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Signs of the Zodiac and Individual Human Twelve Part Sense System.

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The Herbal Burnings from the Guild Book of Old Tradition Crafte

Allspice - will cause discord for enemies Althea - to attract protective spirits Arrowroot - to make someone lusty towards you Balmony - to turn an enemy's spell against them Basil - to attract success Bay Leaves - protection from harm and slander Bayberry - for money and luck Betony - for proteciton from evvil Blackberry - to cause problems and turmoil for enemies Blood Root - for protection against evil forces Blueberry - to cause your enemies to become confused Burdock - to purify Catnip - for strength and ingenium Chestnut - for strength of mind and endurance Chickweed - to bring back a lover Chicory - to detect imposters or enemies Clover - protection from spirits Cloves - comfort and contentment Colic root - make enemies move away Coltsfoot - wealth Comfrey - for needed money Coriander - keeps lovers from straying Corn Flowers - for a new lover Aloes - to attract love Cowslip - protects privacy Culvers root - turn an enemy against themselves Daisy - to mae lovers faithful Dandelion - to bring peace and contentment into the home Deers Eye - makes one attractive for new mates and lovers Devil's Bit - turns away evil forces Dog Rose - for safety in travel Dogwood - for restful sleep and shielding of spells Fern - to be treated with regard Flaxseed - to settle arguments and strife between a couple Ginger root - for attracting adventure and excitement Golden Bough - to find love Golden Seal - to help a business grow and profit Gum Arabic - for good luck Hawthorn - to defeat an enemy Hellebore - to attain the sight Hemlock - to cause illness Horehoud - for a healing Huckleberry - to make depression cease Hyssop - to gain understanding of the mysteries, burn during readings Ivy - to defeat a craft worked against you Juniper - for lust, that is to attact or promote Lavender - to bring a lover to you Lobelia - for peace and contentment Maiden hair - to find love and understand the beauty therein Marshmallow - to protect children May Apple - to never be without money for the period of one month Mint - happiness Mistletoe - to attract love and keep evil away Mugwort - To increase magical strength Myrtle - to attract money for the family Nettle - to remove confusion Nutmeg - to have luck with a difficult situation Orris Root - to attract a lusty love Parsley - to cause discord for an enemy Peony - for good luck in an undertaking Peppermint - to make a home happy Pine - to convince others to agree with you Poppy - to overcome grief Primrose - to make a child truthful Pumpkin Seeds - to be free from an enemy's influence Pussy WIllow - to keep your mae faihful Red Clover - against Malocchio Rose buds - for a woman to attract a man Rosehips - to attract good and sincere people to you Rosemary - to make friends and keep them Sage - to put a spell on an enemy Skunk cabbage - to send a spell back onto an enemy Squaw root - to cure frigidity Sumac - to keep an enemy bound Thistle - to be aware of omens to decide one's path Thorns - to thwart an enemy Thyme - to cause depression in an enemy Verbena - to make a woman passionate towards you Witch Hazel - to dispel headaches Wood Rose - good fortune

The following herbs are added to make spells more powerful with burnings

Cinnamon - adds strength and power Gum mastic - to make your spells very strong and powerful Moss - for good fortune and success towards your success Mace - to make quicker results Seed of Celery - for power in spells and charms

however, this glorious book makes mention of the fact to not become dependent on these herbs but to build your own power. Like my ma said - It's not what you do, it's how you do it. So if you burn parsley and curse your enemy to the winds and it works, it works.

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'The Virtues of Trees'

"Alder

The Alder may be employed to provide protective and oracular virtues

Ash

The Ash is a potent and famed aid to all workings of healing and may be employed for acts of protection, curse lifting, love and divination.

Aspen

The Aspen is protective and healing in virtue. To cure fevers and ague a rite employing the aid of the Aspen may be performed thus: The Patient is to cut from their head a lock of hair which is to then be bound and nailed to the tree with these words;

"Aspen tree, Aspen tree, I pray to thee To shake and shiver instead of me."

Bay

The Bay is to be planted by thresholds to impart a protective influence upon the home, in addition to its leaves being bunched to hang inside the home as a charm for the same and for the blessings of good health.

The Bay is also of oracular virtue and is burned upon the hearth fire so that the behaviour of the leaves may be read. Placed beneath the pillow upon retiring for the night, it will induce good and prophetic dreams.

Birch

The protective virtues of the Birch may be harnessed by the presence of bunches of the tree's twigs which are kept to drive away evil spirits.

