HedgeWitch (13 page)

Twelfth Night

Your affirmation for today:
Through personal education, I open the door to knowledge. Every day I will seek to learn something new and beneficial to my well-being.

Your symbol for today:
a tree or grove of trees

Begin your day:
Begin in the morning by reading the affirmation for the day. Today's segment concentrates on wood, associating this energy with that of the longevity of Spirit and the protection it offers to plants and animals. Close your eyes, quiet your mind, smile, and allow Spirit to fully enter your body. Then repeat the word
wood
softly,
conjuring
your vision of wood in your mind. Open your eyes and repeat the affirmation at least three times. Remember to smile as you finish! Throughout the day, repeat the affirmation as many times as you like. Begin and end with a smile. Write down in a small notebook (or your HedgeWitch journal) anything unusual about this day and events, people, or places that carry a strong wood association. In this way, you will be prepared to perform the twelfth night Rite of the Enchanted Woods.

To do today:
If you could learn anything, without regard to budget, what would it be? Whether it is learning to fly a plane or knit, there are several things you've always said you'd like to learn but just don't seem to have the time. Rather than making excuses, why not make time right now? Even if you can't start today, you can look into avenues to bring you the education you desire. By the end of the day, you should have chosen at least one thing to learn and have taken the first steps to pursue that knowledge. Various cultures over the centuries have associated good fortune and personal luck with animal symbology. Today, you will look for your personal HedgeWitch lucky animal symbol. Here you will find a quick, cross-cultural list of lucky animals and their traditional colors that may help you in your search.

Bats:
red—good fortune and prosperity; black—occult learning

Butterflies:
purple and blue—freedom, beauty, creativity, healing;
red, yellow, and orange—prosperity and opportunity

Bears:
good health, long life

Birds, Flying:
good luck and opportunity; red—action; blue—healing; black—information

Black Tortoise:
support, longevity, protection

Green Tortoise:
prosperity and spirit

Cat:
independence and magick; physics

Cranes:
white—longevity

Crimson Phoenix:
good fortune, hearth and home; rebirth

Crows/Ravens:
thought, memory, and messages

Deer:
longevity, the male aspect of God (no traditional color)

Dog:
loyalty, family, heightened senses (no traditional color)

Dragon:
general good fortune, harnessing the world (In the Asian cultures, different colors relate to various magickal properties.)

Dragonfly:
green—fast cash;
blue—visions and dreams

Ducks:
matrimonial bliss (always seen in pairs; no traditional color)

Elephant:
silver—good fortune, good health, and career luck

Fish:
gold—career luck, especially if depicted in pairs

Frogs:
green—good luck and prosperity

Geese:
long, happy marriage (especially in pairs); good fortune and the spirit of adventure (no color)

Hippopotamus:
silver—protection for women and children

Horse:
gold—running or war horse, courage, speed, and success; white—great wealth

Hummingbird:
green or gold—fast
cash, attraction

Lions:
gold or red—protection against robbery or theft

Lizard:
green—laughter and joy

Monkey:
gold—promotion

Ox, Bull, Cow:
gold or red—wealth and wishes

Snake:
gold—wisdom

Toad:
red—supreme good fortune, especially if the toad has only three legs

Wolf:
silver—family luck and harmony, education

***

Today I will release…
any and all fears I have about my future.

Weekly planner:
If you are spending a week on this rite, spend your time making potpourri or magickal sachets, using barks, leaves, flowers, and essential oils, or decorate a wreath that matches the magickal correspondences of what you desire to bring into your life. Hang this wreath on your front door as a welcome signal to those energies. Remember: accepting your desire is just as important as formulating it!

Herbs for today:
any magickal wood or bark

Supplies for tonight:
none

Rite of the Enchanted Woods

There are two ways in which you can perform this rite. You can visit the physical woods (with a friend) in a safe area sometime throughout the day or afternoon, or you can use the magickal wood chosen under the “herbs for today” category and creatively visualize, in quiet surroundings, a trip to the woods while holding that representation. Your goal is to reach a magickal clearing and find a gift that is just for you. This gift will be a quality, such as patience, good humor, etc. Standing in the clearing (either physically or in your mind), you will ask your ancestors to help you pull this shining quality into yourself.

Begin with the general HedgeWitch conjuration, which you can use for all types of magickal work in the future:

General HedgeWitch Conjuration

Spirit circle thrice around

Shift to still point find.

Power up and power down

East to touch the mind.

Breathing in and breathing out

Balance of the rhyme.

Light becomes and power flows

Southern fiery chime!

Sight and sound activate

The window west of time.

Loop and circle undulates

Vibration of the sign.

Northern eyes create the thing

A portal key of kind.

Bring desire to gravity

The pattern I design.

*You will speak the last stanza, given on page 108, after the working is done.

