Protection Magic: Useful Talismans and Passive Shields

Sometimes we need active protection magic in our lives to preserve sacred space. Everyone has the right to sacred space and to practice magic and protection magic may be necessary to insure these rights. This type of protection magic falls under the category of self defense. In daily life, however, we often need passive protection magic against random psychic blasts from people, places or things. We often run into people carrying a lot of angry or negative energy, and by law of contagion we can pick up this energy if we don't have any passive shielding.

Often talismans can be worn as passive protection magic and passive shields. A talisman can be any object that is used for protection or to bring good luck. They are usually objects small enough to wear as a necklace or ring or carry in your pocket. Talismans have been used since ancient times and have been associated with many different religions, organizations, and spiritual societies. The word talisman comes from tilasm (Arabic) meaning "a magical image" and teleo (Greek) which means "to consecrate".

Some people have talismans without really realizing it. A piece of jewelry inherited from a beloved family member, a photograph always carried in the wallet, a lucky penny or rabbit's foot could all be seen as talismans. Native American traditions often use talismans with animal representations to bring in animal totem medicine. The consistent use of a prayer, affirmation or incantation could also be considered a talisman.

Many people choose talismans of strength, such as Thor's shield, as a form of passive protection magic. In our school, we use keyed sun and moon shields. We feel it is important to key the talisman to your own personal and unique energies. Keying is a simple technique that makes a magical connection between the object and the person making it personal and work specifically for that person. Our sun and moon shields come with directions on how to key the shield to work specifically for you as a form of passive protection magic.

So, if you are feeling overwhelmed by negative energies in your environment, looking to bring a particular characteristic into your life or in need of protecting your sacred space, magical talismans are a good tool to have. We have many you can browse through in our school store or consult your guides and higher powers for one that would be right for you. 

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.

Spirit Guides: Hire an Unemployed Angel Today

Most people are intrigued with the concept of spirit guides or angel guides. There have been many popular and successful TV shows and movies created around the theme of an angel coming to help people. Many people however see these shows as purely fictional and don't consider using angels and spirit guides in their everyday lives. And yet there are a multitude of unemployed angels just hanging around waiting to be asked to help. With today's economy being in such sorry shape, we don't need any more unemployment right? So, consider hiring an unemployed angel.

Asking For Help
There are angels for every single thing in our lives, and most are not being asked for help. When people do ask for help they tend to ask for help in a vague way, but to really get help you need to ask precisely for a specific angel to help you with a specific act. "Magic is a precision science", which is why so many people don't get the help that they ask for or pray for. Angel guides and helpers, when asked specifically, will always help. It is their purpose to help humans. They have to be asked though as they will not interfere with the affairs of humans if they are not specifically asked to.

Thanking Your Angel
Angels work for gratitude. It is best to thank them in advance and then again after the job is completed. If the job is a long one or all day affair, you can also thank them throughout the day or length of time. When asking for help from angels and spirit guides, you do need to be specific, but not get caught up in too many details on how to make it happen. In other words, turn loose of the control and let the angels do what they do best. Your job is to state specifically what you need help with and their job is to figure out the best way to make it happen.

Hiring Angel Guides
Hiring an angel is a very simple process. Here's all you need to do.

• Say out loud or in your mind "I'd like to hire an angel specializing in [state your desire]."
   
• Wait a few seconds until you feel a presence or just wait a few moments. They don't take long to get there.
   
• Make your request, which might go something like this: "Angel of [your desire], I request your help in walking with me through this life transition so that I see all the gifts and beauty that are part of this process. Thank you in advance." or "I would like to request the help of a travel angel. I would like your help on my road trip today in making sure that I arrive at my destination [state where] safely and on time for my 2:00 appointment. Thank you for your help."

It is very important to thank angels so they will be willing to help you later. When you first start working with angels and spirit guides, be sure to start small and always express appreciation in advance. You want to start establishing a relationship and become comfortable with the process. It's better to start out with small things now and be comfortable before you get to an intense situation in which you REALLY need help. Sometimes you may ask for something that you are not physically present to observe. It is OK to ask for signs that the angel has done its work. If you need a sign then you do need to ask for it. Just call to the specific angel that you hired earlier and state that you would like to be shown a sign letting you know that what you have asked for has been accomplished. Then be open and be watching for a sign. The sign could come in a variety of ways. It might be a knowingness or calmness that comes over you, you might "hear" it inside yourself, it may come from outside sources in a conversation, a song on the radio or a line read in a book. If you don't get the sign, ask again and this time ask that it be a sign you can easily see.

It may take a little practice for you to get comfortable working with angel guides and spirit guides. Eventually, temporarily hired angels, if hired frequently, may stick around and become permanent angel guides (for instance, many people have permanent parking angel guides). The first step though is to start establishing those relationships now. Give it a try, hire an angel today and invite the magic of spirit guides and angel guides 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.

Ritual Magic: Daily Rituals of Greeting

Daily rituals of greeting are just what they sound like. These are rituals done every day greeting and acknowledging those spirits above us in the hierarchy that find magic and miracles to be simple. Greeting them daily introduces you to them, and starts you on your way to developing a relationship between you. Once you have a relationship, meaning you have reached out to them and you have felt them make contact with you, you can begin to ask them for help and guidance.

Ritual Magic: The Navajo Beauty Way as a Daily Ritual
The Navajo Beauty Way is a very powerful daily ritual that can be used for greeting and to start you on the way to developing a relationship with higher powers and beings. It is a non-denominational set of exercises that was created in very ancient times and is designed to:

• restore personal power through developing trust in one's wisdom gained through personal experience
• enhance creative flow and one's connection to the environment and nature's laws and forces
• help us learn new skills and use new tools for observing and maintaining harmonious and pro-active inner states
• develop a practical working relationship with higher powers and beings or natural forces and laws
• create stability and choice in walking in different realities and worlds
• being safe and protected without the need to build walls or hide behind masks
• establish and maintain contact with higher powers and beings or natural forces and laws so as to live in compliance with and gain support in our creative endeavors
• maintain spiritual integrity for individuals or groups during times of high external change and stress
• preserve cultural and spiritual identity beyond the efficacy of sociological myths in times of breakdown, and restructuring of communities, tribes or nations
• restore the balance both internally and externally between the feminine aspect of integration and oneness, and the masculine aspect of separation and duality

That's a lot to get from one simple daily ritual! If I had to pick just one daily ritual to have in my life, the Navajo Beauty Way would be the one. Time and time again, I see the magic, enlightenment, guidance and wisdom this ritual has brought to my life and those of others in my magical circle. There are actually 3 parts to the Navajo Beauty Way: the exit ritual, day greetings and day endings and the walking litany. Our Basic Magic Students are taught this ritual from the very first day of class and continue using it as a daily ritual throughout their studies and beyond. I have personally seen it open doorways through which I was able to see other beings such as animal totems and garden divas and received guidance from higher beings for problems I have faced.

A Personal Experience from Daily Ritual
Just to give you an idea of the power of this daily ritual, here is one instance I will never forget. I was facing a situation in which my reputation was in question and would be attending a meeting that would address the issue the next day. Needless to say I was dreading it. The night before, I went out and did the Exit Ritual and asked for the truth in this situation to come out and for others to be able to see my true self. After I finished the ritual, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and saw a skunk walking towards me. Not just any skunk mind you, but a skunk that was around 4 feet in height. Obviously a totem!! I ran inside to check the Medicine card book for the interpretation of the skunk and sure enough – reputation. I'm sure you can guess how the meeting the next day went and it was definitely settled in my favor. Not all experiences with the Navajo Beauty Way are this dramatic, but in all the years I have been doing this daily ritual, I have definitely received continuing magical guidance and beauty in my life.