Blackthorn

The dark Blackthorn is of highly potent defensive virtues and an unrivalled aid to the work of blasting or 'Owl Blinking.' The West Country Wise folk will also harness the Blackthorn's virtues and potency for blessing, fertility and power.

Elder

The Elder is in Cornwall known as 'Lady Elder'. The Elder's influence may be employed to provide a protection for horses by the hanging of her branches within stables and above their doors. Protections may likewise be imparted upon the home by the fixing of bunches of Elder leaves to the doors and the windows. Thus is formed a Cornish charm against ill-wishing and the influence of the black witch.

A tree also of the Faery Folk, the Elder must not be burnt, for such a taboo act is sure to invite ill-influence from the spirit world. The ripe berries of the Elder are good for phlegm and for the sinuses.

Hawthorn

Another tree of the Faery Folk; the Hawthorn must not be burnt. The West Country practitioner will perform acts of magic beneath the overarching wind-distorted Hawthorn that call upon the aid of the Faery Folk; especially for matters of protection. After such acts, offerings of food and drink must be made.

The Hawthorn is heavily associated with the coming of summer, the arrival of its 'May' blossoms being watched for as the traditional sign. In Cornwall, folk would visit a Hawthorn tree for celebratory May Day rites in which the tree is bedecked with candles and danced around joyously. The Hawthorn, however, does not make a good walking stick, for West Country lore holds that it will invite ill-fortune upon journeys.

Hazel

The Hazel may be employed within rites and workings for wisdom, divination, and dowsing. It is employed also within traditional curative rites against the bites of the adder and other 'stinging' creatures .

Holly

The formidable Holly is understandably protective in virtue. It is hung from the door-handles as a Cornish charm for the protection of the home. The Holly is particularly protective against lightening; the influence being enjoyed by places both where it is installed in the form of a charm, and where the living Holly grows.

Ivy

The strong Ivy is of highly useful restrictive, binding and protective virtue. The climbing Ivy, grown up the walls of the cottage, creates a verdant shell of protection around the home.

Rowan

The Rowan, or 'Care', is of quickening virtue for all tasks and potently protective. To form a Cornish charm of personal protection, the red berries of the Rowan may be threaded and worn as a necklace. To impart protections upon the home, the Rowan may be planted near doorways, and in some Cornish cottages, the crossbeam of the fire is made of rowan wood in order to prevent evil entering the home via the chimney. To impart a potent protection on the home for the year; branches of the Rowan are to be hung over doorways on May morning. A farm near Castle Cary in Somerset, still by the early 1960s, held such faith in the protective virtues of the Rowan that bunches of the tree's twigs were collected and tied with red thread above the doors of the farmhouse, the cow shed, chicken coop and the pig sty. These charms were installed on May's Eve and on Hallows' Eve—two of the three 'spirit nights' of the year—"to keep the faeries and black witches at bay".

—

The Black Toad:

West Country Witchcraft and Magic

Part 3 - 'Old mother Green Cap: Plant Charms and Curse'

by Gemma Gary

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In defense of astrological timing

Though nobody needs it (well, depending), astrological timing is often thrown to the wayside. Poor celestial bodies, their movements so defamed as being aggrandized and unnecessary. Which is a shame; planetary magic is some of the easiest and most powerful work I know.

In this post, astrological timing includes:

Day of week

Solstices and equinoxes (including daily twilights, midnight, and noon)

Planetary hour of day

Holy days

Moon phases

Movement of constellations

But we gotta set up this concept first: Astrological timing can be conceptualized as gates opening, so that waters of power pour upon your location. These "waters" carry their own virtues, and they are so omnipresent that they automatically influence any working of magic.

Not only this, but when the gates open, the waters become like roads upon which spirits can travel. A great deal of magic, especially in Traditional Witchcraft, surrounds the idea that we must either travel to the spirits, or "open roads" so that they may travel to us. Celestial timing is an efficient way to achieve this.

When the celestial bodies move and those gates swing shut, it can become more difficult to access those powers and the spirits who correspond to those powers.

This generally means that no matter when you are, there will be an abundance and flow of certain powers and spirits, and an absence of others.

You don't have to wait for anything, all timings can support all things.

This is kind of why I hate correspondence lists... "waning moon is for banishing!" Well, if you have a problem, you can't necessarily wait 14 days for the moon phase to cycle through. Nor should you!

Let's say our moon is waxing: gentle increase, new beginnings, growth. For the banishing problem, you can:

Increase the distance between you and the person

Create a new beginning for them somewhere else (so they leave)

Grow people's awareness that this person is problematic so you have support

A fun spellcrafting game is practicing applying a single correspondence to any situation (as a Discord game: everyone choose your own intent. One person chooses a correspondence. Everyone brainstorms to figure out how the correspondence can support every intent).

