Tag: Business

Magick Potion to Heal a Broken Heart

This eases the pain of losing the one you love and helps heal your heart.

Items You Will Need:

  • A small piece or rose quartz
  • A glass jar or bottle, preferably green with a lid or stopper
  • 9 ounces of olive, almond or grape seed oil
  • 6 drops of rose, jasmine or ylang-ylang essential oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried chamomile leaves

Best Time To Cast:

  • Begin on the new moon and continue for as long as necessary.

The Spell

Collect the ingredient needed for this magick balm. Wash the rose quartz and the jar with mild soap and water. Cast a circle around the area where you will do your spell. Pour the olive, almond, or grape seed oil into the jar. Add the essential oil and inhale the fragrance, allowing it to relax your mind. Crush the chamomile leaves very fine and sprinkle them in the oil. Add the rose quartz. Cap the jar and inhale it three times to blend and charge the ingredients. Open the circle.

Before going to bed, pour a little of the magick balm into your palm and dip your index finger in it. Then rub the oil on your skin at your heart center. Feel it gently soothing the pain. Take several slow, deep breath, inhaling the pleasant scent, letting it calm your thoughts and emotions. Repeat each night and each morning until your sadness diminishes.

The Daily Motivator for May 8th – A life well lived

A life well lived

Pleasure is nice, but it is never enough. Material wealth can be immensely helpful, but brings no fulfillment of its own accord.

Power can give great satisfaction to your ego. Yet a life lived solely in the service of ego ends up being small and pathetic.

What truly makes life good is the commitment you put into making life good. What makes life good is the experience of making a difference.

There is much that’s already been given to you by virtue of your existence, and there is much more that may or may not be given to you. What matters at the core of your spirit, though, is not what you have but what you do with it.

No person, situation, event or possession can give you fulfillment. What brings about real fulfillment is your participation in bringing it about.

Life’s rewards are not what you long for. What you long for is to genuinely earn your own significance.

Every moment is an opportunity to do so. Treasure each of those opportunities, make full use of them, and you will have the priceless experience of a life well lived.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for Tuesday, May 8th – The Power Within

The Power Within
Energy 101

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Energy cannot be destroyed, but it be changed and transformed.

There is an undercurrent of energy thrumming through the Universe. Like the wind or a whisper, we can sometimes hear it and often feel it. Most of the time, we sense this energy unconsciously without any tangible proof it is really there. Thoughts, emotions, and the life force in all living things are forms of this kind of energy. So are creativity, growth, and change. The impressions, images, and vague premonitions we get about people and situations are other examples of formless energy. When you enter a space and feel an “intangible tension” in the air that gives you a sense of foreboding in your gut, what you are likely experiencing is energy.

Energy cannot be destroyed, but it can be transformed or transferred from one person, thing, or source to another. Though energy is formless, it does take form and shape in the way it flows and resides within all things: a grain of sand, a bird, a stone, and an ocean wave. Living things radiate complex vibrations while nonliving things’ vibrations are simpler. Energy is a magnifier that can attract like energies while repelling disparate ones. Many of our reactions to people and circumstances are based on unconscious reactions to their energies. We may even intuitively tune into the energy of a situation we are facing when making a decision about how to proceed. With careful practice and meditation, we can learn to sense the energy within other living things and ourselves. We can also become more attuned to how we are impacted by different kinds of energy. For instance, being around too many energies can leave one person feeling edgy or excited, while another person will feel tired and drained.

While some people feel that energy can be controlled, others see it is as the unknowable force that moves through all things. The combined energy in all things plays a hand in birth, death, growth, movement, and stillness. Practitioners of Aikido believe that all living beings share a common energy source that is our life force. Whatever your beliefs, it is worthwhile to explore the roles energy plays in your life so you can understand it more fully.

Calendar of the Moon for May 7

Calendar of the Moon
5, 7, 9 Saille/Mounukhion

Lemuria

Colors: Black and grey
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of black and grey set a bowl of beans, nine black candles, a brazier with incense of agrimony and rue, a bottle of good wine, a bowl of clean spring water, a knotted rope, a bowl of asafoetida, and a skull.
Offerings: None. This is a banishing. All carry cymbals, drums, or noisemakers.
Daily Meal: Goat meat. Beans.

Lemuria Invocation

(First the one who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual stands forth, takes the knotted rope from the altar, and unknots it, and throws it into the brazier.)

