In a way that’s most comforting to them, inform the person that they are in the process of dying. Tell them that they’re loved and supported in the process. Encourage them to relax. Tell them that they’re safe. Tell them to breathe. If the person struggles with any of your statements, take some time to ease their mind. If they’re visibly struggling to stay in their body, keep encouraging relaxation and change the subject to something more mental (to draw their focus away from the physical), such as recounting experiences of the past. Talk in a comforting, soft, and slow manner. If the person is uncomfortable at any point, pause and see to their comfort. Remember that everybody dies at their own pace.
When you feel the person is ready to receive the blessing, tell them that you’re going to help bless their soul as they pass on. Pick up the feather and lightly wave it above them, all around the body. Say:
I call upon the ancestors. I call upon the gods, goddesses, and watchful spirits that protect and guide souls on their journeys through the planes. Come now, descend upon this space so that [Name] can peacefully ascend and join your beautiful and peaceful world.
Put the feather down and softly touch the dying with your right hand. Place your left hand on the soil of the potted plant. Say:
As the sun rises in the eastern sky, so too must it go down in the west.
As all life springs into existence, so too must it return to the Source.
As the most immaculate flower blooms, so too must it wither into soil.
Turn your voice directly to the dying. Slowly say:
Beloved [Name], you are preparing to enter the Hall of the Ancestors. Now is the time to allow yourself to slip into the Dreaming in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Your body has served you well. Your life has been a sacred and perfect experience. Those who have gone before you stand in waiting, gently summoning your spirit to the Great Mystery beyond this world. You are purified and prepared. You love and are beloved. Peace and joy surround you. The Afterworld, the Otherworld, the Summerland, and the Heavenly Realms are inviting you … take your time … relax and be at peace. Your friends and family love and support you, and are all at peace with your passage, we are all okay. It’s time for you to take a step beyond this world. Go at your own pace. Go in comfort, love, and peace.
At this point, close your eyes and slip into meditation. Disengage from the dying person and focus your attention on the energies of the room. Sense the air above the dying person: this is where the dying often perceive the heavens opening. Turn your focus to the spiritual energies of the dying and vibrations around them. Visualize their etheric body lifting up from their person, merging with the astral planes. Visualize their body glowing in a dim, pale blue light, softly losing hue. Work the energies as you see fit. Don’t overextend yourself if you feel any resistance.
After pausing for awhile, reengage with the dying. Say to them:
Your transition into the infinite world beyond this one shall be free of pain. Allow yourself the confidence to join the ranks of the ancestors. Slip into the Dreaming. Take the next step on the journey, for this is the Great Initiation and you are blessed. Now … rest … enjoy this transition into the Great Beyond. A whole Otherworld awaits, and we here on earth celebrate your ascension. Go, good soul: enter the Sacred Beyond with love in your heart, and you will be carried forth on the softest wings. Thou Art [God/dess]. Blessed be, and congratulations.
Slowly lean your face down to the face of the dying. Kiss (or air kiss) each cheek and give a heartfelt smile. Back away and perform any remaining energy work you wish. Spend a good amount of time with the family and make sure both the living and the dying are dealing with the process. Support friends and family after the beloved has left his or her body. Know that you are blessed for the good work you’ve just done.
Uranus
Zodiacal rulership: Aquarius
Color association: None (ineffable)
Sephira: Da’ath
Number: 11
Day: None
Archetypes: Trickster, Sky God
Themes: Creation, newness, freedom, nontraditionalism, intuition, trickery, invention, revolution, science, change, excess,
individuality, discovery, deviation, eccentricity
When you think of medieval accusations of Witchcraft, things come to mind such as ill health, barren animals or people, and misfortunes of all types. Much of the time, these people were said to be cursed by the dreaded “evil eye.” This foreboding term became aligned with (negatively viewed) Witchcraft in many parts of Europe, and the superstitious or fearful would seek any measure through folk magick or physical action to counteract the curse. It is also called “the art of fascination,” “overlooking,” and “seduction” (bewitchment). The influence of Uranus is appropriate for escaping a curse and crafting wards against it.
There is no one method of creating or deflecting the so-called evil eye. According to many, the evil eye is simply a name for that metaphorical (or actual) death-gaze that is born of one person’s highly focused negative emotions toward another. When this scorn impacts another person, an unintentional (or intentional) bitter astral link is formed. One can quite easily drain another person’s subtle life force in this manner. Indeed, many celebrities’ energies are erratic, escapist, and imbalanced simply because of the number of people sending them silent astral “messages” on a daily basis.
The evil eye is recognized in areas of the world including South Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean area of Europe, and is said to be put on a person in the form of a covetous gaze. In other words, staring at a person while feeling envy, spite, jealousy, and a desire for what they have (in addition to the desire for them not to have it) constitutes the evil eye. It doesn’t necessarily have to be delivered through eye contact (it’s energetic), and is not always a conscious act of black magick. There is much superstition around the belief in the evil eye and an equal amount of paranoia in terms of how to reflect it, deflect it, and dissolve it. While modern Witches aren’t so obsessed with these antiquated and superstitious views, there is certainly still some validity to the belief: all energy is transferred through thought, emotion, and action, whether destructive, constructive, or indifferent. This spell is a charm to reflect such heavy influence and guard against any future fascination.