This post is about celestial timings, so let's take a look at the Big Seven celestial bodies, for the intent of... *spins wheel* get a big boost to finish writing your novel before the deadline.

Moon (Monday; illusions, appearances): That you see yourself as a capable and confident professional writer (or, that a path is revealed to circumvent writer's block).

Mars (Tuesday; defense, aggression): That you gain the energy and passion to battle your way through to the end.

Mercury (Wednesday; communication, commerce): That you gain quicksilver, mercurial speed in finishing the project.

Jupiter (Thursday; success, empowerment): That you succeed in hitting all your daily deadlines.

Venus (Friday; love, relationships): That you fall in love with the part of the project you're currently working on, so you'll be eager to spend all day with it.

Saturn (Saturday; boundaries, limits): That all distractions and obstacles in your way are limited from interfering with your project.

Sun (Sunday; vitality, joy): That the dreary clouds over your project be expelled, and that you are filled with the joy of shining yourself into your project and bringing it to life.

We can play this game with moon phases (like the example above), or any stones, herbs, or animals.

If you are familiar with celestial timing, you know that not only is each day assigned to one of the seven celestial bodies, but every hour of the day is assigned to one as well.

Therefore we might be in the hour of Saturn on the day of Mars, during a waning moon. We can play the game again, on a more nuanced level: My intent might be one of overall decrease (waning moon), where an aggressive energy is captured (Mars) in order to bind and limit all potential failure (Saturn) so that my project is finished by the deadline.

If we combine that intent above with a physical correspondence that vibrates with those same energies (say, a black stone and a candle with the Seal of Mars carved into it), a spell of significant power begins to be born.

IMO, using timing to focus & direct spellwork makes the planning a heck of a lot easier

This has two uses:

When you know you need to solve a problem, but don't know how to get started, examining the timings can give you a really clear place to start.

When you want to have fun with magic, but have no idea what to cast upon, the timings can really assist in brainstorming.

Suppose I realllllly need to sell commissions this month, but I have no idea how to do it. Let's pretend that the following is true:

Today is Friday on a waning gibbous moon a couple of days after Spring Equinox.

There's a heck of a lot of balance hanging around from the Equinox (balance = no movement). So instead of casting my spell at midnight or noon (very proximal, balanced times), I'm going to wait for evening twilight (very liminal, changing time). It just so happens that the planetary hour at twilight is Jupiter.

My spell will be this: Raising a great deal of loving, adoring energy (Friday/Venus) in order to bless my commissions page with success (Jupiter), so that people will fall in love with my work and want it for themselves.

Although they are not counted as an active part of my spell intent, I know simply by virtue of the moon being waning and the twilight hour, my spell will be infused with the virtues of changing and decrease - in this case, decreasing disinterest in my commissions and changing how people feel about my work.

(Suppose sales were really good and I wanted to preserve that - I'd perhaps cast the spell at noon, which my planetary calculator tells me is the hour of Mars. Stable, solar noon balances and preserves what already exists, and Mars gives me a cutthroat business edge so I can maintain my position.)

Orienting spells around freeflowing celestial powers makes the spell more powerful

It just do.

It also highly decreases the risk that the powers you need to call just aren't readily available right now

Not all of us channel power - plenty of people only burn their own lamp oil, so to speak. But for those of us who do call on external powers, you ever notice how sometimes it's just really hard to connect with some types of energies? Or sometimes, spirits just don't pick up the phone?

This may be because the powers & spirits you seek are behind a shut gate, the celestial roads upon which they walk closed off from us. Does this mean the power or spirit is impossible to contact? No!

It just means you might have to work harder and expend more of your own energy and resources to create that road yourself. If some of your spells randomly fall flat and you don't know why, celestial timing may be an avenue of troubleshooting for you.

And it can help explain unintended consequences and side-effects of spells

If you're wondering why your spells are doing that, or why the same spell takes such different avenues of manifestation each time you cast it, celestial timing may provide insight as to why.

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1.  area(s) that you’ve been neglecting in your craft 2.  how you can work towards to getting on track again 3. what you need to work on moving forward 4. extra advice 

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I was thinking about the healing crystals thing again, and why aren't there rocks that make your life worse instead of better?

like, if there are crystals that spiritually heal me and improve my relationships, it seems like there should be some that make me sexually frustrated, attract toxic people into my life, increase my anxiety, and scare away my spirit guides. I think that would be both logical and funny.

...Anyway I was on wikipedia and there are lots of minerals and rocks.

