

It is best to find a work area that you can leave untouched for 3 days.
If you must put away your tools, try to leave the spell candle out in the open.
Prepare your work area by setting up any tools you may be using in addition to your spells candle.
(Black) Love or protection incense is recommended.
While setting up your area, concentrate on the purpose of the work.
Bathe or cleanse your self. Do not let negative thought enter your mind.
Go your work area. Cast the Circle, light incense.
Envision a large, white ball of light surrounding you, your work area, and your home.
Hold the candle between the palms of your hand and direct all positive energy into it.
Place the candle and prior to lighting say,
“This candle represents protection over me in all things.”
Light the candle and say,
“As the light of this flame grows, I feel the light and positive energy around me.
As this candle burns, everything around me is blessed with light and love.
I am blessed with light and love. Negative energy is banished.”
Sit back and watch the candle burn.
Keep visualizing the white ball of light and protection around you..
Evision your higher self blessing you and protecting you from harm.
When the candle has burned 1/3 of the way down say,
“As the flame of the candle is extinguished…
Evil, negativity, and harm towards me is banished!
Any entity, ghost or spirit her by mistake go into the light and pass on to the world of spirit,
be not afraid as many wait for you there who you have loved and who love you.
Extinguish the candle. But don’t blow it out!
Repeat this for 2 more nights. Bury or throw away the left over wax.


To encourage the return of Spring, tie a bunch of snowdrops with green ribbon and hang over the main entrance of your home as you repeat:
Candlemas Bells, snowdrops so white,
Cast away shadows, bring forth the light.
Purify yourself first. You can do this by meditating, or taking a ritual bath. One way is to, try to keep the water flowing, possibly by leaving the bath plug half in, or by having a shower. This reinforces the idea of washing away any impurities so you are not sitting in your own psychic rubbish. (Scent your bath water with your selection of a sacred or special herb or oil.) Ideally, your towel – if you choose to use one – should be clean and used only for the purpose of your ritual bath.
• • Wear something special if you can, something that you only wear during a ritual or working. You can always add a pretty scarf or a throw in the correct color for your working. This sets apart spell working from everyday confusion.
• • Decide on the extent of your circle, which should be formed in front of your altar. Purify this space by sprinkling the area with water followed by salt – both of these should have been blessed.
• • Sit quietly for as long as you can inside the area that will become your circle.
• • Imagine a circle of light surrounding you. This light could be white, blue or purple. If you are in a hurry and cannot purify and cleanse fully, reinforce the circle of light by visualizing it suffused with the appropriate color for your working.
• • Circle the light around, above and below you in a clockwise direction, like the representation of an atom. Feel it as a sphere or as a cone of power. Sense the power Remember to leave a ‘doorway’ through which your magic energy may exit. You should always feel warm and peaceful within your circle.
• • Use your own personal chant or form of words according to your own belief system to consecrate your circle and banish all evil and negative energy, forbidding anything harmful to enter your space. Remember, you are always safe within your circle if you command it to be so.
• • If appropriate, invite the Gods and Goddesses to attend your circle and magical working.
• • Relax and be happy.
If you wish, you can use objects on the ground to show the boundaries of the circle, such as candles, crystals, cord, stones, flowers or incense. The circle is formed from personal power. This may be felt and visualized as streaming from the body to form a bubble made of mist, or a circle of light. You can use the athame (ritual dagger) or your hands to direct this power.
The cardinal points of the compass may be denoted with lit candles, often white or purple. Alternatively, place a green candle at the North point of the circle, yellow candle at the East, red candle at the South and blue candle at the West. The altar stands in the centre of the circle, facing North in the direction of power.

