HedgeWitch (17 page)

5 drops allspice essential oil

5 drops tangerine essential oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Healing Glow Body Powder

10 drops eucalyptus essential oil

10 drops lime essential oil

5 drops myrtle essential oil

5 drops sandalwood essential oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Money-Drawing Body Powder

10 drops spearmint essential oil

5 drops chamomile essential oil

5 drops calendula essential oil

5 drops patchouli essential oil

5 drops sweet bay essential oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons finely ground chamomile

Stitcher's Charm

Needle up and needle down
Bringing thought to form

Bless this work and guide these hands
Harmony is born.

Love Potion Body Powder

15 drops allspice essential oil

5 drops patchouli essential oil

5 drops clove magickal oil

5 drops honeysuckle fragrance

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Steady Income Body Powder

10 drops peppermint essential oil

10 drops spruce magickal oil

5 drops bergamot magickal oil

5 drops sweet bay magickal oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

HedgeWitch Stitchery

Whether you're into needlepoint, cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, embroidery, crewel, quilting, or making clothes and household goods with your trusty sewing machine, the art of stitchery creates an incredible energy that can be focused in a specific direction with little effort. HedgeWitch stitchery definitely falls into the category of love, health, and beauty: stitching for yourself or someone else is truly an act of love through your dedicated time; stitching puts you in a meditative place that is conducive to good health and healing; and your work is an act of beautification for yourself and others. When stitching, your mind infuses the project with your special magick with every movement of the needle. The repetitive nature of the work allows you to slip into a light, meditative state, soothing the nerves and allowing a field of harmonious opportunity wherein anything can be manifested. Whether you are making a small project, like a gris-gris bag to hold your HedgeWitch herbal sachet, or something that will demand a lot of time and effort, such as designing a marriage quilt for your son or daughter, here are a few ideas on how to make your sewing projects the most powerful they can be!

Empower Your Tools with Primal Language Intent

Needles, scissors, seam guides, pins, and the like may occasionally be blessed with a holy water spray or smudged with a fragrant herbal incense. If you have a large family, sewing supplies are not considered solitary ownership, no matter how loud you proclaim it so. Anyone in any mood could have used your tools prior to your magickal project. Even if you tell your kids that those thirty-dollar scissors for paper crafts or embroidery are off-limits, frankly, they are too hard to resist (so small and handy, you know?). For some reason, teenagers think those razor-sharp points are really screwdrivers and try to use them as such—that, or “What do you mean I can't cut that bamboo skewer for roasting my marshmallows? It worked, didn't it?” Keep your tools free of negativity as best you can, and put them away after each use. Remember to empower your tools with primal language intent, as explained earlier.

Organize Your Supplies

Yarn, thread, canvas … many stitchers collect a compendium of odds, ends, unfinished projects, and supplies for proposed projects (it's a shopping weakness, like when you went in for one spool of thread at your favorite store last month and came home with the most
darling
pattern and of course
all
the supplies for it). Take a lazy, rainy afternoon and organize what you have. Give away any project that you know you will never do. Throw out old, unfinished projects that brought a great deal of frustration. This item will only attract continued anxiety and create stress every time you happen to run across it. Any project that has gathered dust is also a magnet for negativity. If you still want to keep the project but the original bag is discolored and yucky, place the items in a new bag, clearly labeled. Throw out tangled thread and yarn. Again, these tangles will trap negative energy. If you really want to save it, sit down and untangle it, then store it neatly.

Where You Stitch

Most of us do not have dedicated sewing rooms, but, even if you do, you may wish to try some of these helpful hints. One of the many advantages of stitchery is that it is very portable. Therefore, you may find yourself anywhere (bus, train, subway station, waiting in a doctor's office) while working on your project. Before you begin to stitch on the road, take three deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Close your eyes, and surround yourself with white light. You might try saying the stitcher's charm three times before you begin:

If you are working at home, try to stitch in a clean area. An environment free of dust and clutter promotes the movement of positive chi, surrounding both yourself and your work with harmonious energies. Stitching by an indoor fountain is very soothing and encourages healing energies. If you can't stitch by a real fountain, try listening to meditative music or music that promotes the type of energy you wish to capture in your project.

Although soft lighting is preferable for most magick and meditation, it is not so in enchanted stitchery! You need excellent light, both for color choice and the good health of your eyes. Straining will actually muddy your work in terms of energy.

If it doesn't present a hazard, try working by a highly scented candle chosen to match your intent, or place a bowl of herbal potpourri or a scented oil burner near your working area. Fresh flowers are also an option; however, as soon as they begin to wilt, remove them, as dead flowers symbolize dead chi. Working near a hearth fire in the wintertime promotes the cozy feeling of safety and security. Stitching outdoors in the summer brings the harmonious spirit of nature right into your work, especially if you sit in a garden or sacred site.

Stitching with Others

Group stitchery falls into the environmental category. Whether you wish to devise a particular ritual that can be used every week or month, or wish to flow with the seasons, a mini rite before stitching and a nice closure when everyone is finished for the evening promotes magickal togetherness. An enchanted stitching circle of friends and relatives weaves you into the tapestry of this time-honored activity.

Your Good Health While Stitching

Take numerous breaks:
Get up and stretch every thirty minutes, especially if you are lucky enough to spend the entire day stitching. Move around, do a little deep breathing, exercise your hands to avoid future problems. By taking breaks, your body, your mind, and your magick will be fresh when you resume.