Why did I do this

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The Language Of Flowers

Acacia: Hidden love, beauty in withdrawal

Amaryllis: Pride, a hard won success

Anemone: Vanishing hopes

Bells of Ireland: Wish for good luck

Carnation: Fascination, love and distinction

Daffodil (Narcissus): Honesty and truth

Dahlia flower: Warnings and change

Daisy: Innocence, loyal love and purity

Delphinium: Open heart, ardent attachement

Gardenia: Symbol of secret love

Gladiolus: Remembrance, faithfulness and sincerity

Hyacinth: I'm sorry, please forgive me.

Iris: Eloquence

Lily (general) : Purity of the heart and refined beauty

Lily of the valley: Return of happiness

Marigold: Passion and creativity

Orchid: Beauty, refinement and love

Peony: Happy marriage

Lavender: Love at first sight

Red rose: Love, respect, courage and passion

White rose: Purity, secrecy, silence, innocence and charm

Sunflower: Good luck and ambition

Tulip: Irresistible love

Violet: Faithfulness, modesty and delicate love

Zinnia: Lasting affection, daily remembrance and good memories

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Queen of Hungary's Water

“Hungary water (sometimes called “the Queen of Hungary’s Water”, Eau de la Reine de Hongary, or “spirits of rosemary”) was one of the first alcohol-based perfumes in Europe, primarily made with rosemary. The oldest surviving recipes call for distilling fresh rosemary and thyme with brandy, while later formulations contain wine, lavender, mint, sage, marjoram, costus, orange blossom and lemon.“ – Wikipedia, ’Hungary water’

My foray into perfumery starts with a memory-heavy Queen of Hungary’s Water recipe from my mother’s old herbal book. A future devotional tool, but also a personal tribute to the complex relationship between mother and daughter.

Fresh rosemary and (spear)mint from my container garden, wild rose petals from local hedges and woodlands. Locally produced vodka made from locally grown potatoes. Rosemary and rose petals dedicated to Theotokos [Virgin Mary] prior to steeping.

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🌱Ostara Tarot Spread (For Spring Growth)

After wanting to do a tarot spread for Ostara but not being able to find exactly what I wanted, I decided to make my own! Feel free to use if you like it.

I’ll include the information below for anyone who can’t see the images:

What do I need to nurture in my spiritual life?

What do I need to nurture in my mundane life?

What in my life has begun to grow all on its own?

What needs to be cleared out so I can continue to grow?

How is my environment affecting my growth?

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On Working Planetary Circlets

Since my earlier blogpost Circling Ways in Geomancy - which mused on employing cords, loops, and beaded ‘circlets’ as portable means of demarking ritual space and empowering magical operations carried out inside that space - I have been recommending and making these talismans for clients and colleagues more frequently. Many folks have asked for notes, suggestions, or advice on how to use such ritual tools more effectively, so it seemed high time to advance some fundamental practices, to parade a skeleton crew of brief sketches and recommendations from my own practices with these planetary circlets that have proved useful. I’ve started from simple notions and followed them up with a few proposals for enriching and complicating those elementary mechanics.

Shaping A Circlet I use circlets in my planetary magic for a couple of reasons. The most obvious employ the sympathetic morphology of the circle. The loop traces and reiterates the orbital movement and course of these heavenly bodies. The appeal to “the orbit and motion” of planets is a common feature of many of the prayers I use, and an obvious enervation of their virtues stirred by sympathetic linking to their actions. We remind the planet and its spirits ‘you work because you move, and you move because you work’. A positive feedback cycle is looped. The circle is also evocative of planetary spheres: both their literal astronomical shape and the understanding of their celestial domains or layers to the cosmos-onion beyond the sublunary realms. To quote Ginsberg, it seems an ‘ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night’ is reified in the use of a circular planetary talisman.

Lest this begin to sound too idealistic - in either the general naive or strictly Platonic senses - I should also state that the other crucial feature of my circlets are four corner-points. These frame the circlet as also a potential cross. To call quarters and trace the circle as the magical reach of one’s grasp - as a seat of power, a place of protection, or an epicenter of a crucible -  is an old old magic. By “squaring the circle”, by laying out that which represents the heavenly endless of pure planetary sphere and virtue (and abstraction) as a crux upon the earth, as a crossroads, we may ground that virtue in tangible terms. The crossed circle is an X that marks the spot, a glyph of Malkuth, and indeed the enfolded globe and crux of majesty and Venus, further offering us opportunities to explore the mysteries of creation, manifestation, craft, and Love. In the simple ritual gesture of laying out the circlet by its corners we reiterate and honour this awakening of planetary virtues into the physical world and into our work. This is the same principle at work in astrological sigil casting, in enmattering the empyrean, in the harvesting of the fruits of the stars, in the Moon pulled down into the still waters of receptive bowls. By these reasonings, I find it especially apt to incant specific planetary petitions and general prayers for success when squaring the circlet.