Doing the Beauty Way Exit Ritual
One of the most common forms of the Beauty Way is called the Exit Ritual. You do the Exit Ritual every time you leave an enclosed space, like your car or your house. It takes a little practice to make this a part of your life that comes naturally. For some people there is an embarrassment factor to overcome when they start doing this daily ritual. Others find that they forget to do it each time they exit somewhere. That's all OK, don't stress about it. Just keep doing it and it will come more naturally as time goes on.

So are you ready to dive in and add this powerful daily ritual to your life? Here's how:

1. Once you exit your house or car or other enclosed area, stop and put your focus up into the sky and say aloud, "Sky Above" or "Sky Father." (Note: the reason we extend our focus first is that the exit ritual is a form of asking favor from powers and beings, so it is appropriate that we go to them rather than asking them to come to us. In ritual, when we have carefully prepared sacred space, we can then invite them in and then bid them farewell).

2. Keeping the awareness up above, extend your focus into the earth and say aloud, "And Earth Below" or "And Earth Mother."

3. Then, keeping awareness of both above and below, say aloud, "I Greet You."

4. Wait a moment and see what happens. Be alert for acknowledgement or response in one of these three ways:

• From within you, such as a realization, a change of attitude or belief, a new awareness.
• Changes in your environment, such as a sudden breeze, a change in the color of the sky, a bird or animal suddenly appearing, or a tree or shrub suddenly becoming vividly visible or possibly a four foot skunk to come walking by.
• A response from Sky and/or Earth: a special message for you, an answer to a question, or guidance and new directions.

5. What happens may happen in just that moment, or it may happen throughout the day. It may change the quality of your day, your awareness ... whatever you notice.

6. You may also want to use hand gestures. Arms raised in a upward facing V for "Sky Father" and arms down in a downward facing V for "Earth Mother."

The Exit ritual is also a quick and easy way to get reconnected with your inner peace and serenity. Deep inside, you are always peaceful, happy and serene - sometimes you just don't know how to access that part of yourself. So, if you find yourself getting frustrated, negative or stressed out, go outside and do the Exit Ritual. See what changes this simple daily ritual can make in your life. To learn more about the Navajo Beauty Way and other magical daily rituals, get our Daily Rituals ebook.

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.

Ritual Magic: How to Learn Magic Through Daily Rituals

There are many paths for how to learn magic, and doing daily rituals is among the best and easiest paths. Why? For one thing, daily rituals give you daily feedback as to results. You will see magic starting to work in your life pretty quickly with daily rituals. For example, if you do a daily ritual for pain relief, you will very quickly find your pain alleviated or have an idea of what else you need to do to alleviate it. With daily rituals you can see fast progress as opposed to other practices like long-acting spells where you have to wait to see results. Daily rituals are also a great way of how to learn magic in that you may get many chances during the day or week to practice the ritual. This not only increases your skill at performing the ritual, but also gives you a more consistent connection to higher powers.

Ritual Magic: Daily Rituals Needs Consistency
You do want to make sure that once you have a daily ritual, you practice it with as much consistency as possible. In spiritual circles, people have discovered that the consistency of doing a ritual at the same time every time increases the level and quality of the connection with the higher. Consistency is a key principle to success in many areas of life and one that most people find difficult to maintain. At the moment of setting a goal we usually have a high level of energy or excitement and are convinced of our ability to achieve the goal. Then life happens and we get busy in our mundane level lives and realize we have not paid any attention to our goal. It can take 40 days to break one habit and put another in its place. Doing daily rituals consistently can help you create the "habit" of making magic an integral part of your life.

Ritual Magic: Active vs. Passive Daily Rituals
Daily rituals can be an active process as opposed to more passive practices like meditation. Whereas you may use meditation as a daily ritual, those rituals that have a more active component give you a participatory role in the ritual and can lead to more personal relationships with higher powers and being. Allies will show up in daily rituals to help you out on a short-term basis, and some may stay with you permanently as spirit guides. Instead of doing the regular sitting type meditation, walking meditations can add an active component to this type of daily ritual.

Ritual Magic: Keeping Daily Rituals Fresh
Finally, daily rituals give you enough variety to keep you interested and prevent you from getting mechanical. Even though you may be doing the same ritual everyday, the focus of it may change according to what is happening in your life or according to how you feel at the time. The results you see may vary and give you various perspectives that lead to insights about yourself and others that you hadn't seen before. Just doing a ritual because you have told yourself you will do it everyday will not work. Going about a ritual in a mechanical way does not open you to all the magical possibilities of it.

The key to using rituals as a doorway to the higher is to keep them simple and do them daily. Rituals that are too complex won't make it onto our daily schedules, and rituals that we don't do often won't have as much effect as daily ones. If you don't already have a ritual to use as a daily ritual, you can find plenty in our Daily Rituals for Attracting What You Want in Life ebook.

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.

Magic Spells: What is a Magic Spell?

Exactly what is a magic spell in real magic terms? No, we don't wave magic wands, say some words and turn our enemies into toads. There is actually an art and a science to performing magic and spells in particular. A magic spell is any psychic or magical operation that combines a number of elements (air, fire, water and earth) and/or program factors that produce a particular result over a period of time. You could also call it a formalized intention that is carried out over time until completion. This definition would include chants, litanies, sonics, directors and limiters and even prayers.

How A Magic Spell Works
Spells are energy matrices programmed to build momentum and overcome obstacles until the end goal is manifested. Magic and spells in particular tend to take the path of least resistance to reach the goal. This is why directors and limiters are used in a magic spell. Without the use of directors and limiters, the path the spell takes could be very destructive and possibly break the Rules of the Road. There have been many cases of spells asking for money or a debt paid off in which the practitioner does not specify in the directors and limiters that no harm must come to any person or being from the spell, only to have the money come to them through the inheritance of someone passing away that they did not intend. If those type of events and conditions are not specified and the Universe sees it as the path of least resistance to the goal, it can happen just that way. Therefore it is a good idea to practice spellwork with tried and true spells that are proven safe before embarking to create your own. You need to have a clear understanding of the use of directors and limiters, basic magical operational laws and the terminology involved with spellwork before creating and launching magic spells of your own.

Types of Spells
There are different types of spells that can be used and different ones are more appropriate to use in one situation over another. Here are some basics and brief descriptions.

Litanies and Chants – A chant is any set of verbal commands or instructions to create a magical effect on the environment. A litany is a chant that is used to affect the person saying the litany. All spells and prayers are either litanies or chants. The verses used to charge the firebowl and chalice are chants.


Sonics in Spellwork – Sound energies affect both the material and spiritual levels at the same time, regardless of the elemental makeup of the sounds. When launching a spell you must be able to use voices of command and words of power effectively when reciting the litanies and/or chants in the spell to ensure that the energies are consistent with the aim of the spell. For example if you speak a chant for an Air and Fire oriented spell in a watery voice, you may create unintended side effects.

Directors and Limiters – These specify the what, how and when factors of a spell. Directors and limiters always need to be specified for candle and tarot spells. They list what you want the spell to achieve and the areas or conditions you want to avoid. They also address the purpose of the spell, elements and energies to be used, safeguards, and when the spell will start and stop.

