Curses: Thorns

Old Corn Moon (Age: 28 days)

Sign: Virgo

Weather: Fair skies, seasonable

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This is an inversion of my hex/curse breaking spell. When casting a curse, be aware that some measure of the energy will come back to you. Distancing yourself from the physical materials that are still charged with the curse reduces the degree of that energy returning to you. Proper disposal of spell materials can serve to ground the energy coming back to you off of the curse.

Items Needed:

• 1 candle (preferably black, but any other color may work. A candle chosen with the color associated with the target will be especially effective if you do not have a black candle.)
• scented oil with a fragrance associated with the target
• 3, 5, or 7 thorns (well dried out and sharp)
• source of open flame (a lighter is a good option)

Procedure:

1.  Anoint the candle with the oil, envisioning the candle as the target of the spell.
2. Drive your thorns into the candle at random intervals, seeing them in your mind's eye stabbing the target. Hold this focus through the next two steps.
3. Burn the candle completely.
4. Recite the following incantation whilst burning candle.
5. Bury any left over wax and the thorns where the target may come into contact with them. (i.e. a place they would step over them or physically come into contact with them.) 
6. If target is long distance, bury the remains where refuse is disposed. (Disposing of them in the garbage is a good option.)

Incantation:

All sorrows befall you. All evil strikes you. No safety awaits you. Endlessly, I curse you, [target's name] by flame and pain to misery and strife in all your life. 

Defensive Confusion Counter spell No.2

Items needed:

• candle
• 4 mirrors arranged in an open box shape
• source of live flame (a lighter is an acceptable option.)
• anointing oil or a bit of your personal scent (i.e. perfume or cologne)

Ritual:

1.  Create ritual space as per preferred methods. Invoke spiritual allies and helpers as needed.
2. Place the candle within the center of the box formed by the mirrors. Ensure the mirrors are aligned to reflect each other and the candle as completely as possible.
3. Anoint the candle and envision your energy streaming into the candle.
4. Light the candle while reciting the incantation.
5. Allow candle to burn down completely.
6. Place wax remnants in a secure location where they can not be disturbed. Inside a small glass container and buried at a secret location is traditional.

Incantation:
Countless flames burn. Only one is me. All your efforts to find me are lost in illusion. You shall weaken and I will remain free.

Notes regarding manifestation:

This spell has swift results. It enhances the effectiveness of psychic shields used by the caster. It serves to diffuse and scatter energy cast towards the defender.

Defensive confusion counter spell No. 1

Last Quarter Blue Moon (Age: 22 days)

Sign: Taurus

Weather: Cool, partly cloudy,

light breeze out of the west

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This is a spell to use as a counter spell to someone ill wishing you or actually attempting to curse you. I have had fairly regular success with this one. It is an adapted version of a spell that I found in a D.J. Conway book. I have long forgotten what the book was and her title for the spell. I know that my version can be used with more or less candles, compared to the fixed number that she had.

Items needed:

• mirrored candle plate
• 6+ identical candles (Ideally enough to fit on the plate and fill it, I usually use tea lights.)
• Source of open flame (a lighter is a fine option for this)
• blessing oil or a bit of your personal scent (ie perfume or cologne)

Ritual:

1.  Create ritual space in the typical fashion for your practice. Invoke any spiritual allies that you require and make proper greetings and request for aid.
2. Pick one candle to represent you. Anoint it with the oil (also known as 'dressing' the candle) and attune it with yourself via projecting your personal spiritual energy into the candle.
3. Place your candle in the center of the candle plate. Arrange others around it.
4. Light central candle first.
5. Light other candles randomly.
6. Rearrange all the candles randomly whilst stating incantation.
7. Allow candles to burn completely.
8. Close ritual space and conclude your business with spiritual allies in manner that is customary.
9. Dispose of the candles remains in a manner that is ecologically sound.

Incantation:

6 (or however many candles in total) fires burn, one is me. Flames dance and flicker. Mirror reflects all you see but you can not tell which is me.

Notes:
The objective of this spell is to confuse the person targeting you for a spell. The candles act as illusions of yourself, which is represented by the dressed candle. Lighting them randomly and rearranging them randomly compounds the confusion in the caster because they can not tell which one is the source and which is the illusion. The mirror doubles this effect, adding an equal number of illusions plus one to the set.

The matter of ISIL

New Flower Moon (Age: 0 days)

Sign: Taurus

Weather: Warm, fair skies

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It was with great deliberation and much consultation with my Dísir that I came to the conclusion that it was appropriate to curse ISIL. They had added on another focus but I am not to speak of it until the full moon. Yesterday, I performed the curse on ISIL and I did so under the guidance of my Dísir. This really was the first time I have done magic with the active participation of the Dísir. I honestly have no idea how this will effect the manifestation of the spell's results.

They told me to do the exact opposite of my usual curse breaking spell. My usual curse breaking spell consists of taking three thorns, grinding them to a powder, and burning them. As I do so, I focus on the malevolent magic and energies that have been directed at someone and drive them down into the earth to dissipate. It sometimes is harder to do when I haven't much invested personally in the outcome of the spell. I think that is because I do my most effective magic when my heart is entwined with it.