Call: Shades of those who have gone before us!
Ghosts and demons, inside us and outside,
Hear us!
Response: We cast you out! We drive you before us!
Call: Begone from house and hearth,
Begone from mind and heart,
Begone from roost and stall,
Begone from field and garden,
Begone from path and road,
Begone from all places
Where you might harry us!
We scatter you before us on the wind!
Response: We cast you out! We drive you before us!

(The officiant makes the sign of the ficus towards the west, and all follow in turn. Then the officiant washes their hands in the clear spring water, and brings the bowl to all, who wash in turn. The water is poured out in the libation well. Then the beans are passed around, and all take a handful or a mouthful. Each spits or throws the beans in a different direction.)

Call: Hace ego mitto, his redime meque meosque fabis!
Response: Manes exite paterni! Manes exite paterni! Manes exite paterni!

(All walk through the house and around the boundaries of the property, clashing cymbals and beating drums and making noise to drive away all evil spirits. This ritual repeats for three days, only on odd-numbered days, which are luckier than even-numbered days.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Daily Motivator for May 4 – Through the difficulties

Through the difficulties

One of life’s greatest gifts is the fact that life is difficult. Because in dealing with life’s difficulties, you build priceless skills.

Those skills enable you to successfully fulfill your deepest, most meaningful purposes. It is precisely because life is difficult that you are able to make it great.

It is because life is difficult that you are able to rise above the difficulties. You are able to make a difference and you are able to truly matter.

The burdens you carry can set the stage for your greatest triumphs. The challenges you work through challenge you to become stronger and more capable.

Life’s difficulties provide the resistance to strengthen your life muscles. Though it is painful to feel the burn, it is also immensely satisfying to feel those muscles growing ever more powerful.

Accept and acknowledge life’s difficulties, and you connect yourself with life’s great opportunities. Work your way through the difficulties, and you arrive at sweet, satisfying fulfillment.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily Motivator for April 29th – Momentum of achievement

Momentum of achievement

Success comes most readily to those who are already successful. That’s why the small successes are so important.

When you set a goal, however small it may be, and then work to achieve it, you put in motion a powerful positive momentum. That momentum can help you to reach toward higher and higher levels of achievement.

The small successes do matter, for they set that momentum in motion. No step is trivial, however small it may be, when it is leading in a positive direction.

Too many people wait and hope for, beg, plead and even fight for that one big break that will bring about instant success. Sadly, in so doing they overlook the small opportunities for success that come in every moment of every day.

You can easily make a little bit of progress in the next fifteen minutes. And you can make a little more progress in the next few hours. Create for yourself the momentum of achievement. And you can take it wherever you wish to go.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for April 29th – Brand-New Day

Brand-New Day
Inner Sunrise

When today is not going well, it is tempting to focus on tomorrow as a blank slate with all the possibilities that newness provides. It is true that tomorrow will be a brand-new day, but we do not have to wait until tomorrow to start fresh. We can start fresh at any moment, clearing our energy field of any negativity that has accumulated, and call this very moment the beginning of our brand-new day.

There is something about the sunrise and the first few hours of the morning that make us feel cleansed and rejuvenated, ready to move forward enthusiastically. As the day wears on, we lose some of this dynamic energy and the inspiration it provides. This may be why we look forward to tomorrow as providing the possibility of renewal. Many traditions consider the light of the rising sun to be particularly divine in its origins; this is why so many people in the world face east when performing ritual. We too can cultivate that rising sun energy inside ourselves, carrying it with us to light our way through any time of day or night, drawing on its power to awaken and renew our spirits.

One simple way to do this is to carry an image or a photograph of the rising sun with us in our wallet or purse. We can also post this image on our wall at work or at home, or have it as our screensaver on our computer. When we feel the need to start fresh, we can take a moment to gaze at the image, allowing its light to enter into our hearts. As we do this, we might say out loud or quietly to ourselves, I am ready to let go of the past and start anew. We might visualize anything we want to release leaving us as we exhale, and as we inhale, we can take in the fresh energy of the eastern sun, allowing it to light the way to a brand-new day.

Poppy Seed Divination (Seed Moon)

Poppy Seed Divination

(Seed Moon)

Use this divination to answer a pressing question.

You will need a charcoal block, an incense burner, and nine poppy seeds. Because fire played such an intricate part in their daily lives, the people of ancient cultures commonly used smoke as a method of divination. One of the Norns, the Norse Goddess Verdandi, weaves the fabric that becomes each of our lives. This spell asks for the help of the Goddess in divining the smoke that rises up from smoldering poppy seeds.

Use your athame to draw a circle of light. Call in the elements. Carefully light the charcoal block, and invite the Goddess into your circle.

Great Goddess Verdandi

Weaver of all patterns

Help me to see

What is and will be,

So be it! Blessed be!