Candle Spells – This type of spell programs one or more candles to act in accord with a spell's purpose, directors and limiters and verses. The candles energize, activate and feed the spell as well as assist in programming the spell. The candle translates the verses and directors and limiters into an actual energy matrix that has force in the world.

Tarot Spells – The modern Tarot as revised by the Order of the Golden Dawn is designed to use for spellwork. Readings with a Tarot deck form the basis for this type of spell and various cards can actually show spells that have been performed in the past or present lines. Before undertaking a Tarot spell, the practitioner needs to understand the Tarot and be experienced in doing 12-card readings with a Tarot deck. Tarot and other divination methods can also be used to test the potential success of any spell.

Simulacra Spells – These types of spells use a simulacrum or likeness of a person or thing to perform a magical operation on. When the object used as the simulacrum is keyed to a person or thing, whatever you do magically or otherwise to the object also happens to the person or thing it is keyed to. This is a type of water and earth element spellwork.

Real magic and spells can be enormously effective if performed correctly. Remember though that altered procedures create altered results. Think each step of the spell through carefully and get some instruction from an experienced practitioner before taking on your own spells. Our Basic Magic Class is offered online and spellwork is covered toward the end this course. If you're ready to get serious about becoming a magical practitioner, check it out.

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.

Ritual Magic: The Importance of Daily Rituals and Ritual Magic Throughout the Year

Why Do Daily Rituals?
With our crazy, busy lives, daily rituals of magic keep us grounded, at peace, and connected to higher powers and beings who can help us get what we want in life. It is not as important what the ritual is as it is that it is done consistently. Daily rituals create a channel for us to connect with our inner guidance, totem spirits, angels and other powers and beings. When we go about rushing through life we are not able to hear the quiet voices of higher guidance. These higher beings are willing and eager to help us manifest what we want in life, but we can't hear them over all the noise of cell phones, radio, TV, video games, gossip and our own mind chatter. I'm not saying you have to give up your job, social life and family and go sit at the top of a mountain. What I am saying is that we all need to set aside some sacred time everyday and daily rituals are a way to do just that. Whatever you pick to do as a daily ritual, going for a walk and tuning into the nature around you, meditation, yoga, hug a tree, the Consistency Exercise, the Navajo Beauty Way...., just take Nike's advice and just do it.

Ritual Magic for Change of Season
It's also important to do ritual magic throughout the year, such as during the change of seasons. Tribal people have always done this as a way to release the energy of the previous season and prepare appropriate energy for the coming season. In modern cultures, we simply get ill or at most do mundane world level tasks such as "spring cleaning". But what about an energetic cleaning or spiritual cleaning? This is even more important for the health of your mind, body and spirit. So maybe the next time you start a "spring cleaning" of your house, you also include doing a 4 element cleansing. For anyone not familiar with a 4 element cleansing of your house, here's how.

Four Element Cleansing
First, you will need a charged firebowl to cover the air and fire elements and a keyed and charged chalice for the water and earth elements.

In the firebowl you will be burning sage and pine resin on a charcoal disc. In the chalice will be spring water and a pinch of sea salt. Stand in the south facing north to do the charging. The charge verses for a cleansing are:

Firebowl Charge Verse:
"Fire and Air where you are cast, Let no spell nor adverse purpose last, Not in accord with me. Cleanse these walls and cleanse this space, Far from here send baneful trace. Thus my will, so it be."

Chalice Charge Verse:
"Water and Earth where you are cast, Let no spell nor adverse purpose last, Not in accord with me. Cleanse these walls and cleanse this space, Far from here send baneful trace. Thus my will, so it be."

(You can learn more about keying, charging and using the firebowl and chalice in the ebooks Firebowl-Cleansing Tool and Chalice – Water Tool.) http://ow.ly/gOhuI

Then:

• Start with your firebowl on the east most wall of the east most room in your house. Start on the lowest level of the house.
   
• Draw a lemniscent (sideways figure 8) with the smoke at your starting location.
   
• Walk slowly along the wall letting the smoke of the firebowl flow into the wall.
   
• About every 2 feet use the firebowl smoke to draw a lemniscent (sideways figure 8) on the wall. Do this also on any windows, mirrors, or reflective glass/black glossy surfaces.
   
• Continue walking along the walls in the house in an uninterrupted manor until you have gone completely around all the walls in your house and return to the exact same place you started. Then make an ending lemniscent over the one you made when you started.

Walk the same pattern along the walls again with the charged chalice, dipping your fingers into the salt water and spritzing some on the walls every 2-3 feet until you again return to the place you started. (Be sure you have put your firebowl in a safe place while you do this especially if it is still burning for fire safety reasons).

A Four Element Cleansing is good for removing psychic imprints from walls, objects and people. It can clear out negative energies or influences and any psychic residue left by any type of beings. We all come into contact with negative energies daily, so taking the time to clear these energies out of your living space will add to your peace of mind and being.

Special Ritual Magic
Other important times for rituals include birthdays, naming days, new moon, full moon, and change of life (such as transition from adult to wise crone). I participated in the naming ritual for the grandson of a dear friend when he was 3 months old. It was a very formal magical ritual done in a full cast circle, for a wonderfully magical child. The child sat totally quiet throughout the entire ritual (not a usual state for him) that lasted about an hour and a half as he received his shamanic name, "Shining Antelope" and watched the various parts of the ritual unfold. It is a very special memory for me still 10 years later and for his family.

Doing special magical events throughout the year is a way of acknowledging higher powers and beings that are at work in your life everyday, acknowledging life transitions and inviting those powers to participate with you. Whether you do a magical ritual in full cast circle, a simple ceremony or just take a longer time than usual to do your daily ritual and connect with higher beings, it is a way to show our gratitude for their presence in our lives and strengthen our connection with them.

If you need ideas for daily rituals you can get started on, check out our Daily Rituals for Attracting What You Want in Life ebook. Get started on introducing ritual magic into your life and you'll be amazed at the changes it can bring to 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.

Magic Spells: How to Learn Magic

We quite often get emails asking how to learn magic. In this day and time it seems that we have seen an increase in these types of emails. It is exciting to hear that for whatever reasons, more people are seeking out magical knowledge and a different way of life. Whether you are seriously interested in studying magic, just out to see for yourself if it is real or want to dabble in some magical practices, we have lots of resources at the Esoteric School of Shamanism and Magic for you.

Can I Do Magic?
First off we like to make clear that we work on the premise in everything we teach that nothing is taken as true or real until you experience it for yourself and KNOW for yourself that it is true. A magician must experience and verify everything for him or herself to avoid the trap of dogma. That means you have hands on exercises throughout that you can practice and see results from. Many real magic techniques are not instant however and you do need to be willing to put in some time and practice. Some people have natural gifts and may see results sooner and others will need to practice a bit more. Everyone however can do magic. It is actually the "normal" way of life, but we have just lost access to it.

Magic Is a Precision Science
Our approach to magic and spells is that of a scientist since after all magicians and shamans are technicians of the sacred. One of the first things students learn in our Basic Magic Class is that we teach magic as a precision science. That is because magic is the science of:

• deliberate creation 
• effective prayer 
• of manifesting Higher Will on the energetic and material planes 
• of heightened awareness, selective perception and dynamic, harmonious relationships

Magical techniques are taught in such a way that they can be duplicated and replicated if directions are followed. Students do have to follow directions as given since altered procedures produce altered results as many students over the years have found out for themselves.

