Book of Shadows - the Project

Maiden, Mother, Crone. Drawings from my page on the Triple Goddess.

I have owned a large, hand made Book of Shadows for a few years now. It was a custom project hand made by a dear friend of mine, a monster of a book with 600+ pages. Basically it was a dream of mine come true to own such a tome. My intention from the beginning has been to fill it with information and to make it a collection of knowledge on my Wiccan path. 

My big, leather-bound Book of Shadows. So many pages to fill.

I have many different books and old Book of Shadows that I do use. But they are more like journals where I have collected my thoughts and different snippets of information from different sources. The intention of this book has therefore been to not just gather information, but to do so in a thought out way, preferably with a lot of pictures and drawings. This has meant that I have been very restrictive with what and how I write anything in my tome.

The big Book of Shadows-project, however, is now officially in the making. I have planned and made mock layouts for it for a while, and the thought process has taken its time. But I have finally begun to fill the pages with information. It is going to be a slow process, and it is ongoing. One does not simply fill 600+ pages in a few days.

Moon phases and how to utilize them for magical or other such workings.

The pages I have now been working on contain the moon phases, information on the moon, different moon deities, the Triple Goddess, and other moon related aspects of the Craft, such as chants and moon rituals.

The moon phases. I drew and painted this on a separate piece of paper and inserted it in the BoS.

I find myself enjoying drawing the images and making small doodles. Pictures speak their own language, and relay their own messages. My aim now is to consequently work with the BoS from time to time to fill its pages. I also want to share my progress in the hopes that it might inspire others in their own magical endeavors.

Blessed be!

~Stella

Money Jar Spell

Autumn has begun and with it I sense magic in the air, a buzzling feeling of a new season. I have recently started studying again, which means I have rather less money to live on than when I worked as a teacher. Thus, in order to attract prosperity into my life I went looking for spells of that kind.

Now, as always, one should never expect to just have money fall into one's hands just because of a money spell. It could happen, yes, but if you do not work toward your goal, you will most likely not see the results. The money spell I am about to write down might work for you or it might not, and I am in no way responsible for the results you have with it (if you perform it, go gamble and loose all your money, realize that you are the one responsible for that loss).

That said, let's get down to business.

There are numerous money spells to be found in books and on the net. As I was casually browsing Instagram I came across this image that had been reposted by an other user:

Money spell jar by @herbal.moon.goddess on Instagram

It drew my attention and I felt inspired. So I copied it into my own spellbook, researched some correspondences and tweaked the spell to my liking. When doing magic, I feel it is important to listen to your intuition and do things that speak to you, that feel right. It is not about having to have the precise ingredients called for, or doing it at a time inconvenient to you. Choose ingredients for a spell that work for you and feel right for your working, and do the spell at a time that feels right. My instructions come with recommendation and suggestions, but you choose your own way of doing it.

The spell in it's original form calls for different ingredients with money correspondence to be put in a glass jar, then to be charged with your intentions and placed on your altar or carried with you to remind you of your goal.

Ingredients:

• Container: a glass jar is suggested, but you could also use a wooden box or small pouch, especially if you will carry it around with you.
• Representation of money: Like attracts like. You could use coins or bills to represent money, but if this is not possible, write a money symbol on a piece of paper and use that.
• Herbs: There are numerous hers that can be used. Mint has long been associated with wealth and prosperity. Others could be (but are not limited to) cinnamon, allspice, cloves, chamomile, jasmine, nutmeg and vervain.
• Essentioal oils: Patchouli and orange bergamot are the original suggestions, with options for chamomile, mint, cinnamon and basil
• Crystals: Citrine, green aventurine, moss agate, tourmaline.

These are mere suggestions. Research books or the web to find other ingredients with correspondences to money. It you do not have a certain ingredient readily available, consider if it is strictly necessary for you to go out and buy it. In my mind, the point of a money and prosperity spell is not to spend money in order to work it, but to work with what you have to achieve your goals. It is not only about making money, but about saving it as well. With that said, here are some other things you might think of when working your money jar spell:

• The colors green and gold (orange for success) are often used in money spells (that is the reason for choosing eg. citrine och green aventurine). Green is a color of growth while gold quite literally suggests wealth. Orange is a color for success. You could incorporate these colors by burning a candle of that color during the spell, and then again if you renew the spell or meditate on it. 
• Moon phase: spells to draw money and prosperity toward you should ideally be performed during a waxing moon. If you have to do the spell during a waning moon, you might instead opt to let go of ill spending habits. 
• Day of the week: Thursday is the day ruled by Jupiter and thus represents money and prosperity. You might opt to perform your spell on a Thursday of the waxing moon. 

There are several other correspondences you could incorporate, but I will repeat what I said earlier: Magic should be intuitive. If you hesitate because you fear you do not have the right ingredients, or might perform the ritual on the wrong day, then that doubt will influence your work. Correspondences are meant to help you bring power to your work easier. The more connections you feel that your spell has to the goal you are working toward, the easier it will be for you to perform your spell. So choose what you feel works for you and let's do some magic!

I copied the spell into my spell book, wrote down some additional information about different correspondences.
The chant I used popped into my mind during the spellcasting.

Like I said I tweaked the spell to suit my needs and chose ingredients based on what I had and what felt right. I ended up using an old glass jar (found at a flea market last year), a citrine and green agate, some pine nuts (because in the moment I opened my pantry my eyes fell on them and I thought "Yes! Those are the ones I will use") and some dried blackcurrant berries that I harvested and dried myself last year. I also included a gold colored coin, lit some patchouli and amber incense (I had mint oil in a diffuser in the room just before the ritual) and burned a green candle.

Once you have your ingredients, cleanse them in any way you wish (I used white sage), and create your sacred space. You do not need to do ritual if you do not want to, but I like to do it. I also like having a circle in place to store all power and not let other things that I have not invited in to influence my work. This is my basic ritual plan for spellwork, bare bones:

1. Cleanse the ritual space, tools and yourself
2. Ground and center
3. Begin the ritual by casting a circle
4. Call the quarters and deity 
5. Preform the spell: Add the ingredients to the jar, stating with each ingredient your goal
6. Raise energy for your spell. I did this by chanting:

Money and prosperity,

will be bountiful to me.

And once I had raised the energy and charged it into the jar I closed the top saying:

As I will, so mote it be!

     7. Thank deity and release the quarters

     8. Release the circle and extinguish any candles

You are now done. I allowed my green candle to burn  until I went to bed, and I will keep burning it and recharging the jar on Thursdays, renewing my consciousness about my goal.

Good luck in your spellwork!

Blessed be!

~Stella