Ask the question you want answered, then blow on the charcoal. When it burns hot, place the poppy seeds on the lit charcoal and watch the smoke as it rises. Traditionally, if the smoke rose lightly and straight upward, it meant something good was going to happen, and if it hung around it was a portent of something bad. For yourself, try clearing your mind of all images before looking into the smoke. As you look into the smoke, let the image of the Goddess move into your consciousness. The smoke is a reflection of the fabric she is weaving. Look and see the patterns of your own life as it unfolds from the future into the present.

Thank the Goddess and pull up the circle when you are done.

Working With Magick Lamps

Working With Magick Lamps

The type of lamp used to make these magick lamps is the hurricane or kerosene lamp. Like the gris-gris bags, the magick lamps are made for many purposes. The basic fuel used in making these lamps is a blend of castor, oil, olive oil and kerosene. Here you will use two-thirds kerosene to one-third oil mixture. To this basic fuel mixture is added other ingredients which are analogous to the work being done. Here you will add diverse ingredients such as magnets, essential oils, herbs, pepper, red wine, etc.

When properly made, the lamps have excellent results. The results obtained from working with lamps is best when prayers are said as you fill the lamp with more fuel each day at the same time. Once the lamp is lit, it cannot be extinguished until satisfaction is obtained. If you don’t need to fill the hurricane lamp as you say your prayer, then the lamp is moved in a circular motion, clockwise, as you repeat your desire. The prayer which has always been given to use with the lamp has always been directed to a particular Saint (Catholic influence).

Instead of directing prayers to Saints, Pagans can invoke their Gods and Goddesses.

To Bind A Lover To You

To Bind A Lover To You

Take a small mirror which your lover has looked into. Without looking into the mirror, break it into small pieces. Bury the broken mirror in your yard or in a flower pot you keep in your home. Every Friday, sprinkle the spot with a tea made from Spikenard Herb while repeating the name of your lover.

To Control Another

To Control Another

Take a High John the Conqueror Root and anoint it with John the Conqueror Oil. On a piece of brown paper, write the name of the person you wish to control/conquer and soak the paper in Controlling Oil. When the paper is dry, wrap it around the High John the Conqueror root and tie with purple thread.

Daily Motivator for April 25th – Keep moving

Keep moving

When your efforts bring the results you seek and also when they don’t, keep moving. Welcome the achievements with humility, welcome the setbacks with confidence, and keep moving.

Don’t use success as an excuse to rest on your accomplishments. Don’t use failure as an excuse to give up.

Whatever has happened before, your best choice now is to keep moving, keep learning, keep making the effort, and keep improving. Build new value with what does work, and accumulate valuable experience from what doesn’t work.

When you realize you’ve been distracted and wandered off course, don’t let it get you down. Just accept where you are, figure out the best way forward, and quickly get going again.

When you’re standing still or being pushed backward, you have no control over what happens to you. Keep moving, because the way to control your direction is to have some direction, and the more assertively you move, the more control you have.

Life’s abundance is all around you, and each day brings new opportunities for fulfillment. Use every day to keep moving, and bring your best possibilities to life.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

10 Ways to Get Plastic Out of Your Kitchen

10 Ways to Get Plastic Out of Your Kitchen

  • Becky Striepe

Earth day is right around the corner–what better time to take a hard look at your plastic consumption?

Plastics seem to invade every aspect of our lives, and the kitchen is no exception. From cooking to storage to packing food for on the go, there are places that we can ditch the plastic in favor of safer, more Earth-friendly materials. This Earth Day, take some time to inventory the plastic in your kitchen and see if your kitchen can go plastic free. What a great way to make your Earth day action last the whole year!

Plastic is no good for the planet, and it’s no good for people, either. Plastic pollution is a serious environmental problem. It pollutes our waterways, causing ocean dead zones and killing countless numbers of aquatic life. You don’t want plastic coming in contact with your food, either, especially hot or acidic foods. Plastic cooking utensils and food storage containers can leach toxins into the food that it touches. No, thank you!

Luckily, there are lots of simple ways to get plastic out of your cooking processes. One word of caution: if you’re getting rid of plastic that you already have, like ladels or tupperware, see if you can come up with crafty or creative ways to reuse them elsewhere, rather than sending them to the landfill. That plastic still exists, even if it’s not in your home!

Ready to ditch the plastic in your kitchen? Here are 10 tips to get you going!

1. Store your food in glass or metal. Instead of plastic Tupperware containers, chose metal or glass food storage. Glass Mason jars are great for storing bulk items like beans, grains, and nuts. You can also check retailers like The Container Store. I’ve seen some great glass and metal food storage options there.

