Miss Elvyra On Spiritual Spellwork

Roasted turkey with stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cornbread, cranberry sauce, autumnal vegetables of squash, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans -- and feasting with family, friends, community, and Spirit.

The holiday celebrated as Thanksgiving comes later than the Pagan Sabbaths of the Wheel of the Year marking the harvest time. But whatever myth surrounds this time, there is the sense of gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation through prayer, speech, action and ritual.

First harvest has been celebrated at Lughnasadh/Lammas and our ancestors and our beloved dead remembered and celebrated at Samhain/All Souls Day/Day of the Dead. This is the last of the harvest and the darkening of the year. So what better way to appease and honor the deities than by gratitude and doing rituals to reflect this.

But gratitude magic can and must be practiced all year round, especially when we are asking for personal things, e.g., love, money, health. A long time ago, when I first started my spiritual journey, I kept hearing "pray as if you already have what you want." Later I translated it to "start with what you are grateful for, what you already have. Then speak what you want as if it were already yours."



Ways To Offer Gratitude As Magic Spells

• If you are by a body of water with wave action, write on the earth/sand at the edge -- where water and earth come together -- what you are grateful for, your blessings. Allow the water's movement to take your gratitude into its self.

• Write down what you are thankful and grateful for, anoint the paper with Blessing oil, and put it under a white candle. When the candle is done, take the paper and fold it 3 times toward you. Keep this paper on your person (in a pouch, in your left shoe, under your pillow) to always remember your blessings.

• Offer fruit juice, wine, milk, grains, and vegetables to Mother Earth and the harvest deities by placing them in a wooded area slightly away from people.

• Each evening find something new to be grateful for. Write it on a slip of paper and add it to your Gratitude Treasure Chest. At the full of the moon, remember each of these blessings, burning them with Blessing incense or by the flame of a candle anointed with Blessing oil.

• Sing, chant, speak out loud your gratitude and blessings.

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Hoodoo Psychic Miss Elvyra works in the lady-hearted tradition and is a favorite reader. She is the cohost of The Witch, The Priestess, and The Cauldron podcast.

Miss Jacqueline's Traditional Spellcraft

Using the Moon's Phases to Create Magic

Working with the different phases of the Moon for attraction or banishing candle spellwork has been a time-honored tradition in many magical beliefs. The Moon, Earth's "nightlight," has been a feature of legend and lore in regards to making magic and an accomplice of success in spellwork. It is sometimes believed that even a Lunar Eclipse, that occasional period of time when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, is like "extra innings" in Baseball: the effects of the Moon are amplified and any spell has a little bit of extra power to it. Lunar Eclipses occur even when it is cloudy, raining, or snowy outside, but there are other factors such as the different phases of the Moon that should be taken into consideration as you devise your spell-casting strategy.

Phase 1: The New Moon and Spellwork -- Fresh Starts and New Beginnings

New Moons are the harbinger of new and fresh situations, and the magic cast during this time can be quite literal in meaning. When the Moon is barely a slight sliver of light in the sky, it is time to look at our "shadow selves," examine our darkest fears and self-sabotage, and face our "Uglies" and work to change them -- or, at the very least, shhh them and allow them to curl up in the corner. Working with your shadow self is acknowledging its existence and looking at the harshness and terrors of the World in an attempt to figure them out so that you can be brutally honest with yourself, and thus honest with others. It is about utilizing those human qualities such as jealousy, clinginess, and manipulation and dispelling that energy in positive ways -- to look for a new job, pay attention to your mate, or set a goal to acquire something of value. It is also time to reconfigure or dress up your altar with fresh flowers and offerings.

New Moon time is also excellent for setting goals and intentions for the next month, until the New Moon comes again. Focusing on the bills? Set a financial goal to stick to during the month to earn more or to spend less so that you get your financial house in order. Are you ready to usher in the love of your life? New Moons are excellent to start to manifest a new love. Another good thing about New Moon energy -- letting go of the past and making a clean sweep of negative energy.

Phase 2: The Waxing Moon -- "Wax ON!"

During the Waxing Moon -- the time that the Moon is getting larger and brighter, but not at that mid-point where the Moon starts to appear to be shrinking -- sympathetic magic is best cast. This is the time to work on your self-esteem, your image to others, career matters, and love life. Write specific petitions to place under yellow, white, green, or pink candles with ideas of what you want from your lover (or soon to appear love), career, change in your title, or even a complete change of career fields. Writing is second to the tongue in manifesting, and using definitive statements such as "I will," "I want," or "I can" is the best method of achieving your goal, as using phrases such as "I wish" or "I hope" allows the essence of Doubt to manifest -- and with your love life and especially your career, there is no compromise. Use the catchphrase of "Wax ON!" to remind you to "bring it on" in matters of manifesting your best life.



Phase 3: Full Moon -- Coming on Strong!

Full Moons are the stuff that lore and movies are made of. They trigger the Werewolf and illuminate Dracula's flight. There is something to a Full Moon that is no joke. Ask any police officer or EMT. (Hah, you could go as far as asking a labor and delivery nurse.) Full Moons are full tilt boogie in matters of emotions running wild; everything is emotionally over the edge. Harness this energy and apply it to any spell you want, as the big bright mirror of the moon sees it all and helps out. Many people take this time to charge crystals in glasses of spring water overnight. Another self-energizing spell is to take a clear glass of spring water, cover it with a sheet of paper (to keep the bugs out), and let it sit overnight outside, basking in the Full Moon light. The next day, drink it as you meditate on what changes you want in your life. Full Moon time is for you to realize your New Moon affirmations or petitions, as you are gearing up to start banishing the negative side of your petitions away. For instance, if you are working on that pile of bills, from the New Moon to the Full Moon, you do spellwork to bring in additional opportunities to make money to apply to the bills, then at the Full Moon time, sit and strengthen your resolve to get through the month and get ready to do banishing work ON THOSE SAME BILLS. Yes, intention work and candle spellwork are two sides of the same double-edged sword. Which leads us to...

Phase 4: Waning Moon -- "Wax OFF!"

The Waning Moon, as the Moon is shrinking and becoming darker in the sky, is the time to cut ties with ugly situations and banish them to the edges of the Earth, never to return. This does not mean to throw the lover out the front door, but to banish the 'uglies' from your relationship -- taking advantage of each other, bad grooming, too many late nights with the 'boys', etc. It is also the time to banish self-loathing thoughts about yourself -- weight gain, insecurities, "f" boy dates, unfair treatment at work, "dem bishes," etc. This is the time to tell them "Hey, WAX OFF, man!" Time to remove all negative thoughts, essences, and energy keeping you from a life that you desire. You can cut those ties that bind you to negative people, wishing them the best and that the Universe give them what they dished out, because it always does. Take that pile of bills and tell them to go to H-E-double hockey sticks. Deep clean your altar area and sit and meditate on removing all bad out of your life.

There you have it, a schematic on how to work an entire month of Moon phases and incorporate the Moon's energy into your spellwork and into your life. If you're working on a long-term project, like a perfect mate, then repeat, repeat, repeat until they appear right before your eyes.

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Author, Proprietor, and Prognosticator Rev. Sister Jacqueline can be reached through her biography page on Hoodoo Psychics, where you can discover more about her readings and spellwork.