Rules of the Road
Having said all this, what we respond to those asking how to learn magic is that they should start with basic spells and rituals offered in our free online resources. They also need to become familiar with the Rules of the Road which are the ethics of magic. These Universal laws govern magical practice and are in effect whether you know them or not, believe in them or not or agree with them or not. Practicing magic without knowledge of these governing laws can result in disaster.

Free Resources To Get You Started
In our free resources section of our website, we have access to a wide variety of simple and safe magic and spells for beginners. We also have a newsletter that comes out twice a month you can subscribe to by email, a blog with informational articles and a platform where you can ask questions, as well as our Facebook community you can join in on. Whatever method works best for you, the main thing is to get started exploring the world of magic for yourself. Here are some links to simple, but powerful spells and rituals to get you started:

• Sun Candle 
• Rooting
• Weather Working With Clouds
• The Exit Ritual
• Grounding
• Chalice Blessing

When you're ready for more just go to our Resources section and Is Magic Real page. And remember to have fun and enjoy your journey into magic and spells.

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.

Tarot: Should You Use the Lovers or 2 Cups When Reading on Relationships?

One of the uses for Tarot cards is to throw a reading for Tarot divination purposes. Divination is a means of obtaining information by psychic or magical means not readily available to the body's five senses. The major purpose of divination is to discover the influences, energies and probability lines that are active in our lives. Having this information allows us to exert control in our lives. When looking at the future through divination means such as Tarot card readings, there are 2 factors you need to understand:

• The future is not set or pre-destined. It may be changed at any time before it happens.
• Divinations concerning the future are only probabilities based on assuming that current influences continue unchanged. Any change in the present will change the future.

So when doing a Tarot card reading, if you find an unwanted future event, you can research to find out what events lead to it and change those events. That will cause the unwanted event to either not happen or happen differently than what you found in your reading.

Signifiers
When doing a Tarot card reading, a signifier is used. This is a card or cards that represent the someone or something the reading is being done on and/or the question we want answered. Different traditions use signifiers in different ways and some people doing Tarot readings today do not use signifiers at all. We find that using a signifier and keying it to the person and specific issues and questions give a more exact reading. When doing a Tarot reading the signifier is very important to getting the exact information you want. Results will vary according to which signifier you use. Therefore it is important to make sure you use the right signifier for the information you are seeking.

Lovers versus Two of Cups
Consider the meanings of the cards Lovers and Two of Cups. When doing a reading on relationships, many people think the Lovers card in the Major Arcana would be the natural choice and many Tarot books say this is the card to use. This is not accurate however if you are doing a reading on intimate personal relationships. The Lovers card is more for looking at higher spiritual relationships, karmic relationships, destined relationships or soul mates. This card indicates primarily a spiritual relationship that we planned when coming into this lifetime or strong spiritual ties and connections we have from other lifetimes. It could also be used as a signifier for relationship and balance to the overall higher aspect of community. It is a higher octave than the Two of Cups.

The Two of Cups is a better choice for intimate personal relationships. As a signifier it looks at emotional involvement of partnerships and is the love card. It also signifies reuniting, coming together and one on one intimate emotional sharing. This is the card to use in a Tarot reading as a signifier when looking for information on intimate emotional or passionate couple relationships of the mundane or worldly existence.

As you can see you would get different results according to which of these 2 signifiers you chose to use in your Tarot reading. As with all magical procedures, just think it through and pick a signifier that will give you the results to what you are seeking.

What are your favorite signifiers to use for certain subjects when doing a Tarot reading? We'd love for you to share yours in our magical communities either on Facebook or our blog. Share your favorite signifier and what situation you use it for and we'll send you a discount code to use on purchasing our Tarot Homestudy course.

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.

Wanna Do Real Magic? Why You Need a Book of Shadows

One very important tool magical practitioners use is a Book of Shadows. The definition of a Book of Shadows varies among magical and shamanic practitioners depending on which tradition they practice. Some practitioners regard it as a book as used in the TV series, Charmed, where the Halliwell sisters have a big book of spells written by their ancestors which they call a Book of Shadows. Others regard it as a personal journal for Wiccans as described by Gerald Gardner in "Witchcraft Today". Although the definition of a Book of Shadows can vary, there are 3 common usages and purposes that most practitioners can agree on.

#1 Record Spell Details
A Book of Shadows is used to record all the details of spells cast. This includes any divinations prior to the spell, the directors and limiters, methods used, results of divinations to check spell progress, and any results of the spell. Having all these details recorded is especially important if you need to take a spell down because of something going wrong. The way a spell is taken down depends on the way it was cast. For example, if the spell was cast using a carved candle then to take it down the practitioner could break the candle used in the spell and bury the pieces in a garden for a moon cycle.

#2 Track Magical and Shamanic Research
Magical and shamanic practitioners often engage in research such as discovering facts about past lives, divining future events, trying out new techniques or traveling to different planes. In the traditions of the Esoteric School of Shamanism and Magic, we record the results of walks in the black mirror, a portal to other planes of existence or half-worlds. When we do these walks we use a litany or chant to direct the walk and keep from getting lost. Recording details about the walk upon returning adds to our body of magical knowledge and also records the effectiveness of the chant so it can be used again or fine tuned for future use.

#3 Preserve Magic and Shamanism for the Future
Preserving magical and shamanic knowledge for future practitioners is one of the most important purposes of a Book of Shadows. Most traditions recognize the importance of information and practices passed on from past practitioners. A real Book of Shadows can contain the research and results of multiple generations of practitioners handed down through the years. Each generation of practitioners, not necessarily related, adds their experience to the book.

A real Book of Shadows is a record of magical and shamanic experience that is preserved either for a practitioner's own use or for future use. Some keep individual books and never hand them down because they either have no one to pass them down to or because they are secretive. Whatever your reason, if you are practicing magical arts, you should definitely start a Book of Shadows of your own. It will help you remember what you have done, track your magical experiments and possibly be an asset for the future.

Many traditions use symbols on the front and back of the Book of Shadows either for decoration or more likely for its protection. These can range from very simple to very intricate. If you have a Book of Shadows, we'd love you to share a picture of your cover with our magical communities (Facebook or blog) or to know how you use your book. If you don't have a Book of Shadows already, check out some of the ones we have in our school store. To learn more about magical techniques to include in your Book of Shadows, check out our How to Do Voodoo or Psychic Development ebooks.


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.

Are Your Divinations Being Sabotaged? How to Protect Your Readings

Ever notice sometimes when meditating, doing divination, readings or other particular magical procedures, that you realize your mind is interfering with the process? It is not unusual when you have an interest in an outcome to find that your own opinions and beliefs or sometimes outside influences are entering into the equation and skewing your results. There is a very simple solution to this that will help keep your readings, divinations and other magical procedures objective and keep outside influences at bay when meditating. Using a Wisdom and a Protection candle when doing a card reading, divination technique or meditating will accomplish this.

Picking a Candle Color
These candles can be white, powder blue or sun yellow in color. It is usually best to use the same color for both, but there may be circumstances when you would want a different elemental color for one. Grass green is a color that can be used to ward off earthy influences. Water color candles do not usually work well as they tend to stifle the air energies you need for wisdom and understanding in interpreting results.

