The Enchanted Cat

2007 COVR AWARD WINNER

Best Book Magick/Shamanism Category

Cottage Witchery

"This is the perfect book to have around if youwant to make every area of your homemagical."-NewWitch

Herb Magic for Beginners

"A delightful little book."-Herb Quarterly

Garden Witch's Herbal

"A refreshing change from other gardenvarietyhorticulture books... entertaining as well asinformative"-New Age Retailer

Elements of Witchcraft

"[Dugan's] wise-woman tone and gentle guidancewill help nurture budding natural witches, and herwell-written text will guide novices in their dis-coveries as well."-School Library Journal

Natural Witchery

2oo8 COVR AWARD WINNER

Best Book Wicca/Paganism Category

"Interspersed throughout the text are lively an-ecdotes from Dugan's own Samantha Stephens-esque household. The value of this book lies inthe warm, personal touch Dugan uses both in herwriting and in her craft"-Publishers Weekly

"This book is eminently useful. Dugan's voiceis engaging and her work is practical and fun."-PanGaia

"A gold mine of concepts and resources for thenovice to intermediate practitioner... Chock-fullof relevant wisdom and lively humor."-Libraryjournal

Ellen Dugan is an award-winning author andpsychic-clairvoyant who has been a practicingWitch for over twenty-six years. She is highpriestess of a mixed magick tradition coven inthe St. Louis area. She gardens and practices herCraft in Missouri, where she lives with her fam-ily. Also known as the Garden Witch, she is theauthor of eleven Llewellyn books, includingGarden Witchery, Cottage Witchery, NaturalWitchery, and Garden Witch's Herbal. Ellen isalso an experienced lecturer on a variety of top-ics, including tarot, psychometry, Witchcraft, andenchanted gardens.

Practical wisdom is only to be learned in theschool of experience. Precepts and instructionsare useful so far as they go, but, without the dis-cipline of real life, they remain of the nature oftheory only.

-SAMUEL SMILES

Play by the rules, but be ferocious.

-PHIL KNIGHT, founder of Nike

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XV

INTRODUCTION 1

Lessons Learned 1

Practical Protection Magick 3

The Magician 4

The High Priestess: A Study in Neutrality 5

Exploring the Middle Ground 6

What You Will Find in This Book 8

Beginning the journey so

CHAPTER ONE

Psychic Awareness and Witchery 113

Psychic Awareness: A Little Something You DidNot Learn in Wicca sos 15

Psychic Talents: Discover Yours 17

CLAIRAUDIENT QUIZ 18

CLAIRVOYANT QUIZ 18

EMPATHIC QUIZ 19

INTUITIVE QUIZ 20

Psychic Strengths and Weaknesses 21

The Public Witch 26

A SPELL TO PROMOTE PSYCHICAWARENESS 29

The Next Step 30

CHAPTER TWO

Knowledge Is Power (Air) 33

MAGICKAL BACKGROUND Quiz 33

Psychic Attack? How DO I Know for Sure? 35

Symptoms of a Psychic Attack 37

Elemental Solutions for a Psychic Attack 4o

Down-to-Earth Advice on Hauntings 4z

Haunted Houses: Who Ya Gonna Call? 43

BASIC STEPS FOR CLEARING A HOUSE 44

Ghostbusting for Witches 46

A CLEANSING CHARM 47

Doing Your Haunted Homework 48

A HOUSE CLEANSING AND BANISHINGRITUAL 49

Sharing the House with a Friendly Ghost 51

Standing Tall and Looking Within 53

CALL TO THE ELEMENT OF AIR 54

CHAPTER THREE

Setting Boundaries (Water) 57

Dealing with Emotional Vampires 59

Identifying an Emotional Vampire 61

Passive-Aggressive Emotional Bullies 64

The Bully versus the Witch 66

WATER RITUAL FOR ESTABLISHINGHEALTHY BOUNDARIES 71

Defining Your Boundaries 73

CALL TO THE ELEMENT OF WATER 75

CHAPTER FOUR

Guarding and Reclaiming Your Power (Earth) 77

The Psychic Vampire-Intentional and Uninten-tional, Invited and Uninvited: What You Needto Know 79

