Tag: Shopping

An Exercise Instead of Meditation

An Exercise Instead of Meditation

  • Deepak Chopra

The past is layered in to us in many intricate layers. Your inner world is full of complex relationship, for it contains the past not only as it occurred but all the ways in which you would like to revise it.

All the things that should have turned out differently do turn out differently in that place where you escape into fantasy, revenge, yearning, sorrow, self-reproach, and guilt. To get rid of these distractions, you need to realize that there is a deeper place where everything is alright.

In Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse writes, “Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” This sanctuary is a simple awareness of comfort, which can’t be violated by the turmoil of events. This place feels no trauma and stores no hurt. It is the mental space that one seeks to find in meditation, which I believe is one of the most important pursuits anyone can follow.

However, if you do not meditate, you can approach this place of calm with the following exercise: Write down this affirmation:

I am perfect as I am. Everything in my life is working toward my ultimate good. I am loved and I am love.

Do not pause to analyze the statement, just write it down. When you come to the end, shut your eyes and let any response surface that comes to mind, then write down the first words that come to you (write this response directly under the affirmation).

Your first thought is likely to contain a lot of resistance, even anger, because no one’s life is perfect and it is hard to believe that everything is working out as it should.

Now, without pausing, write the affirmation again, shut your eyes, and once more write down the first words that come to mind. Do not stop to analyze or dwell on your reaction. Continue the exercise until you have repeated the affirmation and your response twelve times. This exercise allows you to eavesdrop on the innermost levels of your awareness.

Adapted from Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1998).

Yule Meditation

Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year. The altar is decorated with mistletoe, holly, and evergreens, such as pine, bay, rosemary, juniper, or cedar. With the solstice, the dead of winter is passing, and you can light a red, orange, or yellow candle as you wait for the coming of light. A Yule log is burned to symbolize the return of the Sun, whose coming marks the beginning of outward expression, within nature and ourselves. The best time of day to burn a Yule log, traditionally oak or pine, is at dusk.

Light your Yule log, sit before it, and try this fire meditation: Through your stomach/solar plexus, direct your consciousness into the flames. Take a deep breath and let the fire reach the extremities of your body, mind, and soul. As you breathe in, you expand the fire. As you breathe out, soot and ashes dissolve and recede back to the Mother to be recycled.

Take another breath and feel the fire increasing – strengthening, and cleansing your whole being. Listen for any messages. Direct any of the excess heat to go down your arms and legs and out through your hands and feet. See yourself as illuminating light. You may want to chant this Pagan incantation:

May the log burn,
May the Wheel turn,
May evil spurn,
May the sun return.

Your strength and power are ever growing. The fire before you is a reflection of warmth, love, and comfort. It is the true representation of the wealth, abundance, and goodness within you. Everything that you thought during this meditation can and will come to you because you have prepared the fire of action, determination, and success.

Moonspinner

A Warm Yule and Winter

A Warm Yule and Winter

by Barbara Hedgewitch

As we approach the shortest days of the year, our house is a snug haven from the cold rain and winds of autumn. The horses’ coats are thick and full in preparation for the cold days ahead. We watch the steady retreat of the Sun. Each day, it sets just a bit earlier and farther south over the distant hill.

We spend time preparing gifts for our loved ones: homemade soap in a variety of scents and colors brightly wrapped in baskets; felt “melted” snowmen from a pattern at the craft store. We bake and decorate holiday cookies and get messy making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and lots of frosting. I gather fir boughs and wire them to a frame, then attach a bright plaid bow. Soon a sweetly scented wreath hangs cheerily on the front door.

My husband makes his annual trek up our tall ladder, standing precariously as he strings holiday lights all along the roofline. One year, he fell off the roof as he strung lights. Fortunately for him, a potted rosebush broke his fall. It wasn’t quite so fortunate for the rosebush or its pot. This year, I remember to send a little extra protective energy his way as he heads up with hands full of lights.