These are also the reasons I recommend these talismans to be made as loops with four corner-points, either in beads or knots. I find beads, especially stones ruled by the planet in question, to be especially effective. I recommend constructing your circlets on the appropriate planetary days and in the apt planetary hours of course. Once physically constructed they can be consecrated by a range of methods: asperged, fumigated, exorcised, oiled, and blessed to dedicate them further to their patron planet and thus yield themselves better storehouses and beacons of those starry potencies vivifying those virtues embedded in natural materials. Owing to the especially earthy, worldly emphasis of my geomantic practices I can also recommend burying them in soils gathered from appropriate planetary locations: graveyard dirts for Saturnine circlets, earth from public gardens for Venusian circlets, and so on. Such lists of astrological correspondences of place can be found in many astrological handbooks, such as William Lilly’s Christian Astrology, which I made available here. 

When I make my circlets I also ensure the various materia of these circlets - thread and smaller beads in appropriate planetary colours - are prepared for use through these consecrations. I cleanse myself with spiritual baths, asperge and fumigate my ritual space, call to my patrons, empower the ingredients, construct and the charge the circlets on their planetary altars, often leaving them on top of the relevant kamea. I may even burn candles on the mother-bottles of the planetary oils which I use to dress the newly born talismans to further empower the oil from mother to daughter.

A Portable Altar-space My previous blogpost on these circlet talismans emphasised my most common use of them: marking a space within which to divine. The idea of this is incredibly simple. Being empowered to lend planetary virtue to the operation at hand, one can employ a circlet of the planetary ruler of the day, or of the planet who governs the matter being divined upon. A Lunary circlet would be well-disposed for divination inquiring about the nature and meaning of a dream, for instance; or indeed for any works of divination on a Monday. This approach was developed from my geomantic divination practice, in which the planetary Ruler is appealed to before any reading can be performed. Again, for more on this I recommend at least the first part of my Circling Ways in Geomancy post.

The key for this kind of work is the “pre-loaded” empowerment of the circlet. One might therefore choose to fumigate or oil one’s circlets in appropriate planetary materia before any or even every divination session, although I generally find feeding the circlets once a month is sufficient, assuming one keeps them “charging” on planetary kamea or wrapped in prepared fabrics with dried herbs, dirts, and powders.

Lighting the Way Perhaps the most foundational operation I can think to work a circlet involves candle and prayer. I consider this primarily an operation for the magician to receive or align with planetary virtue. The use of lamps and, later, candles to stand as a ritual instantiation of the light of a wandering star is itself an ancient practice, I claim no great invention of this technique. It can serve as a potent addition to devotional recitation of planetary prayers and offertory fumigations. 

When one requires a boost of a particular planetary virtue - Saturn’s cold boundary-setting to ensure you are more punctual, Mars’ hot bold edge of competitive energy to emerge victorious in some form of conflict - you may set out the relevant planetary circlet, present a candle to the four corner-points of the circlet as one would to the four cardinal directions, and burn the candle in the centre of this demarcated ritual space.

The candle might be prepared through any usual means of further aligning it to the planet one is courting - dressed in an oil infused with materia ruled by that planet, carved with the glyphs and various characters of spirits who partake of that planet’s forms and forces. Mihai Vârtejaru’s Studies in Magic blog is a treasure house of grimoiric material on planetary characters one might use for instance, and he has handily compiled many of these sets of seals into downloadable pdfs. Beyond ways the candle itself is prepared, one might burn it atop a number square about which the circlet is laid.

At the risk of sounding like I am about to attempt to flog you penis pills, there is “one neat trick” for working circlets in this manner I would like to highlight. Looping the circlet in thirds maintains the relative cardinal directionality of the four corner-points. This yoking of Four and Three is, I find, philosophically potent and presents a variety of options for further prayer, reflection, and magical utility. Christian magicians might certainly honour the Trinity with, by, and through this looping; sorcerers inspired by Renaissance practices can certainly consider the triple layers of the universe - the elemental, celestial and supercelestial realms - mirrored in the very structure of Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy; just as more Hellenically-inclined magicians might call for the effects of the operation to manifest across their Three Worlds of Heaven, Earth, and Ocean. Sets of any number of parts can be employed to address every option, every path, every eventuality; from the Four Elements, to operations calling upon all Seven classical Planets. Triplicities, triptychs, and trinities are certainly no exception.