2. No more baggies! When you’re packing lunch, choose reusable glass or metal containers instead of plastic baggies or plastic Tupperware containers.

3. Choose reusable. You don’t need plastic forks and spoons in your lunchbox! Grab metal utensils from your own utensil drawer instead.

4. Get rid of plastic cooking utensils. Ditch the plastic tools like spatulas and serving spoons in favor of metal ones.

5. Skip the processed food and produce in plastic bags. Processed food almost always means disposable plastic packaging, so choose whole foods wherever you can. When you’re hitting the produce section, don’t buy fruits and veggies in plastic wrap or those plastic mesh bags.

6. Forget bottled water. Chances are you already don’t buy bottled water, but just in case there are any hold outs out there, this is a no-brainer. Bottled water is expensive and the plastic bottles are unhealthy. Choose filtered tap water in a reusable glass or BPA free metal bottle instead.

7. Bring your own bag to the grocery store. You probably also already have reusable grocery bags, but what about when you’re in the bulk or produce aisle? Skip the single-use plastic bags in favor of reusable produce bags instead.

8. Buy dishwasher detergent that comes in a cardboard box. Dishwasher detergent often comes in a plastic container. Skip the plastic and opt for the powdered stuff in a cardboard box. Even better? Make your own dishwasher detergent!

9. Make your own dish soap. No need to buy dish soap in a plastic bottle, either. You can make your own dish soap at home! I know, the Dr. Bronner’s in this recipe comes in a plastic bottle, but many co-ops offer bulk refills of Dr. Bronner’s, so at least you only have to buy the one bottle. If anyone has suggestions for getting around this one, I’d love to hear them!

10. Skip the nonstick. Did you know that the nonstick coating on pots and pans is actually plastic? Instead of nonstick, choose cast iron or stainless steel so you can cook plastic free!

Daily Motivator for April 16 – Get it finished

Get it finished

When you have to choose between getting it perfect and getting it finished, get it finished. Even when it’s inconvenient and uncomfortable, get it finished.

Are there other things you’d rather be doing? Go ahead, finish what you’ve started, and then you can more fully enjoy moving on to those other things.

Don’t waste your time wishing for it to be easier, or resenting that you must get it done. Stop fighting against your own effort, and put all your energy into getting the job finished.

Give your perspective a positive boost with some effective, productive effort. Follow through on your intentions and commitments, and get it done.

It was important enough for you to start, so go ahead and get it finished. Get it finished, and bring new value to your world.

Accomplishment feels so much better than idleness, wishful thinking or resentment. Make the effort, tackle the challenges, get it finished, and enjoy some good, solid, fulfilling accomplishment along the way.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for April 14th – Ready for Change

Ready for Change
Declaring Our Intentions

 

 

If you are feeling stuck in your life and are ready for change, take time to declare to the Universe that you are ready.

There comes a point in most of our lives when we feel ready to experience a change we’ve had trouble carrying out. Maybe we’ve been stuck in a home, a relationship, job, or a town that hasn’t felt right for a long time, but we’ve been unable to shift our circumstances in the direction we want to go. At times like this, it can help to declare to the universe that we are ready for a change. Think of it as informing a helpful friend that you need her assistance to move to the next level in your life. If the time is right, the universe will respond with opportunities and offers designed to help you create the change you wish to see.

You can begin the process of making your declaration by getting clear within yourself about what exactly you want to change. Whenever we ask anyone for help, they can assist us that much better if we are specific. The universe also appreciates our clarity and has an easier time answering a direct communication than a vague yearning. When you are clear on what you want, write your declaration on a piece of paper and place it on your altar, if you have one. If you don’t, you can also place it under your pillow or in a box on your nightstand. Set aside a period of time every day to be silent with your wishes for change, repeating your declaration like a mantra. This lets the universe know that you are ready to change and will be receptive to its efforts.

Feel free to continue to refine and redefine your declaration, and remember to be open to the many different ways in which the change you seek might come to be. Remember also to be active in your own efforts, taking opportunities that come your way, watching for signs, and always taking responsibility for your intentions. If things don’t happen quickly, try not to be discouraged; it might take time to free up energy that has been blocked and possibly serving a purpose beyond what we can understand. If you continue your conversation with the universe, declaring yourself clearly and openly, you cannot help but experience the magic of changing and being changed.