Types of Psychic Vampire Energy Feeding 82

Warning Signs &Symptoms of Psychic vampir-ism 85

Protecting Yourself from a Psychic Vampire 88

Are All Psychic Vampires Bad? 91

Gave It Away? Here's How to Get It Back 93

PSYCHIC DETOX SPELL 95

Wait, Won't Just "Psychic Shielding" Work? 97

CALL TO THE ELEMENT OF EARTH 99

CHAPTER FIVE

Physical Fitness Equals Magickal Strength (Fire)ioz

Getting Yourself in Shape on All Levels 102

Strong. Beautiful. You! Starting Your OwnTransformation so6

Staying Motivated No Matter What 107

Body Language and Body Awareness sog

BODY-AWARENESS EXERCISE 112

Taking Charge of Our Bodies' Health and Healing113

Self-HealingMagick 115

SELF-HEALING SPELL 116

Witch, Heal Thyself! 118

CALL TO THE ELEMENT OF FIRE 118

CHAPTER SIX

Warding and Witchery 11211

Warding the Threshold: Herbal Swags, Wreaths,and Decorated Brooms 122

WREATH, SWAG, OR BROOM SPELL FORWARDING 123

Horseshoes and Hex Signs 125

BLESSING A HEX SIGN FOR PROTECTION127

Gargoyles and Warding Magick 128

GARGOYLE WARDING SPELL 129

Those Gorgeous Stone Beasts 130

Protective Symbols 131

Pentacles from The Key of Solomon 132

THE FOURTH PENTACLE OF THE MOON135

THE SIXTH PENTACLE OF JUPITER 136

THE SECOND PENTACLE OF SATURN 137

More Practical Ideas for Warding and Witchery138

CHAPTER SEVEN

Hex Marks the Spot 141

The True Cost of Hexes and Curses 143

Confirming the Problem with Divination 146

A Coven Learns a Hard Lesson 148

The Moral of the Magickal Story... 155

CHAPTER EIGHT

A Darker Shade of Candle, Herbal, and CrystalMagick 1157

The Seven Rules of Practical Protection Magick159

Candle Magick for Uncrossing and RemovingHexes 16o

AN UNCROSSING CANDLE SPELL 161

A JAR CANDLE SPELL TO BREAK A HEXOR CURSE 163

Shades of Protection: Color Magick 167

A Witch's Dozen of Herbs for Protection Magick171

HERB MAGICK FOR PROTECTION 176

Crystals and Stones for Protection and Defense177

CRYSTAL SPELL FOR PROTECTION 180

Closing Thoughts 182

CHAPTER NINE

Practical Magick 1185

Daily Magickal Correspondences 185

PUTTING NEGATIVE ENERGY ANDJEALOUSY TO THE GROUND: A RITUAL186

Moon Phases for Psychic Self-Defense and Pro-tection Magick 190

DARK OF THE MOON RITUAL: EVOKINGNEPTHYS FOR PSYCHIC PROTECTION 193

Thirteen Deities to Call On for Protection 195

COVEN PROTECTION MAGICK WITHHECATE 199

GLOSSARY 205

BIBLIOGRAPHY 211

INDEX 217

To CHARLYNN, WHO keeps me organized andwho was literally an extra set of eyes. Thank youfor listening (and then gently yanking me back)when I started to babble and go off-topic ... Youare a good friend and one hell of an assistant. I stillsay we should go find those cabana boys!

To my dear magickal friends and coven sisters:no, you cannot have those unedited, snarky pages,but thanks for laughing with me when I realizedI needed to rein myself in. Thanks to you all foroffering support, for brainstorming with me, andfor loaning books and various magickal accoutre-ments. A special thanks to Ember for her on-the-spot information on crystals and stones-girlfriend,you "rock"! For Kathy, with her handy informationabout essential oils. Also to Jen-thanks for helpingme see the trees in that forest!

A few words of appreciation to Mitchell andDarby for suggesting the warding chapter whilewe sat in that divine little German bakery inBirmingham. Also, thanks, Mitchell, for cheer-fully answering all my questions about Southernmagick. To Christopher, Marty, Trynna, Dawn,Heather, and Solstice for listening and for offer-ing good suggestions when I hit the creative wall.For Mary, who tells me war stories about ma-gick and her own experiences, and who makesme laugh when I really, really need it.

