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

Beauty Spells
Spells

Animal Allies: Butterfly, Peacock, Snake. Place an image of these creatures near your mirror or wherever you most usually make up your face. Allow them to encourage you to draw out and appreciate your own inherent beauty.

Spirit Allies

Freya (Nordic), Oshun (Yoruba), Persephone (Greek): if you ask nicely these beautiful deities will share their prized beauty secrets with you.

Freya's Enchanting Facial

Step 1: Face Mask

1 tablespoon honey

Moisten your face with warm water, then apply the honey evenly to cover your face. Allow to remain on for a ½ hour (or as long as is comfortable). Remove by rinsing first with warm water, then with cold.

Step 2: Skin Toner

1 cup springwater

1 teaspoon dried cowslip blossoms*

1 teaspoon dried catnip leaves*

Cowslips are wild primroses and Freya's favorite flowers. Sharing her essence, they're reputed to bring you a clear, beautiful complexion.

1. Boil the water and pour over the herbs. Allow them to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Strain and allow to cool.

3. Apply to your face with a cotton ball.

4. Use any remainder on your neck, body or in your bath.

· You can also refrigerate the remainder for 24 hours.

· To complete your day of beauty, prepare infused oil of primroses using the petals and sunflower oil. Full body massage with this oil is reputed to enhance and attract romance and increase both inner and outer beauty.

Persephone's Box of Beauty

Whenever the beautiful Greek goddesses feared that their beauty needed revitalizing, who did they turn to? Persephone, the compassionate Queen of the Underworld and Princess of Springtime, kept a box filled with beauty, which she would lend as needed. Ever generous, she'll help you fulfill your potential and dreams, too.

A pretty box

Dried flower petals

Dried orrisroot

Dried parsley

Dried poppy seeds

Pleasing photograph or drawing of yourself

Small, shiny crystals, gemstones and metals

1. Line the box with the dried botanical material. A magic box is an ongoing project; it does not have to be completed at one sitting. Search out the prettiest potpourri flowers you can find.

2. Add pretty treasures from the Earth.

3. Add an image of yourself that pleases you, an image of yourself at your best. If you don't have one yet, start the box anyway and experiment with new photos, sketches or drawings.

4. Continue to build your box of beauty. Let Persephone inspire and encourage you.

· This spellbox assists you to transform yourself from caterpillar to butterfly. When you're feeling a bit devitalized, just take it out and play with your treasures to receive their empowering magic.

· Store hair ornaments and jewelry in your box to empower and enhance them.

Turmeric is a rhizome, a member of the ginger family and is most typically sold in the supermarket as a ground yellow powder favored in curries. Check in the supermarket's spice aisle. It's a favored spiritual purification agent in areas as widely apart as India and Hawaii. In both places, interestingly, the rhizome is also associated with their leading spiritual ladies of beauty: Lakshmi (India) and Laka (Hawaii). In addition to purifying your aura, this face mask also tones and purifies your skin. In India, it's used as a quick temporary do-it-yourself face-lift.

Golden Glow Face Mask

1 tablespoon of turmeric powder

½ cup of full-fat yogurt

Blend the turmeric into the yogurt, mixing thoroughly. Apply to your face. Leave on for at least 10 minutes or up to a ½ hour. It will impart a golden glow to your skin, which in India is considered very beautiful and auspicious. If you don't like the effect, do it before bedtime as it usually wears off by morning. (The golden glow will fade from your skin, however, turmeric is a potent and permanent dye. Watch out for carpets and clothing!)

Rosemary reinvigorates more than psychic capacity. At age seventy-two, Queen Isabel of Hungary was crippled by gout and rheumatism. Her master herbalist concocted a reviving water for her, originally only with the intent of relieving her physical pain. The water was administered in daily vigorous massage. Not only was she soon moving, dancing as I believe the legend goes, her former beauty and youthful aura were also revived. Hungary Water has been popular ever since. The original 14th century formula called for one-and-a-half pounds of fresh flowering rosemary tops added to one gallon of alcohol and distilled. Should you happen to have distilling equipment, you can experiment with that, but modern versions also proliferate. Here's one:

Hungary Water

1 ounce infused water of dried rosemary and vervain

4 drops essential oil of rosemary

4 drops essential oil of May Chang

2 drops essential oil of German or Hungarian chamomile

2 drops essential oil of peppermint

1 drop essential oil of neroli

8 ounces vodka or other scent-free alcohol

1 ounce orange blossom water

1 ounce rose water

1. Make the herbal infused water by placing equal proportions of dried vervain and rosemary in a metal bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Steep for 15 minutes and strain out the botanical material.

2. Blend the essential oils and add them to the vodka in an airtight bottle.

3. Next add the infused flower waters. Shake vigorously.

4. Ideally, this beauty potion should now be allowed to mature for 6 months (giving the bottle a good shake every week) to gain full strength, however as it's pretty hard to wait that long, give it as long as you can.

