Llewellyn Publications's Blog, page 3

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Maria Wander, co-author of the new Capricorn Witch.

Political Astrological magic is not a modern concept, although the most recent American Presidential elections have brought this topic to the fore. In fact, the capitol city plan of the United States, Washington, D.C., was laid out to evoke and propitiate a particular constellation depicting the goddess of duty, service, moral order, and fair judgement.

The work was commissioned by Founding Father George Washington, a Freemason; begun by surveyor, Piere L’Enfant, the city’s initial designer, another Freemason; and the design completed by Andrew Ellicott, yes—another Freemason. The cornerstone of the United States Capital was laid by Washington’s own hand on September 18, 1793, in a ceremonial placement held by the Freemasonry lodges of Virginia and Maryland, conducted by Grand Sword Bearer of the Maryland Lodge, Joseph Clark, acting as Grand Master when the Sun, Mercury and the North Node were in the sign of Virgo.

On a clear evening around that same September date each year, Arcturus, Regulus, and Spica are visible and triangulating in the evening sky. These Fixed Stars were used in 1793 to map the triangular placement plan for the White House, the Capitol Building, and the Washington Monument. Arcturus is a star of renown, self-determination, and prosperity. Spica is a star of success and fortune. Regulus is a star of generosity, ambition, power, and command. When the sun sets and these stars emerge into the sky, they look down upon a place that originated in magic, oriented towards the particular sacred purpose of the provision of communal good and justice.

The ancient astrological theurgists experienced the wandering stars, planets, as deity conduits able to spiritually accelerate enlightenment and assist in judgment of the best times to act. Traditional Greek astrology sprung from Babylonian and Egyptian methods based on the use of the Hour Marker, the horoskopos, known as the Ascendant, or degree of the zodiac rising on the eastern horizon at a specific time and place. The Stoics tracked the movements of the stars and correlated planetary motions that preceded particular outcomes, noting them to be heralds for events.

When organizing magic to be done towards political aims, let the planets act as guides to auspiciously, appropriate methods: Mercury for candidates and speakers to be quick-witted and able to think on their feet; Mars for military concerns and tenacity in pursuit of goals; Venus for collegiality, collaboration, and glamour magic to ease and smooth the way; Jupiter to enhance vision, optimism, and affirm success; and Saturn to encourage politicians to take their commitments seriously and work diligently to attain them.

For more information on how to use astrology in a pragmatic way, check out Capricorn Witch, which I co-authored with Ivo Domiguez, Jr. and a bevy of talented contributors.

Our thanks to Maria for her guest post! For more from Maria Wander, read her article, “Your Personal Wheel of the Year.”

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Charity L. Bedell, author of Container Magic and the new Divine Dirt.

Dirt magic is one of the oldest forms of magic. Working with dirt magic is a powerful way for us to connect with the power and spirits within the earth as well as the spirit of place. From mountains and forests to malls and amusement parks, you can use dirt to manifest all sorts of different things in your life. Here are 2 luck spells that use two different types of dirt to bring in luck.

Luck Gain Charm
Sometimes our friends can get down on their luck. This charm uses dirt from their home to attract luck to your friend’s life. (Substitute dirt from your home to bring dirt into your own personal life.)

Materials:

Small BowlDirt from your friend’s home (Personal Effect)1 Tablespoon Clover (Good Luck)1 Tablespoon Basil (Good Luck)1 Tablespoon Sugar (Attraction)1 Tablespoon Cinnamon (Good Luck)Small Rabbit’s Foot Key Chain (Symbol of luck)Skeleton Key (Opens the way)Pine Essential Oil (Good Luck)Clove Essential Oil (Good Luck)

Working:

In the small bowl, mix the dirt, Basil, Cinnamon, and Sugar. While you mix the materials, recite the following mantra 5-7x or until thoroughly mixed: “Lucky day today. Send Luck (your friend’s name) way.”Anoint the Rabbit’s foot key chain and the skeleton key with the Pine and Clove essential oils.Place the skeleton key and the Rabbit’s foot key chain in the bowl. Roll both items in the mixture until both items have been covered with the mixture.Place the Skeleton Key onto the Rabbit’s foot key chain. Hold the charm in your hand and feel an aura of good luck energy pulsating from the key.Give the charm to your friend the next time you see them and know that you have just opened the way for them to have much better luck.