Charging Ahead Circlets can also be utilised to empower and themselves consecrate magical objects and materia, to bestow planetary virtues upon a container spell such as a charm bag, astrological sigil (more often a metal or wax medallion impressed with particular astrological characters than the modern DIY homebrew sigils popularised by Austin Osman Spare and later by chaos magicians), or even a new incense blend or herbal bath mix.

This can be done by simply laying out the circlet in the various manners addressed above - complete with planetary prayers - and presenting the object to the four corner-points. This works especially well with items that need to infuse, such as freshly constructed oils or steeping herbal baths and waters. For charging objects like charm-bags or other tools, the circlet might also house the waterbowl or pot by which one asperges and the censer for fumigating the object: the circlet demarcating a ritual space whereby blessing, consecration and empowerment may occur, running an astral current of the planet around and about the operation. Again, an ennobling cycle (you know, the opposite of a vicious cycle) might be created by empowering the objects used to empower one’s tools and materials.

Geomantic Spell-craft My planetary magic is heavily informed by geomancy. By the understanding of this oracle, each planet rules two geomantic figures, which I often frame as the hands of the planet reaching down into the ‘elementated’ world, or perhaps better yet as the feet upon which the planet stands and moves across the face of that world. For instance, Jupiter’s cornucopious Horn of Plenty distributes Gain (the geomantic figure of Acquisitio) on the one hand, and dispenses thoroughly jovial Joy (Laetitia) with the other. Each geomantic figure offers a particular expression of a planet’s power in the world in a (once more for those at the back) grounded and worldly manner.

Just as the circlets can align and draw planetary virtue (indeed because they can do this) we can also use these talismans to direct planetary virtue: to put it bluntly, to launch spells. One form I find particularly effective is the use of tools and signs of divination as image magic. This might be as straightforward as empowering a particular Tarot card to act as a amulet. For example, one might charge an Empress card (as one would a charm bag or bath) with a Venusian circlet and then carry in one’s breast pocket, close to one’s heart, to bring Venus’ blessings and protection; say if one were attempting to charm an audience or attract a certain kind of attention. But it might also involve setting a geomantic figure out in some form to attract that set of virtues and/or launch them into the world.

So within the field of one’s Jupiterian circlet one might set out six candles in the shape of the geomantic figure of Acquisitio, a Fiery figure, in order to draw some kind of gain - money, opportunities, customers, or even knowledge or experience. These candles might be marked with the sigils of this figure, dressed in a Jupiter oil, and surrounded by Jupiterian materia, such as mint leaves and dirts from banks and lawcourts. This should be done in a Jupiterian hour, and perhaps done at an appropriate part of the dwelling, such as in front of the door to bring these Gains in. This is but one example of the use of the forms of the geomantic figures in spell-craft. Watery figures might be ensorcelled by arranging small bowls or cups; Airy figures by several charcoals burning incense in a figural pattern; Earthy figures through small piles or bundles of dirts and powders.

There is a lot to say about this approach to geomantic sorcery, from its occult philosophical foundations to particularities of expression and implementation, and from basic correspondences of plant and stone to multi-stage operations and further empowerments, but for now I hope you have a small taste of how a circlet can be used to begin your own experimentation into geomantic sorcery. For those who now feel they should learn some more about geomancy you can download the main early modern handbooks of the divination system here, or sign up to my Geomancy Foundation Course on this still-often-underappreciated oracle which begins in July (offered once more through those handsome chaps at Wolf & Goat), or you can purchase and download my new Geomancy 101 class-bundle…

I continue to tinker with and customise my planetary circlets, and will be continuing to sell them on my site. Don’t hesitate to get in touch at consultantsorcerer@gmail.com with any questions or custom design requests.

For now, I’ll let Ms. Springfield play us out. Happy circling.

Round Like a circle in a spiral Like a wheel within a wheel Never ending or beginning On an ever-spinning reel Like a snowball down a mountain Or a carnival balloon Like a carousel that’s turning Running rings around the moon Like a clock whose hands are sweeping Past the minutes of its face And the world is like an apple Whirling silently in space Like the circles that you find In the windmills of your mind

Dusty Springfield, Windmills of Your Mind

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a full celebration will be had

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Protection Spells

Source: Dictionary of Ancient Magical Words and Spells by Claude Lecouteux

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Hellenic polytheism - free (and reliable!) resources

Updated 28 August 2020

The Homeric Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns1.html              

The premier translations of The Homeric Hymns by Apostolos N. Athanassakis are also available to read online for free:  https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00home and https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00atha

The Orphic Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html

The Delphic Maxims: https://www.scribd.com/document/186693295/Delphic-Maxims

Many other primary sources from ancient Greece can be found in English translations at theoi.com, which is a fantastic resource for information about the Theoi.

