The Big Book of Practical Spells: Everyday Magic That Works - Judika Illes 2016

Lucky Wish Spells
Spells

Included here you will find spells for increasing general good fortune and good luck, as well as a few spells for the fulfillment of some specific desires:

The Spirit of Good Luck: Fortuna, also known as Lady Luck, comes from Italy, where once upon a time, she was an extremely prominent deity possessing large temples and shrines. Fortuna provides blessings of good fortune for all and especially protection for women and children. (She held an ancient reputation for being especially responsive to pleas from women wishing to retain their husband's sexual interest!) Build Fortuna an altar containing her attributes: a wheel, a rudder and a cornucopia from which she will dispense bounteous good fortune.

Lucky Charm: Jade attracts good friends and good fortune, promotes safety, material success, health and happiness.

Some animal allies are especially tied to the notion of good luck: Bat, Cat, Elephant, Horse, Rabbit are all considered especially fortuitous creatures. Concentrate upon them and perhaps their luck will rub off on you.

Lucky Dream Pillow

For happy dreams, sound inspiration and good fortune.

Chopped bay laurel leaves

Chamomile blossoms

Lavender blossoms

Pine needles

Essential oil of patchouli

1. Pulverize equal proportions of the herbs.

2. Sprinkle with a few drops of patchouli, basing the quantity on how much you like the fragrance.

3. Mix and allow to dry before stuffing your pillow.

Lucky Spice Necklace

Allspice

Cloves

Ginseng root

Nutmeg*

Tonka beans

2 sewing needles

36 inches of strong thread, dental floss or monofilament (fishline)

This necklace attracts luck and good fortune. Tonka beans are related to vanilla beans; however they should not be eaten, as they contain substances that may not be beneficial for the human body. They have a lovely fragrance, attract love and money, bolster courage and self-confidence and are traditionally used to make wishes come true.

1. Soak the roots and spices overnight to soften them.

2. Once softened, you may cut the ginseng root to the size and shape you desire.

3. Thread each end of the cord through a needle.

4. Add spices and roots as you will, creating a symmetric pattern by using first one side of the thread, then the other.

5. Concentrate on your desire while you pierce and string the beads. Remain focused.

6. Arrange the allspice berries so that they lie against your neck as they are round and smooth and shouldn't irritate your skin.

7. When each side measures 14 inches to the center, tie the ends of the thread, knot firmly and hang the necklace to air-dry. Once dried, your necklace should last for years.

Meditate on the Tarot image, The Wheel of Fortune, to start your own wheel turning in a positive direction!

Van Van Oil

This classic formula is used to turn bad luck into the best luck and open the road to success.

½ tablespoon castor oil

½ tablespoon jojoba oil

12 drops essential oil of lemongrass

1 drop essential oil of vetiver

Blend the castor and jojoba oils together first in a small glass bottle, then add the essential oils. Shake vigorously. Use Van Van oil to dress candles and charms. A single drop of Van Van oil recharges and energizes amulets. (This is a very concentrated oil: If you wish to use this formula in the bath or on your body, decrease the quantity of lemongrass by at least half or if you have sensitive skin, by even more.)

Uncrossing Oil

Are you beset with bad luck? Does nothing ever go right for you, seemingly without rhyme or reason? Perhaps psychic obstacles litter your path. This oil should remove them. The first 4 ingredients are crucial; the remainder are optional. You may include any of the optional ingredients or all of them.

1 tablespoon castor oil

1 teaspoon jojoba oil

Glass vial or small jar large enough to contain the items that you've included

6 to 10 drops essential oil of hyssop

A few grains of sea salt

Sprinkling fresh ground pepper

Tiny pinch cayenne pepper

Tiny pinch rue

Teeny sliver fresh garlic

Section of broken chain, as from a necklace

1. Blend the castor and jojoba oils together in the glass container.

2. Add the hyssop oil, salt and any other ingredients. If you're including the chain, the crucial quality is that it must be broken; the quantity is immaterial: you can add a few links or an entire broken necklace.

3. Shake vigorously. Saturate a cotton ball with the formula and carry it in your pocket or in a mojo bag, until your luck turns.

The Old Egg-in-the-Earth Spell

For when you are overwhelmed and weighed down with troubles and/or frustrated desires, especially those that cannot be spoken aloud. This is among the most ancient and widespread of spells.

1 egg

A little privacy

Be careful what kind of energy you attach to your spell. Coloring containing toxins may deliver the wrong message. Just assume with good faith that Earth is really sick of humans burying toxic materials within her.

