Many spiritual traditions believe that a dog psychopomp awaits the newly dead, waiting to lead the way to the next existence. Without the dog, it was believed the dead soul was doomed to wander and never find the right path. Trusting souls know that their loyal spirit dog awaits them, however, not everyone has faith. Perhaps out of anxiety, different traditions tried to compensate sometimes a familiar pet was killed following a person’s death so that they could be buried together, with this pet dog assuming the role of psychopomp. The ancient people of what is now Mexico came up with a happier magickal solution:
Create or obtain a clay image of a dog: it can look like a specific breed or individual dog or just be a generic canine.
Incorporate this figure into funeral rites, either burying together with the person or cremating them together.
Knowledge that a psychopomp awaits, that the journey won’t be made alone, can be very comforting. Some like to be surprised but others prefer to choose their own tour-guides. This spell allows you to magickally place your order.
Gather images to represent assorted psychopomps: assorted deities may be represented as well as canines (dogs, jackals, wolves), snakes (especially aspects of the Vodou Iwa Simbi), and birds (corvids, hornbills, seagulls). Flames may be used to represent angels.
Place them on an altar or cast a circle with the images. Accompany by burning candles and incense, especially benzoin.
If you find one particular image calls to you, intrigues or comforts you, keep it by your bedside or sleep with it under your pillow.
If, for any reason, the soul of the deceased seems to be lingering or doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to make the next journey, appeal to one of the psychopomps to provide an immediate pick-up service. Any of the spirits may be petitioned, although one dear to the deceased would be the kindest choice.
If you’re unsure what to do, burn white candles and provide one of the fragrances that call in spirits best: benzoin, cinnamon, frankincense or sandalwood. Call the spirit by name and request that it comes to collect the recalcitrant soul quickly.
To request this sort of escort service, either for yourself during the dying process or for a loved one immediately following death, remove the Moon card from a Rider-Waite tarot deck or a thematically similar deck.
Place it where you can meditate on the image. The two canines are the awaiting psychopomps; the crab or lobster is the soul beginning its next, long journey.
Try to go into the card, jump inside and see what happens. Practice jumping in and out of the card, it’s important to the success of the ritual that you’re confident that you can emerge safely. The subject of death is a mystery and so to some extent is this spell.
Enter the card and see what assistance you can bring back with you.
If you perceive that a woman may be more sympathetic, appeals may also be made to La Grande Brigitte, Maman Brigitte, Baron Samadi’s Scottish-born wife. She co-owns the cemetery with the Baron.
Offer La Grande Brigette nine purple eggplants together with a glass of red wine.
If possible, set up her offering by the central cross in a cemetery or under a willow or elm tree. Given the choice, the most auspicious day to petition her is on a Wednesday.
Light a white or purple candle for Maman Brigette, make your appeal and explain why it should be considered.
Death Spirits or Spirits of Death sounds so threatening compared to a Healing Spirit or a Spirit of Love. This isn’t mere modern squeamishness but an attitude shared with the ancients. Death Spirits Although they play a necessary function, made our ancestors nervous, too.
Death Spirits tend to fall into one of two categories:
Spirits who are involved in the dying process or who serve to ease the transition to the next life.
Spirits who are guardians of the dead, who preside over the realms of the dead, or who rules cemeteries and creation growth.
Many Spirit Guardians of Death’s Doors remain unnamed. As with Disease Spirits, there’s some reluctance to name many of them, just in case they actually come when called, thus epithets and euphemisms are frequently substituted. Often, a Death Spirit’s true name remains secret. Hades literally means “the unseen one.” Should that name become too familiar, other euphemisms may be substituted. Polydegmon means “the hospitable one” because, after all everyone is welcome in his realm. Pluton means “wealth,” because ultimately he owns everyone and everything!
Despite the fear they instill, these Spirits can be very needed, helpful and welcome–at the right moment of course. Their assistance is incorporated into many spells for a variety of reasons and purposes.
