A Magickal Ointment with Ancient Roots

Greetings My Witchy Readers,

I came across an ancient poem, called the Song of Songs found in the Tanakh the Hebrew Bible which, these verses are attributed to King Solomon and are romantic poems back and forth, from a woman to her lover and a lover to his woman. Not what one would typically expect to find in a religious text, but they are beautiful and sacred in their beauty and sensuality.

It is many, many verses and chapters long. A long, beautiful story of lovers meeting, courting, marrying and loving together their lives. But I read the following few verses and I saw within them, an ancient recipe for an ointment, as during this time, ointments, oils, salves were very popular and used for anointing people as sacred perfumes, to ritual tools and candles and was a way of connecting the human energy with the Divine.

These few verses are thus:

"Your limbs are an orchard of pomegranates
and of all luscious fruits,
Of Henna and of Nard,
Nard and Saffron
fragrant reed and cinnamon,
with all aromatics woods,
Myrrh and aloes --
All the choice perfumes
You are a garden spring
A well of fresh water
a rill of Lebanon"

This is just one of the many beautiful verses that make up Solomon's Song of Songs and as I read this verse I could see the ointment being made and being used as an anointing perfume to be applied before ritual or before any sacred activity.  So I started to research the various ingredients and to find substitutions if necessary.

The white flowered "henna" plant (lawsonia enermis ) does not grow in this part of the world, it is native to Iran and Pakistan, and as such is very difficult to find, or to substitute, but the rest we can work with. Nard was called Spikenard in biblical times and was highly prized for its heady aroma and today we can get the oil of Spikenard, or if not available to you, you can easily use Valerian.  Many people have used the extract of Valerian often in holistic preparations and teas but the essential oil is quite pleasant and pretty smelling. Even using a few drops of both Spikenard if available and Valerian would be appropriate.

Then Saffron, only a small amount is needed and can be found in all food markets and specialty spice shops, only about 6 strands are needed. The fragrant reed mentioned in the verse is debated by scholars to this day and was also referred to as sweet cane, and most have come to understand it to be calamus also known as sweet flag. Please take special note if you choose to use Calamus, it is highly toxic and should never be ingested and if used as an ingredient in your perfume oil, only a small drop for authenticity's sake perhaps, but I choose to use a few drops of sweet orange oil as it does the same thing fragrance wise and I do not have to worry about any side effects from toxicity.   You may also substitute it by using a small bit of amber resin or oil, which is found in the Middle East and throughout the Mediterranean.

The next part of this recipe we add a few drops of cinnamon oil.  We must use caution with cinnamon oil. Cinnamon or cassia oil, which is a common substitution for cinnamon oil, can be caustic to the skin and cause minor burns so a drop maybe two is all that is needed in any potion or balm it is included in. Plus cinnamon oil has such a strong scent little is more than enough.

The myrrh oil is easy, and for the aromatic woods and aloes we will use sandalwood oil and grate some powdered Palo Santos wood also known as Holy wood which has a beautiful, sweet scent. Sandalwood is native to the Middle East and Palo Santos, though from South America, has direct cousins from the Mediterranean, North Africa region that is quite similar in resinous structure to the aromatic woods that would have been included in a recipe such as we are making. 

An interesting side note, when working with ingredients thousands of years old as mentioned in this biblical verse, something like aloes also known as wood aloes or agar wood, is almost impossible to obtain today. If one can find it it would be so cost prohibited as to not be worth buying. What wood aloe is, is a rare, almost extinct tree called aquilaria which becomes infected by a mold caused by a beetle infestation. This dark brown, almost black infection in the wood smells so sweet and beautiful it became a wildly popular resinous base for ancient perfumes for centuries. Scientists have tried to re-create this phenomenon artificially but find it cannot be done. The tree must be naturally infected, so considering the trees are going extinct and the rarity of this beetle infecting the tree just right and causing this infection, and once the infection takes hold in the tree, the tree must die, so it cannot be sustained. Now you can start to appreciate why when ancient recipes both biblical and magickal call for wood aloes,  but we find they are no longer available to the scholar or the alchemist or the witch, so we substitute the best we can. 

The last part and a very important part is the base itself. Now, during biblical days, the base oils used were always olive oil, or what was written as pure oil, and this needed to be made by man and pressed and that was typically done from the olives. I have used vegetable shortening, as our olive oil is lovely but will not solidify and I like the solid form, which stays nicely in a small tin and can be brought with you and then rubbed or massaged into the skin. You can also use the olive oil if you would like, but it is a greasier version, but try what appeals to you.

So, if you are interested in making this beautiful, rich, ancient, seductive, sacred perfume ointment, this is the recipe I have come up with from translating the original verse to what we can obtain and work with today:

1/4 cup vegetable shortening
Spikenard Oil  7-10 drops
Valerian oil  3 drops
Saffron, appx 6 strands of the red saffron - ground up in a mortar & pestle
Sweet Orange oil  6 drops
Amber resin or oil  3 drops
Cinnamon oil 1 drop
Myrrh oil  3 drops
Sandalwood oil  6 drops
Powdered Palo Santos - this comes in wooden sticks. Take an emery board and rub over the stick allowing the fine powder to fall into the mixture.

Then get an oil diffuser and place a lit tea light underneath and place about 3 tablespoons (appx 1/4 c) of vegetable shortening in the diffuser. Then Take a Palo Santos stick of wood and an emery board and rub the wood against the emery board and powder the wood into the diffuser. Appx a 1/4 teaspoon would be about right. Then grind up the saffron in a mortar and pestle into as fine a powder as possible and place that in the shortening. Allowing the powdered wood and saffron to start to melt and blend into the oil.

Then add the oils AFTER the shortening has melted, that is very important. After the shortening has melted, add the oils and stir them clockwise into the mixture, using a silver or glass utensil, never plastic or other item. A wooden item will absorb a lot of your essential oils so a nice glass stirrer is best. Or a silver spoon.

As soon as you have mixed the oils into the mixture and everything has been mixed well, then pour the mixture into small ointment tins, available at a craft store.

Pour or even transfer the liquid ointment by way of small funnel and then let each tin of ointment sit and solidify which should only take about 20 minutes or so. As soon as they cool down. Do not use a heat source hotter than a tea light candle or the heat will cause the essential oils to burn away and the most important part of the entire recipe will "go up in smoke" so to speak!

You will see the "spices" the saffron and the powdered Palo Santos in the ointment and the richness of the scent will release when it comes in contact with warm skin, and will continue to be released as it is worn. Also by wearing this scent in a ointment rather than an oil it will last on the skin longer and won't evaporate as quickly. This scent should remain on the body or even in the hair, if you wish to use it as a hair dressing for the entire day.