Take one uncooked egg and tell it your secrets. You can speak to the egg or you can speak into the egg, as if it were a tape recorder, whatever works for you. When you have emptied your heart, take the egg and bury it in Earth, who hears the dreams, desires and wishes of her children. Walk away, with the confidence that Earth, your mother who wishes you well, will receive your message. Watch patiently for signs.

That's it. That's the basic spell. You don't need to do anything else. However, various suggestions for embellishing and personalizing this spell exist, all basically for the purpose of intensifying delivery of your message, making it louder and clearer.

· Consider location: some try to bury the egg in an area of Earth possessing greater psychic receptivity; others prefer to bury the egg near the grave of a loved one, particularly a parent.

· Decorating, coloring or writing on the egg may enhance the spell. This must be accomplished without breaking the egg. It must be a whole, raw egg, not a shell with the insides blown out. Try making a paste from henna or turmeric or using lemon juice to create invisible ink. Gently use a toothpick as a writing implement. Some women color their egg with menstrual blood so that Earth won't confuse their message with anyone else's. You can't get more personal than that. Milk from your own breasts, if you have it, is a powerful substance as well.

Write your wishes on bay leaves and burn them. The medium assists your petition to reach the spirit realm quickly and clearly.

Honey in the Jar

Do you need someone to be responsive toward you? Do you need to soften someone's heart? Is someone not returning your calls?

A small white piece of paper

Small jar with a lid

Honey

Small white candle

1. Write the person's name on a small white piece of paper.

2. Now write your own name 5 times over the other person's name, obliterating it.

3. Drop the piece of paper into a jar about one quarter filled with honey and put the lid on the jar.

4. Light a small, white candle on top of the lid of the jar, a tea light is ideal and concentrate on your wish.

The opposite problem may exist. Is someone thinking of you a little too much—and not in the ways you'd like? Is someone fixated on you with anger or resentment? Let's put their anger in the freezer.

Chill Out Spell

Write the angry person's name on a piece of paper. Drop the name into a small, unbreakable container half filled with water and place it in your freezer. New York photographer, Aris Dervis, recommends a film canister, which has the additional advantage of being able to be sealed shut, but any small container that won't shatter when frozen will do. In theory, if you have a lot of enemies, you could line them up in an ice cube tray. Leave in the freezer until you feel the coast is clear, then thaw slowly.

Tarot Card Growth Ritual

This spell requires fourteen consecutive nights and is used to draw toward you whatever you need. Begin at the new moon.

Tarot cards are used to predict the future but they can also be used to provide for you in the present. Modern tarot cards are the amalgamation of two distinct decks: the major and minor arcana. Many use the major cards alone for meditation and visualization. They are usually considered to be more powerful than the minor, hence their name, however, this next spell harnesses the power of the minor cards instead.

Use any deck you already have or buy one that appeals to you. (Regular playing cards will leave you short one card, the knight.) The classic Rider-Waite deck works well because all the cards are illustrated, unlike some decks which only provide illustrations for the court cards. The Rider-Waite images, painted by artist Pamela Colman-Smith, are especially evocative, however not all the images on the cards are pleasant. If you find that certain images distract you from your goals, then choose another deck.

You will need fourteen small candles (votive size, perhaps) to go with the fourteen suit cards, one candle per card. All candles should be of an identical type and color. Color-coordinate the candles to match your desire. Remember, you can always use white candles.

· Use cups for love or peace in the family: yellow, red or pink candles

· Use coins for money and prosperity: green, brown or yellow candles

· Use wands for new employment: green, red or brown candles

· Use swords for creative inspiration: black, blue, red or white candles

1. Light the first candle.

2. Lay down the ace of the appropriate suit so that it's directly in front of the candle and facing you. Each of the Rider-Waite aces depicts a celestial hand offering its gift: cup, coin, sword or flowering wand. Visualize yourself accepting that gift. Stay with the candle until it burns out.

3. On the second night, light another candle and lay down the second card in the suit. Meditate upon the implications of the image until the candle burns out. (If your deck provides no images for the numbered cards, visualize yourself attaining your goal instead.)

4. Repeat this with successive cards each night. The ten of each suit represents that the culmination of your goal is within reach. (The Rider-Waite ten of swords depicts a man prostrate and pierced with swords: it indicates resurrection, not death, success despite all odds. If you examine the image closely, you'll observe the sun rising on a new day, while the man presumed dead, signals with his hand that he still lives. The card promises improved fortune and new beginnings.)