Placement of Candles
The Wisdom candle goes on the right of the reading, firebowl, plate, pendulum or other divination tool setup. It prevents you from controlling, coercing or tampering with the reading. It also keeps your self importance, beliefs or opinions out. The Protection candle goes to the left and keeps the person being read or anyone else from tampering with the reading or divination or from hitting you energetically while you are performing the reading, divination technique or meditation.

How the Candles Work
The principle behind using these candles is that any two candles in the same area will trade energies. Lighting both candles from the same match creates a fire loop. To do this, light a match from your charged sun candle. First light the Wisdom candle to the right. Then move the match over to light the Protection candle on the left and loop over the reading or divination space to touch the match flame to the Wisdom candle flame again. You may notice the whole area in and around the reading or divination space is brighter once you create this fire loop. This is not something you will notice if you light the candles with separate matches.

Before proceeding with your magical procedure, watch the candles and wait for them both to get a tall working flame. Relax and breathe and don't focus on the outcome of your procedure. If either of the candles (especially the Protection candle) are dampened or flickering, that can mean someone else is energetically pushing on it or trying to influence it. If this happens, take one candle in each hand

and at the same time draw a lemniscate (infinity symbol that looks like a figure 8 laying on its side) with each candle one in front of the other and put the candles back in place. The flames should then return to normal.

Using the Wisdom and Protection candles in this way can help keep your magical procedures of all kinds objective and giving accurate results and interpretations. To share this and other magical tips be sure to sign up for our free twice monthly email newsletter and pass it on to others. You can also find a variety of magical articles on our blog that you can subscribe to by email and find a variety of candles and other magical items in our school store.


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.

Need Magical Self-Defense? Be Sure You're in the Clear First ...

People ask us all the time how to protect themselves magically using self defense magic. Magical self-defense isn't difficult, but the procedures could boomerang if you are not sure you are in the clear according to self-defense laws. Magicians, having considerable power and force, need to carefully study self defense laws. Using our powers inappropriately can cause severe Universal backlash. We must be sure that we keep our tempers in check and not use our abilities in a reactive manner. Western magical practice states that "You have a right to be here and follow your own path so long as you hinder no one else in doing likewise." This principle asserts our right to exist and follow our own path and thus our right to defend ourselves against those who would seek to prevent us from walking our path.

As we increase our magical abilities, we will attract the attention of beings of different levels and some of these will try to interfere with our path in one way or another. Clarissa Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves, states this as, "If you have beauty in your life, know that it will attract the dark as well as the light. Don't be surprised. Be prepared."

In our Magical Self Defense Homestudy Course here are some of the magical self defense laws that students learn:
"In cases of direct and violent personal harm you are entitled to defend yourself by any means available provided you did nothing to encourage or provoke the attack." Here's some definitions in the magical sense of this rule to make it more clear.

Direct – Means upon body, mind or spirit. A direct threat in spiritual, magical and shamanic definitions includes attempts by any outside force or influence to drain your energy or impose their will upon you.

Violent – Means anything that is damaging to your physical, mental, emotional or spiritual well being. Doesn't matter what the attacker's intentions are, only what he/she does.

Encourage – Means creating or permitting unnecessary opportunities for a know hostile being to attack you.

Provoke – Means being overly pushy when you know someone has a particularly sensitive area or is under a lot of stress whether it be internal or external.

By Any Means Available – Means using any means that you choose to defend yourself when attacked. As long as all the other conditions of this rule are met the Universe does not judge whether your response is excessive.

In some spiritual systems, it is considered a crime not to defend yourself because in so doing you are enabling the attacker to not learn appropriate spiritual behavior and impeding their spiritual growth. Any infringement on your sacred space gives you the right to defend yourself according to magical self defense laws.

Self defense tactics can come in very useful in a variety of situations and even be life saving, just remember to think them through and make sure you are on the right side of the self defense laws. Don't over-react, keep your cool, and make sure you are within your magical rights to use whatever technique you are considering. This will keep you in alignment with the Universe and prevent any backlash coming back at you. If you want to learn more about the magical rules of self defense, protection magic, and magical self defense tactics, check out our Magical Self Defense Homestudy course.


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.

Psychic Self Defense: How to Use Active and Passive Shields

One of the many techniques magical practitioners have at their disposal in protection magic is the use of active and passive shields. Active shields would be the kind that the practitioner actually constructs. In protection magic these are most effective when made using fire energies. Passive shields are generally objects with symbols that are quite often worn and have been created specifically for protection purposes and keyed to the wearer's energy.



Active Shields
Fire Half Shields – These are shields that you build from fire energy for protection against psychic and energetic attack. They are useful when there is an immediate threat or danger. It is a static shield meaning that it does not move with you and will last for about 30-60 seconds. The more this type of shield is attacked, the stronger it becomes. It is made with the motion that you often see in martial arts by moving one hand in front of you from left to right. If the half shield is made so that it is a concave shield, it will focus and intensify the energy that it sends back. For example, if someone is sending anger your way, a concave shield will intensify the anger into a rage and send it back as more of a rage energy. This can cause the other person to get a headache or in extreme anger situations can cause heart pain. A concave shield should be reserved for serious threats that you need protection magic for. A convex shield is good for scattering sound, psychic or mental blows, for insects and less serious types of threat.

Fire Door Shields – This type of fire shield lasts indefinitely. It uses a technique that creates a shield for a doorway or window area and is keyed to not let whatever you key it against in. So for example, if you have a problem with a certain person coming over and contaminating your space with negative energies, you can put up a fire door shield and key it to keep out anyone who does not have a positive energy or intentions around them. The next time that person shows up and has a negative energy to spread, they won't know why, but they will not feel comfortable about entering your space and will not be able to bring themselves to come in.

Fire Omnils – Omnils are a three-dimensional whirling protective shield. They separate you from time, space and events and can be programmed to deflect certain kinds of energies and experiences. They can also be programmed to pull certain thoughts or influences out of your personal space. Omnils can be made using the Wand with Air energies, but are much stronger and more permanent when made with Fire energy. Omnils can be made with any of the fire energy colors according to the intended purpose. Electric Blue is the color used primarily for protection magic. If you want to maintain or deflect heat, then Bright Red is a good choice and Red or Yellow Orange are useful for attracting attention to yourself. An Electric Blue omnil can be keyed against Electric Blue which will program it to defend against psychic attack. Omnils can be put up around a person or objects for protection. For example, you can put an omnil up around your house or car. Once created, the omnil is then keyed to specifically what you want to protect the person or object from. Unlike Fire Half Shields, omnils are not static and will move with the person or object.

Passive Shields
Passive shields are good for protection magic from all the negative streams of energy that constantly surround us. Active shields are good for specific threats, but are not always practical against the many general negative influences in our everyday environments. You can be influenced even by someone else thinking negative thoughts about you!

Psychic Shields
Wearing a psychic shield is the best way to protect yourself against these types of ongoing negative energies. These shields are generally silver pendants worn on a chain around the neck that are programmed to defend against psychic attack of any kind or degree. If the attack comes from behind you, the shield channels the energy and pulls it harmlessly through you. If the attack comes from in front of you, the shield blocks and scatters the energy. After an attack has been deflected you will see the shield actually look like it has burn or scorch marks on it. If it is a very intense attack, the whole shield and the chain can turn black. It will then need to be polished to clean it up. A psychic shield is keyed to the wearer's energy frequency and will protect you as long as you wear it.