To bring your ancestors to you, with your eyes closed, turn around slowly with your left hand raised. Where you feel pressure on the palm of your raised left hand is the gateway to your ancestors that, from this time forth, will be known only to you. Stop. Take a deep breath, ask for their assistance, and then visualize the quality you desire. Pull this quality into yourself, breathing deeply and smiling. In no way should you experience any negative feelings. If you do, then you haven't asked for what you really need or you really do not desire this change. Choose a different quality and try again. When you are finished, be sure to thank your ancestors and the universe for the gifts you have received. Don't forget to smile!

Repeat the last stanza of the general HedgeWitch conjuration:

As above and so below

This working now is sealed

O spell, be secret, safe, and sound

Fruition in its field!
It always works. Always a blessing.

Remember to smile! In your HedgeWitch journal, inscribe your secret sigil for wood, or learning new things. Add to this your choice of a personal good luck animal. On a separate page, draw all the symbols you have created for the past twelve days. We will be adding two more—the sigil for the thirteenth night and the sigil for your own personal change, which will be designed the night of your dedication ceremony. This evening, review what each of the previously drawn sigils now means to you.

Here is an example:

First Night—Wind—My connection to Spirit

Second Night—Fire—My personal creativity

Third Night—Earth—Richness and abundance of the universe

Fourth Night—Sky—My unlimited opportunity

Fifth Night—Rain—My good health and healing

Sixth Night—Mountain—My stability and treasures within the self

Seventh Night—Lightning—My personal power, confidence, and balance

Eighth Night—Thunder—My power of thought and action

Ninth Night—Metal—My flow and harmony within Spirit

Tenth Night—Stone—My gratitude

Eleventh Night—Celestial Power—My light within

Twelfth Night—Wood—Knowledge, wisdom, and education

This way, you will have a quick reference to your symbols. Feel free to change the meanings of the symbols to more perfectly match your meditations the past twelve days.

Before you drift off to sleep, close this evening by saying:

Peace with the gods

Peace with nature

Peace within.

It always works.

Always a blessing.

Remember to smile!

Thirteenth Night

Your affirmation for today:
By observing in silence, I shape my life. I seek to listen and hear people, art, music, and events that bring peace, happiness, and tranquility into my life.

Your symbol for today:
Choose a symbol that signifies personal transformation and the combined power of all your sigils to you.

Begin your day:
Begin in the morning by reading the affirmation for the day. Today's segment concentrates on silence, associating perfect quiet with the intuitive power of Spirit. Close your eyes, quiet your mind, smile, and allow Spirit to fully enter your body. Then repeat the word
silence
softly, conjuring your vision of perfect peace (the still point) in your mind. Open your eyes, and repeat the affirmation at least three times. Remember to smile as you finish! Throughout the day, repeat the affirmation as many times as you like. Begin and end with a smile. Write down in a small notebook (or your HedgeWitch journal) anything unusual about this day and events, people, or places that carry a strong silence association. In this way, you will be prepared to perform the thirteenth night's Rite of Silence.

To do today:
Today I will endeavor to listen rather than speak without thinking. I will make special note of what I am observing. I will find a representation of my personal good luck animal that I chose last night. I will either wear this symbol or carry a picture of it with me.

Today I will release…
dirt and grime from my living space. If necessary, I will wash the floors, vacuum, and clean windows, especially in the room where I spend the most time and in my ritual area. I will throw out all old bedding and linens that are of no value, torn, or stained. I will throw out all old projects that I know I will never finish. If they are of value, I will give them away or sell them. I will go through all my bathroom cabinets and drawers that hold personal-care items and remove all old or unused products.

Weekly planner:
If you are spending a week on this rite, design something permanent to display in your home that speaks of the culmination of your hard work in HedgeWitchery study and transformation. This could be something you have manifested using the five Is; something you have made by hand, such as an altar cloth; something you have refinished, like a stool or altar table, etc. The choice is entirely yours.

Herbs for today:
Any cleansing herb or scent: pine, lemon, cedar, mint, orange, lemon verbena, lemon balm, green tea, or a combination that is pleasing to you. During the day, place a mixture of these herbs or scents on top of a picture of yourself positioned in the center of your altar. You can empower these herbs by using the herbal conjuration you used last night, or choose your own words.

Supplies for tonight:
Any item you choose to pamper yourself. If we do not feel good about ourselves, then we emotionally inhibit the changes we desire to make in our lives.

Rite of Silence

Tonight's ritual is dedicated to pampering yourself, which means you won't be working at your altar. You may visit a gym or a spa, or take a long, luxurious bath followed by a personal hygiene regime. You might decide to have your hair styled in a new way, shave off a beard, or color your hair in a new shade. Visit a nail salon or have fun shopping for new makeup or personal-care products. Choose a daring scent in a perfume or aftershave—something that encourages the new you to blossom!

When you are finished, review your day and make notes in your HedgeWitch journal. Draw a symbol that represents the still point of peace and tranquility in today's entry, as well as on the separate page you started last evening.

Before you drift off to sleep, close this evening by saying:

Peace with the gods

Peace with nature

Peace within.

It always works.

Always a blessing.

Remember to smile!

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