He takes the children down to the bottom of our property where the former owners planted a grove of evergreen trees. They choose a fine Douglas fir for our Yule tree and triumphantly drag it up the hill to the house. As they huff and puff from the strain, the curious horses follow them.

Inside the house, I’ve prepared a place for this lovely tree, and we spend the evening stringing lights and placing ornaments on it. The scent fills the house. We discuss every ornament, for they all have meaning and memories. Some are from my childhood, and some belonged to my grandparents. Each year, the children are given one new ornament each for their own collections. We have many stars on our tree!

Finally, the Sun halts its southward journey. It seems to stand still for a day or two. On the longest night, our family holds vigil and awaits the rebirth of the Sun. The Holly King arrives and leaves gifts under the tree and in our stockings. My husband and son reenact the Oak King/Holly King duel, with the Oak King triumphing at this turn of the Wheel. We bid good-bye to the ancient Holly King, ruler of the darkening days, and celebrate the birth of the Oak King who rules the brightening days.

A few days later, we’re able to mark the slight northward passage of the setting sun behind the hill. The growing days give us hope as we enter into the coldest and stormiest time of the year. We eagerly await Imbolc and our local BrighidFest, which marks the beginning of the end of winter.

I take my spinning wheel to the BrighidFest and demonstrate how to spin wool. I have a steady stream of people, men and women, eager to try their hand at spinning. Most of them get the knack of it enough to take home a length of lumpy yarn that they spun themselves. Truly a bit of real magick!

Imbolc is traditionally the time of year to make candles. This is something I’ve never done. I think it’s time for the children and I to try our hand at this new skill. I ponder the endless possibilities: the colors, the shapes and the scents. We have a huge collection of old crayons that can be used for color, and some glitter, and I can “frost” the candles by whipping some warmish paraffin with the hand mixer. Oh my, what fun we’re going to have!

I hope you have a warm and cozy winter, filled with much love and learning.

Candle Chant

Book & Candle Comments 

Upon this candle I will write
What I recieve of thee this night
Grant what I wish you to do
I dedicate this rite to you
I trust that you will grant this boon
Oh lovely goddess of the moon
I call to earth to bond my spell
Air speed its travel well
Fire give it spirit from above
Water quench my spell with love  

~Magickal Graphics~

Dressing The Candle

Dressing The Candle

Chose type and colour of candle appropriate for the ritual at hand.

Cleanse the candle prior energies: you may use water, salt, pure soap, or baby oil (all previously blessed and consecrated).

Bless the anointing oil to be used, appropriate to ritual.

State and engrave (if you wish) what the candle is to represent.

Anoint the candle with oil and focus on desire (purpose of ritual).

For ritual of achievement: anoint oil from the top of the candle to the middle in a downward motion, then from the bottom of the candle to the middle in an upward motion.

For ritual of banishment: anoint oil from the middle of the candle to the top in an upwards motion and then from the middle to the bottom of the candle in a downwards motion.

Bless the candle and then meditate on the desired outcome.

Some do not use matches to light candles, the sulphur is considered unclean. If you feel this, use an incense starter or stick to light your candles. Others feel that lighters are not natural enough – choose the method that you feel comfortable with.

To extinguish a candle, snuff it out, do not blow it out. Blowing a candle out blows desires away and is considered by some to be an affront to the element of fire.

Candle Magick

Candle Magick

 

One of the simplest of magical arts which comes under the heading of natural magic is candle burning. It is simple because it employs little ritual and few ceremonial artifacts. The theatrical props of candle magic can be purchased at any department store and its rituals can be practiced in any sitting room or bedroom.

Most of us have performed our first act of candle magic by the time we are two years old. Blowing out the tiny candles on our first birthday cake and making a wish is pure magic. This childhood custom is based on the three magical principals of concentration, will power and visualization. In simple terms, the child who wants his wish to come true has to concentrate (blow out the candles), visualize the end result (make a wish) and hope that it will come true( will power).