Stepping Back & Further Application
So, do you think the evil eye has been put on you? If so, why? Investigate all possibilities in the situation. It’s best to practice active skepticism: in all likelihood, you’re free and clear of fascination. At the same time, the evil eye can be put on someone unintentionally via a heavy direction of covetous energy. If this is occurring, do you feel its influence is significant enough to warrant a charm against it? Do you feel the curse in your astral body? Are you just being paranoid?
Examine the subject from all angles. Unless you have solid evidence of the evil eye occurring, don’t assume the negative energy you feel is coming from any one particular person; if envious vibes aren’t actually coming from a single individual, focusing your charm against one particular individual would be restricting. Instead, use this charm to boost your preexisting walls of protection and allow it to halt any evils directed at you from any direction. Regardless of whether or not you are truly bewitched, this charm can ward against its future influence and can be a fun and important project for Witches, covens, and magickal families.
Supplies
• a circular piece of cardboard (such as those from frozen pizzas)
• a black sketch pencil
• a small amount of flour mixed with water (see Notes)
• a circular piece of blue construction paper, exactly the same size as the circular piece of cardboard
• a number of chicken leg bones or oak twigs (see Notes)
• a spool of red thread
• a squeezable container of honey
/> • a blue stone, such as lapis lazuli or sodalite
• a bit of black cat hair
• medicine or a representation of either the fox (foxglove, fox hair, etc.), the bat (batwing petals, holly leaves, bat’s blood ink, etc.), or the cat (cat whiskers, more cat hair, cat’s claw bark, catnip, etc.)
• some small cowrie shells, blue beads, porcupine quills, amethyst, or tiger’s eye stones
• a number of full (unbroken) star anise pods
• a separate bowl of lavender buds
• a very fine powdered combination of any of the herbs acacia, hyssop, marigold (calendula), rue, vervain, and white horehound
• a small amount each of black pepper (ground or whole), garlic powder, powdered sage, white sea salt, and black sand or black salt (“Witch’s salt”)
Notes
• The chicken bones and porcupine quills suggested in this spell can be purchased at various online retailers, including the Bone Room (www.boneroom.com). The number of chicken leg bones or oak twigs to be used in this spell should be double the number of places you wish to protect in this spell, as these will be tied in a cross. For example, say you wish to hang a cross of bones or twigs in front of every window and door in the house, as well as one dangling from your car’s rearview mirror. In this case, if you have 7 windows in the house, 9 doors, and 1 vehicle, you would need 34 bones or twigs in total. However, you may only wish to protect 2 doors in the house (the doors that open to the outside world, for example), in which case you would only need 4 bones or twigs for the spell. Decide for yourself what requires the most protection in your general area.
• The mixture of flour and water should be the consistency of a gummy mush. This is a good binding agent for items used in the spell that honey won’t hold (like the shells and stones).
• The symbol used herein is a variation of a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign that has the purpose of deflecting the evil eye from one’s property. Various other symbols can also be used, and I encourage practitioners to add their own protective symbols to the charm.
• The purpose of having a variety of separate herbal powders, salts, spices, and the like, is not only for their magickal properties, but for practical use: each powder is a different color or consistency and will aid in the formation of this artistic charm.
Procedure
Begin by casting a circle, calling the quarters, chanting, or raising energy as you normally would, performing protective exercises, and altering your consciousness. Clear your mind, bring focus to your breath, and meditate for at least a few minutes. When ready, begin the spell.
Sit in a meditative position, close your eyes, and bring focus to your energy body. Observe if you feel any inconsistencies in your Ki (or Qi: energy flow) that may be influenced by someone else. When you sense this, hold the cardboard to that area of your body and shout:
Evil from the outside: HERE!
Keep directing bad external juju into the cardboard. Do this also on your third eye. When finished, write, in very large letters, the words LO THA-CHEMOD on both sides of the cardboard. Next, grab the flour-water mixture and smear it all over one side of the cardboard. Affix the blue paper atop the cardboard and flour adhesive, rubbing it down with your hands to smooth any lumps. While this dries, get your other ingredients in order.
Get the bones or twigs and begin to lay them into X formations. Bind them together with red thread at the intersecting point. Make as many of these X charms as is appropriate for your home (see Notes). Once constructed, place these all around your ritual space to absorb energy. Raise your hands and shout:
Gaze of covet! Gaze of ill!
Eye of envy! Eye of evil!
Deflected, Reflected, Rejected!
Grab the pencil and draw symbol 19 on the entire piece of blue paper. If your intuition tells you to make modifications to this symbol, go for it. You may wish to add dots, additional lines, and other protective symbols. The most important part of the piece is the giant Middle Eastern double-eye in the middle.