If you find yourself drawn to learning more about protection magic and learning the techniques to create active shields, check out the Basic Magic Online Course or the Magical Self Defense homestudy course. To develop you psychic skills and abilities, take a look at our Psychic Development ebook. The Esoteric School also offers a specially designed psychic Sun Shield and Moon Shield that you can see in our school store. These passive shields come with instructions on how to key them to your own energy.


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.

Do You Know Your Real Magic Fire Colors and How to Use Them?

Each of the 4 elements in real magic have their own correspondences. In elemental magic these correspondences include:

• direction
• tool
• elemental spirit
• part of person
• direction of view
• colors 
• spiritual aspect

The element fire is any energy, including kinetic energy, which is the force inherent in anything moving. In other words anything that is moving or has movement has fire energy. The colors associated with fire energy are:

Sun Yellow – Affects spirit's vitality and alertness. If feeling spiritually groggy, take on more sun yellow. If feel too excited then dump sun yellow. You can give sun yellow to anyone at anytime safely and it is the one color that you don't have to have their permission to give because it does not negatively affect the person's ability to make choices. If someone is losing life force, sun yellow is a great color to give them.

Yellow Orange – Affects the spirit and physical neural system. This is the color of the energy of reaction. Using this color by either adding more or taking some away can speed up or slow down a person's level of reactivity. Too much yellow orange can make a person jittery, anxious, nervous, jumpy or cranky. Fear is generally a mental-neural phenomenon associated with yellow orange. Conditions resulting from too much yellow orange energy will not have fever or body flushing. That will fall in the category of Red Orange.

Red Orange – Affects the physical neural system and body metabolism. It is similar to Yellow Orange but more physical, more related to the body. Red orange is the color of pain, anger, or fever.

Bright Red – Affects the body's metabolism and temperature and is not related to the neural system at all. Bright red cannot make you angry or irritable. It can be used to raise body temperature to a high level without hurting it or damaging the nervous system. This can be done for a person who is drunk for example, to burn the alcohol out of their system. Increasing bright red is also a way to lose weight by getting rid of hard fats (with soft fats you also have to dump water energy).

Deep Red/Red Purple – Affects the circulatory and glandular systems and fluids, but not the body's metabolism or burning rate. It can be used to boost passion and sexual arousal. It is also a good choice to use with frostbite to safely raise the temperature of the blood without damaging body tissue.

Electric Blue – Has all the bands of color in it, much the same as what many refer to as "white light". It is the color at the bottom of every flame and is the driving force of the Universe. It can be used with a variety of techniques for things such as protection, blasting objects to unkey them and sweeping the body in healing work.

Some conditions are a mix of more than one fire color or fire and another energy color. For example, pain or muscle cramps are somewhere between yellow orange and red orange. Pink is a fire energy with a lot of air energy and is a sedative or relaxing.

Beginning practitioners of real magic should use caution when dealing with fire energies and should not adjust balances on others until they have mastered manipulating their own fire balances. In working with fire, as in working with all the elements, take your time, think it through and do it right. You are literally playing with fire.

To learn more about elemental magic, using the fire element and all the other elements, see the Basic Magic Level I online course.

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.

Got Pain? These Two Magical Stones are Real Magic

Pain is something that can be dealt with through a variety of real magic techniques and using magical stones are a good way to ground out pain. These magical stones also work well for anger, frustration and irritation. There are two magical stones in particular that are good for flowing these types of negative energies into as they are capable of holding and channeling away all that stressful energy. Tribal people have been using them for generations for this purpose. Many magical practitioners use crystals for various types of healing work. Crystals however, and in particular quartz crystals, get contaminated easily and need to be magically cleansed quite frequently.

The two stones we recommend for dealing with energies resulting from issues such as pain, anger, and frustration are Apache Tears and Specular Hematite. Apache Tears do not need to go through magical cleansing procedures at all. Specular Hematite does not get as contaminated as crystals, but it does need cleansing at times.

Apache Tears:
Apache Tears are also known as Grandmother's Tears. They are a special form of obsidian made up of feldspar, hornblend, biotite and quartz. Shamanic circles commonly used them to safely transfer negative or unwanted energies into the half worlds. To use this magical stone, hold it in your dominant hand and flow the excess energy into the stone. The stone acts as a portal to the half worlds and none of that energy will come back to you.

Specular Hematite:
Specualar Hematite is another stone that absorbs lots of energy very easily. Hold the stone in your dominant hand and flow energy into it like you did with the Apache Tear. Unlike the Apache Tear, Specular Hematite is not a portal to the half worlds, so you do have to cleanse it of the negative energies it has absorbed regularly by smudging or other magical cleansing techniques such as burying it in the earth for a moon cycle.

Specular Hematite is often easier to find in rock shops and gem stores than Apache Tears. Both make excellent additions to your magical toolkit for pain and stress relief. To learn more ways to bring magical blessings to your life, see our Daily Rituals For Getting What You Want in Life ebook.

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.

Magical Aikido for Self Defense: What to Do if Someone Grabs You

Yes magic can be used for self defense, but magicians must study self defense tactics very carefully before using them. Magicians have considerable power and force and using these powers inappropriately opens one to Universal backlash. Once you are sure you are not reacting from anger and are justified in using magic for self defense, there are many different techniques that can be effective.

To Blast or Not to Blast
Basically a good rule to follow in considering the use of magic for self defense is:
"In cases of direct and violent personal harm you are entitled to defend yourself by any means available provided you did nothing to encourage or provoke the attack." In the world of magic here's how this rule is defined further:

Direct - attempts from any outside force that would drain your energy, impose their will upon you or that is an attack on your body, mind or spirit.

Violent - anything that is damaging to your physical, mental, emotional or spiritual well being.

Encourage – creating or permitting unnecessary opportunities for a known hostile being to attack you

Provoke – being excessively pushy towards someone that you know has a sore spot or is under a lot of stress internally or externally

By Any Means Available – using any means you choose to defend yourself when attacked. As long as all the other parts of the rule are met, the Universe does not judge your response as excessive or not

One note of caution in using magic for self defense. If you are a beginning practitioner, it is not uncommon to go through a period of increased awareness and sensitivity. During this period it can be easy to misinterpret increased sensitivity as being under attack. It is best to err on the side of caution when choosing a technique to employ and use those that cause lesser harm until you are sure that you are meeting the conditions appropriate for the use of magical self defense.

Lightning Rod
Let's take an example of someone grabbing you. That is an easier one to start with and ascertain whether it is a person grabbing you in fun or whether you are being attacked. This is a situation in which using the Lightning Rod technique is a good one. With this technique you are either boosting your own energy or sending back an attacker's energy to them. This is a technique that can do a lot of damage to someone and even be lethal, so make sure you take it seriously and do not use it unless you are truly being attacked. Here's how.

Send Back Attacker's Energy:
Use your body as a lightning rod to pull and store the attacker's energy, then send it back to them in a single blast to a targeted area.
1. Go limp and do not fight against the person grabbing you. This is so that you do not waste your own force.

2. Pull the attacker's energy into your body as quickly as you can. It will probably be a red-orange colored energy and you won't need to pull very hard since they will be radiating it strongly. This will deplete their energy supply.

3. Store the energy you pull in your body and you can add more energy of your own to it from your own anger, pain or fear if you choose to.