The size and shape of the candles you use is unimportant, although highly decorative, extra large, or unusually shaped candles will not be suitable as these may create distractions when the magician wants to concentrate on the important work in hand. Most magicians prefer to use candles of standard or uniform size if possible. Those which are sold in different colors for domestic use are ideal.

The candles you use for any type of magical use should be virgin, that is unused. Under no circumstances use a candle which has already adorned a dinner table or been used as a bedroom candle or night-light. There is a very good occult reason for not using anything but virgin materials in magic. Vibrations picked up by secondhand materials or equipment may disturb your workings and negate their effectiveness.

Some magicians who are artistically inclined prefer to make their own candles for ritual and magical use. This is a very practical exercise because not only does it impregnate the candle with your own personal vibrations, but the mere act of making your own candle is magically potent. Specialist shops sell candle wax and molds together with wicks, perfumes, and other equipment.

The hot wax is heated until liquid and then poured into the mold through which a suitably sized wick has already been threaded. The wax is then left to cool and once is this has occurred the mold is removed , leaving a perfectly formed candle. Special oil-soluble dyes and perfumes can be added to the wax before the cooling process is complete to provide suitable colors and scents for a particular magical ritual. Craft shops which sell candle-making supplies can also provide do-it-yourself books explaining the technicalities of the art to the beginner.

Once you have purchased or made your ritual candle it has to be oiled or ‘dressed’ before burning. The purpose of dressing the candle is to establish a psychic link between it and the magician through a primal sensory experience. By physically touching the candle during the dressing procedure, you are charging it with our own personal vibrations and also concentrating the desire of your magical act into the wax. The candle is becoming an extension of the magician’s mental power and life energy.

When you dress a candle for magical use, imagine that it is a psychic magnet with a North and a South pole. Rub the oil into the candle beginning at the top or North end and work downwards to the half-way point. Always brush in the same direction downwards. This process is then repeated by beginning at the bottom or south end and working up to the middle.

The best type of oils to use for dressing candles are natural ones which can be obtained quite easily. Some occult suppliers will provide candle magic oils with exotic names. If the magician does not want to use these, he can select suitable oils or perfumes from his own sources. The oils soluble perfumes sold by craft shops for inclusion in candles can be recommended.

The candles you use can be colored in accordance with the following magical uses:

White – spirituality and peace.
Red – health, energy, strength, courage, sexual potency.
Pink – love affection and romance.
Yellow – intellectualism, imagination, memory and creativity
Green – fertility, abundance, good luck and harmony
Blue -inspiration, occult wisdom, protection and devotion
Purple – Material wealth, higher psychic ability, spiritual power and idealism
Silver – clairvoyance, inspiration, astral energy and intuition
Orange – ambition. career matters and the law.

If you wanted to use candle magic for healing, you would select a red candle to burn. To pass an exam, burn a yellow candle, to gain esoteric knowledge burn a blue candle or for material gain, burn a purple one. It is obvious these colors relate to the signs of the zodiac and the planetary forces.

The simples form of candle magic is to write doesn’t the objective of your ritual on a virgin piece of paper. You can use color paper which matches the candle. Write your petition on the paper using a magical alphabet, such as theban, enochian, malachain, etc. As you write down what you want to accomplish through candle magic- a new job, healing for a friend, a change of residence, a new love affair, etc.- visualize your dream coming true. Visualize the circumstances under which you might be offered a new job, imagine your employer telling you that your salary has been increased or conjure up a vision of your perfect love partner.

When you have completed writing down your petition, carefully fold up the paper in a deliberately slow fashion. Place the end of the folded paper in the candle flame and set light to it. As you do this concentrate once more on what you want from life.

When you have completed your ritual, allow the candle to have completely burned away. You do not need to stay with the candle after the ritual, but make sure that is safe and that red-hot wax will not cause damage or fire. Never re-use a candle which has been lit in any magical ritual. IT should only be used in that ritual and then allowed to burn away or be disposed of afterwards.