Luck Boost Charm Bag
Carry this charm with you when you need a boot of luck. Job interviews and playing games of chance are good times to have this charm with you.

Materials:

Gold or yellow drawstring bag or small tie sachetPersonal EffectCasino Dirt (For best results use dirt from the casino you are visiting. Any casino dirt will work, though.)Iron Pyrite (Fool’s Gold) (Good luck)5 Dried Bilberries (Luck)3 Whole Nutmegs (Luck)Thyme (Good Luck)

Working:

Add the personal effect first. As you add the personal effect, state:
“May today be (target’s name) lucky day. May everything go their way.”Add the dirt to the charm bag. As you add dirt to the bag, state: “Casino, place of luck and fortune, may good luck be with me soon.”Place the Iron Pyrite into the bag. As you add the stone, state: “Fool’s gold, Iron Pyrite, I call upon your luck with this rite.”Add the bilberries to the bag. As you add each berry, state: “Luck for me. Good luck to be.”Next, place the nutmeg kernels into the bag. As you add each kernel, state: “Nutmeg that’s sweet with you good luck shall I meet.”Add the thyme to the bag. State: “By the power of this thyme, good luck brings a good time.”Pull the drawstring closed or tie the bag closed.Hold the bag between your hands and fondle the bag for a few minutes. Play with it and mix the ingredients in the bag. While you manipulate and play with the bag, feel good luck flowing to you. Know that luck is on your side.Carry the charm with you while at the casino. If you feel nervous while playing a game, hold the charm and relax. Have fun and enjoy yourself. When you no longer wish to have the luck charm you can dispose of the dirt and herbs within the charm. Cleanse the bag and stone, as they can be used in other magical work.

Our thanks to Charity for her guest post! For more from Charity L. Bedell, read her article, “Dirt Magic & Spirituality: 6 Spells from 3 Locations Using Dirt.”

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Shantini Rajah, Deborah Blake, Alice Markham-Cantor, and Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Shantini Rajah: Accelerated Manifesting: How to Collapse Time & Space by Crafting Your Manifesting Avatar

Watch Deborah Blake: Spellcasting Basics

 

Watch Alice Markham-Cantor: Understanding the Salem Witch Trials: What Really Happened and Why it Still Matters

 

Watch Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani: Salvation Poppets: An Exercise in Ending Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Transphobia and Ableism

Thank you again to all who presented and attended! LlewellynCon2024 was truly an amazing experience!

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Shai Tubali, PhD, Jamie Waggoner, Ethony Dawn, and Gwendolyn Reece!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Shai Tubali, PhD: The Root Chakra and Trauma

Watch Jamie Waggoner: It’s Not All About Death: Five Other Reasons You Should Get to Know Hades

 

Watch Ethony Dawn: Tarot Spells and Spreads: How Your Magic and Readings Connect to Enrich Your Life

 

Watch Gwendolyn Reece: Omens: Listening to the Theoi in Ancient Greek Tradition

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Shantini Rajah, author of the new Manifest Anything You Want.

Growing up, how often were you encouraged to play more rather than work harder? For a lot of folks, the idea of play gets squashed early on. As kids, we’re taught that play is something you get to indulge in after the “important” stuff, like homework or chores.

While it’s true that hard work can lead to success, when it comes to manifesting our desires with ease, a big part of the process IS the process. When you manifest from a place of “I’m loving this journey” versus “I need to get to the finish line,” you’ll be delightfully surprised at how all you’ve been longing for suddenly starts showing up for you.

As the energy of joyful play bubbles up from inside, a powerful manifesting window opens and it’s where everything—and I mean everything—becomes possible. I know this to be true because it’s how my first book Manifest Anything You Want came into being!

From working on the proposal with an amazing author who supported me every step of the way to connecting with a respected literary agent and finally landing a book deal against all odds—it all happened in the spirit of joyful play.