Placement of your stitching chair:
Yep, the actual placement of the chair can affect the energy of the project. Your back should never be facing a doorway or open shelving, as both can affect your personal chi. If you plan to expand your magickal library, a few feng shui books on magickal placement will be very helpful, not only in setting up your craft or sewing room, but also in placement of your chair, and the eventual hanging of your special craft pieces. If you do a lot of stitching, I believe there are two things you must be willing to buy the best of: your chair and good lighting.

Choosing Projects, Designs, and Colors
to Match Your Intent and Your Time

Stitchers always take extra care in choosing just the right project for just the right person, but now I want you to think of the process of attraction and hone your choice from there. Let's say you want to make a purse for your daughter. You know she's having money problems, so choose colors or fabrics that are rich in texture and design—reds, purples, golds, greens, and yellows are well-suited to prosperity magick. Toads, frogs, and goldfish have been traditionally linked to good fortune, as have sunflowers, marigolds, chamomile, and maples. Granted, you will want to follow her taste, but sometimes presenting something just a bit different than the norm is welcomed by the recipient, especially if that person understands magickal energy and knows the gift was made specifically to draw something special into their lives. Shapes, too, have their own magickal significance. For example, a circle is for unity, a triangle for focused energy (which way will it point in your design? To the center pulls from the outside in; from the center out pushes energy outward). Oak leaves symbolize good health and longevity. Willow symbolizes relieving the mind from stress. A waterfall symbolizes healing. The rites you performed in Section 2, as well as the tea-leaf-reading information in Section 5, list several shape and symbol correspondences that you might like to use.

Let's say your husband loves cars—maybe he fixes them or even races them. You've found the design for a cross-stitch for his office wall, and you want to make it more magickal. Why not design a bind rune or your personal symbol for success, and draw it on the unworked canvas? When the project is finished, you won't see the symbol—but you will know it is there. If you have a flair for designing patterns yourself, you can even incorporate the symbol right into the design.

If you are extremely busy, yet you
really
want to make something for your ailing aunt, you can look longingly at that afghan pattern or sixteen-by-twenty-inch cross-stitch all you want; but … sigh … don't go there. You know your schedule and how much time you can invest. It is far better to stick with smaller projects that can be completed quickly, rather than fuss and stress over that knitted scarf that seems to be taking
forever
because you decided to use a complicated pattern with many colors! Remember, if you add frustration to the work, you've actually stitched frustration into it!

Holiday Stitchery Tips

Plan ahead. Here are a few simple tips for beginners and experts that will help to ensure your projects are finished by the intended event or holiday:

Beginners

Let's say you want to cross-stitch a cool design for your mother, and you've even found what you want to do—but you've never cross-stitched anything in your life, or if you have, it was twenty years ago. Do at least two small projects first, before you jump into the big one. These “test-drive stitcheries” will teach you a number of things, including:

• Whether or not you like this type of stitchery
  
• How long it takes you to finish a small project
  
• How to integrate stitchery in your busy life
  
• What supplies or tools you should have when you
  start that special project
  

For example, over the summer I taught myself to knit. I had grand designs on my first project and became frustrated quickly (and with sore fingers to boot) because I wanted a beautiful finished piece the first time by a particular day. After a few days of ripping and re-knitting, I decided that I would just knit. No project, no intent—just knit. And purl (tough for me at the time). And knit some more. I knitted for two weeks with different yarns, needle sizes, etc., sitting on my back porch—no television, no DVDs—just nature, me, and the stitchery. No project in mind, just learning and enjoying the meditative feeling of knitting. By the third week, I was ready for my first project, and this time I finished it in a few days. During my practice knitting, I realized I needed a few supplies I hadn't picked up when I started, such as a knit gauge, rubber ends to secure my knitting when I wasn't working on it, a stitch counter, and additional needle sizes. I also realized that I disliked working with plastic or wooden needles—my work flowed better with the metal ones. Sure, I had some mistakes, but I was able to fix them and produce something very nice. With counted cross-stitch, I chose small designs—a bunch of smiling carrots on a baby's bib, a bookmark for success. From there, I stitched a larger project with little trouble. Again, I discovered supplies I needed that I didn't have—a good pair of scissors, tapestry needles in various sizes, a seam ripper. I found I didn't like working with the hoops like I had learned long ago—this time I invested in stretchers when it came to working a bigger project.

Now that you know about how long different-sized projects take you, we can go on to the more advanced tips.

For the Experienced Crafter

Buy a magickal calendar or almanac showing moon phases and astrological events (Summer Solstice, etc.) that is reserved
only
for your craft or stitching projects. Write in all your personal important dates (or highlight them), such as birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Put stars on the dates that apply to projects you wish to complete. Let's say that this year you would like to needlepoint Yule stockings for various members of your family. Choose a “to be done by” date for this project. This date would be at least two full weeks
before
the special day—more if your item must be sent out to be blocked or finished. Since Yule is around December 21, we should have our stockings completed at least by the end of the first week of December. Yule being so busy, you might want to back that date up even more—say, the last week of November. Now, consider how long it takes you to normally do a particular project. Three weeks? A week? Six weeks? Only you will know by your schedule. Count back that number of weeks on your calendar, and then check the astrological correspondences around that date—anything cool nearby for magickal planning? Select your start day, and write:
begin yule stocking for family
. Or you could do something like this:
afghan for charlie—prosperity
.
I realize this sounds elementary, but you've just added more power to your work by listing a start date and the intent,
and
you've allowed yourself plenty of time for the project. If you do many projects, keeping a calendar will help you to remember what you bought for whom.