Modern prayers to the Theoi:

Hearthstone: https://greekpagan.com & https://greekpagan.tumblr.com/ Note: downloads of Hearthstone’s two books of Hellenic prayers can be purchased at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HearthfireHandworks

winebrightruby: https://winebrightruby.tumblr.com/devotional

Some of the best and most essential sources to start with - and for continuous reference, in my opinion:

Adam, John. The Religious Teachers of Greece. Clifton, New Jersey: Reference Book Publishers, Inc, 1965.  https://www.giffordlectures.org/lectures/religious-teachers-greece

Adkins, Lesley and Adkins, Roy A. Handbook To Life In Ancient Greece https://archive.org/details/handbooktolifein00adki

Betegh, Gabor. Greek Philosophy and Religion. https://www.academia.edu/4990433/Greek_Philosophy_and_Religion

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion  https://archive.org/details/greekreligionarchaicandclassical

Dillon Matthew. “Household, Families and Women” in Kindt, J. Eidinow, E. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Religion in the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015. https://www.academia.edu/7974646/HOME_AND_HEARTH._THE_CLASSICAL_GREEK_EXPERIENCE_OF_DOMESTIC_RELIGION_in_Kindt_J._Eidinow_E._eds_The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Religion_in_the_Ancient_World_Oxford_University_Press_Oxford_2015

Furley, WIlliam D. and  Jan Maarten Bremer. Greek Hymns: Selected Cult Songs from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Part One: The texts in translation.Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.   http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:P6t4r1tHe4YJ:129.206.119.53/~q67/Info/HymnsIntro.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Garrett, Jan. Did Socrates ‘Teach New Deities’? Or: Homer’s Gods, Plato’s Gods  http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/pgods.htm

Hesiod. Theoany  https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html

Hesoid. Works and Days https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html

Kindt, Julia. “Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion?” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 135, 2015, pp. 35–50., www.jstor.org/stable/44157346

Koutoupas, A. “The Meaning of Reciprocity in Ancient Greek Religion.”  https://www.academia.edu/12126893/The_Meaning_of_Reciprocity_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion

Meyer, Marvin.The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World   https://archive.org/details/ancientmysteries0000unse_p7i2

Morford, Mark, P.O., Lenardon, Robert J. and Sham, Michael. “The student companion to Classical Mythology, Tenth Edition”: https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/

Otto, Walter. The Homeric Gods  https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4448/page/n5/mode/2up

Petrovic, Andrej, and Petrovic, Ivana. “Introduction” in Inner Purity and Pollution in Ancient Greek Religion Vol I.  https://www.academia.edu/30262742/Introduction_in_Inner_Purity_and_Pollution_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion_Vol_I

Rask, K.A. “Devotionalism, Material Culture, and the Personal in Greek Religion.”  https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/23

William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray, London, 1875. Articles on Greek and Roman religion, including divination, festivals, funerals, magic, priestly officers, and rituals:  https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA/Religion/home.html

Whitmore, Emily. Personal Religion in ancient Greece.  https://www.academia.edu/8729313/Personal_religion_in_ancient_Greece

Woodward, Roger D. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology https://archive.org/details/TheCambridgeCompanionToGreekMythology/page/n1/mode/2up

Also, please feel free to ask me questions or contact me about books/articles on specific topics related to Hellenic polytheism!

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Quickie Guide to Lotions and Potions

Infusion

Infusions work best for making tea from leaves and flowers as these plant parts give up their active constituents easily.

Allow the tea to steep for 10 to 20 minutes so the therapeutic properties can pass from the herb into the water.

To make an infused oil put dried herbs in the top of a double-boiler, cover with oil about an inch over the herb (olive works well for this because it has a fairly long shelf life), let simmer for 2 hours without letting it get too hot or boiling, a temp of 150 F is good. Strain the oil into a clean jar, date & label. Without any preservatives, infused oil will last about a year.

Decoction

Teas made from roots and twigs are most often brewed by decoction because it is more difficult to extract their medicinal properties any other way.Boil or simmer 1 to 2 teaspoons of the herb per cup of water for 10 to 20 minutes.

Poultice

A poultice is a paste of chopped, fresh (or dried and then remoistened) plant material which is applied directly to a wound or skin infection. It is held in place by a wet dressing covered by a bandage. Poultices are most often used to prevent infection and hasten healing.