This is my personal interpretation of this ancient Biblical poem's verse made into a perfume ointment, and I hope you enjoy it. Blessings and Peace, Ms. Faith

Live, Laugh and Always Love

© 2010-2018 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Following Our Ancestors Path to Us

Greetings My Witchy Readers,

I find the longer I practice magick, witchcraft, an ancient Goddess based nature spirituality, the farther back I am drawn into the past. I find the bloodline of my ancestors, the lineage of the pagans of the path I follow, all go back into the ancient mists of time and the magicks are simple and sympathetic in nature as the ancients magickal practices were thought to be.

I had my DNA tested by one company that in addition to the basic info: which countries does your DNA hail from, it also followed my maternal haplogroup, which is a fancy word basically saying it traced my mothers bloodline back through her mother, and her mother, and her mother's mother's mother's back to 9,000 years to the same region in Eastern Europe. I found I was 99.5 % European and almost 50% Eastern European and when I saw it in black and white that the female line in my family, from my mother stretching back went back over 9,000 years .  .  .  to the same area, of Eastern Europe it made me stop and sit and go into deep thought.

 So I sat thinking, just imagining going back, from mother, to grandmother, to great grandmother, and to the next mother and to her mother and her mother and then seeing this line of women standing, just standing and this line stretching back so far I couldn't, even in my mind's eye, see the end and knowing that I am part of that continuous line is just awe inspiring to me.

There is no specific magick that is more right or wrong for any one person, you can do what you feel is right for you. When I think back that my mothers mothers stretch back over 9,000 years and the continuity, how every one gave birth, how every one needed to nurture their children, how everyone worried about their families and cared about their loved ones and the differences how each knew different men and melded into different families expanding their families, bringing in new blood.

Recent research shows we have Jewish lineage, Russian and my father's parents were born and raised in Austria and he did not even know this, having believed they came from Poland originally. When I see these cultures listed and I think of the cultures, possible religions, the traditions, that my family may have believed, practiced I think of how many people today so quickly state "organized religion" is ____________, fill in the blank, and it usually is derogatory, rude and disrespectful, because organized religion has in some chapters in history had some pretty awful pages. Especially in regards to those who were labelled witches. Many have totally disregarded organized religion today because it does not work for them, but that is not to say it does not work for everyone. It does and has worked for millions for centuries and still does. It is not for everyone, and not every religious path is meant for everyone.

I look at it like this. If you see a bicycle on the ground, lying on its side and you pick it up and try to ride it and keep falling over because you do not know how to ride a bike, is that bicycle bad or useless or no longer useful? No. If you hurt yourself, the many times you keep falling over, is it the bicycles fault? Of course not, it is an inanimate object. So, is it the bicycle that does not work, or is it you that is not able to work that bike, at that time? Yes, maybe a skateboard is more your speed, or maybe simply walking. Or a car or maybe another mode of vehicle?

No, there is not one path to God or heaven and No, there is not one chosen people. At least I do not believe so. I truly believe on the other side, there is no religion, there is no chosen or special people, and everyone .  .  .  everyone gets in. Every race, creed, culture, belief, even those who do not believe. Criminals, sinners, those that break every commandment, all are allowed in because there are no walls in Heaven. Ahhh, isn't that a lovely thought, especially in this day and age.

There does not have to be, because after we die, in my experience, and understanding, we "burn off" who were were in this lifetime, the physicality of this lifetime, the color of our skin, our culture, our religion if we have one, we even burn away our gender, our prejudices, our limiting beliefs, and all that holds us back in our physical realm today. This takes time on the other side and happens after the period of time we are "ghosts" or "spirit" and may be communicating with loved ones, but eventually an aspect of who we "are" moves on and transforms to become one again with the one soul that makes up everything. The Divine Cosmic energy that consists of All. All of Us.

Another issue I often run into is people who become disenchanted with their religion of choice because of the person they "chose" to be their spiritual or religious leader. Truly, no one, no person in the position of teaching or guiding others along their path ever sets themselves up to be a spiritual "leader". Not if they are sincere and not on a "power trip". Yet, people will blame those that are in the position of teaching or guiding when the students own down falls catch them up, because many people on their path, are unable or unwilling to take responsibility for their own failings and their own mistakes and blunders. So it is so very common to cast blame.  We all know this. You are meant to have challenges on your spiritual path, that is why it is a path, and not a destination like a room where there is a party going on. 

Now look at religion, any kind of religion. It is not religion that does not work, but if it does not work for you, it really is not fair to lambaste religion and blame it for the shortfalls you encounter. Indeed, it may not be the religion for you. Or maybe religion is not for you. Maybe the person teaching you is simply not the best fit for you, nothing to take personally, oh but they always take it personally!! That's perfectly fine, because remember one important thing. religion is a man created concept. .  .  .  yes.  .  .  man created it. All of it. But, the real thing to learn is it is up to you what to do with it.

So when you can get away from focusing on what does not work for you, then and only then can you get started with what does work for you. Why not take the best of the different spiritual beliefs that touch you, that feed your soul? Does the sight and beauty of a Christmas tree bring you peace and happiness at the holiday times? Then have a Christmas tree. That alone does not make you Christian  If you wish to celebrate the Wheel of the Year Sabbats, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon and Samhain and that feeds something inside then that is wonderful too. It does not necessarily make you a pagan. What if you light candles during the eight days of Hannukah and play the Dreidel game does that make you Jewish? Of course not. But it may give you a feel of kinship with ancestors who have gone before you. A connection that fills a place inside of you and gives comfort.

This is a very special time in our world's history. It is a time where you, and only you, primarily, can determine, what your religion is, what your spiritual path, should you wish to follow one, will be. If you are an adult, you make this decision on what is best for you. Regardless of what spiritual path, if any, you may have been brought up in, you, as an adult can choose.

You can celebrate any holiday, any religion, study any spiritual path, go to any church, temple, synagogue or mosque in this day and age. You may need to follow the rules and regulations of said religious establishment, but you have the choice. So rather than spending time focusing on what does not work for you, what has not worked for you and where you have been in the past, focusing  on where you wish to go and what you wish to experience and what you find works for you is the best energy.  Find the area of learning, whether it be a class, a teacher, an author, religious classes, on line study (beware of on line study as so much false information is perpetrated. Be sure to back up your on line learning with solid additional credible training.)

I started the idea of this blog post because I did a DNA test which was very interesting as I mentioned above, and it led, with long discussions with my mother, whom I am so lucky at my age, to still have my mother at the age of 78 and father at 83, with me.  Well, one day, I was visiting my mother. This was last year, and we were looking through old family photos and her baptism records, marriage certificates and remarking on the Polish names and out of the blue she looks at me and says, "You know, I never told you, but we have Jewish blood in our family".  I was surprised! I had never heard this but I had had suspicions because the family's last name was a strong Jewish name, the great grandfather's first name was Jacob (Joseph) but called Jacob in the family and that is Jewish for Joseph.