4. Keep pulling the attacker's energy until the attacker relaxes or becomes limp.

5. Flow the energy you have stored into your output hand (hand you point with)

6. Send the energy back to the attacker by tapping one or two fingers of our output hand on their forehead, between their eyes, on the throat or over the heart. while flowing the stored energy out your fingers. If your hands are being restrained in such a way that you can not reach any of theses areas flow it wherever you can. It may not do as much damage, but may stun the attacker or cause enough pain to the attacker that you are able to get away.

Boost Own Energy
If you find you have been attacked in such a way that your own energies have been depleted, you can boost your energy to regain the strength for self defense. Find a source to pull fire energies from. The source could be an angry crowd for example. This crowd would be radiating a lot of fire energy, most likely of a red-orange color. You won't have to see it, you will be able to feel it. Pull the fire energy from the source into your own body and store it without grounding it out. This will give you a boost in energy to be able to employ other self defense techniques or give you the strength to get away if the situation warrants that. Only pull enough to regain your own energy level and then stop. You do not want to pull in more fire energy than you need.

Practice Makes You Ready
Protection magic and self defense tactics don't just come naturally to most people. Just like using martial arts for self defense, the moves have to be practiced before they are actually needed in a self defense situation. Waiting until you are under attack to try out your magical self defense tactics can prove to be very ineffective.


If you are ready to learn about magical self defense tactics, body flows, magical colors of defense, and all the other skills necessary in protection magic, take a look at our Magical Self Defense homestudy course.


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.

What is Real Magic Anyway?

What is real magic? With all the media attention through books, TV shows and movies, it can be confusing to some people what real magic is all about and how it differs from the practices and techniques they watch Harry Potter and his friends perform. Often people see these amazing things done and wonder is magic real at all. Yes, it is real even though not quite as dramatic as portrayed by the entertainment industry. Real magic in the real world can be every bit as amazing though in the things it can accomplish and changes it can make in people's lives. I believe that makes it even more spectacular than anything I've seen Harry do.

Define Real Magic
Real magic is first of all a precision science. It is the science of:

• deliberate creation
• effective prayer
• manifesting Higher Will on energetic and material planes
• heightened awareness, selective perception and dynamic, harmonious relationships

Real magic is also the study of intention and a system of creation, not coercion. In fact, every intentional act is an act of magic. It allows us to understand the actual workings of the Universe through direct experience. Real magic is also a path of spiritual growth. A magician must experience and verify everything for him or herself. He or she has the ability to create because he has the tools of divination to test the rituals he creates.

Rules Governing Real Magic
There is a set of rules, we call them "Rules of the Road", that magicians operate under. These are non-changing operational laws of the Universe. The Universe doesn't recognize morals and ethics because they vary from culture to culture and they change over time. Real magic practitioners use these rules to guide them in their practices instead of relying on their own personal value systems.

You can see the entire list of the "Rules of the Road" we practice at the Esoteric School, but there are 2 major rules that they are based on:
1. Whatever is done to the environment or other beings in the environment brings similar effects upon the doer. This is called the Law of Karma by some. The Universe doesn't care why an action was taken, or even if the doer is aware of the Rules of the Road or trained in magic, it only cares that the act was performed and therefore sends the results, negative or positive to the doer.

2. The magical practitioner judges the "goodness" or "badness" of his or her acts, whether conscious or unconscious acts, based on what the Universe reflects back on him or her. The same is true of judging others, entire communities, states or nations.

Magicians wanted
Over time the mundane world and how it operates has gone through great changes. Values, priorities, relationships, technologies, and the way people live are so very different than hundreds of years ago. In the world today, more magicians are needed to update rituals and practices for the issues we face today. Shamans and magicians can create seemingly miraculous things to be a positive influence in world affairs. Each one of you has the ability to learn real magic, raise the consciousness of the planet and create positive manifestations for yourself and others with the help of the Universe. There is nothing very magic about learning real magic. It is a "normal" way of life that most people have simply lost access to.

If you are ready to join forces with other magical practitioners and take control of your birthright to learn real magic, let us know. Our Basic Magic class is online now with no waiting for new classes to begin registration. Share in the comments on our blog below or on our Facebook page what magical topics you would like to learn and we'll send you a discount code for savings on Level I of the Basic Magic course.


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.

What Incense Should You Burn for Magical Firebowl Divination?

There are many different incense and plant resins that can be burned for divination, as well as other magical procedures, and each has its own characteristics and classification according to the 4 elements. When it comes to selecting incense or plant resins for divination, don't assume that all vendors have classified the incense they sell accurately by element characteristics and correspondences. Also, there are incense that change drastically once burned in a Firebowl, so that is another consideration. The best way to make sure you are using an incense of the element that you want for a particular divination is to test it out for yourself by burning a small amount in your firebowl as you smell the scent and watch the smoke. The following guidelines in the list below will then help you classify the elemental makeup.

Firebowl Incense Elemental Mixes

1. General Purpose: will have a good mix of 4 elements, usually higher in Air and Fire

• Smoke – moderate amount of smoke, tends to rise and spread moderately rapid and leaves a slight bluish haze.
• Scent – Some "edge" or "stickiness" in the scent
• Examples – Sage, pinion, juniper, Dragon's Blood, frankincense

2. Air: is often pale colored with white or transparent material. Can be used to remember dreams, is good for studying

• Smoke – rises quickly and dissipates quickly. Has a very light smoke that leaves air fairly clear afterwards
• Scent – delicate, fast rising scent or no odor
• Examples – sandalwood, sage, mint, sweet grass

3. Fire: often is red, orange, or yellow, good to liven up energy

• Smoke – smoke rises quickly and spreads quickly and is red or yellow. Amount of smoke is light or moderate and leaves a slight bluish haze
• Scent – has a sharp scent that "bites" the nasal passages and sinuses
• Examples – pine, juniper, frankincense

4. Water: often is pink, blue, dark red or brown and often feels damp. Good for meditation.

• Smoke – thick smoke that rises and spreads slowly and dissipates slowly
• Scent – often has a fruit or flower scent or heavy, sweet, wet, thick and cloying scent that can last for days
• Examples – gardenia, lotus blossom, strawberry

5. Earth: often brown or green. Good for stabilizing an area

• Smoke – tends not to rise but rather to "boil" out and settle to the floor spreading slowly
• Scent – heavy, not sweet, not wet "earthy" scent that can last for days. Also a dry scent with a slight "edge" to the nasal passages and sinuses
• Examples – musk, mosses (be sure to dry before burning), myrrh, dark/heavy pines

For deeper study about divination and characterizing incense and plant resins and their various magical uses, see our How to Do Voodoo ebook or the online Basic Magic class section 1.


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.

Magic 2012: Clock's a-ticking ... Have You Figured Out Your Lesson Yet

Magic 2012 is quickly drawing to an end. As the much prophesied date of December 21, 2012 approaches and we transition into a new era, let's look back at what magic 2012 has been about and what you can still do before the December date arrives.

Magic 2012: Large Life Events
For many people, the year of magic 2012 has been filled with chaotic events and/or the year has seemed to move at a fast speed. We have seen more people dealing with life events of a larger scale this year. Whether it has been in financial, relationship, health, or loss issues, there has been an increased intensity in these life events. The lessons associated with these issues have caused people to have to look beyond the events themselves and turn further inward to gain understanding of the important lessons they have yet to learn. The good news is that magic 2012 has been a time of manifesting quicker and making changes quicker. More people have opened themselves to guidance and help from higher powers and beings, have learned to trust their inner voice and received asked for signs from totems and spirit forces. The lessons may not all have been pleasant, but they have been more profound this year.