To Elysia, who has been enthusiastic about thisproject from the beginning, and to my editorBecky, who to her credit does not even flinchwhen I call and ask weird questions like how tolist a king in the bibliography. You are simply thebest!

Finally, to my family, with love.

Time, as he grows old, teaches many lessons.

-AESCHYLUS

I KNOW WHY you picked up this book-probablyfor the same reason I wrote it. You want true in-formation about psychic attacks and protectionmagick.

I am going to give this to you straight; in my ex-perience, that is the best way to handle these sortsof situations and challenges. We all have beenthere. We all have experienced unusual things inour Craft and in our lives, and we all have, atone time or another, questioned ourselves andwondered: is this a string of bad luck, is this just acoincidence, or is it more?

Are the nightmares a warning? Those feelingsin the pit of your stomach-are they trying to tellyou something? Could you be under a hex orhave fallen victim to a psychic attack? And howdo you know for sure? What is a psychic attackanyway?

Psychic attack is the purposeful projection ofnegative thoughts or energy to another person.Yes, it is real. And if you think about it, this isvery similar to the description of a curse. Youmay be experiencing nightmares, a general feel-ing of dis-ease, or simply the inner knowing thatsomething is "off." Perhaps you are dealing witha person who seems to drain you dry, a coven-mate who causes nothing but drama and trouble,or a relative who always manipulates you emo-tionally. But whatever it is, something in yourheart and your head is telling you that it is timefor protection work.

I suggest that you listen to it.

Psychic and magickal attack can take manyshapes and forms. Some of the effects of these at-tacks are subtle, and some manifest in ways thatare not. The trick is to study this topic, to learnabout it, and then to calmly apply the informa-tion in a practical way to your life and Craft. Inthis book, you will learn not only how to identi-fy when something is afoot but how to ethicallywork self-defense magick, perform psychic pro-tection, and much, much more.

To be honest, the idea for this book on protec-tion magick brewed in my imagination for a fewyears before it finally demanded to make itselfknown. I had basically put this topic on the backburner of my mind and let it simmer; then the uni-verse stepped in and taught me a hard lesson. Fatehanded me the opportunity to take all the ideasfor this book and put them into practical use inmy own life and Craft.

Yes, protection magick and psychic self-de-fense became more than a magickal topic or prin-

ciple that I dusted off and used occasionally; itbecame a way of life. However, it did teach memany new and deeper magicks. It also allowedme the opportunity to study this topic from afresh point of view-to think about it from a differ-ent magickal perspective-and, most importantly,I learned not only to embrace but to enjoy thewitchy warrior within.

Over the years, as I have met Witches andPagans from across the country, I have dis-covered that this whole question of psychic self-defense and protection magick really being ne-cessary is a common problem in the community.It embarrasses folks when they admit to havingto use magick to defend or to protect themselves.After all, no one likes to appear weak, so this top-ic gets whispered about in corners and confidedonly to our closest magickal friends. That way,we feel like we are saving face, and our repu-tation as super-smart, magickal tough guys staysintact.

Well, that whole idea of being embarrassedabout it is just ridiculous, if you ask me. Pro-tection magick is a basic skill that we all shouldlearn. Your challenge here today is, are you will-ing to take this area of magick and turn it into astrength and a specialty? For it is not only yourright to defend yourself magickally, it is also yourduty. If you are going to wield magickal power tocreate change, then don't you think it would be awise idea to have a firm grasp and deeper know-ledge of the skills required to perform effectivepsychic self-defense and practical protection ma-gick? Why, absolutely.

Protection is not a principle but an expedient.

-BENJAMIN DISRAELI

Protection magick and psychic self-defense is away of life that should be embraced by today's

modern magickal practitioners. It is both an em-powering and a healthy attitude to take, becauseit takes the victim mentality right out of your ma-gickal life. When you are actively working onyour own protection, you are, in fact, standingstrong and coming from a powerful place. Bystudying the concepts of magickal protection andpsychic self-defense, you will gain knowledgeand rebuild your own magickal foundation. Thissolid magickal base then allows you to easilywork from a strong and centered space.