My mother told me that when she was born, in 1939 the start of WWII, by the time the war was over, it was many years before things were back to normal, were they ever? She said one day her mother, my grandmother told her (my mother is the oldest of 8 children) to never ever repeat this, that their grandfather was Jewish and to never, ever say anything or she would be punished. My Grandmother did not want her children treated differently, or poorly, or how she might have thought it would affect them. The community we all lived in was predominantly a Jewish farming community, but there was fear, a great fear. My mother remembers my grandmother hiding sugar, flour, and other staples in the linen closet under towels and sheets for fear that "they" would come and take these things.

These stories made me wonder, who was my grandmother afraid would come into her home and search? Who would come in and take her sugar, her flour? My grandmother had many children and like so many had to rely on ration tickets but she also had a farm and they had eggs, chickens, milk and butter to barter.

So many of us truly take the world we live in these days for granted, because we do not have the memories of having to hide our food, to have to be rationed to only so many of anything, even if we have the money to purchase more, not in a time of bulk food warehouses.

My research has also opened up that we have Russian, as well as Austrian heritage. We had believed we were 100% Polish but we are more a mixture of many eastern European cultures, a colorful, beautiful, cultural family of so much history. Sadly so much was hidden, and secreted away out of fear.  So that decades and generations later we, the younger generation have a lot less information and are now trying to put back what was a rich, cultural heritage.

I understand why people felt as they did and they did what they felt was important, and what they felt was necessary. So now every night, in addition to my red candle for love, I light a blue candle for the ancestors.

A glass encased blue candle to represent the ancestors and their line that stretches back thousands of years, in one fashion a tree as we are familiar, the family tree with mother and father and the branches of each as they stem out in many different directions.  Yet, in another fashion, when we follow our maternal, or paternal line exclusively, as I did my maternal line it does not form a tree, but it goes back, from mother, to mother, to mother, to mother, a direct, unbroken, undiluted, pure line that in my case reaches back 9,000 years. 

There is a magick inherent in the lineage of your ancestors, of your people, your family. It matters not that you didn't know them. Even if you are adopted, your bloodline still stretches back. There is some very credible work written by scholar, witch and author Raven Grimassi regarding the magickal, mystical lineage of our ancestors and I strongly recommend you read his books. His most recent "Communing With The Ancestors" is really outstanding work, and it is preceded by the "Cauldron of Memory".

 Love Ancestral Altar 

My thoughts, impressions and magickal concepts  I discuss here,  do not come from Raven's books but are my own magickal experiences and observations, but I do recommend his written works for those who wish to delve deeper into this subject as he goes much, much further into this topic.

For myself and to share with you, magickally I have set up my love/ancestral altar pictured above. I shuffle and cut the tarot deck daily to see what the ancestors wish to tell me. This is one way I choose to use the tarot, for this altar. I light the love candle first always. The I light the blue ancestor candle. Sometimes, in the center I burn a small gold and silver candle for the God and Goddess, and will ask for specific blessings, such as healing for a family member, protection or for the God and Goddess to look over a loved one who may be in a dangerous situation say serving in the Armed Forces, anything specific I desire. So as an altar, I use it for the Love and energy the God/Goddess primarily and the centuries of ancestral energy from so many matriarchs and patriarchs who can aid me in sending love and healing, protection and comfort for those living today.

When I stand before this altar, I take the time to think and close my eyes I see back, the line of both mothers and fathers flowing back into time so far the ends can't be seen, and the hundreds, thousands? of people who culminate in who we are today.  So for Hannukah I will have some blue and white decorations,  and maybe have some brightly colored dreidels. I like the idea of a Menorah. simply because the lighting of candles is so very much a part of what I do in my spiritual practice, and for Yule I will light the candles on a Yule log,  and then we will have a lovely dinner at a friends home for Christmas.  It is important, for me, to remember that my spiritual practice is done for myself and only myself. I do not do anything in this realm for anyone else. It is between myself and my God/dess.

In conclusion, I recall my maternal grandmother, when she passed away a number of years ago. Someone had the most lovely of ideas, to have all of my grandmothers children (she had 8 that survived) all of their children, the great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, her legacy it was referred to.  They had all of us, my grandmother's legacy, gathered in the front of the small pretty Methodist church in the tiny town in rural southern New England, and it was so impressive as I heard someone had taken a quick head count and there was 101 people in the group. The line will continue, perhaps for another 9,000 years. How remarkable. I'd like to think while we all stood there honoring my grandmother, all 101 of her legacy, and everyone else in that small church that day, that the spirits of all of those women somehow were present and if so I believe they would have been proud.

Thank you for reading my musings today, Ms. Faith

Live, Laugh and Always Love

© 2010-2018 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Magick For The First New Moon of The New Year

New Year, New Moon Greetings My Witchy Readers,

Ah, can you feel that sense of relief, the sense of the weight being lifted? The burdens of the past year being removed from your shoulders? The astrological shift has occurred and the heavy, difficult hard changes that came crashing down during the last part of last year for so many has finally lifted and the changes have done their work and darkness has been moved out and now all that remains is space for light and love.

Let us look back for just a moment. For so many who has come to me, from students, to clients and customers, to people I know personally, the past several months from about the beginning of August, due to many factors, many of them astrological and the planetary shifts and changes do affect humans, whether we follow astrology or not. Just look at how the moon affects people when it is full.

 We've all heard the stories of the full moon making people more "crazy" in one way or another. Simply put the moon affects the water on the earth, it affects the oceans and causes the tides to ebb and flow, without the moon we would have no waves. Well, humans are over 70 percent water so why would it not affect us? Of course it would and it does. So .  .   . if the moon can affect us, other planets and astrological phenomenon can and does, I believe also has an affect on us. Knowing such only helps us understand it is not us losing our minds, but helps us get a grip and work with whatever may be going on.

Having said that a lot happened since August 1, 2017 astrologically, that affected people.  We had of course, new and full moons, but we also had eclipses, and Mercury retrograde combined with all of the above and then a Super Moon in December affecting that water I mentioned making us soooo emotional, and interestingly the planets Venus and Jupiter came closest in our night skies in November of 2017, which is astronomical but looking at it in a astrological way it could affect us, considering Venus is the Goddess of Love and passion and romance and joy, happiness, fun and all things sexy!! Oooh la la, and Jupiter the God of wealth, health, the physical but in the aspect of stability, work, work, work, and where these two aspects are so close in a relationship it could cause some issues where one wants to play and have romantic fun while the other is always saying "sorry love, have to work, I'm soooo busy, busy, busy!!" which could have caused all sorts of issues during that time.

I am just throwing out these scenarios, as other scenarios taking these concepts into consideration could have come up for you in your life. But issues did abound indeed. Then to finish off the year, as if it was not difficult enough, we ended the year with Mercury in retrograde yet again. The shadow phase of Mercury retrograde ended on December 31st, so even I took some time to shake off the shadow and rest, renew and get strength back and review and then look forward to the new year.

