The Simple Salt Circle

A depiction of the goddess Ceridwen

(blessed be she)

I discovered this at The Sword of Dynion Mwyn online Newsletter #3. This also contains a full ritual for the invocation of Ceridwen and Cernunnos--which I actually performed, playing the part of both priestess and priest, and inviting any friendly spirits who might wish to participate to add their energy to the proceedings. I also wished to be better acquainted with the energies of Ceridwen and ask her blessing. But for general purposes, the simple salt circle will serve well.

Since life isn't perfect one might have to improvise a bit, but it is suggested that one take a cleansing bath beforehand and place two candles and sabbat incense on the altar. They suggest reciting the Wiccan Rede. I feel that any affirmation, prayer or spell that resonates with you is what you should use.

Light the candles and incense with a lighted taper. Place salt, water and hyssop in bowls on the altar. Place right hand over salt, saying:

"Creature of Earth, this charge I lay

No phantom in thy presence stay

Not in complete accord with me

And as I will, so mote it be"

Take a pinch of salt, put it in the water, while making a Banishing Pentagram (start at bottom left, up to top, down to bottom right, up to left corner, over to right corner, back down to bottom left, draw a counterclockwise circle around it) Say:

"Creature of water, this charge I lay

No phantom in thy presence stay

Not in complete accord with me

And as I will, so mote it be."

Do the same with the hyssop. Take the bowl of the salt to the east, going deosil (clockwise) Cast a circle of salt. Go around three times. While doing so, say:

"Creature of Earth, where you are cast

no spell or adverse purpose last

Not in complete accord with me

And as I will, so mote it be."

Take the bowl of water with the salt and hyssop in it, go to the east, sprinkle water around the circle three times and say:

"Earth and water, where you are cast

No spell or adverse purpose last

Not in complete accord with me

And as I will, so mote it be."

Take the candle around the circle three times, saying:

"Creature of fire, this charge I lay

No evil in my presence stay

Not in complete accord with me

And as I will, so mote it be."

Take incense around the circle three times and say:

"Creature of air, this charge I lay

No evil in thy presence stay

Not in complete accord with me

And as I will, so mote it be."

The circle is now ready for you to perform whatever work you desire. When finished, thank any deities, spirits or elementals that you sensed were present and dismiss them in peace. Then open the circle by walking counterclockwise.

Blessed be,

Lily

(and friends)

Oya, powerful Orisha

The African Orisha Oya is a deity presiding over cemeteries, death and storms. She can help facilitate change when circumstances are blocked. The text at the Angelfire site listed below warns not to call on Oya unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences. The impression that I get is that Oya does not mind being called upon for help. She is a goddess of change, which makes her in part a destroyer goddess, but she is not without compassion. She simply does not want to put up with bullshit. It's fine to call upon Oya to facilitate the forces of change should you want a better job, a better living circumstance, a better relationship, an end to sickness, even help with weight loss. Oya is not going to be too kindly disposed to petitions asking for "that sweet new Hummer" "The hottie with the big gazongas" "make me a size zero so all the other girls will be jealous" "make me the most popular so I don't have to hang out with my current loser friends" or things of that nature. She wants your life to be better, not to facilitate you acting like an idiot.

The prayer to Oya comes from The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts and was found at the third website on the list.

As powerful as the strong wind

More fierce than the storm

Oya guards my soul against the many fingers of evil

Help me to rest upon the earth free from strain and undue frustration

Oya, warrior of the wind, let not our land be overrun with destroyers

Let us not die in pain and sorrow

Extend your weapon to protect us from destruction

Oya, may we live and die to live again

Oya, may our lives be long and our death short

Four sites to help you learn more about Oya:

http://www.goddess.com.au/goddesses/Oya.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/tn3/rainbowbridge2/oya.htm

http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/worldlit/lecture/blossom.ppt

http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/Oya_2.html

I combined my prayer to Oya with a prayer to facilitate positive change, which comes from the Tarot Spells book by Janina Renee.

The time has come for a change

The time has come to move on to something newer, something better

That which was done in the past shall be prelude to an ever greater future, moving onward and upward

Changes are coming, with one action leading rapidly to another

The forces are set in motion

Inexorably I move towards the goals that I desire

A new stage of evolution is before me

The power I summon turns the wheel of heaven

The changes begin with this spell and continue as I better myself and all that is around me

So it is and so shall it continue to be

I used this spell when I used to work all over the building at my current job, mostly in the long term care area. I did not want to work in that area any more. I had been doing that kind of work for a long time and was completely burnt out on it. After a year of being the on-call person, I was hired permanently in my current department which while not perfect, is far better. I believe the energies generated by this spell helped.

Currently, I feel stuck. My financial situation is disastrous. I would like to be in business for myself. I would like to gain recognition for my book, the goal of which is to help spread positive change in the treatment of mental health issues. I would like to be able to live where I choose, wherever I am most necessary, and not be tied to a job. And I would very much like to stop feeling the noose of debt around my neck. As well, I want to lose some weight for health reasons. I believe that the energies of Oya can give the spell the extra "push" it needs. I don't expect overnight results but I have faith that there will be good results.

I also gave petition to Oya to give my son protection and guidance as he goes out in the world. I prayed to her to help end the violence in schools. A person should not have to be afraid for their life when they go someplace to learn. Parents should not have to fear for their children when they are at school. Let not our land be overrun with destroyers. In the United States, these people are destroyers. I pray to this powerful Orisha to help stop this madness.

Blessed be,
Lily

The Lesson of Zeus

Trying to do too much spell work on a given night was really doing me in. I slated myself for an hour each night and to do as many spells or invocations as fit the number of the day. Thus on today, Monday, I would do nine. This actually negated the power of the spell. When I found the widget for the deity of the day, I decided that as a polytheist, I should focus upon the deity of the day as well as the properties of the day.

