If You Need a Quick Magic Ritual Hug a Tree

I always used to joke about tree huggers in my younger days. You know, those folks who also ate granola bars and wore Birkenstocks.

But after three decades of practicing magic. I have come to appreciate the value of hugging a tree.

And by hugging a tree I literally mean wrapping your arms around a big honking tree trunk.

I don't mean just loving nature. I mean a real hug.

Tree hugging, believe it or not, is a great magic ritual for people who need an instant magical "quick fix." Trees, being rooted in the ground, are deeply connected with the Earth. Most trees have as much root below the surface of the ground as they have trunk and foliage above ground. For that reason, trees are act as incredible sources of grounding energy.

For this Magic Ritual Pick the Biggest Tree You Can Find
Of course, if you are going to hug a tree, you want to pick as big a tree as you can find. The bigger the tree, the more energy it can absorb, and the more it can help you ground yourself. Plus, bigger trees can absorb and exchange a lot of energy without damaging their own health. Personally, I always find a tree with a trunk so wide that I can't wrap my arms all the way around it. That way, I know the tree is big enough that I won't cause it harm. This is important, because by Rules of the Road (the Universal laws that govern magical practice) "do no harm" is a big monster rule.

Once you have picked out your tree, wrap your arms around the tree and just flow any unwanted energies into the tree, through the bark. You can flow fear, anger, hopelessness, grief, frustration, or hate into the tree. The tree will take this energy and convert into energy that it can use for its own growth. Grief becomes water energy to keep the tree moist. Anger becomes fire energy that can be used in photosynthesis. Hopelessness is converted to earth energy which is simply dumped into the ground. Scatterbrained energy becomes Air energy, which the tree uses to breathe. See the beauty of this magic ritual?

Two Notes about the Magic of Hugging Trees
Sometimes, because of where you are and who you are with, you can't just go hug a tree. Maybe you are at work or maybe you are with people who don't believe in the use of magic rituals. No big deal. Instead of hugging the tree, just back up to the tree and lean against it. You can easily look casual while you do it. You can transmit energy through any part of your body that is touching the tree. In fact, the more contact you have with the tree, the faster the energy exchange will happen, and leaning up against a tree gives you a lot of contact. With this method you can easily use the tree-hugging magic ritual in public.

The second note is about bare feet. If you are alone and if the weather permits, take your shoes and socks off while you hug a tree. This gives you contact not only with the tree, but also with the Earth, which easily absorbs unwanted energy. This helps a lot so if you don't mind getting your feet a little dirty, you'll get a lot more out of this magic ritual by going barefoot.

Most of all ... enjoy! With this little magic ritual, you not only dump your own negative energies, but you also feed the tree and the Earth as well. Beings of nature, like trees, are able to easily convert complex human emotions and sensations into usable, practical energy for their own growth and enhancement.

Pretty cool, isn't it? That's why I love magic!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or, visit our website for more great resources.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randysonofrobert/ / CC BY 2.0

The Magic Ritual of the Coin Flip

When you have a really crucial decision to make, what do you do? I don't know about you, but I use a very deep and complex magic ritual:

I flip a coin!

Of course I'm being a little sarcastic here, but the truth of the matter is that I do resort to a coin flip as one of my magic rituals of choice when I have to make an important decision.

Why? Because I figure the Universe knows better than I which decision best fits my needs and desires, so I let the coin guide me to the "correct" decision.

Why Trust Important Decisions to This Silly Magic Ritual
This magic ritual definitely sounds a little trite for big decisions, I'll grant you, but you have to see the coin toss for what it really is:

A channel through which the Universe communicates with us.

It is a way for the Universe to offer very clear guidance. After all, the coin toss can only have two options, heads or tails.

The relatively silliness of the coin toss also works in its favor. It's silliness takes the pressure off the decision, so to speak. If you use a really complicated magic ritual that takes a lot of planning and a lot of effort to do, you may end us being too "invested" in the outcome. Plus, a ritual that takes a lot of planning gives you many opportunities to "skew" the results with your own energies of fear, worry, and anxiety.

Most importantly, the coin toss is a sign that you "trust the process," so to speak. By entrusting an important decision to an utterly simplistic magic ritual like the coin toss, you are announcing that you trust:

1. the Universe to provide clear and correct guidance
2. your own ability to follow that guidance

The Coin Toss Magic Ritual Builds Trust
The Universe unfailingly provides us with clear and correct guidance, but often the answer we get isn't the one we necessarily want to hear, at least in that moment. So we tend to second guess ourselves, perhaps by tossing the coin a second or third time, or resorting to a magic ritual which has results that are more open to subjective interpretation, such as meditating with the firebowl.

But if you really want to learn to trust the process, try the coin toss, at least once on a truly important life decision. If you manage to see the decision through, based on guidance from the coin toss ritual, you will be surprised at the twists and turns of your path, and no doubt pleased by the result.

Dare you risk it? I would hope so ... trust is what magic is all about!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or, visit our website for more great resources.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/icma/ / CC BY 2.0

Valentine's Day: A Day of Love and Magic!

Nothing warms the heart like love ... and at no time is love more evident than on Valentine's Day!