A short period of time to reflect is always healthy and helpful. Then set it all aside. Take from the past the lessons you needed to learn and then .  .  .  take the rest out to the trash, and get rid of it. Whether you lost opportunities, a job, friendships or acquaintances, whatever you feel you may have lost, look back and take from them the lessons learned, the experiences and the knowledge of what you went through, no matter how difficult or painful. Those are yours. That knowledge is priceless and can never be taken from you. You are now smarter, sharper, have a keener sense of (in my case Bull s#*t) perhaps your boundaries have been more clearly defined, your sense of integrity and truth more finely established, and remember the most important thing, YOU are stronger, you made it through and that which is left in the past? HA! It's gone and simply trash! Useless and not worth a moment of your precious time.

So, onward to the upcoming year and YES this year 2018 will be an amazing year, because you will make it so. YOU create your reality and you will create all the wonderful, exciting, amazing things you will soon experience.  For instance, I'll share about my life. I started singing lessons last year and after well over a year, I am starting to sound respectable in recordings where I don't cringe! haha I am proud of my performances in recitals, and I plan on doing some stand up comedy!! I have never ever thought of stand up comedy, but then again I never thought of jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet back when I was 38 years old either, until someone suggested we all go as a group, "It will be fun they said!" The only reason I did it, was I was so terrified of heights, I couldn't live with the thought that one day I would be 80 years old and look back and know I was too scared to have done it and to live with that regret. So I did it.

That is the attitude to have this year. Is there something you want to do? Do it. Is there something that scares the hell out of you? Then absolutely do it! At least just once. To say you conquered it, not the other way around. So looking at the new moon that is coming in two days, and right now we are in the 7 day phase with which we can successfully cast new moon magick, we can do a number of easy things to start our year off right to send the right energy to start off our year.

The new moon is on January 18, 2018. From three days before, the day of, to three days after you can do new moon magick. New moon magick in the tradition I work and teach is to bring in new, fresh, starting energies. Whereas in my tradition full moon magick is to eliminate and banish, to get rid of the old, unwanted energies we have become done with, that no longer serve us.

So to look at bringing in, anytime in the next 6 days, you can do any or all of the following. A full cast circle is not necessary to cast. Many of these fall under "folk magick" beliefs like a groom picking up and carrying his new bride over the threshold of their new home to make for a long, happy marriage. It is called sympathetic magick but it does have an energy that is sent out to return to the sender.

Cleaning out the house of any old, unwanted items, clothing, clutter, things that you don't use or need. Putting them in the trash, recycle or goodwill brings new fresh energy into the home,

Once the home has been cleaned and de-cluttered, smudging the home and any people living in the home is a wonderful way to cleanse any stagnant, old energy clinging to the home, especially a new home. You must use desert sage. Common garden sage grown in New England, that has a broad, fuzzy grey leaf will not work. That is used in Native American ceremonies and is sold in many stores but will not cleanse the area of the old stagnant energies. Desert sage is grown in the Southwest of the United States, and stores that are reputable like Enchantments carry it and will be honest about its use with you.

On the New Moon have a big feast. Eat whatever you would like to, the menu is up to you. But to have a big, fulfilling, satisfying meal, with delicious good food that makes you feel full and good. This is sympathetic magick also, which represents if you are full at the beginning of the year, you will stay full throughout the year and never go hungry.

Be sure at this meal you have a good drink, sparkling juice, cider, spring water, plenty of refreshing drink so you never thirst throughout the year.

Wear clothes that make you feel special on this day, this day you will set the tone for how you feel and look for the upcoming year.  No worries for some people I know who are going into the hospital on this day, because even though you will be wearing a hospital johnny the health care you are surrounding yourself with will spread through the year and good health will be yours!!

Do you know your car needs an oil change or a little bit of work? Take care of it, don't wait. Clean the litter and mess out of your car. I just did this and cleaned out the trash bin in the garage that has been getting full over the past several months. I just love seeing the full trash bags knowing all of that unwanted trash is going away.

Sweep the front of your home, or business. The sidewalk or the steps, or even the curb if the street is that close. BUT it is important NOT to sweep out into the street or towards the street, but sweep side to side, as you do not want to sweep good things away from your home or business.

Having a witch, a Priestess or a spiritual clergy person come in to bless your home is always a good thing to do in the beginning of the year. Many will do this for a donation to their church or temple. You can also do this yourself, but it depends on how you feel about it. Some people are comfortable doing this themselves and others prefer a professional to come in and do it. Go with what you feel best with.

Using a liquid called Florida water, a liquid we sell at Enchantments, and many witch shops carry it, is excellent to use to cleanse surfaces, desk tops and hard items at work where often people cannot smudge. It does the same thing. It is often added to floor wash water, to help eliminate negative energies that walk in on our shoes. Florida water is very complex and difficult to make, taking many ingredients and over a month to make properly, so purchasing a bottle is much more cost effective than trying to make your own. It can also be put in a spray bottle and used that way, and can be used as a body spray. But it does have an alcohol base like a cologne for those who are not sensitive to alcohol.

Placing  a green candle in the north quarter of your home, a yellow in the east, a red in the south and a blue in the west surrounding your home, will create a circle of the elements surrounding your home. These candles can be inside, or if it is not too windy or if you have a candle container that will protect the flame you can place them outside.

To complete the circle without all of the ceremony that a Wiccan would do,  you can connect the candles by pouring salt from each of the candles making a continuous circle of protection. Leave the salt where it is for 3 days. Then it can be vacuumed up and the protection circle will remain, as the energy of the salt will stay in essence.  The same can be done outside the home and if so, simply leave the salt. it will disappear back into the ground. It does not need to be put in a heavy circle. It does not need to be seen, you know it is there.

These are a few of the things you can do to start your new year off right and as you think about things, and start to practice some of these concepts I am sure other ideas will come to you. When they do, if they make sense to you, then do them. As long as they are eliminating the old, the "trash" whether actual or metaphorical and bringing in the new and the wonderful to fulfill your life. Now that is real magick!!

Live, Laugh and Always Love

Ms. Faith

© 2010-2018 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Ending 2017 With Love and Light - It Is The Only Way!

Greetings My Witchy Readers,

As so often happens, I plan to write about one thing and something so much more important pushes its way into my thoughts, and tonight I want to end this year, with the lessons I have learned and how they have impacted my magickal and spiritual life.

Yes, the lessons I have learned. I spend so much of my time teaching and guiding others on their magickal path, answering questions and helping students, customers and clients find their way with challenges and various problems as they deal with the magickal, the spiritual and life's day to day issues, while trying to keep a steady foothold. I find myself, especially as this year comes to a close, looking back and finding I have experienced so many lessons myself, and as a teacher, and a teacher who is truly worth their salt, never, ever stops learning and growing. A teacher never stops receiving lessons from others, and from the universe. Myself, this year, the lessons were many, hard and fast, fierce and cold, harsh and in some cases, life changing.