Although it lacks a historical tale to equal Hungary Water, the following bath formula can be prepared quickly and simply, perfect for when you just want to feel (and maybe appear!) a little younger. Rosemary and patchouli are both plants of profound psychic power: Both are reputed to ease the physical signs of aging as well as helping to maintain a youthful heart.

Both have powerful aromas. Adjust the formula to please your nose. You can also use this formula for bath salts, a salt scrub or body oil.

Quick Fix Youthfulness Bath Formula

5 drops essential oil of patchouli

5 drops essential oil of rosemary

Add essential oils to a full tub of warm water just prior to entering the bath.

This next bath works on two levels simultaneously. Not only do the herbs have a genuine therapeutic effect upon your skin, they also heal your self-perception. Not only is your physical appearance enhanced, more importantly, the herbs help you feel attractive.

Self-Confidence Ritual Bath

Calendula blossoms

Red raspberry leaves

Yellow and pink candles

A pretty teacup or mug

1. Use equal parts of the herbs. You should have a substantial quantity: at least 1 cup of each.

2. Combine the herbs in a bowl and create an infusion by pouring boiling water over them. Allow to steep for 15 minutes.

3. Strain, reserving enough for a cup of tea. Add the remainder to a tub of warm water.

4. If your skin is dry, you may make infused oils instead, but make them separately, one infused oil of calendula and another of raspberry leaves. Add 1 tablespoon of each to the bath.

5. Float a few calendula blossoms in the water. Light the candles. Enter the tub and sip your tea. (May be sweetened with honey.)

Fumigation: Personal Incense

In ancient days, incense was burned nearby while clothes and hair were drying, to impregnate them with fragrance. This provocative incense ensures that your presence will linger, even when you are not physically present.

1. Play with botanical substances that appeal to you until you find a combination that expresses your essence. (You can always modify this; as you evolve, so will your personal incense.) You may use powdered herbs, resins and/or essential oils. Keep a written record of substances and quantities as you experiment so that you'll be able to reproduce it.

2. Pulverize dry ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Pour them into an airtight container.

3. Add oils, if you have them, stirring until a thick paste forms. This will be burned; don't allow it to get too liquid. (If it does, add more of the powdered material.)

4. If you wear a scent or perfume regularly, sprinkle a little on top.

5. Stir and shut the container tight. The mixture should be allowed to mature for at least 2 weeks. Sprinkle with a few extra drops of your everyday scent as needed.

· Burn personal incense to fumigate your clothes and hair.

· Sprinkle a little on a heated dry cast-iron skillet and walk the fragrant smoke through your home to leave your presence, especially when you are away!

Burn cloves and fumigate your body and clothes with the fragrance to halt and prevent malicious gossip about you.

Sun Oil

An oil that brings you only the benefits of the shining sun so that you'll feel invigorated, relaxed, powerful and sexy, ready to be the center of attention.

4 drops essential oil of frankincense

4 drops essential oil of myrrh

1 drop essential oil of Roman chamomile

1 drop essential oil of cardamom

Add to a full bathtub just prior to entering. For extra enhancement, color the water with a saffron infusion, as strong as your pocketbook allows.

· This formula can also be added to body oil or bath salts.

The Milky Way Weight Loss Spell

1 carton milk

Weight loss programs are best scheduled to coincide with the waning moon. A magical weight loss program is initiated on the night of the full moon. Stand in your tub or shower and pour the milk over your head. Before you rinse off, envision yourself getting thinner in harmony with the moon. (May I suggest that you allow the milk to achieve room temperature first. A very cold splash of milk may drive even the best intentions right out of your mind!)

The flower world can assist you in your attempts at self-transformation. The aroma of essential oil of patchouli has been used to control an excessive appetite. Likewise, other oils will stimulate your appetite, whether for cosmetic purposes, to counteract an eating disorder, depression or following an illness. These include essential oils of anise, bergamot, black pepper, fennel and ginger.

In order for this to be effective, this spell must be accompanied by a sincere effort to lose weight, whether through exercise, diet modification or both. If you find yourself side-tracked or need reinforcement, don't be angry with yourself. Schedule another milk bath starting date for the next full moon, which will arrive shortly.

Hair represents more than virility and seduction; it is also traditionally considered a barometer of a person's personal power. Many cultures believe in physical indications of psychic potential. These range from the infant born with a caul or tooth, to albinos and children whose speech is delayed for no apparent cause. Power is often believed to announce itself through hair that is somehow distinctive, whether because of volume, beauty or just general unruliness and defiance.

By caring for one's hair, you may be transitively enhancing and stimulating your personal power. Preventing hair loss has always been a popular concern. Anglo-Saxon men rubbed their heads with onions to stimulate hair growth. Rosemary oil is reputed to perform the same service.

Hair Growth Potion

1 ounce castor oil

1 ounce jojoba oil

30 drops essential oil of rosemary

Mix ingredients in an airtight bottle. Shake vigorously. Apply a little to your fingertips and massage into your scalp nightly. Start this regime to coincide with a new moon.

* You may also use fresh leaves and blossoms; both plants are easy to grow. Just increase the quantity to 1½ teaspoons each.