Little Witcheries - It's In The Bag

Fall has arrived, if not by weather, then by date. Seasonal folklore is rich this time of year. There are even certain seasonal rituals that involve swapping out clothing colours or shoe styles.  I've never been much for observing the "no white after Labour Day" rule, but I do enjoy changing out my purse when the light and dark hours shift.  Packed away is the bohemian shoulder bag for road tripping and the blue and white polka-dot summer purse, and out comes the brown bag with the faintest pattern that at first appears to be fleur de lys, but on closer inspection reveals grinning skulls.

When I do a handbag-swap, I always make a bit of a ritual out of it.  I pull every item out of the purses to be packed away, and then give them a good shake-out.  If they are of a material that can be wiped with a damp cloth or even spritzed lightly with a gentle soap or cleaner, I do that to get rid of any dust, or other random materials like that melted peanut butter M&M pen ink or makeup residue.  If the purse is leather, white, or made from a porous fabric, I dry dust it.  If it needs a touch more help, I'll do an inconspicuous spot test before using water or soap on it.

Once the purse is as clean as possible, I'll give it a good spray with my Prosperity Spray, or an annointing with an oil that draws money or success, or fumigate it with an incense that is made with ingredients that do the same.  Even though the purse is going back in the closet, it doesn't hurt to keep that money vibration working in it.  The very last thing I do is ensure that there is some actual money left in the bag.  Just as it is considered poor luck (or in poor taste) to receive or gift a purse with no money in it (for then it will stay empty), I never store a purse without some kind of money in it - even if it's just a dime.

I do the same routine when bringing out a purse that has been stored.  A good shake to wake it up, a spritz, a dab, or a smoking of prosperity and/or luck-bringing herbs or oils, and I'm good to start packing my portables back into it.

Some other items that find their way into my purses include:

Citrine - considered the merchant's stone, because it is often found in cash registers or behind counters or doors in shops, citrine attracts money to your door and customers to your store.

Pyrite - this stone is the golden disco-ball that brings money and luck your way.

Cinquefoil or Five Fingered Grass - the five leaves are said to represent money, love, health, widsom and power.

Symbols and Sigils - jot down your money drawing, protection, or success sigils, or favourite power symbols and tuck them into your wallet or purse pockets. 

Powders - for those that make rootwork or Hoodoo style powders, a little pinch in your purse can amp up the money magic!

Lucky Coins - a found penny with your birth-year on it, a Mercury dime, a little Chinese good luck coin, or whatever coin catches your eye.

Nuts and Spices - whether you are looking for a bit of general luck, or if you are hot for the slot machines, try popping a horse chestnut (Canadians and Brits call them "conkers" and Americans call them "buckeyes") or a whole nutmeg or cinnamon stick in your purse.

"...it's not a man purse - it's called a satchel." ~ Alan  (The Hangover)

As for the gentlemen who happen by this post, I'm going to suggest that the same tips apply. Whether you use a wallet or a satchel, if it is leather avoid the sprays and oils, and stick with powders or censing.  It's going to be a touch uncomfortable sitting on a citrine, so if you carry a wallet, stick with your sigils or a pressed cinquefoil, tucked behind a seldom-used card, or hidden in the bottom of your bill fold.  And always keep a bill in your wallet - even if it's just $1 (or $5 for us Canadians with fewer denominations of paper money.)

May your purse or wallet always be full, and ever be attracting more money to it!


Photos via (and linked back to) WikiCommons

Personal Alchemy

On Thursday, I couldn't get a phrase out of my head.  "Six keys for six roads."  I didn't remember hearing the words anywhere else, and wasn't sure exactly what they meant, but the keys/roads symbolism wasn't lost on me.

I did a search for the phrase, for kicks, and "The Six Keys of Eudoxus" showed up.  The text speaks of alchemy - in this case it refers to mercury many times and I assume the steps taken to transmute that into the material most valued - gold.  I find this type of writing both fascinating and confusing.  If you have a minute or thirty to look over The Six Keys, you'll understand what I mean.  It's both rich and poetic and mysterious as well as terribly difficult to wrap your head around completely.