Guardians of the next world and of the cemetery gates include:
Baron Samedi, leader of the Vodoun Ghede spirits, and his consort, La Grande Brigitte
Dongyue Dadi, Lord of Tai Shan (China)
Erishkigal/Lamashtu (Mesopotamia)
Hades, Persephone (Greece)
Hella (Norse)
Kali, Shiva, Yama (Hindu)
Mictlantecutli and Mictecacuiuatl (Aztec Lord and Lady of the Dead)
Oya (Yoruba)
Osiris (egypt)
Yambe Akka (Saami)
Appeal to these guardian spirits to protect the souls of the dead, and also to maintain control over the souls of the dead, keeping them in line, so to speak. Petition them also for access to the spirits of the dead, should this be desired.
During the morning hours, the energy of the Sun expands and becomes strong and active. Any project that requires building, growth, or expansion work well during this phase. This is an excellent time to build upon the positive aspects in your life, to resolve situations where courage is necessary, and to add warmth and harmony to your home. Morning-Sun energy is also of benefit when performing plant magick or working spells for financial increase.
To seal spells performed in the morning, use this chant or one of your own choosing:
Blend cayenne or Habanero pepper powder with powdered wild ginger (not ginger root; this plant is also known as Asarum or Canada snakeroot). Sprinkle this mixture on your victim’s doorstep or on the path where he or she will walk, to create dissension and discord
The Renaissance magician, Cornelius Agrippa, discussed this hexing. tool. Use a rope to obtain nine measurements from a dead man’s corpse. Measure each of the following three times each:
from the elbow to the longest finger
from the shoulder to the tip of the longest finger
from the head to the toe
Keep the rope, Anyone subsequently measured with it will suffer misery, misfortune, or worse.
Charging a stone with malevolence is an ancient Celtic method of delivering a curse. Charge the stone by holding it in your hands while allowing yourself to be engulfed by feelings of rage, jealousy, anger, or hatred. The stone will store this emotion. When charging ig complete, terminate the process by setting the stoned down and consciously changing your train of thought. Reserve the stone for future use.
Should one wish to curse someone or something, hold the stone within your hands, stroking it, while turning it counter-clockwise and murmuring curses.
This Russian coffin spell is superficially similar to the New Orleans-based one, but is actually very different. The goal is not intimidation but genuine, unadulterated malevolence, The coffin, and hence the hex, is not made public, but kept hidden, the hex is more insidious and harder to lift.
Work a strand of the victim’s hair into wax or some clay. (If the clay can be crafted from their gathered footprint, this hex is believed to be even more effective.)
Mold the wax or clay into something resembling your victim.
Should one for any reason (and of course, yours is a good one) attempt to cast a a malicious spell using oils or powders, and should some of that hexing material somehow get onto you, forget about the original spell and focus immediately on cleansing yourself instead:
Cleanse thoroughly using rosemary hydrosol or appropriate quantities of the essential oil. (Remember less is always more with essential oils. Don’t be tempted to use excessive amounts because you’ve scared yourself).
Wait at least 24 hours before considering whether to return to the original spell.
This cleansing may also be used if you are the target of a malevolent spell.
Sketches for a water vessel –
bottle and message elide on waves.
Voice of Brigid calls.
All who hear: Imagine.
Exposed to wind, to grit, to rain
and hail,
rock faces erode.
Vessel
Designated fixed space
Sacrosanct container
Conveyor through fluid
separates
Fluidity
Creates place, surface to paint.
Amusement;
diffusement of emotion,
beatitude, foment of dueling farce.
Harsh edges polished,
pure colors
blend in the dark.
Brief infusion
of giddy illusion
glows
just enough to guilefully entice.
Sparkling Neural net
smiles,
a secret
clue revealing
purpose, meaning,
engages
wild eternal child,
ages’ flamboyant fool,
Glorious
Muse
(Voice rains from within)
A wound is a sacred vessel.
Pain carves into flesh
sense memory;
carries the seed
of its own demise.
Sentience
engulfed in life
learns anew to be whole.
Wounded with the potential for wisdom
when eyes are are pried
from seeping, sucking, suffering
aching to censure what future we admire.
Redefine the schizm.
This wound is our project.
To heal, discover the vision;
realign the seam to fit
self-framed landscape.
Let loose that genie of desire.