If you are conducting a magical ritual which involves two people (e.g. an absent healing for a person some distance away) then the second person can be symbolically represented during the ritual by another candle. /all you need to do is find out the subject’s birth date and burn the appropriate candle for that zodiacal sign. These are as follows:

ARIES red
TAURUS green
GEMINI yellow
CANCER silver
LEO orange
VIRGO yellow
LIBRA pink
SCORPIO red
SAGITARIUS purple
CAPRICORN black
AQUARIUS all colors
PISCES mauve

 

Pagan Magic

History of Candles

History of Candles

Candles have been used as sources of light for thousands of years. The ways in which these candles have been made has differed greatly over time. There has also been a wide variety of different ways in which candles have been fuelled and also a wide variety of different uses for candles. The humble candle has become a multi use item with thousands of benefits that go well beyond the initial use – to produce light.

The candle’s other primary function has been to provide heat and many versions of candles have been developed to maximise the heat output. Candles have been around for a long time and in this time they have been used in religious ceremonies and also for timekeeping as well as for decoration, for air freshening and also for adorning a birthday cake.

The products used to create candles are different all over the world and throughout time candles have been made out of different substances. Candles that were made in the early parts of the 19th century were made from beef fat rendering known as tallow. The modern candles are more commonly made from wax. There are many different types of wax including gel, soy and beeswax but the most predominant type of wax is paraffin.

Candles are typically made with a wick that is lit. This wick is covered in wax which melts and vaporises. This vaporised wax provides fuel to the fire and keeps the flame burning. This encourages the candle to burn slowly and last for a long time. The process is also beneficial as it is self sustaining and does not require the person to monitor the candle or relight it.

As the flame warms the wax into vapour it works slowly down the candle and slowly uses up the wax. This is an efficient method that makes candles last longer. The science behind the burning of a candle helps us understand the processes that go on when a candle burns. In the area of the candle that burns blue a reaction is taking place in which the hydrogen is being separated from the wax and is burning. This process results in water vapour. The yellowy section of the flame occurs as a result of the oxidisation process that sees carbon dioxide being created from the carbon.

The position of the wick as these processes take place is very important to the time in which the wax is fuelled. One way to slow the rate at which the wax is used up is to reduce the length of the wick. The shorter the length of the wick that is exposed the longer the candle will last. Many people often decide to cut their candle wicks short manually with scissors to lengthen the life span of their candles. There are even special instruments called wick trimmers that are designed to make this task easier.

There is evidence of candles that were in use in Roman times. At this period of time many candles were made from the animal fat residues and the long pith found in a rush. Beeswax was used as a fuel by the Egyptians and many of their candles date back over 3000 years. By the 18th century was much more common for the fuel to be extracted from the oil taken from sperm whales.

Pagan Magic

Purification Ritual for New Magical Tools

Purification Ritual for New Magical Tools
by Jame Kambos

Whenever you buy a new tool for magical workings it is important that the tool is purified. This is a simple purification ritual that I use to cleanse my new magical tools:

Ingredients:
caldron or any heat-proof dish
dandelion leaf
wormwood
sage

Ignite the herbs and let them smolder awhile. As the smoke curls about you pass your tool through the smoke and say:

“Smoke rise,
Let me be wise.
This (name of tool) is cleansed.
I will use it only for good.”

The item is now ready to use!

Prosperity and Success Spell

Prosperity and Success Spell
Original Author D.J. Conway

Ingredients:
1 small cauldron
1 small green or brown charm bag
3 silver coins
Cinnamom
Cedar oil
A small table to use as an altar

Spell:
Place a little dish or cup inside the cauldron with a small amount of cinnamon and cedar in it. Lay the three coins next to it on your altar. Tap each coin with the forefinger of the hand you write with (your power hand) and chant:

“Glistening silver coin of the Moon,
Shiny and round, bring me a boon.
Draw to my hands many more of your kind.
Multiply, grow, like the image in my mind.