As I read it, another level of understanding appeared to me.  I'm not a chemist, but I grasp the idea behind alchemy - the process of transmuting something common, or of little value, into something valuable, rare or superior in form.  And although this text is about "the generation of a new substance infinitely nobler than the First," I feel as though I could spend vast amounts of time picking it apart and applying the directions to life itself.  It helps that the author uses the words "life, body, spirit, soul," and similar words to describe mercury and the other substances in the Keys.

For example:

"...there are three different substances...which are the spirit, the soul, and the body; and though they appear pure and perfectly united together, there still wants much of their being so..."

"...the spirits of the bodies are the Bath where the Sun and Moon go to wash themselves."

"Hermes says, that there is so much sympathy between the purified bodies and the spirits, that they never quit one another when they are united together: because this union resembles that of the soul with the glorified body; after which Faith tells us, there shall be no more separation or death; because the spirits desire to be in the cleansed bodies, and having them, they enliven and dwell in them."

The Alchemist - Cornelis Pietersz Bega

It was not a surprise to me then, that the next day, upon visiting my 99 year old grandfather who had taken a sharp turn in his health, I would be pondering the body and the spirit and the idea of transmutation.  While sitting with him, I looked up at the mirrored doors of his closet and could clearly see myself sitting at his bedside, but could not see him on the bed.  I looked back at him, and then at the mirror again and still could not make out his form in the mirror.  I had a clear moment of understanding that he was already taking steps on his journey out of this world.  By the next evening, he had passed on.

I often ponder my progress in life.  Am I learning my lessons?  Am I becoming more than I have been? Seeing a progression is important to me (while still maintaining a childlike joy, of course.)  I don't want to be hung up on the same issues five years from now.  I don't want to be on my death bed and think "I wonder if I look fat in this hospital gown?"  I desire alchemy in my life.  I want to transform lower thoughts and not-so-lovely attitudes into more beneficial philosophies and practices.  I still fall.  There is much to be learned in a fall too.  But the goal is to not step into the same hole again.

My grandfather wasn't perfect.  He fell too.  But he evolved.  He grew more interested in joy.  In chocolate.  In seeing his family and grandchildren grow.  In chasing the ladies after my grandmother passed on.  He died surrounded by family and friends because he was cherished. People didn't flock to his bedside last weekend because he had a fortune to leave behind that they were hoping for a piece of.  They were there because he had built a legacy that people were proud to be a part of.  He had transformed himself from a poor English farmboy to a nearly 100 year old patriarch of an adoring family.  He passed from this life singing.

He took a body of flesh and a spark of spirit and created something incredibly valuable with them.

He was a hell of an alchemist.

The Spiral

I've been thinking about how my life journey seems to be less a "crooked path" or a "path less taken" and more of a spiral path. At times I feel like I've gotten so far ahead, and grown so much, only to come back into contact with feelings or situations that I have experienced before. If I'm lucky (or wise) I'll have learned from my previous experiences, and can sail through these new situations. But if I'm holding onto baggage or unhealthy feelings or emotions, I find that I have to learn these lessons all over again.

"The spiral represents the flow of physical & spiritual energy. It symbolizes both solar & lunar, male & female energies. Long before the discovery of spiral galaxies, the ancients have used the spiral image to represent the universe, the earth's rotation, the moon's orbit, and as a symbol for growth."

I love this symbol so much, that my sister in law and I have named our business "Spiral Spirit Offerings." Although the store front didn't pan out, we are currently building our online store, and are joyfully ordering product from suppliers.

This is such a great "next step" for me right now and I'm very thankful and happy about how this is working out. So blissful I am, that I forget that the world keeps on turning, and the path wraps back around, and low and behold....here I am facing an old issue.

Instead of thinking "crap - this again?!" and hiding, I'm going to try and meet this head on. I really don't want to come back around in two years or five years or.... and be facing the same situation. Habits are a hard thing to break, whether they are something you are doing, or something that you've allowed to happen to you.

At any rate, I am feeling much more "capable" these days, and I have faith (blissfully naive or not) that everything will work out just fine.

I also wanted to beg pardon, as I'm fussing with my blog background and header again (you are all so patient with my limited attention span!) I think I rather like the swirls in this one...reminds me of spirals!