Some days this ends up being a time to invoke and chat with a deity for a while. Every little bit of positive energy is a blessing. But sometimes great gifts are bestowed. The deity of the day is Zeus. I looked up an invocation for him and did not specifically find one. I did, however, find a fine educational page on the various aspects of Zeus.

I felt that as Monday is governed by the moon and the moon governs aspects such as purification and clearing, and Zeus is a multifaceted deity, I would call upon him to help me make positive changes. There is a spell for getting away from a bad environmental situation in the book Tarot Spells by Janina Renee, and this is what I chose. The bad environment being entrapment in chronic debt, being a wage slave and the wage is never enough, feeling old, run-down, tired and hopeless. This is all shit. So I asked Father Zeus for his blessing and assistance and I began the spell work.

When a very clear vision comes of a deity, this is a very positive sign. I saw in my mind's eye Father Zeus riding in a chariot over the sea towards the shore on which I was standing in my vision. The sky was blue but with some clouds and it was a windy day, though there was no storm as such. He approached me and I knew he approved of my request and granted me blessing. I spoke to him of the things I wanted to change and asked his blessings and protection for myself and my loved ones.

One of the gifts he gave me had to do with breathing to clear the chakras, and picturing the sephira on the Tree of Life as I did so. You breathe deeply according to the number of the day, which for Monday is nine times. This method is the one I learned. If you are more comfortable with other names and colors for the chakras, use your own.

First breathe into the crown Chakra, above the head. This chakra is pure white energy. Next the brow, which has a violet hue. Then the third eye, which is indigo. Envision a blue light energy for the throat. Following this I envision the Thymus chakra which is attuned to Daath. This is between the throat and the heart, and the energy is clear. Next is the heart, the energy of which is green, followed by the solar plexus, which is golden yellow. The energy then flows down to the spleen chakra, which is actually situated in the navel area. Following this is the root chakra, which is at the base of the spine and also encompasses the reproductive organs.

In my method, the energy then flows to another chakra at the level of the knees. The color is difficult to describe, being the color of night itself. This is not an opaque black, but a clear black with highlights of silver and gold, like the moon and stars. Although I am breathing to this area, in my mind I am seeing the wonderful dwellers of the moon-sphere, humanoids with birdlike heads holding staffs. These are the guardians of the gate between worlds. They may seem fearsome but are actually benevolent, ready to guide those who approach them with pure intent. Finally, breathe into the foot chakra, which is a swirling mass of all the colors of the rainbow.

While doing this exercise, focus the energy given to you by the deity whose blessing you have asked down through each chakra, so as to bring the energy for your spell/petition from the Heavens to the Earth sphere Malkuth, which in the human body is represented by the foot chakra.

Finally, lift the energy from the foot chakra and send it back in an arc on either side of your body to the crown (Kundalini) chakra above your head, from the crown to the feet, in a continuous stream of pure white energy. This establishes as above so below.

This essay was written while in a spontaneous trance induced while participating in the spell work blessed by Zeus. I am not inclined to edit such spontaneous work, although later when my consciusness is integrated fully once again into the physical world, I may clarify certain aspects of the essay.

Blessed be,

Lily

Invocations

Merry meet! Today I was looking for invocations of Aphrodite. I found some that I thought were particularly helpful.

Here is a site that you may find helpful. It contains invocations to various Gods and Goddesses.

Here is one that has meditations specifically focused on Aphrodite.

Here is a ritual for invoking Aphrodite.

Here is Sappho's hymn to Aphrodite.

Seeing these links, one might think I was foolishly lusting after an unattainable lover as I have done in the past too many times. No such thing! I simply decided that always doing rituals according to a day and time felt too cut and dry to me and I needed something fresh. I have divination decks from which I draw cards. Today Aphrodite is with me. She is far more than a goddess of sexual love although that is one of the areas she certainly rules over. She also helps with friendship love, with the arts, and with gardening. So today I was looking for ways to honor her.

Blessed be.

Lord Ganesha

When I was growing up, I was taught that wishing for money was evil. My parents read me the story "The Monkey's Paw" as an illustration that if you wish for money, God will punish you for money is the root of all evil. Such a wish is a selfish wish and anyone brazen enough to wish for something so selfish as money would be granted sorrow.

When I discovered metaphysics, it seemed logical to me that wishing for money was not in itself evil, but I could never bring myself to try and attract money because of my earlier training, although I would be very generous with my money. I still felt very uncomfortable doing spell work to bring more money into my life.

Tonight, I had the rare and beautiful occurrence of a spontaneous manifestation from the benevolent Lord Ganesha, the Vedic God of plenty. This is not to say that I saw a 20 foot tall human-elephant hybrid standing before me, but I did see the benevolent deity very clearly in my mind's eye and I felt his kindness and knew that if I wished for what I needed through him, it could never manifest in a negative way. Lord Ganesha is a merciful deity and would never play a wicked trick on those who turn to him in their time of need. Nor would he punish the innocent for the wicked deeds of one family member or associate.

I often become too wrapped up in doing things perfectly. I had a couple of very "heavy" days of meditation, worship and spirit contact. Lord Ganesha asked me to make this day an easy and fun day, to perform but a few spells and to ask for and allow his help. He knows the heart of those who petition him and he knows that my intentions are good. I feel honored that he manifested to me without my asking and gave me his blessing. I know I can always turn to Lord Ganesha and while this isn't a "genie in the bottle" sort of thing where all I wish is instantaneously dropped on my doorstep I know that he will never punish me or those I love and if he sees error in my ways, he will find a method of getting the message across kindly, for he is all benevolence. Blessed be Lord Ganesha and great is my thanks to him for his blessings.

Lily Rowena Iridescent Leaf