all forms of protection, especially from psychic attack.

Ivy Ivy is effective for fidelity, married love, permanent relationships and constancy.

Jasmine Jasmine is used in Moon magick and prophetic dreams. It brings sensuality, money and pa.s.sion.

Juniper Use juniper for protection from psychic attacks and physical theft; for cleansing, healing and house moves.

Lavender Lavender is particularly good for love and reconciliation, Lemon/lemongra.s.s Both repel spite, protect against malice and gossip; they bring pa.s.sion and increase psychic awareness and are good for those who travel.

Lemon verbena Lemon verbena will break a run of bad luck; it brings love and protection against negativity.

Lilac Use lilac for all domestic matters, acceptance of the frailty of self and others, and to ease nostalgia; lilac cleanses negativity.

Lily Lily is for purity and breaking negative influences in love; it is frequently used in Mother G.o.ddess magick.

Lily of the valley Lily of the valley increases mental abilities, brings happiness and restores joy.

Marigold Marigold is used for dreams and guarding against infidelity. It is effective in rituals concerning legal matters, luck and money.

Mimosa Use mimosa for protection, love, prophetic dreams and purification.

Mistletoe Known to the Druids as the all-healer, mistletoe is for healing sorrows, overcoming injustice and finding what is lost. It is also good for male potency.

Moss Moss is used for good fortune, prosperity, money and permanence, whether in work or relationships. It frequently appears in water magick and divination (use with candles on water).

Myrrh Myrrh is good for healing, peace, protection and inner harmony.

Myrtle Sometimes mixed with other fragrances, myrtle is used in spells concerning fidelity in love, marriage and mature love. It may also be used in matters of property and security.

Nutmeg Use nutmeg for fertility and healing, especially of the environment; it will also bring a gradual increase of wealth.

Orange Blossom Beneficial for marriage and permanent relationships, use orange blossom also for restoring trust and increasing confidence and hope.

Pine Use pine for healing, fertility, purification, protection and money; it also returns hostility to the sender.

Poppy/opium Poppy may be used for divination, fertility and making oneself less visible in danger; it also brings luck and sleep.

Rose Rose is for gentle love, attraction, dreams of love and reconciliation. Rosemary Rosemary is used for love and happy memories; it also improves memory and concentration.

Sage Use sage in rituals for health, enhanced mental powers and wisdom.

Sandalwood Sandalwood is effective for spiritual and psychic awareness and healing; use it also in matters of s.e.xuality.

Strawberry Use strawberry for innocent love, friendship and happiness.

Tamarind Tamarind is for love, especially new love, and the rebuilding of trust.

Thyme Thyme is used in rituals for courage, divination, health, love, money and purification.

Vanilla Vanilla brings pa.s.sion and enduring love; it also increases mental powers.

Vetivert Use vetivert for love. It can also break a run of bad luck and bring money. It is protective against theft and all kinds of negativity.

Violet Use violet for secrecy, modesty and uncovering hidden talents.

Combining Incenses In Rituals As well as the single fragrances, there are many commercial products that combine several basic fragrances to evoke a particular mood, for example morning dew, raindrops and emerald. You can experiment with these and find those that seem right for your life or, if you make your own non-combustible incenses, you can combine a number of single fragrances to your own personal recipes.

But it is quite possible by using a number of individual fragrance sticks in the same ritual to combine their energies and, more importantly, create exactly the proportions of specific energies you need for a ritual. For example, you might burn a rose incense for love with a cinnamon incense to add pa.s.sion and energy to that special, loving relationship. The amount of incense used for each quality determines your priorities, so, in this case, if loving energies were the prime focus, you would burn two rose incense sticks or cones and one cinnamon. You can also do this with your oil mixes.

A Six-Incense Ritual For Love Six is the number of Venus in her morning star aspect of love. You can use this ritual for attracting love, for deepening a relationship, consummating it or strengthening it during a difficult period, perhaps when everything appears to have got into a rut. You can alter the focus of the ritual by varying the number and type of each fragrance you use, for example whether your primary concern is to increase trust, pa.s.sion or encourage fidelity (use the incense list on page 139).

This ritual is best carried out early in the moon cycle, any time from when you can see the crescent in the sky.

In the ritual, I refer to a pentagram, a magical symbol that can be used for attracting energies or closing them down in ritual magick. Its uses can be varied according to the way it is drawn. However, in this ritual, it is the shape that is important, so just imagine the shape as ill.u.s.trated overleaf, with its single point at the top. Arrange five of your incense sticks as though on the points of this invisible pentagram and put the sixth in the centre as the combination and synthesis of the different powers.

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First, gather together the tools you will need.

* A candle of the appropriate colour for the type of love you wish to focus on: pink for new love, green for increasing commitment and faithful love, or red for pa.s.sion and the consummation of love.

* A gold or silver ring or, if you prefer, one made of copper, Venus's own metal.

* A small white cushion or piece of white cloth.

* Six incense sticks of appropriate fragrances and separate holders to catch the ash.

* Ivy or any green fronds; if you cannot obtain any, green ribbon will do. (Ivy is a plant a.s.sociated with fidelity and permanent relationships.) Now begin your ritual.

* Place your ring in the centre of your altar, on the white cloth or cushion.

* To the left of it (towards the West, the direction of love and emotions), place and light the candle.

* Take your incense sticks one by one, and light each in the candle, reciting: Incense of love, incense of power, thus do I charge thee,now at this hour.

Incense of faithfulness,incense of truth, bring lovethat will last, in age and in youth.In sickness and sorrow, in health and in joy,in wealth and in dearth, may nothing destroy.

* Beginning at the single (top) point of your invisible pentagram, light your first incense, saying: I light this incenseto bring love into my lifeand the one who is right for me.

* Moving deosil, light and place the second incense on the next point of the invisible pentagram, saying: I light this incense that I may give love where it will bring joy and bear fruit.

* Continuing deosil, light and place the third incense at the next invisible point, saying: I light this incense for the increase of that love and for mutual fidelity and respect.

* Light and place the fourth incense, saying: I light this incense for the marriages of mind and soul as well as body, in a union that is beyond any legal bonds.

* Light and place the fifth incense, saying: I light this incense that love will always be willingly given and received and never become possessive or manipulative.

* Light and place your final incense to the East of the ring, saying: I light this incense that love will be compa.s.sionate, ever supportive, accepting of frailties and based on love of the real person, not worshipping the ideal of loving, nor demanding the perfect lover.

You can adapt the pledges according to the focus you give the ritual and even rewrite them entirely to express your purpose.

* Take the ring and pa.s.s it through the six incenses in turn, saying for each ring of faith: Love I pledge, truth I offer, care and kindliness. Ring of promise, love I ask, truth I seek, into eternity if right may it be.

* Return the ring to the centre, and bind it with six loose knots of ivy or ribbon, saying: Do not bind,join heart and mind,Hold safe we two,till life is through,Love without end,my dearest friend.

I call you - [name the person, or say 'love unknown'].

Again you can adapt the words. A pledge of fidelity is actually a very potent way of attracting a new lover - perhaps someone who works close to you whom you have not thought of in a romantic way.

* Let the candle and incense burn through and then collect the incense ash in a pot or jar with a lid.