Place the coins in the cauldron with the herbs and three drops of oil. Using your power hand, stir the air clockwise seven times over the cauldron and chant:

“Earth elements, cunning and bright,
Share you treasures here on this night.
Share with me riches of silver and gold,
Success, prosperity, all I can hold.”

Place the herbs and the coins in the talisman bag. Carry this with you until the Full Moon goes through her phases and returns to Full.

Home or Business Protection Spell

Home or Business Protection Spell

To bless your home or business, place a bowl of candy, herbs or stones by your front entrance. Bless then bowl’s contents by speaking aloud the following verse:

“As all who enter here are Children of the Great Mother,
May those who pass always walk safely in her steps.
May they feel the guidance of her hand,
And know she is always with us,
From the time we meet till we meet again.”

Invite visitors to take an offering as they enter the premises.

Witches Lucky Candle Spell

Witches Lucky Candle Spell  
Take an Orange Candle anointed with Cinnamon oil, Clove, or Lotus oil.
Light the candle and say 3 times:

“Brimstone, Moon, And Witch’s Fire,
Candlelights Bright Spell,
Good Luck Shall I Now Acquire,
Work Thy Magic Well.
Midnight Twelve, The Witching Hour,
Bring The Luck I Seek.
By Wax And Wick Now Work Thy Power
As These Words I Speak.
Harming None, This Spell Is Done.
By Law Of Three, So Mote It Be!”

Do this spell at midnight.
Candle Magic  
One of the simplest of magical arts which comes under the heading of natural magic is candle burning. It is simple because it employs little ritual and few ceremonial artifacts. The theatrical props of candle magic can be purchased at any department store and its rituals can be practiced in any sitting room or bedroom.

Most of us have performed our first act of candle magic by the time we are two years old. Blowing out the tiny candles on our first birthday cake and making a wish is pure magic. This childhood custom is based on the three magical principals of concentration, will power and visualization. In simple terms, the child who wants his wish to come true has to concentrate (blow out the candles), visualize the end result (make a wish) and hope that it will come true( will power).

The size and shape of the candles you use is unimportant, although highly decorative, extra large, or unusually shaped candles will not be suitable as these may create distractions when the magician wants to concentrate on the important work in hand. Most magicians prefer to use candles of standard or uniform size if possible. Those which are sold in different colors for domestic use are ideal.

The candles you use for any type of magical use should be virgin, that is unused. Under no circumstances use a candle which has already adorned a dinner table or been used as a bedroom candle or night-light. There is a very good occult reason for not using anything but virgin materials in magic. Vibrations picked up by secondhand materials or equipment may disturb your workings and negate their effectiveness.

Some magicians who are artistically inclined prefer to make their own candles for ritual and magical use. This is a very practical exercise because not only does it impregnate the candle with your own personal vibrations, but the mere act of making your own candle is magically potent. Specialist shops sell candle wax and molds together with wicks, perfumes, and other equipment.

The hot wax is heated until liquid and then poured into the mold through which a suitably sized wick has already been threaded. The wax is then left to cool and once is this has occurred the mold is removed , leaving a perfectly formed candle. Special oil-soluble dyes and perfumes can be added to the wax before the cooling process is complete to provide suitable colors and scents for a particular magical ritual. Craft shops which sell candle-making supplies can also provide do-it-yourself books explaining the technicalities of the art to the beginner.

Once you have purchased or made your ritual candle it has to be oiled or ‘dressed’ before burning. The purpose of dressing the candle is to establish a psychic link between it and the magician through a primal sensory experience. By physically touching the candle during the dressing procedure, you are charging it with our own personal vibrations and also concentrating the desire of your magical act into the wax. The candle is becoming an extension of the magician’s mental power and life energy.

When you dress a candle for magical use, imagine that it is a psychic magnet with a North and a South pole. Rub the oil into the candle beginning at the top or North end and work downwards to the half-way point. Always brush in the same direction downwards. This process is then repeated by beginning at the bottom or south end and working up to the middle.