As I grow older, I can see and appreciate how older people can get bitter, and cold. How they can get sarcastic and seemingly unfeeling, uncaring and how some seem to cut themselves off from the world. I think they may have had enough pain, and heartache, enough disappointment and betrayal, definitely enough let downs and broken promises. All of these, after a long enough life, without contrary perspective to offset them can make a person harder and allow their own personal darkness to seep in and to set up residence and it then becomes a constant companion. By the time that happens they have forgotten that they once had a light shining bright within.

I can see and appreciate how this can happen to some people, but I can also see how some choose to fight against that from happening. Yes, we have our dark moments, and our regrets at how we act at times, the hurtful words we might say or the things we may or may not do, but we all make mistakes and those that truly love us will understand and give us a second chance. If they loved us from the start. If not, then they never did and that is a good thing to know also.

So, as I make plans to say farewell to this past year, the year of 2017, there are some thoughts I wish to send out to the universe. For those who are meant to read these words they will, somehow see them. If they do not, then they were not meant to. It is as simple as that.

I suppose the following is a sort of amends, in a way both for myself to others and for others to me:

" To those I have interacted with this year. If we have come together with love and have ended the year with love, I have been so happy and grateful, so blessed to have had you in my life this past year. You have made my life better in many ways, some I can never put into words, but the feelings are in my heart, and I will love you for that, for making my life happier and more fulfilled. I will feel blessed if you continue to grace my life with your presence for as long as you are able.

For those who have left my life this year. If on your part there was betrayal, lies, deception and cruelty, if you sought to hurt and cause pain, if you went out of your way to forget the friendship we once had, understand that I forgive you and have no animosity towards you.  I might not understand why you did what you did, and for some, I may indeed know, exactly why you did as you did, and that's okay. You had your reasons and I do not need to know or understand any further, I only send you love and light and I pray that the darkness you find yourself surrounded by, the pain you find yourself in, for I see that it simply mirrors what you tried to send out towards me and others. I hope that one day you find the light again, and are able to surround yourself with those who truly love you as you deserve.

For those I have interacted with this year, If there are any that I have said any harsh words to out of my own pain, or sadness, grief and anger for any reason, I do send my love and light and only ask that perhaps one day, you will choose to remember that I am also human, and should be allowed to make mistakes too. That when you say, or in some cases think, as some have kept so very silent, that I have changed or that you never really knew me, that you only knew parts of me, but never took the time to really know all of me, and simply assumed, that the face and persona you knew was all of me.

You see, there is a failing amongst humans. We simply desire to label and to box up people into neat, little packages. This way we think we know what we are dealing with. Yet, we inevitably find ourselves disappointed when we find the person we thought we knew, no longer fitting into the box we stuffed them into. The same goes for me and those I tried to put into boxes who in turn showed me, sometimes harshly and coldy who they really were and not who I thought they were.

 So for those who believe me to be 100% liberal, you'll be surprised to find I have some strong conservative ideals, and for those who think I am just a heathen pagan you may be surprised to know I study both the Christian Bible and the Jewish Tanakh as well as other religious texts, and for those who know me, and that I try as often as possible to be a polite respectful lady, well they may be a bit surprised to find I fight like a vicious, foul mouthed demon when someone I care about is threatened or their existence in my life is put to an unwarranted death. But then their life should have been fought for and their death should have been screamed for in grief as if from a Banshee, and in one instance, this past year, it was. I was and am proud of that. I would never allow a friendship to leave my life quietly as if it did not matter to me. It mattered.

But I do not apologize for who I am, what I am, or how I feel. Whether I stumble one day or walk tall the next, I will never apologize for trying my best on any given day, with what is presented to me.

I have no animosity towards any other human, I only wish for people to find the happiness they seek. I do not apologize to those who I no longer allow in my life, for I won't have those in my life who will not treat me with the respect, the honesty, the integrity or the decency I deserve. If you are not able to keep your promises, if you cannot untangled the web of lies because they have become too numerous, if all you have in your interpersonal bag of skills is smooth talking, empty, hollow, transparent shiny words that have no meaning?  Then I wish you well and good luck selling your goods elsewhere, as I only buy items of substance and integrity. I do not hold it against you, as I have learned, like in the ancient fable of the frog and the scorpion, I knew the scorpion was a scorpion all along. It was my fault if I allowed myself to be bit. I do not hold it against another, as it is only your nature. Nothing more.

I will not go into this next year with any hard feelings, nor with any grudges, nor with any dark energy or any sadness or grief. No animosity, or blame or finger pointing, or regrets. I am leaving it all behind, a bag of refuse to be taken out to the trash. Unneeded, unwanted and unnecessary. I only carry forth happiness, love and light, the good memories and a joyous heart. Forgiveness for what may have been done to me, and forgiveness for myself what I may have done in response. I do have a part in all that happens in my life, oh yes, I know that. I accept that, and I forgive myself more than anyone else, and you need to forgive yourself. That is the most important thing to move forward.

The lessons I have learned, are, I can look back on the happier times, the moments of learning, laughter, joy and fun, the times spent with people who may no longer be in my life, whether they were in my life for a mere year, or two, or four or nine and only remember the good times. The unhappy times? I have squeezed all of the life lessons from them and have discarded the rest. They no longer reside within me.

I do not have any misconceptions, or as one may say beliefs or ideas that any of those who have left my life will return one day. I do not believe this nor do I waste time or energy waiting for something that will not happen, nor should they. We are each moving on, and we should.

I truly believe and I have said this so many times. We each come into another's life for a time. Each relationship has a birth, life and a death, and whether that is the five minutes you spend talking to the clerk at a market while making your purchases or a life time with a family member, all relationships have a finite life span. When that life span comes to an end, it is over. So Mote it be. May the relationship that existed before the end be blessed.

Just as the life span of a year comes to an end. We, none of us can stop the year from ending, nor should we. Any more than we should try to stop a relationship from ending. So, even though you may think of that other person, remember the happy times. And if something like a weird computer glitch causes you to think that person has in some way tried to reach out to you, realize it most likely isn't true and let it go, let her go, or him go and above all else, allow the animosity and anger and sadness and grief to go. Simply delete and move on. Hopefully, for you, there is something better around the next corner. I know, there is something glorious around the corner for me!

 Live in Light and Love, it is the only way.


May you have a Safe and Happy, Healthy New Year  and remember to give thanks for the past year and all of it, the good, the bad and what you learned from it. Give gratitude and then leave it behind and move forward. In peace and in love.