one Moon because by this point, the tribe’s winter food supplies had usually dwindled to the point where people had to gnaw on bones and cook bone marrow soup in order to survive. For the same reason, the Kalapuya tribe called this moon the Out of Food Moon. Appropriately, it’s also known as the Hunger Moon and the Little Famine Moon. Perhaps due to this month’s association with death, the Cherokee tribe would commune with their dead ancestors during the Bone Moon. A didanawiskawi, or a medicine person, would host a medicine dance for the community. Fasting and rituals for the dead were also common practices.
However, not all cultures associate February’s full moon with extreme cold and death. The Hopi tribe calls it the Moon of Purification and Renewal, which is very fitting because the Full Snow Moon is usually the very first full moon of the year according to the lunar calendar. Cultures that follow the lunar calendar, especially East Asian cultures, tend to associate the Full Snow Moon with new beginnings for this very reason. The ancient Chinese, for example, called it the Budding Moon.
As a matter of fact, celebrations of February’s full moon are the climax of Lunar New Year festivities in various East Asian countries. In China, the Full Snow Moon is celebrated during the Lantern Festival, also known as the Yuanxiao Festival, which is the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. During this festival, the Chinese release kongming lanterns into the sky as they admire the full moon and eat tangyuan, glutinous rice balls that are usually filled with sweet paste. The round shape of the balls symbolize family togetherness and bring good luck to the whole family.
Many East Asian cultures in general also light lanterns and bonfires to celebrate February’s full moon. According to an ancient Chinese legend, not long after Buddhism was brought into China, 17 deities were witnessed flying through the sky during the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. Shocked and excited, the populace lit fires and lanterns to see the godly beings better. They continued to do so year after year, but for more practical reasons – to chase away pests and to pray for a good crop in the upcoming spring.
In Korea, where February’s full moon is known as Daeboreum, these fiery structures are called “Houses of the Burning Moon”. During Daeboreum, Koreans hike mountains despite the freezing temperatures in order to catch a glimpse of the first rise of the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. According to legend, the very first person to accomplish this feat will have their dearest wish come true.
Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
Vancouver
February 16, 2022
8:57am PST
Denver,
Salt Lake City,
Calgary
February 16, 2022
9:57am MST
Chicago,
Houston,
San Antonio
February 16, 2022
10:57am CST
New York,
Toronto,
Atlanta
February 16, 2022
11:57am EST
London,
Manchester,
Dublin
February 16, 2022
4:57pm GMT
Paris,
Rome,
Berlin
February 16, 2022
5:57pm CET
Athens,
Istanbul,
Helsinki
February 16, 2022
6:57pm EET
Dubai,
Abu Dhabi,
Muscat
February 16, 2022
8:57pm +04
Bangalore,
Mumbai,
New Delhi
February 16, 2022
10:27pm IST
Singapore,
Kuala Lumpur
February 17, 2022
12:57am +08
Perth,
Hong Kong,
Beijing
February 17, 2022
12:57am AWST
Sydney,
Brisbane,
Melbourne
February 17, 2022
3:57am AEDT



Until we merry meet again blessed be dear Sisters, Brothers, and Honored Guests
I cast a circle
flowing out from deep within
circling me in pale blue flame
power
I see it stretching before me
growing out to spread for miles and miles hours
and days
I see the joined hands of my grandmothers my
mother my daughter
my systers
I see it encompassing all which I love all that is
will be
I see faces new and dear
long forgotten
smiling
Making it grow making it stretch
forming a perfect ring of light
and hope and love
protection
Illuminating the room the night
the house the sky
my soul
I see the circle going on and on
girdling the earth
embracing her
I feel it stretching out from my heart and soul
Flowering from my blood my womb my breath
Spinning stretching dancing out on and on unbreakable
and unbroken eternal.
Seasonally Defective: Poetry for Goddesses and Mortal Women
Aly Sebastian
The threefold law of return: We hear much about this, but do we really comprehend the meaning? What you put out comes back times three (or more), means unequivocally that, good or bad, you reap what your actions have sown.
How do we define “putting something out”? A thought, a deed, a word are all actions that contain energy. Think about this: If you disburse money willingly, with the focus that you are contributing to the prosperity of the community, the prosperous energy returns to you. Not always in the exact way that you want; sometimes in the most unexpected ways!
If you choose to live in lack, feel like there is never an adequate amount of anything and attempt to hoard and hold onto everything, the flow stops. It’s akin to putting a dam on the energy flow. If you are broke, give a little away, whether it’s time or energy or money. Doing so will create a vacuum effect, which will then help to get the flow started back toward you instead of away from you.
Money is only paper with numbers on it, it is used to represent energy. You expend your energy for some of it and then give it away for something someone else put energy into. Just like everything else, it goes around in a never-ending cycle; there is an ebb and flow to it. Sometimes you have more, sometimes less, but there is always a coming and going of cash; that’s why it’s called cash flow!
This philosophy also works in other areas of life, love for instance. Do you suppose that you have only a limited amount of love? Is it to be rationed out as you go through life? Will you run out? I think not. The more affection you give, the more you generate, the more you experience, the more you give! Just like that. The cycle turns the wheel.
Try this in another area. Have you ever been frightened of having something happen and then had it happen just as you hoped it would not? Or have you ever said “I will never ______ (fill in the blank)” and found yourself doing just that shortly thereafter? Magickal components are a part of everyday life. You have an intent, put emotion (energy) into it, take action and bring it into being. You begin to create with nothing more than a word or thought. It works remarkably well for those things that you say never about, because you feel intensely about them and put a lot of energy into them. What do you think would have more power: “I wish I could win the lottery!” or “I will never have enough money!”?
Your subconscious mind does not recognize the word “not”; it’s a non-word. When you say “I do not want to do that,” it is a direct command to your brain; you are basically saying that you really do want to do whatever it is. If someone says to you, “I do not want to hurt you,” be careful!
If you sit around all the time, agonizing about your bills, your job, your health, your love life… what kind of energy are you putting out? How might that energy be contributing in a magickal sense to your circumstances? Would you do a spell to get a job you hate, or to get into a bad relationship? Of course not! So why sit around and put energy into negative crap when you could be furthering your positive wishes? The universe is a bountiful place; the Goddess is generous with her gifts. There is plenty for all. Does this ring true for you? If not, you might ask yourself, “Why not?” What beliefs that you hold to be true are sabotaging you?
“Try” is another one of my pet peeves. When a person says they will try to do something, it is just an excuse for not doing it, as in “I tried! I just couldn’t.” Think about what you say. Instead of saying “I will try,” see how much power there is in actually committing. Say “I will do it!” Also, how much power is there in saying no to those things you really don’t intend to do. Wow, what an enormous amount of energy you free up by just saying no in the first place! Then you don’t have to worry till the last minute whether you should actually do it, then have to make an excuse for not doing it – not to mention maybe having to do something you’d really rather not. You will find people will respect you more and value your energy more when you can be believed and counted upon to do what you say, as well as for your being in control of your boundaries.
Finally, be careful what you wish upon someone else, because just as positive thoughts come back to you, so do the negative ones aimed at others. Don’t wish on someone else something you would not like to have happen to you and yours. Be careful of those things said thoughtlessly or in jest. How might you feel if the nasty thought you thought when you were angry at your friend or mate were to happen?
Make your statements in the positive. Strive to be conscious of your every thought and word and the energy around them. Focus on the here and now and what’s happening. If you can accomplish this, the law of return will work in your favor and only good things will come to you.
Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it!