Begin making the ward. Use the honey to squeeze sticky lines on top of the pre-drawn image. Carefully re-create the image in honey. If you wish to work portions at a time (begin with the innermost eye section first), it may help avoid the honey drying too quickly. Also use the sticky flour-water mixture on any portions of the charm that require heavier objects on it (like shells or stones) that honey may not securely hold. At the very center dot of the charm, place the blue stone, affixed with the paste. On the 12 outer dots, affix the cat hair as well as the fox and/or bat and/or cat medicine. On the outermost diamond, affix the stones, shells, quills, anise pods, and other items. On all other portions of the image, use your intuition to decide where all the powders should be placed.
When you’ve fully constructed your artistic ward against the evil eye, sit down and balance the charm on your head. Once carefully balanced, put your hands in the “prayer” mudra position and repeat:
Gaze of covet! Gaze of ill!
Eye of envy! Eye of evil!
Deflected, Reflected, Rejected!
In your mind’s eye, see the symbol absorbing any negative vibes being sent from outside sources. See it capturing and deflecting any ill influence. Once completed, set the charm on your altar to dry and close the circle as you normally would. The next day, hang the charm on the wall in an area of the house that sees much human traffic, or hang it up outside your front door. Hang the cross charms in the appropriate areas and perform any additional protective magick you deem fit.
Uranus is a sign of freedom and revolution, and it oversees the breaking of bonds. For this reason, a few anti-evil spells are included here.
Saying a person is “crossed” is the same as saying a person has been “cursed.” If you feel this has happened to you or someone you know, this spell may be of benefit. Drawing mostly on Hoodoo practices, a working such as this can help clear one’s energy regardless of curse. In all likelihood, no curse has been placed. Just the same, if you feel it has been, this type of working can ensure a rampart of protection, just in case.
In most instances, the “curse” a person senses on themselves is actually an accumulation of internal energy that hasn’t been dealt with. Unless the signs make it extremely apparent that bad magick has been worked from an outside source, consider the probability that internal emotional and energetic work should be done before confusing it with external juju.
The power of thought is amazing. Magick is sent through the mental plane constantly and even a buildup of particular thoughts projected in one direction is a magickal working in and of itself. Manifestation occurs unconsciously, and formal magickal arts are methods of consciously honing that creative power. If you believe yourself to be crossed, consider that the person may be sending bitter, harmful energies to you without realizing that they’re actually causing harm. Nonetheless, the energy can still become manifest, “actual” curse of not. Uncrossing spells help remove these energies and are good to practice frequently if you interact with a number of people on a regular basis or are somewhat well-known. If the energetic body is receiving adverse vibrations and is not cleansed regularly, the energies are at risk of building to a damaging degree.
Stepping Back & Further Application
Don’t get too paranoid that a spell has been put on you. In most cases, the two parties (your and the assumed caster) are actually both performing energetic protection against each other! Most magicians aren’t unwise enough to throw out curses like candy (though there certainly are a handful who enjoy this sort of feeble power-play).
Just as with unsolicited psychic vampyrism, harming another person magickally is usually nothing more than a pathetic attempt to assert power. Cursing has its time and place, but it’s very rarely warranted. If you believe someone in particular has put the bad stuff on you, consider not a counterattack but additional protec
tion and reflection magick instead. An uncrossing spell can go a long way in lifting negativity thrown at you, but your protective shields must be reinforced on a regular basis to guard against any future attacks, conscious or otherwise.
Supplies
• a large black candle
• a separate bowl of the herb rue
• a large muslin drawstring bag (or another bag suitable for bathtub use)
• a small black fabric drawstring bag
• a small amount of black sand or black salt (“Witch’s salt”)
• any combination of the herbs angelica, chamomile, cinquefoil, dragon’s blood, galangal (Low John root), hyssop, juniper, marshmallow root, nettles, poke root, snakeroot, thistle (milk or blessed), and vetiver
• black hen feathers (see Notes)
• a small sheet of waxed paper
• a bathtub or shower
• a bowl of sea salt
• a bit of Four Thieves Vinegar (see Notes)
• any number of freshly cut citrus fruits (halved)
Notes
• Four Thieves Vinegar, a component of many Hoodoo workings, is said to have gotten its name from the time of the European plague (approximately ce 1334–1350). Many people at the time would rob bodies of their jewelry and other valuables, and legend says that a band of four thieves were able to ward off the plague by rubbing their bodies with a vinegary concoction before robbing the corpses. Four Thieves Vinegar is now used as a strong protection and banishing formula and is available through many occult supply shops. Substitute apple cider vinegar if unavailable.
• Black hen feathers have a long history in Hoodoo. Historically, if a person were to “lay a trick” (such as a line of magickal powder) in front of another person’s door, that person could get a black hen to scratch and claw away the powder that was laid for them, thus rendering the original caster’s spell broken. Black hen feathers in spells have similar effects. These can be purchased at various online retailers, including Lucky Mojo (www.luckymojo.com), who sells very traditional, handmade magickal items of Hoodoo, Santería, Vodoun, and other African diaspora systems. If black hen feathers are unavailable, substitute with a black-dyed chicken feather, available at all kinds of craft stores . . . and Craft stores!
Planetary Spells & Rituals Page 22