Bright Blessings, Ms. Faith

Ms. Faith M. McCann  2017







© 2010-2017 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

An Original Poem by Ms. Faith

Greetings My Witchy Readers, 

Tonight, for a bit of a change of pace I have composed a poem, which compiles my feelings about this time of the year and that which I find the most important. I hope you like it. Warm Winter Blessings to you and yours, Ms. Faith 

Winter Shadows

Winter shadows stretch

Across the frosty expanse

An’ chill touches the skin

Ev’n seen from inside with a glance

Makes one happy to be within

This time o’ year

With every turn of the wheel

Comes ‘round yet again

As if caused to reveal  

As if it .  .  . suspends

To look around

We create our hive

An eternal summer

That surrounds our life

Our personal transformer

Crystalline silence, nary a noise

The warmth of family, people an’ friends

Much more than things, gold or toys

These are what we’ve come to depend

These that bring us heartfelt joys

Without our hive, our eternal summer

Our lives would be barren,

A lone, lonely mummer

A winter landscape

A life without summer

A life to forsake

A forsaken mourner

Winter shadows stretch

Their length shortens daily

The light starts to return

Our bargain with the earth grows faintly

The Wheel continues to turn

We live our eternal summer gently

F.M.McCann  12-28-2017

Live, Laugh and Always Love

© 2010-2017 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

More Ancient Yule Tide Magick!

English Christmas Plum Pudding  recipe c. 1600's

Yuletide Greetings My Witchy Readers,

A very traditional, ancient treat, at Christmas or Yuletide is the English Plum pudding.  There is a belief that plums have never been used in plum pudding, as many dried fruits, especially raisins were at one time called plums, or plumbs, yet I hold off making such an absolute statement simply as there are precious few surviving written recipes from the time the first plum puddings were reputed to have been made in the 16th century or there abouts, and also, plums are native to Great Britain and are easily dried as are many fruits, such as cherries or figs, and could have easily, at one time lost in the mists of unwritten history have been used. They would certainly have fit the dessert recipe, with no issue.  At a time when food was much more scarce than it is in modern times, every edible fruit, vegetable, herb, plant and root would have been consumed. If it was palatable, then even more readily.

In the very earliest days, the harbingers of the Christmas Plum pudding was a soupy gravy or thickened bread based soup/stew first known in the 14th century and called frumenty. It did have the same base ingredients of broth,liquid, beer with stale bread crumbs, dried fruits, at times, bits of meat which eventually found its way into the historically traditional mince meat, which at one time contained meat. well, this thick soup, eventually became the steamed cake, and it was first made, from folk lore, at a time when plums were one of the few plentiful fruits that were harvested in the late fall and would have been sweet and available for easy picking for the poor and wealthy.  I find it, even without historical empirical evidence, very likely that the origins of today's Classic Christmas Plum pudding did indeed contain plums. Why wouldn't it? It was far more likely a fruit, than dates, or apricots, or even raisins in the 16th century.

This column is dedicated to magick and one will find, magick peppered in all food activities in early days, especially in the medieval days when people were very superstitious and based both good and bad events on the magickal and miraculous. So the preparation of food, the cooking of food, the serving of food, at times even how it is eaten or stored afterwards contained magickal, mostly folk magick tradition and belief.

Over 400 years ago, in England, magic was very highly regarded. Everyone believed in it, everyone knew it existed and everyone used it in one way or another, regardless of whether they were good Christians or not. Yes, at this time innocents, accused of the blackest of crimes, the darkest of witchcrafts and convening with Satan were being put to death after much torture and interrogations, in  many areas of Europe. Yet at the same time, the belief in folk magic, of doing a little here and there to ensure a safe trip, a healthy winter, a prosperous year, were all understandably harmless and everyone could use a little bit of good magic.

We see that in the traditional Christmas pudding that became a staple at Christmas dinners all around England, from the lowest household to the King's banquet hall. Even today, one can find hundreds, really no two alike, recipes for this wonderful, steamed cake that is called a pudding. It seems, even today, any sort of dessert, served after dinner in England is called a pudding.  Why this is so?  I do not know the answer to that, but it does make any sort of dessert sound tasty!

Christmas plum pudding is a steamed cake, that is labor intensive and I just finished making one myself, for New Year's Day, and it is loaded with magickal bits and pieces, that are as traditional as the cake itself. Even the preparation has magick infused in it. I will tell you about the magick and give you my personal recipe I created, that you may wish to try, if not this year, then next.

First, you need to acquire small silver or gold trinkets. I like coins and silver bells, and this year I also added a small, delicate necklace with a miniature Faberge' egg. They all have a special meaning.

Then the ingredients for the cake, and brandy. The original recipe, made for the lower classes, originally the thick soup version, used stout, a stale, old, smelly beer of sorts. Very low class. Then wine was a next generation addition, then rum became popular for the higher classes, and when the recipe morphed into the steamed cake version which has now upgraded into using brandy, and today the very fancy (thank you very much!) may choose to use Cognac. The steamed cake version of course thickened the original frumenty into a cake by the additions of eggs, flour, spices, and beef suet, much more fancy dried and exotic fruits, from figs and apricots, to dates and added zests of lemons, oranges and other citrus fruits which were the luxury of the wealthy for centuries.

I chose brandy, and for my recipe you will need 3 cups, or just slightly less. No worries though, if you have non drinkers or children who wish to try some of this delicious ancient dessert, the recipe comes out alcohol free in the end. That's because you steam it until it is practically a ghost of Christmas past!!

These are the ingredients you can assemble once you have your silver and gold trinkets assembled and cleaned and sanitized. I put my trinkets in a mesh bag and put them through a cycle in the dishwasher where they are washed, sanitized and dried before wrapping in buttered parchment paper:

Christmas Plum Pudding: 

Brandy/ Rum or Cognac  (3 cups)

Part 1 :  1-1 1/2 lb  dried fruits e.g. prunes, dates, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, apricots, golden raisins and currants
a cup and a half of roughly chopped almonds, pecans mixed
1 medium fresh apple chopped in small pieces
1 T freshly zested orange peel
1 T freshly zested lemon peel

Mix together in a bowl and then mix well with 1 cup of the brandy or alcohol of choice. Allow to sit in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, overnight.

The next day mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl:

6 oz flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 oz dark brown sugar
3/4 c white sugar
6 oz fine fresh bread crumbs
6 oz vegetable shortening (instead of beef suet)

Chop this finely together until the shortening is well incorporated into the dry ingredients. Then add to the fruited mixture. Chop it all together until well mixed. Then add 1 additional cup of brandy, and 4 eggs. Mix well, until the entire mixture resembles a chunky batter.

 Then get a plum pudding pan, you can buy these on line and before putting batter into the pan, have everyone who is in the house at this exact time, stir, using a wooden spoon the batter in the bowl, going in a clockwise direction and make a wish at that time.

Then take the pudding pan, mine looks a lot like a bundt cake pan, and butter the inside very generously. Start to layer the batter into the pan. Take a moment and get another pot on the stove, with a few inches of water in it and start it on a simmer.  When the cake is layered in the pan you will be steaming the pudding.