To make a poultice, boil, steam, or pound the healing herb of your choice to release more medicinal compounds. Then shape the material into a small, coin-size wad which can then lie flat against the wound. Many herbalists recommend mixing 1 part herb with 3 parts water, alcohol, witch hazel or vinegar. Thicken with flour to make the poultice easier to handle and apply.

Tincture

Stuff dried herbs into a jar, add enough alcohol (usually vodka or everclear (Natural grain alcohol), depending on the strength needed for the particular herb) to amply cover the herbs, and screw the lid on. Allow the mixture to stand for about a week, shaking it occasionally. Then strain it, discard the plant material, and store the tincture in a bottle with a dropper lid. Label and date the bottle. Most tinctures have a shelf life of 2 years.

Maceration

To steep an herb in fat, such as done with salve and ointments. Best oils to use are almond and sesame. Warm one cup of oil over a low flame and place one-half ounce herbs wrapped in cheesecloth to soak. Continue until the herbs have lost their color and the oil is rich with their scent.

Wash

A tea or infusion meant only for external use. A mild form of a wash would be ¼ ounce of herb to one pint of boiling water, steeped until lukewarm, then applied. It would be good if you learned how to do all of these.

Ointment

2 oz solid fat -such as Crisco, coconut oil, cocoa butter or lanolin  5 oz herb infused olive or grape seed oil  2 oz herb infused water  1 tsp (approximately) beeswax -shave or grate before use  3-5 drops essential oil, if desired for fragrance or effect

 Gently melt a solid fat, wax and oil over double boiler or carefully in microwave; use low heat and stir until blended. Remove from heat. 

Put water into blender or mixer bowl and agitate. While water is spinning, slowly pour the oil, fat, wax mixture into the water. Continue mixing until emulsified. You may notice a distinct change of sound as the cream congeals.  Remove cream, while still warm, into clean containers and leave open until completely cool. Label each jar with contents and date, be sure to note the date your herbal oil especially if it is much older than your cream.  Store in a cool, dark place; should stay fresh for 6 months to a year. Sniff before using and look for mold after 6 months. If the oil and water separate, just stir before using. 

Compress 

~ Roots, Bark, Twigs & Leaves~

Make a compress by dipping a clean cloth in an herbal solution - an infusion, decoction, tincture, or herbal vinegar. You can hold a poultice in place with a compress, in which case it doubles as a bandage. or, apply the compress directly to the skin (also called a fomentation).

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Geomantic Characters. The 16 Geomantic Figures are the primary Symbols used in the art of Divinatory Geomancy. Each Geomantic Figure represents a certain state of the World or the Mind, and can be interpreted in various ways based upon the query put forth and the method used to generate the figures. When Geomancy was introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages, the figures acquired Astrological meanings and new forms of interpretation. The figures bear superficial resemblance to the Ba Gua, the eight Trigrams used in the I Ching, a Chinese classic text. Each of the figures is composed of four lines, each line containing either one or two points. Each line represents one of the four Classical Elements: from top to bottom, the lines represent Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. When a line has a single point, the element is said to be Active; otherwise, with two points, the element is Passive. Because there are four lines, and since each line can be either active or passive, there are 24, or 16, different figures. The different combinations of elements yields different representations or Manifestations of the figure’s Energy. Each figure can be said to have a ruling Element, whereby that Element’s Energy and Manifestations correlates most closely to the figure itself. In the Middle Ages, when Geomancy was introduced to Europe where Astrology was the foremost Occult Science, the Geomantic Figures obtained Astrological correspondences to the Zodiac and to the Planets. Based on their Zodiacal correspondences, astrologers assigned new elemental rulerships based on the element of their Zodiacal ruler.  The Zodiacal rulerships followed from the Diurnal or Nocturnal Planetary rulership: Nocturnal figures are assigned Earth and Water signs, while Diurnal figures are assigned Fire and Air signs. Once the Zodiacal rulerships were agreed upon, all the following correspondences followed upon the Geomantic Figures, including what part of the body they each ruled over, different countries, planetary hours, body and character types, and so on.

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Fire Spread

Your power

What can help you to increase your power

What could hold your power back

What you can achieve

If you use my spreads, please tag me in your readings! I´d love to see them c:

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Protective Spell for the Home

A circle of protection here I cast. No evil shall enter, no ill shall pass. A shield rise up and surround us all; Protect those who dwell within these walls. Within this space, may safety be found. No ill shall enter our circle round.

- Created by Written Secrets on Parchment