Ride rushing blood streams.
Build a roaring pyre of grief,
insane belief in wrathfilled deities.
Revile that old refrain: “life is pain” or a game
to be lost.
No Faustian bargain.
Just a
rambling adventure
daring
to explore
essence of ecstasy.
Don’t wait for the rest to see
and demur.
Stretch your sail.
Take sight of your guiding star.
The only failure is self-denial
in favor of the vile lie
that pain is destiny
instead of faithful friend
lending energy
for change.
Slice vivid memories.
Exult in the tastes, the textures.
Enliven your way.
In the end
the vessel breaks.
There the Goddess stirs
General Meaning: Exposure to passing dangers brings good fortune to those who move beyond them. Like boaters passing through white-water rapids, when you are faced with serious challenges, you must remain alert, take all available precautions, and above all, keep going forward so as to remove yourself from harm’s way. Once the danger has passed, good fortune.
The positive aspect of challenges is that they offer an excellent chance to cleanse the senses and strengthen the spirit. Surviving crises brings tremendous reinvigoration, and sharpens the eye and mind for future challenges.
It is reckless to court danger, but critical to inner development not to shrink from it either. Those who respond to challenges most effectively are those who are able to establish an inner bubble of calm in the midst of the action. A calm center keeps one rooted in the moment, alert and focused. Courage at such times springs from focused attention, from a willingness to penetrate the moment of danger to its very core, so as to shape it and transform the situation.
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Star card is about reconnecting one’s Soul with the Divine — the transcending of personality, family, community and reputation. It has to do ultimately with the freedom to be one’s Self. The Soul is responding to celestial influences — forces that can provide the personality with a stronger sense of purpose. The Star card helps us to remember our exalted origins and our attraction to a Higher Union.
This card could also be called the “Celestial Mandate” — that which refers us back to our reason for being, our mission in this lifetime. The Star reminds us that, in a sense, we are agents of Divine Will in our day-to-day lives. If we let go of the idea that we are supposed to be in control, we can more easily notice and appreciate the synchronicities that are nudging us along. In this way, we become more conscious of the invisible Helping Hand, and we better understand our place within — and value to — the larger Cosmos.
Mixed cosmic messages are confusing, but we still get to exercise our free will by how we respond to circumstances, no matter what’s going on in our lives. The dreamy Pisces Moon fuels our wishes while thoughtful Mercury’s cooperative sextile with optimistic Jupiter gives us hope. Current actions have direct consequences now as our mental expansion is restrained by the more practical limitations of tomorrow’s early morning Sun-Saturn trine.
Aries Horoscope (Mar 21 – Apr 19)
It’s not easy today to stay focused on the present moment because you could be so concerned about your future. However, your recollection of something from your past may be more of a problem than whatever happens next. Thankfully, this is an opportunity for you to learn how to trust in the intelligence of “now,” rather than obsessing about unresolved feelings left over from some vague memory.
Taurus Horoscope (Apr 20 – May 20)
You may become so obsessed with one particular idea now that it’s hard for anyone to get you to talk about anything else. Fortunately, your current thinking can actually pull you in a positive direction, but that’s not the only consideration. Voluntary downplaying the importance of your own thoughts is a wise tactic today and makes you more accessible to your friends and family.
Gemini Horoscope (May 21 – Jun 20)
You are being torn between your magical fantasies and the down-to-earth realities that you currently face. You’re eager to release your day-to-day worries and dance the night away with friends, but you are also concerned about leaving loose ends untied. This may be an all-too-familiar scenario for you, but you should try to forget about recreational activities now until you wrap up some old business. It will be easier to enjoy yourself once you have done the responsible thing and demonstrated your dependability.
Cancer Horoscope (June 21 – Jul 22)
Clean up unfinished chores early in the day so you can fully enjoy the pleasure that you so richly deserve. Even if you plan a quiet evening at home, give yourself the time and space to dream about the changes that you want to experience in the near future. There aren’t any intelligent reasons to hold back your creative vision today; you can travel anywhere you wish in your mind.