The best type of oils to use for dressing candles are natural ones which can be obtained quite easily. Some occult suppliers will provide candle magic oils with exotic names. If the magician does not want to use these, he can select suitable oils or perfumes from his own sources. The oils soluble perfumes sold by craft shops for inclusion in candles can be recommended.

The candles you use can be colored in accordance with the following magical uses:

White – spirituality and peace.
Red – health, energy, strength, courage, sexual potency.
Pink – love affection and romance.
Yellow – intellectualism, imagination, memory and creativity
Green – fertility, abundance, good luck and harmony
Blue -inspiration, occult wisdom, protection and devotion
Purple – Material wealth, higher psychic ability, spiritual power and idealism
Silver – clairvoyance, inspiration, astral energy and intuition
Orange – ambition. career matters and the law.

If you wanted to use candle magic for healing, you would select a red candle to burn. To pass an exam, burn a yellow candle, to gain esoteric knowledge burn a blue candle or for material gain, burn a purple one. It is obvious these colors relate to the signs of the zodiac and the planetary forces.

The simples form of candle magic is to write doesn’t the objective of your ritual on a virgin piece of paper. You can use color paper which matches the candle. Write your petition on the paper using a magical alphabet, such as theban, enochian, malachain, etc. As you write down what you want to accomplish through candle magic- a new job, healing for a friend, a change of residence, a new love affair, etc.- visualize your dream coming true. Visualize the circumstances under which you might be offered a new job, imagine your employer telling you that your salary has been increased or conjure up a vision of your perfect love partner.

When you have completed writing down your petition, carefully fold up the paper in a deliberately slow fashion. Place the end of the folded paper in the candle flame and set light to it. As you do this concentrate once more on what you want from life.

When you have completed your ritual, allow the candle to have completely burned away. You do not need to stay with the candle after the ritual, but make sure that is safe and that red-hot wax will not cause damage or fire. Never re-use a candle which has been lit in any magical ritual. IT should only be used in that ritual and then allowed to burn away or be disposed of afterwards.

If you are conducting a magical ritual which involves two people (e.g. an absent healing for a person some distance away) then the second person can be symbolically represented during the ritual by another candle. /all you need to do is find out the subject’s birth date and burn the appropriate candle for that zodiacal sign. These are as follows:

ARIES red
TAURUS green
GEMINI yellow
CANCER silver
LEO orange
VIRGO yellow
LIBRA pink
SCORPIO red
SAGITARIUS purple
CAPRICORN black
AQUARIUS all colors
PISCES mauve

 

Pagan Magick

STAY AWAY SPELL

STAY AWAY SPELL

In a small pot, crush items that the person you are wishing away hates (say, if they hate
china berries, then crush those!) While you crush, visualize that person staying away from
a certain place. When everything is crushed, then add the four representations of the elements.
these are: 1 pinch of salt (earth,) 1 sprinkle of water (water),
something flaming, (fire) (dip in, then pull out three times),
and incense (air) (do the same as the fire)
Crush again. Before putting in elements, ask the lord and lady to bless them for you,
so that they may work their purpose faster, longer, and stronger.
Visualize the person staying away, while you chant :
“Berries of the trees, make true the wish to me.
Keep (name of person) away from here,
so that I may rejoice and cheer”
Then, smear a bit of the mixture over whatever you want the person to stay away from.