After you have put a good two to three inches of batter in the pan, take the trinkets, which you have wrapped in buttered parchment, like little packages, and lay them in the batter, maybe half of them in the first layer. Then cover with more batter. Then more trinkets, then more batter. You should not be able to see the paper from the trinkets.

Pick up the pan and gently drop it on the counter a couple of times, gently. This will tap out the air bubbles. Then place in the simmering water and cover with its lid or cover with aluminum foil. Then you wait. This will steam for 7 hours. Yes, 7 hours. Keep topping off the water so it does not run dry, as it steams. After the 7 hours, remove from the heat and take carefully out of the water.

Allow it to rest on the counter for a bit, maybe 20-30 minutes. No longer. Then take a skewer and make holes, gently, remember the parchment wrapped trinkets throughout the batter. Carefully make holes throughout. Pour the last cup or so of brandy over the whole pudding and give it some time, move it back and forth and tap it a few times and the brandy will absorb into the pudding. It is now going to cure, for a month or more, until the day you serve it. It can be served on Christmas Day, or New Year's Day.

It is usually started the day after Thanksgiving, or 6 weeks before Christmas. Some recipes are known to actually be started an entire year ahead of time. BUT nowadays, please always store the curing pudding in the refrigerator. Traditionally the curing pudding/cake was stored in a 'cool dark' place and that was because they did not have refrigerators in the 17th century. But this also allows for mold, or other nasties to grow and no one wants to get sick after Christmas dinner. So keeping it in the refrigerator is just lovely and assures you of a safe and fresh pudding.

The trick now is to steam it for yes, another 2 hours before serving on the special day!!  So on the day you wish to serve it, take it out of the refrigerator, allow to sit on the counter for an hour or so, steam again for 2 hours and then serve it or bring it at this time to your party. It can be served warm or cold. At this point, it can be un-molded, and served with a hard sauce, which is not appropriate for children or those who do not consume alcohol as it is a thin sweet dessert sauce with more brandy in it, but it can also be served with whipped cream or even ice cream, which is not traditional but it is your dessert.

Hard Sauce:

Cream, (beat with a mixer) confectioner's sugar with butter and then add brandy until loose and runny. This is not a warm sauce but many times, traditionally it is poured over the plum pudding and then set on fire with a match and the flaming dessert is brought to the table in a flaming presentation.

Now the trinkets you ask? I have not forgotten.

The the "tokens or favors" all have a meaning and traditionally in ancient times the trinkets may have had a less than desirable fortune for the upcoming year!

Traditionally, as early as the 1300's a simple dried pea or bean would be cooked into the cake and whomever would get this dried legume in their serving would be King or Queen for the day and be deserving of the nicest treatment with others serving them, and treating them as royalty for an entire day and night.

Then silver rings, or silver tiny crowns were added. These also would give the lucky person who received it in their portion the same day of pampered treatment.

Then coins were added, and whomever got a coin was assured of a year of prosperity or general luck.

If a bachelor's button was found by a single man he would stay single for the coming year.

If a thimble was found by a single woman she would be unattached for the coming year.

A ring, if a single person found the ring it meant they would get married in the coming year, if a married person found it it meant they would receive riches!

Nowadays you can choose whatever token or favor you wish and attribute to it the special magickal attribute you wish it to have. It is that easy. For example, for my English Plum Pudding this year I have placed in it the following:

A tiny Faberee' egg necklace the lucky recipient becomes the King or Queen for the Day at the New Year's Dinner and then the King or Queen for the Year at their home!!

Gold Coins -  anyone who receives a gold coin will have prosperity for the coming year

A love token -  will have love for the coming year

A Happiness token - happiness for the coming year

Silver bells with hearts - love, and happiness in the home for the coming year

Silver bells with Fleur De Lis -  originally in France stood for purity and Christianity can now be used for tranquility, peace and serenity.

Silver bells with Celtic love knot work design -  unending, unbreakable love, enduring forever


Beware there are, I have found, recipes out there that are called English Plum pudding recipes that have you make the batter, steam it and serve it.  These are not real plum puddings, in my estimation. They must, must be cured or allowed to set for at least 3 to 4 weeks minimum, and some recipes up to a year. This rest period "marries" and mellows the flavors giving this complex, ancient recipe once served to the poorest classes to the richest of royals, it's distinctive, classic, special rich taste once synonymous with Christmas itself.

I hope you enjoy it, and may you have a Blessed Yuletide, a Merry Christmas, A Happy Hanukkah, and a joyous winter Solstice Season however you may choose to celebrate!!

Magickally Yours,  Ms. Faith

© 2010-2017 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Yuletide Magick From Your Contemporary New England Witch

Yuletide Greetings My Witchy Readers!!

There are so many blogs out and about that will tell you about the Wheel of the Year, the history and the legend and lore of the Sabbats and all of that should you choose to search it out and read it, and good information it is. I have even spent time in the past covering this information myself.

But I want to keep my discussions with you fresh, unique and totally my own material, so I am going to trust if you want the history or the legend and lore you have ways and means available to you to look it up yourself.

Instead we are going to stick with what makes the Contemporary New England Witch unique and today's discussion will cover magickal concepts to put into play for the Yuletide season!

Yuletide is the ancient forerunner to what today is the Christmas season, and was originally celebrated to recognize the return of the Sun, as the Winter Solstice passes around December 20th-21st and the days start to be slightly longer, imperceptibly at first, heading into the next year of spring and then summer.

With this ancient Pagans would practice all sorts of sympathetic magick to bring the renewal of life into the homes, and thus ensure that life flourished throughout the long winters. Today, our lives are a bit more secure than ancient mankind was, so we practice sympathetic magicks more metaphorically as it pertains to our day to day and the upcoming year. Take for example the common practice of announcing a New Year's resolution. As the new Year turns, one would set down something they would put into play that would change for them their upcoming year, hopefully for the better.

Well, that is what we, as modern Pagans can do, if we choose to, at this time of darkness and cold, as we rest and contemplate the upcoming year. We plan and put into play the changes we wish to have happen in the upcoming year. Now the difference, as you know, between pagans and the rest of the world, is we do not just think about things and "pray" they will happen, we actively put ourselves into the work to make them manifest.

So, I have put together some lovely Yuletide spells for you to help bring the "Sun" back into your lives this winter and to start you on the path of positive change, at the same time setting aside the darkness, the sadness, or grief, or loss, or anger, or ___________ fill in the blank with any negative, unwanted feeling or energy you wish to put aside from the past few months or year. That which no longer serves you.

We will also utilize typical, time honored Yuletide representations which have served for, in some cases over a thousand years.  To start we will create a Yule log, and we will use a white birch log piece which represents the Goddess.

So the following is creating an indoor, table top Yule log, but as more than just a simple decoration.  Take a small piece of white birch log, saw the bottom off, so it lays flat. Then drill three holes in the top to put the candles, mini spell candles, also known as chime candles.

