The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2017
Performing Seasonal Rituals
Manifest the Power of the Seasons
Discovering the Green Witch
Meditations are one method of interacting with the energy of the season. Rituals are another. Because green witchcraft is informal, whether to use the popular neopagan practice of creating a ritual circle to set the ritual site apart from the mundane world is up to the green witch herself. In occult traditions, the circle represents protection from negative forces that could interfere in your work. In the green witch’s practice, however, we do not require protection, for everything is part of nature. Instead, those who choose to use a circle use it to designate an area of purity in which to work, a sacred place set apart for the ritual. If you choose to delineate your ritual area in this fashion, you may simply walk the perimeter of your space with the intent of marking it. No further formal action, visualization, or words are required.
SPRING EQUINOX EGG RITUAL FOR WELCOMING CREATIVE ENERGY INTO YOUR LIFE
This ritual is designed to gather up some of the abundant, fertile energy of nature in the springtime and direct it toward an area of your life where you could use a shot of productive, creative energy.
This spell appeals to the spring maiden and the youthful sun for their blessings and energy; I have deliberately used symbolic figures in this ritual so that you can visualize them as you desire. Because green witchcraft does not worship any specific deities, you are free to invoke deity energy as you see fit and according to your religion of choice. In this and other rituals, if you wish to appeal to a deity whom you worship on a regular basis, then by all means substitute that god or goddess.
Before beginning this spell, color your uncooked egg according to your personal color associations. For example, if the area of your life which requires energy is career related, you might color the egg brown or orange; if it is related to romance, you may wish to color the egg red or pink.
Perform this ritual in your home at your altar, or wherever you feel comfortable. You will need:
✵ Matches or lighter
✵ 1 small, pale green candle
✵ 1 uncooked egg, colored according to your preference
✵ Pen
✵ Small piece of parchment
✵ Heatproof dish
Then follow these steps:
1. Create sacred space however you prefer to do so.
2. Light the candle and take the egg into your hands. Say: Maiden Goddess of Spring, light, and life, Youthful God of the Sun, exuberant and joyful: Bless this egg, and fill it with the power of spring, of life, of fertile and creative energy. May my life be energized!
3. Set the egg next to the candle.
4. Using the pen, write on the parchment the situation or area of your life to which you wish to direct the creative energy of spring. When you have finished writing, hold the paper between your hands and empower it with your need.
5. Carefully touch the corner of the paper to the candle flame until it catches fire. Drop it in the heatproof dish and allow the paper to burn completely to ash.
6. Allow the candle to burn down completely. Let the egg rest beside the candle.
7. When the candle has gone out, take the egg and the bowl of ashes outdoors and dig a hole in the ground. Place the egg in the hole and sprinkle the ashes of the paper on top of it. Bury these carefully and with reverence. The energy of the egg and the earth will slowly begin to infuse the situation in your life that you asked to be energized.
SUMMER GARDEN BLESSING RITUAL
Making flower chains is a wonderful way to combine play, work, and creativity. Take advantage of the abundant and luxurious energy of expansion and growth that manifests in the summertime to bless your garden with this ritual. Before you begin, select a place in your garden to serve as a place of offering. Gather the leaves and flowers you will be using from your garden or the wild (remembering to harvest responsibly); do not buy them from a florist. If you wish, use your hand instead of the staff or wand. You will need:
✵ Wand or staff
✵ Stang (forked staff or stick; see Chapter 2)
✵ 12 flowers (your choice; wildflowers and weeds are fine, but make sure the stems are at least 4 inches long and do not select anything with toxic leaves)
✵ 12 leaves (your choice; as large as possible, with firm stems)
✵ Knife or scissors (optional)
✵ Pitcher, bowl, cup, or watering can full of water
Then follow these steps:
1. With the wand or staff in your hand, circle around or walk through your garden. Hold the wand or staff in front of you, its base close to the ground. Visualize the life energy as it rises up from the soil through the plants’ roots to nourish the stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit.
2. Circle or walk through the garden a second time, still holding the wand or staff, but this time raised higher so that the tip reaches into the sky. Visualize the energy of the sun and the rain nourishing the plants from above.
3. Circle or walk through the garden a third and final time, now holding the wand or staff horizontally. Visualize the energy of each individual growing plant expanding to join with the other plants around it, forming the whole of your garden.
4. Lay down the wand or staff in front of your chosen place of offering. Take up the stang, and insert the single end into the earth firmly so that the forked end stands upright and stable.