Magic 2012: Need Help Getting Your Lesson?
There have also been people for whom this year held significance, but they did not face the craziness and did not have those big life lessons to learn. That could mean there really isn't one for them at this time, but it could be they just haven't been tuned in enough to get it. There is still time. If you haven't figured out your big life lesson for this year, ask. You can ask the 4 winds, angels, your totems, guardians or any number of spiritual beings to send you signs if there is a big lesson for you this year. Spend some extra time meditating and doing self observation. Dig deeper than you have before. If there is something that you have been uncomfortable about or an issue that you haven't really wanted to face, this is the year more than any other that can bring you resolution, peace and a deeper understanding.

This has been a year that many of the tried and true techniques used in the past haven't been working for people the same way. They have had to get more creative, make big changes and seek out alternatives. If you've never taken on doing a daily ritual, this may be the time to do that. Doing a daily ritual insures that we set aside some time everyday to connect with the higher, have some quiet time and create some sacred space for ourselves. This can be meditating, do yoga, reading from an inspirational book or any number of uplifting spiritual endeavors. The key is to do the exercise everyday, thus making it a daily ritual. This opens a doorway through which higher powers and beings can enter your life. If you do a daily ritual and haven't received insight into any deeper life lessons, you may need to change to a different ritual. If you have been doing the same ritual for a period of time, you may be going through your ritual in a mechanical way at this point, thus closing the doorway. Changing to a fresh ritual may engage your centers and allow you to re-open the door.

Remember that any intentional act is an act of magic and in this year of magic 2012 those intentional acts can open you to new possibilities. This year has been best and fastest time to manifest anything, so if you haven't gotten to it yet, it's time to get moving, the clock's a ticking!

Need help figuring out how to get your lesson before the year ends? Post your situation on our Facebook page. Our school staff and a large magical community can help you get ideas of what direction to go.


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.

What is a Voodoo Doll in Magical Terms?

Voodoo and voodoo dolls in particular have been portrayed in movies, books and television for a long time as a dark and mysterious type of magic. In actuality, Voodoo is a West African religion also known as Vodun, Vodoun, Vodou, Vudu and Voudou. The voodoo doll is just one part of the practice, but seems to be the one most people are familiar with. They can be a very useful tool for a wide spectrum of magical procedures.

What Is A Voodoo Doll Used For
The voodoo doll has the same use as what many magical practitioners refer to as a simulacrum. A simulacrum is an object that is a likeness of something. Simulacra can also include photographs, pictures, figurines, symbols, lists, and Tarot cards. They are objects used to capture the essence of that which you seek to affect. It is best not to use simulacra made of plastic or rubber as they do not "key" well. If your object is made of wood, make sure it is a dense wood or there may be problems "keying" it as well.

Using simulacra allows you to do magical procedures on people and things you are not in direct physical contact with. In fact the person you affect can be all the way on the other side of the world, or you can affect a global situation. By making a psychic connection, between the simulacrum or voodoo doll and the person or situation, you can perform the magical procedure on the doll or simulacrum and the person or thing it is connected to will get the benefits. By the Universal Law of Similarity, the more likeness between a simulacrum and that which it is keyed to, the greater the psychic connection. So the more your simulacrum looks like the person or the situation you want to affect the greater they will be affected.

How To Key A Voodoo Doll
As an example, take the case of using a voodoo doll to do a long distance healing with someone hundreds of miles away from you. Making the psychic connection or "keying" is done by holding the voodoo doll in your dominant or "output' hand and thinking of everything you know about the person. Continue this until it feels charged, warm, heavy or tingly or some describe it as a feeling that the doll is "alive" or they felt it wiggle. The voodoo doll is then keyed to that person. At this point you must be very careful with the voodoo doll. Anything you do to it will affect the person it is keyed to. So you don't want to go off for the weekend and leave it lying around for the cat to bounce around the room causing injury to the person. You need to do your magical procedure whether it be a healing technique, putting up an omnil for protection or whatever and then unkey the doll or simulacrum.

How To Unkey A Voodoo Doll
To "unkey" a simulacrum, you cut the psychic connection lines with a keyed athame (fire element tool) and throw a blast of electric blue energy at it from your athame. Some Wiccan practitioners also will bury the simulacrum in the earth for a moon cycle to complete the "unkeying" process.

Be sure that any magical operation you are attempting using a voodoo doll or simulacrum has been thought through thoroughly as always and that you are following the Rules of the Road (Universal Laws governing magical practice) to avoid any karmic backlash. Voodoo dolls and other types of simulacra can be extremely useful tools for a wide variety of magical healing, protection, and communication if used appropriately. They help expand the range of using your magical techniques to help others and are a great tool to add to your magical toolbox.

To learn more about how to do voodoo magic, check out our How To Do Voodoo ebook in the Esoteric School Store.


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.

Do You Know the Top 5 Reasons People Fail at Real Magic?

We sometimes hear from people that their real magic procedures didn't work and they want to know what went wrong and how to manifest the things they want. They often begin to doubt their magical powers. When real magic seems to have failed, it often turns out to be a matter of we, ourselves getting in the way of manifesting everything we want.

Here are the top 5 reasons we've found that people fail at real magic or that interfere with how to manifest what one wants.

1. We Don't Believe We Can Be, Do, and Have Everything We Want
We are taught that we must make sacrifices to get what we want or that to get one thing we have to give up something else. The Universe however is limitless. We can ask for and manifest everything we want and there still be enough left for everyone else.

2. Negativity is Popular
By the Law of Attraction we attract to our lives that which we focus on. Negativity being as popular and prevalent as it is in our society causes our positive energies to become skewed and thus interferes with our positive manifestations. All the negativity around us serves to keep us distracted from the positive things we desire. No one sits around and dreams of all the negative things they want to have happen in their lives, but most of our attention throughout the day gets focused in negative directions.

3. We are Hypnotized by Daily Life
We tend to get so caught up in daily life matters and act mechanically that we forget to consciously create. Work, family responsibilities, to do lists and all the daily living concerns occupy our minds and don't allow us to spend time or thought manifesting or communicating with higher powers that can help with our manifestations.

4. We are Afraid of Failure
We don't grow up being taught how to attract what we want and we don't get a lot of practice at it. We are taught to abhor failure however so we give up too soon attributing it to failure or don't even bother trying because of the fear of failing. 

5. We Think we Have to "Make it Happen"
We tend to make creating much more difficult than it needs to be. We think we have to "do" it and take on the total responsibility for it. We have been taught that to get ahead or get what we desire takes hard work, nose to the grindstone. Sometimes that can be true, but usually we create with the Universe's help and it doesn't have to be hard at all.

If you find yourself having difficulty with your manifestations, take a look at these 5 reasons people fail at real magic and see if any of them apply to you. Once you have that awareness, you can be on the road to change and finding how to manifest everything you want in your life. You can read more and learn how to expand your magical successes in our Daily Rituals ebook. To get a special discount on the ebook, just go to our Facebook page, give us a like and leave a comment telling why you want to learn more about how daily rituals can help with manifesting what you want in life. Then send us your email address and we'll email you back a code to enter at checkout for a discount. Learning how to manifest what you want and get a special savings, you can't beat that!


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.