I even found joy in reading my rejection emails! Yes, there was a tinge of disappointment each time, but approaching it all with a playful attitude helped me see that the rejections were also encouraging (one acquisitions editor at a major publishing house wrote, “Love this idea, but we just signed with an author who is writing a book about manifesting”). It was a magical experience from start to finish, and that’s the energy of joyful play at work.

One of the most practical and fun ways to activate this powerful, positive energy is to build your own Altar of Joyful Play. The good news is that your Altar doesn’t have to take up much space—just a little corner in your room or a shelf in your study will do. Make it your own little sanctuary, filled with things that bring a smile to your face and lift your spirits. My Altar of Joyful Play holds items like my favorite crystals, Oracle decks, and even childhood treasures like a colorful pinwheel and a trio of baby dolls.

You can invite joyful play into your manifesting process by offering a heartfelt invocation as you stand or sit in front of your Altar for a few momnts. Do this daily or whenever you want. You can go with the following invocation—I call in a flow of delightful, easy, fun energy of joyful play into my day—or feel free to come up with your own!

Working with your Altar of Joyful Play releases stuck energy and loosens the grip of low-vibrational frequencies like disappointment and anxiety. In time, you’ll experience the energy of joyful play as a natural state of being. The best part? You’ll be able to call it up anytime you want to supercharge your manifesting activities and bring your dreams to life!

Our thanks to Shantini for her guest post! For more from Shantini Rajah, read her article “4 Invisible Traps Keeping You from Manifesting Anything You Want (And What to Do Instead!).”

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Siddharth Ramakrishnan, PhD; Debra L. Burris, PhD; and Steven J. Rolfes!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Siddharth Ramakrishnan, PhD: The Brain-Body Connection in Tarot & Divination

Watch Debra L. Burris, PhD: Weather Magic 101: Finding the Energy

 

Watch Steven J. Rolfes: Banshees: Their History, Nature, and Manifestations

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Ivo Dominguez, Jr., Eboni Banks, Runa Troy, and Jason Mankey!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Ivo Dominguez, Jr.: Using Your Birthchart for Magick

Watch Eboni Banks: Intuition and Its 3 Levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced

 

Watch Runa Troy: Sippable Spellcraft: Infusing Magical Mixology into Your Craft Practice

 

Watch Jason Mankey: Raymond Buckland: International Man of Mystery

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Dawn Aurora Hunt, Stefani Michelle, Lana Gendlin and Karina Muller, and Tamara Siuda, PhD!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Dawn Aurora Hunt: Healing Our Relationship with Food Using Basic Kitchen Witchcraft

Watch Stefani Michelle: How to Use Your Own Energy to Manifest

 

Watch Lana Gendlin and Karina Muller: Pendulums 101: Getting Started

 

Watch Tamara L. Siuda, PhD: Knowing the Netjeru: Establishing Relationships with Ancient Egyptian Deities

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Catherine Gerdes, Sterling Moon, Rick de Yampert, and Thomas Witholt!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Catherine Gerdes: Spotlight on Jupiter: Blessings Through the Signs and Houses

Watch Sterling Moon: Remedies for Haunted Spaces

 

Watch Rick de Yampert: Crows and Ravens in Antiquity: The Birth of Corvid Magic

 

Watch Thomas Witholt: Finding Your Fortune with Kipper, a Divination System for Forecasting with Precision

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!

An ENORMOUS thank you to our LlewellynCon presenters today: Dr. Michael Lennox, Donna Stellhorn, Pamela Chen, and Shelley A. Kaehr, PhD!

Unable to watch their presentations live? Click on their images below to watch the recording! And, be sure to follow our YouTube channel, where we’ll be sharing the recordings of each presentation!

Watch Dr. Michael Lennox: Visitation Dreams: When Loved Ones Visit

Watch Donna Stellhorn: Chinese Astrology: What’s Ahead for 2025 and Beyond

 

Watch Pamela Chen: Activate Your Inner Dragon Power to Shift Your Reality

 

Watch Shelley A. Kaehr, PhD: Ancestral Energy Healing

Thank you again to all who presented and attended!! We’ll see you tomorrow!