5. Sit or kneel in front of the stang and take up one of the flowers. Strip away any leaves or greenery along the stem and trim it to approximately 6 inches long. With your fingernail (or the knife or scissors, if you prefer), make a small vertical slit in the stem about 1-2 inches below the petals. Don’t make the slit too long; 1/2 inch ought to be enough. Do the same to the other eleven flowers.
6. Hold the first flower just below the petals. Pick up a second flower and carefully insert the end of the stem into the slit in the first flower. Carefully pull the stem of the second flower through the slit until the slit in the second stem has passed through the first stem’s slit.
7. Pick up a third flower and insert its stem into the slit on the second flower. Repeat until all twelve flowers have been assembled into a chain.
8. Gently hang the flower chain on the stang by laying each end over one of the branches so that the middle of the chain forms a gentle swag. If the chain is not long enough, simply hang it over the fork itself.
9. In each of the leaves, make a tiny slit in the stem of the leaf.
10. Take one leaf and hold it in your hand. Take a second and gently insert the stem into the slit of the first leaf. Pull the second stem through until the slit passes through the first slit. Continue with the remaining leaves, until you have another chain.
11. Gently hang the leaf chain on the stang by laying each end over one of the branches, so that it lies along the flower chain. If the leaf chain is not long enough, simply hang it over the fork or gently twine it around the flower chain.
12. Lay both your hands on the chains and say:
Powers of Wind and Earth,
Powers of Sun and Rain:
By tree and flower and leaf,
With my hands and heart,
I bless this garden with life and love.
13. Take up the pitcher or bowl of water and walk through your garden, gently sprinkling drops of the water throughout. Keep some water back. Return to the stang and pour the last of the water at its base where it has been thrust into the ground and say: I give thanks to the earth for its bounty, its protection, and its support. Blessed be the earth and those who walk upon it.
14. If you like, you can sit by the stang and meditate for a while or simply enjoy being in your garden. You can also weed, work the soil, thin out some plants, or do whatever gardening needs to be done. Leave the chains on the stang for at least a day (or as long as you feel right in leaving them). Remove them when they have wilted, but do not throw them out. Add them to your compost pile.
AUTUMN EQUINOX HARVEST RITUAL
This ritual honors the earth’s produce and bounty and allows you to participate in the season’s energy by performing the essential harvesting action. You can harvest something from your own garden or something wild. If you have a lot to harvest, choose the first or the last item you plan to harvest for this ritual. The harvesting tool will depend on what you are harvesting. You will need:
✵ Sharp knife, secateurs, scissors, or shears
✵ Small bottle or bowl of water
Then follow these steps:
1. Standing next to what you are harvesting, reach out with your hand and sense that plant’s energy. Say:
I honor you, earth’s child.
I honor your growth, your flower, and now your fruit.
I thank you for your energy.
Blessed be, earth’s child.
May I who harvest your fruit be blessed by the act.
2. With the harvesting tool, cut the fruit off the plant. Sense the energy of the plant when you have harvested its produce. Honor the difference you feel.
3. Pour the water at the base of the plant in thanks.
ICE RITUAL FOR THE WINTER SOLSTICE
This ritual is a physical reminder that spring will always follow winter. If you live in a region with no snow, make a batch of ice cubes prior to the ritual and use those. A metal bowl is recommended because it will best reflect the candle’s flame, although it will grow very cold, so be aware of your fingers when you hold it. If it’s wintry cold where you live, perform this ritual indoors. Otherwise, the ice and snow will not melt, and the point of the ritual will be lost.
Perform this ritual in your home at your altar or wherever you feel comfortable. You will need:
✵ Bowl (preferably metal)
✵ Ice cubes or chunks of ice and snow from outdoors (approximately 1 cup)
✵ Candle (red, orange, or yellow) in candleholder
✵ Matches or lighter
Then follow these steps:
1. Place the snow or ice cubes in the bowl and sit or kneel next to it. Light the candle and place it behind the bowl so that you can see the flame’s reflection dancing in the ice or snow.
2. Say:
As the season turns, and the sun shines,
I hail the light that returns to the land.
Darkness ebbs, light again flows,
And day by day the land will grow warm.
Welcome again, bright sun!
May your beams caress the land and transform ice to water,
Snow to rain, cold to warmth,
And winter to spring again.
3. Allow the snow or ice to melt until it is water. Look at the reflection of the candle flame on the water in the bowl and think about the warmth of the sun. Feel the energy of the snow as it melts, the energy of the flame as it emits light and heat. Observe the communication between the two.
4. When you are finished, pour the water outside at the base of a tree.