We may walk a path the other people do not consider “normal” but the word normal can mean different things to different people. I am so far out of the broom closet that I cannot even see the door anymore and to me this is my normal life to walk the path of the Great Mother and Great Father.
Blessed be dear Sisters, Brothers, and honored guests.



Your Altar
You may use anything that has a flat top.. I use an old trunk with a piece of plywood on it. Be creative.. As for a cover I use white because of its kind of a multipurpose color. Although some magic specifies a color then whatever color is specified should be used. Again, be creative… Keep in mind that candle magic is usually done in condensed areas so keep things as simplistic as you can, especially your candlesticks and censors.
Incense
There are some who believe that incense is unimportant in candle magic. I cannot imagine performing candle magic without the incense. The type that you use may be specified in a specific spell, if that is the case by all means use that. Generally, I use three kings incense as well as vervain. Vervain gives the spell working a little umph. But then again nothing is set in stone.. Be creative.
Incense symbolizes Air… as the smoke rises our thoughts are carried up into the universe.
It’s probably easiest to understand the moon cycle in this order: new moon and full moon, first quarter and third quarter, and the phases in between.
As shown in the above diagram, the new moon occurs when the moon is positioned between the earth and sun. The three objects are in approximate alignment (why “approximate” is explained below). The entire illuminated portion of the moon is on the back side of the moon, the half that we cannot see.
At a full moon, the earth, moon, and sun are in approximate alignment, just as the new moon, but the moon is on the opposite side of the earth, so the entire sunlit part of the moon is facing us. The shadowed portion is entirely hidden from view.
The first quarter and third quarter moons (both often called a “half moon”), happen when the moon is at a 90 degree angle with respect to the earth and sun. So we are seeing exactly half of the moon illuminated and half in shadow.
Once you understand those four key moon phases, the phases between should be fairly easy to visualize, as the illuminated portion gradually transitions between them.
An easy way to remember and understand those “between” lunar phase names is by breaking out and defining 4 words: crescent, gibbous, waxing, and waning. The word crescent refers to the phases where the moon is less than half illuminated. The word gibbous refers to phases where the moon is more than half illuminated. Waxing essentially means “growing” or expanding in illumination, and waning means “shrinking” or decreasing in illumination.
Thus you can simply combine the two words to create the phase name, as follows:
After the new moon, the sunlit portion is increasing, but less than half, so it is waxing crescent. After the first quarter, the sunlit portion is still increasing, but now it is more than half, so it is waxing gibbous. After the full moon (maximum illumination), the light continually decreases. So the waning gibbous phase occurs next. Following the third quarter is the waning crescent, which wanes until the light is completely gone — a new moon.
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