Leo Horoscope (Jul 23 – Aug 22)
You may have thought that you would be ready for change no matter what happens, but you grow more contemplative as the day wears on. You know that you should be thankful for certain aspects of your life, yet you also are too aware of those things that still need improvement. Nevertheless, don’t focus on what’s wrong; concentrate on all the little things that you could do to continue your personal growth.
Virgo Horoscope (Aug 23 – Sep 22)
You may attempt to hold back your true intentions during the day. Even if you are sure about your feelings, you might not like the idea of others knowing what you want. Keeping things to yourself could be a waste of energy now, especially since your workmates and friends probably know more than you realize. Sharing what’s on your mind isn’t as much of a risk as it seems.
Libra Horoscope (Sep 23 – Oct 22)
You are driven now by your own internal need to express yourself in a new and different manner. Rely on your charm and grace if you feel resistance to your efforts to do your own thing. Fortunately, you exude more common sense than you think. Focus on being true to yourself while also keeping your mind open to different perspectives. If you remain flexible in your thinking, it will be much easier to let go of control and go along with others for the sake of group harmony.
Scorpio Horoscope (Oct 23 – Nov 21)
Keep to yourself for the first part of the day, and you will more thoroughly enjoy the company of others later on. Fortunately, you won’t have to hide your emotions or hold back your desires, for the Moon’s entry into your playful 5th House creates the perfect environment for you to express yourself. You’ll know when you’re ready, so don’t let anyone cajole you into reacting until the time is right.
Sagittarius Horoscope (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
If you’re buzzing like a busy bee, you may be too distracted today to fully appreciate the camaraderie of your family and friends. Nevertheless, you can’t say no to a potentially interesting gathering. Thankfully, once you are involved in the group, you just might forget how tired you were earlier. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable with those you trust can prove to be the exact catalyst you need.
Capricorn Horoscope (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
Attractive Venus is still lagging behind the planetary pack while visiting your practical sign, and you are taking your physical and emotional needs quite seriously now. You are more somber than usual, for there are significant challenges ahead that you must face. Nevertheless, you’re still committed to the work you have already started. Be patient as you build on your accomplishments and wait for the opportunities to reap the rewards.
Aquarius Horoscope (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
You have the impetus to start something new now, but you must be willing to change and grow in order to maximize the current opportunities. However, this process can be quite challenging if you are unwilling to let go of the past. Don’t hold on to what you have or you won’t be able to take advantage of the possibilities that are right in front of you.
Pisces Horoscope (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
You can gain a lot today by stopping and reevaluating your recent history. Paradoxically, this review process can also stimulate your anticipation of the future. Your life begins to take on a greater meaning as you see unstable social systems bending under the pressure of change. Meanwhile, you’re committed to finding stability in the midst of transition, even if you don’t yet know how you will manage it. Don’t worry about the details; you’ll figure things out along the way.
I plan on starting with Hexes and from there I am going to Necromancy…….The reason being I am about half way pissed off. I got up to go make some more coffee and I looked out my back door and I saw my neighbor’s back porch from a distance. My eyes immediately turned red and I would feel the energy start to build. So I got the ice bag out of the freezer, crushed up some ice and started eating on it. It helps, when I don’t have time to ground. I have a Willow Tree out front. I love to go out there and put my arms around it and gently rubbing it and talking to it. Then I sit down somewhere around it and ground. Since we have snow on the ground, I am eating ice. I will ground tonight. Anyway the reason, I am pissed. Frank (hubby) built our porch from scratch. He even fixed me a place that was blocked basically from the neighbors’ view. The man at the other home came down and told me they were getting rid of their back deck. Since it isn’t attached to their home, he wanted to know if we wanted it. I was floored. I told him I would have to talk to my husband and see what he wanted to do. Then the man’s wife comes down and brings up the same subject. I don’t know how to take this. Our deck is not that old and it sure doesn’t look like crap. I dabbled in interior decorating now and then and I am sure not going to have a piece of crap hanging off the house. I told Frank I am not getting this at all. Why? Are they that nosey to see what goes on over here? I mean I seriously do not know how to take this. If anyone has any insight into this or would love to tell me what you would do, I would be more than glad to hear it.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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