Calendar of the Sun for April 14th

Calendar of the Sun
14 Eostremonath

Mariamne’s Day

Color: Blue-green of the ocean
Element: Water
Altar: Upon a cloth of blue, green, and aqua place a large glass bowl filled with salt water, sand, and shells from the ocean, many small cakes or breads, and a pitcher of milk.
Offerings: Seashells. Make food. Give generously to another.
Daily Meal: Fish. Bread. Dairy products.

Invocation to Mariamne

Lady of the Land and Sea,
We call you to watch over us!
Lady of the Ocean,
Cascading waves that stroke the shore
Again and again, in a never-ending
Mating dance of land and sea;
Lady of whales and dolphins,
Lady of fishes that swim in
Silvery schools like clouds of mist,
Lady who fills our nets and boats,
Lady who keeps us safe at sea,
Lady who brought our ancestors
Safely across their watery travels,
Bless us with your protection
As we navigate the shoals of our lives.
Lady of the Shore,
Mistress of Land and Sea,
Ruler of the tides
And giver of nourishment,
You who make the milk flow
And the mother’s breast give forth,
You who water the fields
And spark the seed,
Bless us with your abundance
As we move with your tidal flow.

Chant: Mariamne Mariamne
Mistress of Earth and Sea

(The breads are passed around, and the one who passes them says, “Taste the bounty of the body.” Then the milk is passed, and the one who passes it says, “Taste the bounty of the heart.”

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Daily Motivator for April 13th – Needless needs

Needless needs

One of the most disabling assumptions is the assumption of need. Consider that much of what you assume you need, you really don’t.

Remember, just because everyone else has some particular thing, does not mean you need it too. Just because someone says you need something, doesn’t mean you really need it.

If you’re being held back by the need to satisfy your needs, stop and ask yourself a key question about each one. Do you really need it?

Life can be difficult, and yet there’s no sense in adding to the burden. Instead of assuming more and more needs, choose to question those needs.

Live more by intention, and less by reaction. Put your time and effort into those things that create real fulfillment for your life, rather than into needless needs.

Choose your own priorities, based on what’s most important to you. Let go of the need to need so much, and free yourself to live life at its authentic best.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Opening the Circle

Opening the Circle

The last thing that must be done is the opening of the cast circle. The people who purified and blessed the space are not needed for this part, only the person that did the actual casting of it. They should take their athame and return to the east, cutting a slit into the edge of the circle, and then walk around the circle in the opposite direction that it was cast in, visualizing the energy being pulled back into the tip of the athame.

When the person reaches the east once more, they should touch the tip of the athame to the pentacle to ground all of the energy that was put into it. This will keep the athame balanced and ready to use. Once this is done, the area should be cleaned up and put back into the order that it was found.

If the space is rented or public property, make certain that everything that was brought is removed, including the garbage. Dump the offering on the ground under a tree or into running water. If the space is a non-for-profit organization, a small donation is usually welcomed. If none of this is possible, a charitable donation to a local group in the organization’s name can also be done.

Daily Motivator for April 10 – Small improvements

Small improvements

Small improvements matter, because they can add up to big changes. If you add just one percent to your efforts each day, day after day, in only seventy days your effectiveness will double.

Small improvements are easy to make, and they can make a big difference. The key is to keep making them, to continue improving on the improvements.

Are you frustrated because you’re not as effective as you’d like to be? You can begin to change that right now, and put an end to your frustration.

Accept that you can’t instantly get all the way to maximum effectiveness. Yet you can very realistically make one small, easy improvement after another.

Don’t worry about how you will get a whole lot better. Just find a way, right now, to get a little bit better.

Make a small, easily accessible improvement, and then make another, and another. Soon, you’ll be much further ahead than you ever could have imagined.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Earth Science Pic for April 9th – Bubble Columns in River Ice (Hmm..)

Bubble Columns in River Ice

April 09, 2012RiverIceBubblesIMG_1123_LR
Photographer: Roger Benoit
Summary Author: Roger Benoit; Jim Foster

This picture showing curious bubbles on the frozen Aar River was taken this past winter near Umiken, Aargau, Switzerland. It had been bitterly cold for several days prior to when the photo was snapped. It’s not known exactly how these bubbles formed, but it’s likely they were released from the riverbed and became trapped under a thin layer of ice. As deeper layers of water froze, perhaps additional bubbles became trapped further down in the ice — closer to the riverbed. Such a mechanism would also explain the flat appearance of individual inclusions. Typically, the faster the freezing rate, the greater the number and the size of the bubbles. In this case, the arrival of very cold air substantially increased the freezing rate. Note that the inside of one of the near-surface bubbles has been exposed (at right center). Photo taken on February 12, 2012.