Valentine, known as the patron saint of all lovers, has a rich and varied history.

According to some accounts, Valentine was a bishop during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius II. It turns out that Claudius needed more young soldiers, and thought married men were too attached to their families, thus making poor soldiers.

To solve this problem, he banned all marriages. The bishop Valentine continued to marry young Romans despite this edict. It is believed that Valentine was executed by the Romans on February 14 ... so this day has become one of lovers and Valentine has become the patron saint of these lovers!

Want Some Love and Magic in Your Life?
Valentine's Day is the perfect time to attract love into your life with a little bit of magic. If you love the ornaments of love, then you might want to check out this "Love Spell Vial Necklace," pictured above, from Michele (a.k.a. CraftyChick101):

See the Love Spell Vial Necklace here

This wonderfully whimsical vial is filled with dried Lavender and Yarrow, both of which are known for their abilities to attract love into your life. Whether you want to find your soul mate or just fill your life with love, this vial necklace is a magical yet discreet amulet that keeps love close to your heart!

Love Spells
For those who want to know more about love and love spells, read this blog post on attracting your soul mate without "binding" anyone against their will:

Do Love Spells Work?

Perhaps this Valentine's Day the combination of the Love Spell Vial and a well-crafted spell form the perfect magic ritual to call love into your life!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or, visit our website for more great resources.

Photo credit: CraftyChick101

Why There are No Muggles, Only Magicians

Are magicians born or made?

Good question. Lots of people ask this question.

Answer: Neither.

Sorry to disappoint all you Harry Potter and Charmed fans out there, but magicians are neither born nor made. In other words, there is no division between magicians and non-magicians. Everyone has the power and ability to be a magician and to practice magic. Everyone!

Magic is the birthright of every planetary citizen. That means you.

Why There are No Muggles
The reason there are no muggles is the same reason that every single person on this planet can practice magic. Here's the reason: magic is nothing more (and nothing less) than following the laws that govern the universe. It's as simple as that.

For instance, once you learn how to use the four magical elements that form this universe (Air, Fire, Water, and Earth), you can do a lot of powerful magic rituals. Here's just a short list of things you can do just using hand magic and the four elements:

• psychic communication
• heal sprains, bruises, and more
• safely get rid of anger, anxiety, and depression
• divine the future
• put up energy and psychic shields

And yes, any old person on the planet can learn to do this kind of magic, nothing to do with magical parents or anything like that. Past lives can give a person an additional magical boost, however. For instance, if you studied magic in your last 17 lifetimes, chances are that the knowledge will come to you much more easily, and your magic will probably be more powerful than that of the average Joe.

Everyone Can Be a Magician
So now that you know that there is no division between magical and non-magical people, there's no excuse not to practice magic. The key word in that last sentence is, of course, "practice." Magic is an art and a science, and like everything else, if you want to be good at it, you need to practice.

Start small, with some daily magic rituals or with our home study courses. We also always have new teleconference courses starting. Check out these resources and see what kinds of magic rituals tickle your fancy:

Free "Real Magick" Ezine
Magic Ebooks
Magic Home Study Courses
Magic Email Courses
Magic Article Library
Current Teleconference Magic Courses

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or, visit our website for more great resources.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethfordwilliams/ / CC BY 2.0

Grounding Magic Rituals: The Power of Hematite

Are you feeling a little neurotic or out of sorts? Maybe feeling both wired and tired at the same time? It sounds like you need a grounding magic ritual to restore your balance.

These days it isn't unusual for people to be feeling a little crazy. The magical date, somewhere around 2012 is coming up, the economy is going up or down (depending on when you tune into the news), and people are being hit hard with all kinds of crazy events.

If you need balance in your life, now is the time to get grounded, magically, with some magic rituals that connect us with Earth energy.

Using Hematite for a Simple Magic Ritual
Hematite, like the Apache Tear, is a grounding stone that easily "pulls" and attracts energy, making it the perfect magical tool for grounding out unwanted energy. Hematite has long been known as an excellent stone for energy work, energy rebalancing, and it's powerful attractive force.

If you're feeling a little crazy, all you need to do is this simple magic ritual, which dumps all that crazy energy into the hematite stone.

1. Hold the hematite stone or wand in your dominant hand (the hand with which you point).
2. Flow unwanted energies into the hematite stone or wand. This is not a thinking exercise. Just will it and it will happen.
3. When the stone feels tingly or warm, you have grounded the unwanted energies into the stone. The magic ritual is complete.
4. Wrap the stone in a natural material, like cotton or wool, to store it safely.

You can do this simple magic ritual many times a day. A hematite stone or wand can usually store energy from this kind of magic ritual for about a month. After that, you need to cleanse the hematite to prevent the unwanted energies from coming back to you. Many magical practitioners bury their stone in the Earth for a moon cycle to cleanse it.

Others use a four-element cleansing with the firebowl and chalice. Either way, it's nice to have a couple of hematite wands handy so that you can use one as you cleanse the other. I have found that carrying a hematite wand carried in a velvet bag is a very effective yet discreet way to do this magic ritual.
Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Or, visit our website for more great resources.