 

The curse on ISIL was assembled in the physical realm by taking three thorns and driving them into a candle at varying intervals. As I lit the candle, I declared what the results of the curse would be and the target. I then allowed the candle to burn completely. It was interesting because as the candle burned, it cracked apart where the thorns pierced it. Also, the candle continued to burn for a little while when the wax about the wick was used up. I am more then a little bit certain that last bit was the hands of the Dísir. 

 

Unlike other spells I have done recently, I did not feel a great flow of power from myself into the flame. In this instance, I saw the flame drawing energy to it and then that energy was sent elsewhere. I also had the distinct impression that there were more deities then Loki, Freya, Odin, and Tyr observing (if not influencing) this. When the candle had burned down and extinguished itself, I disposed of all the remnants, taking care not to touch the components. I had the candle set in a 'bowl' made of aluminum foil. I did this because I didn't want to have the trouble of cleaning wax out of a candle holder. When I realized that the action also preserved me from handling the miasmic leavings of the spell, I immediately wondered if I had been guided to do so by the gods. 

While ISIL is causing havoc in the middle east, I've noticed that all of the old gods have sat up and taken notice (with more then a little displeasure). They've also been taking note of the other group that I was directed to include as a focus. I did a separate ritual for that. This second ritual has a longer time frame then the first. I think this means that the first will manifest more quickly. I feel that something is moving beneath the surface and the spells I have done this phase of the moon are going to have some far reaching consequences.

I was careful to manufacture the spells so that the blow back was as carefully directed as the spells themselves. I know that sending energy out means that energy returns to you. The curse that I sent out was crafted in such a fashion that the energy that returns will be something that removes harmful things from my life. Oddly enough, it was Freya's direct guidance that engineered that. I did a lot of the heavy lifting whilst she gave directions.

I haven't done divination on what the results of this will be. I am not going to either. I will just let it be as it is and let the plethora of gods deal with it. I have more immediate concerns to deal with right now. And perseverating on how the spell will manifest is only going to make me stressed out. ISIL and the others have kicked a hornets' nest. My actions merely funnel the direction of the hornets on to them. And that was all I, honestly, was willing to do.

Could I have gone farther with it? Yes. But I didn't think it was worth the fall out from doing so. And neither did my Dísir. And when all else fails, it's good to listen to the ancestors because they usually have a perspective that you don't on such things as magic.

Candle Magic for Healing

Moon: Waxing Ice Moon, sign of Taurus
Weather: Unseasonably warm, overcast, light rain and humid
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The link I have above is to a website that has done a fair amount of homework on this subject. They do a pretty good job of representing the 'standard' understanding of color associations for candle magic. I'm not going to write down the spell I used here because I have yet to write it into my Book of Shadows. Furthermore, it is more effective to make your own spell then to use one from someone else.

All of that said, I have a blue candle burning on my altar right now. It is infused with the oils of rose and chamomile. While the packaging for this candle says it is for positive energy, I'm not using it for that. The nice thing about candles in magic is that the people who sell them can suggest what you use them for but you ultimately decide how you use them. I could discuss that and ramble along on that topic for a while but that's not the objective with my post here.

I wanted to talk about healing magic and candle magic. Candle magic is something that works fairly quickly, in my opinion. If I wanted to do magic that manifest within a week or a few days, I get a candle that burns quickly and use it for this purpose. Candles that take longer to burn can equate to a longer time period until manifestation. That is, however, if you are keying your spell to the consumption of the candle. It is possible to focus the spell's manifestation on different elements of the use of the candle.

I have a big fat pillar candle on my altar. It is one that I burn when ever I am praying or meditating. It serves as a visual focus for me and as a representation of my offering to the Gods. Other candles have different purposes and my use of them reflects it. They all have the same basic function, which is to be a physical tie to what I am working to accomplish and a psychological key to help me enter the correct mindset to engage in the task I have. I like candle magic because even the act of lighting the candle helps to settle and focus me. It is a ritual all by itself.

Healing magic... Oh how much of a mixed blessing that is. On one hand, we like to think that healing magic makes us feel wonderful and somehow removes all ailments. It doesn't do that, however. Properly constructed healing magic works to help the subject reach the state that will be maximum health for them at that time. It doesn't specify that they are what is commonly understood as healthy. I've done healing magic that brought that result. I've also done healing magic that brought death. It was not my intent to bring death, but death was the healthiest state for the person to be in, for it released them from the great suffering that they were in.

Healing magic, like love magic, is a double edged sword. My blue candle is focused upon my psychological healing. Since I have put it on my altar and started burning it, it hasn't alleviated my flashbacks, night terrors, or the trembling fear that stalks my heart often these days. Instead, it has been forcing me to confront them by placing situations and events into play that serve either as a mirror or draws these buried things up into the light of my conscious mind. It is not comfortable, gentle, or anything even remotely resembling pleasant.

It is as difficult to heal as it is to be wounded. In many ways, I believe it is harder. I think this healing magic that I am working on is like calling in another pair of hands to assist me in forcing the infection out of a wound that had scabbed over. That other pair of hands won't shrink from something because it causes me discomfort. It is very, very hard to accept that magic works like this but when you do accept it, you become far more successful.

Right now, however, I look forward to when the pain eases back to more tolerable levels. I don't believe I'm going to cast anything to make this healing progress faster because these kinds of things, if they go quickly, seem to turn very, very ugly in the midst of moving rapidly before hitting that desired result.