Silver and gold, and if you are ambitious you can drill 6 or 9 holes. If you did 6 or 9 red, silver and gold would be appropriate with an equal number of each color.

You can add evergreen pieces to the log as decoration, or simply lay it on a bed of evergreens, to bring in the new life, new growth of the new "thing" you are ushering into your life. Is it a new job, or perhaps a new home? Maybe you are in a phase of your life that the previous year cleaned out old, unhealthy people in your life, so this year you are bringing in new, happy, loving friendships and significant relationships? Maybe you shed an unhealthy lifestyle or illness, and this year you are focusing on health, happiness and strength?

All of these new, positive, life affirming areas, all that I mentioned above are supported and enhanced by the representation of the evergreen. So lay a thick bed, thick and plush, for your Yule Log, to lay upon. Has it occurred to you yet?  In this magickal scenario, you are the Yule Log! The same as when we construct a poppet or use a significator candle in candle magick, the Yule log is your representation.

You decorate it as you wish to. You may remain simple and uncomplicated, and some may wish to be fancy and all decked out!! But we all have candles to light for we are relighting our inner "Sun" as the Sun returns to the earth. Place the Yule log somewhere in your house that is central to your home. Many times this is the kitchen or it could be the living room, where everyone watches TV, if this is a gathering place. The heart of the home.

The laying the Yule Log East to West, because the Sun rises East to West and this is a solar spell we are doing, place an incense burner or cauldron on the eastern end of the log. Burn a mixture of Frankincense and Myrrh, ground fine, into a powder. Then add some finely chopped evergreen, fresh evergreen, very finely chopped, I like spruce, or hemlock, which is not as resiny as pine. After you have ground it together into a fine powder in a mortar and pestle, then it is ready to burn on a charcoal. Please use charcoal meant to be burned indoors.

The candles placed in the log, gold signify the blessings of the God, the touch of the Sun, new beginnings, prosperity (but not necessarily monetary) but success in all of your endeavors and physical actions. So when you start something, a project, a task, any goal you strive for the luck will be very fortuitous.  The Silver candles signify the blessings of the Goddess, the touch of the moon, also good fortune, but in areas of relationships, emotions, desires you have dreamed of and put your good intentions towards.

Should you choose to add red candles, this is a color that will bring life and vitality, energy and fire to your life, but in a positive way. It can spark the physical, bring strength and courage and fortitude to the spirit. It is a nice color to add to the gold and the silver because it ties the two higher, loftier aspects to the grounded physical nature.

You may also ring the Yule log around with candles making a lovely centerpiece, so you can use larger candles which complement the smaller candles in the Yule log itself.

Now take an essential oil such as Myrrh, which will banish that which is stuck on you from the last year, anoint yourself by smearing a small mark of oil on your forehead where your third eye is. Then anoint the candles with the Myrrh oil. Light the Frankincese Myrrh incense powder sitting in the east of the log and allow it to smoke. then dress each candle, by holding it in the incense smoke for a few moments, (the candles are unlit at this time) and then place them in their holes.

You may finish decorating the Yule log at this time. Then when you are ready to light it, when the time feels right to you, either on the night of Yule, which is the evening before Yule (the 21st) or anytime during the Yuletide season) light the candles and say a prayer or blessing. Allow the candles to burn out without snuffing them out.

The focus of this Yule log spell is not just to have a pretty table top decoration, but to spend time, reflecting on last year. Then think about this upcoming year. Where there things you wish you could undo from last year? Good news! This new year is truly a clean slate!! Ahh, you say .  .  .  but what about what I did? Or what I didn't do? Or what I said? or what I didn't say? etc. etc. You get my point.

Well. That remains to be seen. We do not live in this world isolated and alone, nor should we. We all make mistakes. We all deserve a second chance. Yes, even you! Sometimes, it is not even another, sometimes you simply need to give yourself another chance, to change and be the person who you want to be, or who you say you are. Then, do it.

If it involves making amends, then do those also. If a person is worthy of having in your life then you will choose that they should be.  You just may have to be braver than you ever have been before. This spell will also bring bravery and courage to your soul. It is there, this will help wake up those qualities.

Another Spell for the Yule tide season is a life enhancing spell for home and hearth.

What I mean by that is a candle spell, where you take a wreath, either in a round circle, and lay if flat, or even if you take a round platter or dish and lay evergreen pieces and tiny scraps on the plate and then set red candles on the plate.

Place pomegranates, small  bright orange small tangerines or baby oranges, and small bright red apples around the candles. These fruits are always popular and in season this holiday time. They have always been held as special, extravagant treats of abundance and luxury, thus bringing in sympathetic magick of the new years bringing the recipients all that they will need and then some. No pain of loss, or want for those who have plenty at the end of the year.

So set up this platter of fruits and red candles. Inscribe on the candles words such as "LOVE", "HAPPINESS", "JOY", "LAUGHTER", "BLESSINGS" whatever words mean something to you, stay away from words like want, or take away or any verbs, just specific words, primarily nouns.

Anoint these candles with different oils. Choose a light, happy oil such as an apple blossom, cherry, jasmine, or even a ylang, ylang if you have it. If not one of those then I would choose a citrus such as neroli, or a sweet orange and that will bring in a light, happy loving feeling which will affect your mood, your attitude and the energy around the candles and the house.

Placing bowls of lemons and citrus fruits around the house keeps the home cleansed of negative, low level energies and helps keep depression and sadness that seem to come hand in hand with holiday seasons at bay.

Do not discount holiday lighting as a magickal method all of it's own. Blue holiday lights have an incredible power in how they affect you, when you walk in the door, and you see a room or tree done up entirely in blue lights!! They will reduce your stress and help calm you down and suddenly you feel more relaxed and happy to be home from a long day at work!

For the Yule log, the Yule wreath even your Yule tree, a spell, is not a spell without an Incantation, and for this occasion I wrote a special one that you can use for this Yule tide:

Rub your hands together then with your palms facing the Yule item you have created, sending your energy out, say this incantation which will seal your magickal goal and start the manifestation:

Yuletide seasons

Bring to us/me

The Blessings of

the greenery

Life affirming

ever lasting

love and happiness

never fasting

Bring abundance

Bring us/me peace, bring us/me light,

protecting us/me

into this night.

allow the candles to burn, every now and then put a pinch more of the Yule incense on the charcoal and it will burn and scent the area with a vibrational energy raising smoke, making the entire household feel more sacred and light.

Also while reciting the incantation, visualize the end result, what you are bringing into your life for the upcoming year. The light, the love, the happiness, the joy, all that you are bringing in and desire to have in your life for the upcoming year.

Also you can walk through each room with the burning incense, and incense each room with the fragrant smoke, raising the vibrations in each room.

Keep checking, your Contemporary New England Witch will have more Yule Tide discussions coming up in the new few days and weeks leading up to Yule!!


Live, Laugh and Always Love!  Ms. Faith

© 2010-2017 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

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