Ritual to Cause Pain to One Who Has Made You Suffer

Ritual to Cause Pain to One Who Has Made You Suffer

This ritual is designed to get revenge on someone who has caused you emotional pain,
for example if the person you love abandons you and it transpires that they were merely using
you, then this would be perfect. The amount of suffering this causes the victim is largely
proportional to the amount of pain and hurt they gave you. It involves re-living all the sadness
that your victim has caused you and magickally returning it to them.
The usual riders apply to this ritual. Don’t try it on anyone who you still love in any way,
otherwise you might end up with a load of guilt and backlash on top of everything else.
Performing the ritual is also quite a traumatic experience for yourself.
Now, on to the ritual.
Gather a few small object links to your victim. A photograph, something they written, a copy
of their signature or personal sigil, etc. You then have to visualize and re-live the pain your
victim has caused you. The sadness you felt at being abandoned. The sense of betrayal.
Everything. Feel it welling up inside you, then project it at the links.
You can then culminate the ritual in a way you that you think would send it to you’re victim.
Some people would destroy the charged links, some people would just visualize the negative
energy extending to the victim via the links and keep them somewhere where they are unlikely
to run across them, while others would plant them in the victim’s home. I favor planting the
charged links at the back the victim’s drawers of personal or magickal items, myself.

Spell to Punish a Person

Spell to Punish a Person

 

To punish a person. You’ll need:

black candle
9 nails
white plate
oil

Carve the persons name in the candle…put the candle on the white plate then at different locations push the nails in…. put the oil around the plate. That should stay for about 1 moon phase…..when done… remove the nails, and using a warm knife or metal spatula, smooth the pierced/carved areas, so the candle looks unblemished….wrap it in vervain and sweet basil….and then dump in a garbage can…that will take care of both.

The Vexation Box Spell

The Vexation Box Spell

This spell is for dealing with someone who is more of an annoyance than a threat, someone who really gets on your nerves or stresses you out by intruding in your life or violating your space. It is for someone you have already asked to stop but who persists in bothering you. It is not a spell to use on someone whose actions you object to within their own life or space. You need:

  • a box

  • herbs for protection

  • two heads of garlic (or more, if you are using a big box or dealing with a group of people)

  • a photograph of the person, or their name written on a piece of paper

Put everything in the box. Cover the box and give it a good hard shake, mentally yelling at the person to modify the behavior that annoys you. Put the box away, in a drawer or up on a shelf. Take it out and give it a hard shake, yelling at them, every time they annoy you. After the first week or so you should seldom need to shake the box. Throw the box away in a few months, when the garlic begins to spoil.

Ritual for Healing a Relationship

Ritual for Healing a Relationship

Adapted from The Essence of Incense, by Diana Rosen (Storey Books, 2001).Life is as fleeting as a rainbow. A flash of lightning, a star at dawn. Knowing this, how can you quarrel?
–Buddha

Healing a rift with someone close to you often requires an initial period of reflection on what has disturbed the relationship and what will bring about reconciliation. How can we open our hearts? What will ease our minds and soothe our bodies?

Here is a simple but powerful two-part ritual to help you begin the process of healing your relationship, and begin anew.

Lighting incense, particularly one with a fragrance connected with comfort, such as sandalwood, can help create a soothing atmosphere for such reflection. Choose a quiet place, perhaps where the disagreement took place. Or you might sit in front of your home altar with symbols before you of the relationship that needs healing. These symbols can be letters, photos, pages from your journal, anything that speaks of the person or persons involved.

Light the incense. Breathe in its therapeutic scent. Lift up your shoulders and roll them three times forward and three times backward until they are fully relaxed. Allow the incense to burn out completely.

Sometimes we don’t know why or how division has pushed us away from the people or places we care about. Separation sometimes just happens. Other times we remember harsh words, misunderstandings, and exclusions from the fold. It all hurts, but the pain does not have to last forever.

A phone call, a letter, even an email, can be the beginning of erasing the line of separation. As long as the goal is pure, coming together again can happen.

Choose an incense fragrance that is completely new to you. Try one that is pleasant and light to reflect your cleansing, perhaps a citrus scent, which is associated with fresh energy. You might enjoy one of the delightful fragrance sticks imbued with a fruity aroma, such as mango, strawberry, melon, berry, or pear. By opening yourself up to something as simple as a different fragrance, you begin the path to other changes. In your own way, ask for the strength and clarity to bring about change in your life and your relationships.