5. Following the ten, continue with the court cards: page, knight, queen and king, in this order. They represent the power of ancestors, spirits and Earth herself. Each offers you a gift of joy and prosperity. Visualize yourself accepting their gifts.

Do you feel unappreciated, disrespected, taken for granted, perhaps? Dried calendula blossoms in your bath attract respect from others and stimulates the self-confidence needed for success.

The “I Deserve Respect” Bath

1 cup dried calendula blossoms

Throw the dried blossoms into a warm bath, watching as the water attains a pretty yellow hue. Soak in the tub and rub your body with the dried blossoms.

Stay Put Spell

Is your home being sold out from under you? Do you really not want to leave your rental? This spell grounds you solidly in your property, making any attempt to remove you very difficult.

· One caveat: if your desire is to stay put just long enough to find another dwelling, don't use this spell. It tends to bind you so completely to your present home that, while its power is in effect, even your own attempts to leave are met with failure.

1 charcoal

1 rock, preferably from your home property

Benzoin*

1. Grate a small quantity of your charcoal into a mortar and pestle.

2. Grate a bit of the rock into the mortar and pestle, as well. A regular metal food grater may be used.

3. Pound them together.

4. Add a bit of benzoin. (Benzoin is a very solid, sticky resin. It may be difficult getting it out of the bottle. In theory, you can liquefy it a little: place the bottle gently in some warm water for a few moments. In reality, even liquid benzoin has a tendency to harden as soon as it makes contact with air. I've found my best success by pulling bits of benzoin out using a turkey truss.) Mash together with the rock and charcoal dust. It should form tiny balls.

5. Scatter across all doorways or entrances to your home.

6. Repeat whenever you feel the threat reemerge, using the same charcoal and the same rock.

When the charcoal is gone, you may substitute another, but once the rock is all ground up, if the threat remains, it's time to find another solution.

The feet and the footprint are believed to reverberate with one's personal power. Reflecting this, a Hoodoo tradition evolved, known as “Foot Track Magic,” involving magic spells using dirt from footprints. While some are fairly malevolent spells, this one is intended to help you broaden your social circle, find friendship, romance and better business.

Best Foot First

Dirt from your own footprint

Crumbled, dried patchouli leaves

Ground cinnamon

1. Step in bare dirt on a warm, dry day and make a deep footprint. (If the weather isn't cooperative, wet the ground until it's slightly muddy, step in it barefoot until you've formed a footprint and wait for it to dry so that you can collect the dirt.)

2. Gather the dirt from that footprint. You may use a plastic bag, although an earthenware container is better.

3. The quantity of patchouli leaves depends upon the quantity of gathered dirt; there should be no less than ¼ the amount of patchouli and as much as equal parts.

4. Grind the patchouli and dirt together and add a sprinkling of cinnamon.

5. Go to where the walkway up to your house naturally begins and sprinkle the powder up to your front door to draw lucky, happy people toward you.

North African wisdom suggests that if people have been quarreling, oil poured over the spot where the quarrel took place will dissipate a tense, malevolent atmosphere. This next spell uses essential oil together with hair, seeds and flower buds to create a charm that encourages domestic peace.

Peaceful Home Charm Bag

Single strand of hair from each family member

Blue thread

Piece of angelica root

Essential oil of German chamomile

Balm of Gilead buds

Flax seeds

Lavender blossoms

Pink rosebuds

1. Make a braid with the hairs and thread.

2. Use the braid to tie a bow around the angelica root.

3. Anoint the hair and root with a few drop of chamomile oil.

4. The root, together with the other ingredients, is now placed in either a sachet or charm bag. If making a sachet, use muslin with blue thread; tie a muslin bag with a blue satin ribbon.

5. For the purpose of a good luck charm, either form is acceptable; however if there is a lot of domestic turbulence, make a charm bag so that you can easily add more chamomile for reinforcement.

Happy Trails Travel Charm

This charm is reputed to keep its owner from getting lost, whether on the road or during spiritual journeys.

Red flannel cloth

Earth

Coal powder

Small piece of silver: bead, charm or antique coin

1. Roll and stitch together a piece of red flannel cloth until its shape approximates a finger.

2. Stuff it with earth, coal powder and a small piece of silver.

3. Sew it together and carry it on your person.

* Once softened, the other ingredients may be pierced with a needle as you string them. Nutmeg's shell is so hard, it may require a small power drill. If this is a problem, just omit this ingredient.

* Although benzoin is a resin, you'll find it classified and sold with essential oils.