This new awareness will then boost your per-sonal power and restore your confidence. By em-bracing a strong magickal standpoint and discard-ing fear and negativity, you are, in fact, trans-forming the negatives in your world and repla-cing them with positive actions and positivethoughts-which, in turn, attracts other positiveenergies and situations straight into your life.Most importantly, this new consciousness and in-sight also allows you to gain self-reliance, poise,and wisdom.

It's time to put on our game faces and get downto business. Let's embrace the hands-on work ofpsychic self-defense and protection magick. Webegin by taking an honest look at the topic andtapping into the natural magician and the wisepriest or priestess within.

The profession of magician is one of the mostperilous and arduous specializations of the ima-gination.

-WILLIAM BOLITHO

As I planned out this book, I turned to one ofmy favorite divinatory tools, the tarot. Not sur-prisingly, a few cards showed up again and again.These cards were the Magician and the HighPriestess. Now, in the classic Rider-Waite versionof the tarot deck, the Magician card shows a

young man standing in front of an altar. On thisaltar are the classic elemental and magickal toolsof the Witch/magician. There is the pentacle forthe element of earth, the wand for the elementof fire, a ceremonial sword to represent the ele-ment of air, and the cup or cauldron to symbolizewater. The magician is illustrated as pointing onehand down to the earth, and with the other he ges-tures up to the sky, symbolizing the old adage "Asabove, so below" The Magician is one of the mostmagickal cards in the tarot deck, and it beauti-fully illustrates the point I wish to make here.

In a tarot reading, this card symbolizes a per-son who has the ability to take all of the elementsof nature and to work with them to create theirdesired outcome. A down and dirty definition ofa Witch, if you will, is a person of power who caneasily incorporate all the natural elements togeth-er to create a magickal change. The Magician is askilled, articulate, and confident individual. He isa powerhouse of energy and a force of nature.

I fully believe that when this card shows up intarot readings, it is a none-too-subtle push fromthe gods. Here is your reminder and your wake-up call to think and act like a Witch. In essence,by studying these topics, you will be invokingyour inner priest or priestess.

A Study in Neutrality

She sat with hands as if to bless, And looked withgrave ethereal eyes; Ensouled by ancient Quiet-ness, A gentle priestess of the Wise.

-GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL

The High Priestess tarot card continues our intro-duction by reminding us exactly what her lessonis to teach. The classic Rider-Waite image of theHigh Priestess card is that of a full-figured, ma-ture, and serious woman. A crescent moon is at

her feet, showing her ties to lunar magick and allthat is hidden or unseen. She is wearing a TripleGoddess crown and is seated between a white pil-lar and a black pillar. The black pillar symbolizesthe receptive, feminine energies; the unconsciousmind; and the mysteries; while the white pillar issaid to represent projective, masculine qualitiesand also reason and consciousness. In her armsare a quill and a scroll to symbolize the know-ledge that she holds within. She represents spir-itual and magickal wisdom. This card stands foroccult powers, or prowess, if you prefer, and de-notes a person who is mature enough and strongenough to wield those powers wisely.

Interestingly enough, the High Priestess sitsevenly between the two pillars. She is a study inneutrality. She does not lean to the right or theleft, nor is she inclined toward the white or theblack. She is in between. She is impartial. Just asnature and magick are neutral, so are the powersof the natural world that she holds.

One clever suggestion for personal magickalprotection is that it is ideal to live your lifeimpartially-to have a mindset and behavior thatis very aware of yourself on the psychic level.Once you tune in and notice the subtle psychicvibrations and disturbances that are a part of theworld, it becomes much easier to avoid and de-flect any possible problems or negativity. By re-maining neutral and holding your temper, youcan easily manipulate and direct away any energyor magick that comes your way.

Also, by being attentive to and aware of poten-tial troubles, you can stop many magickal prob-lems even before they begin. The trick here is tobecome alert and open to the idea. Now is notthe time to hide your head in the sand or to pre-tend that hexing, cursing, psychic manipulation,energy draining, and psychic vampirism isn't real.It is real. It can happen to even the most easy-going, grounded, and practical of magickal indi-viduals, so let's not pretend anymore.

Over time, as you study the magickal arts, youbegin to realize that magick comes in manyshades of gray. Magick is equally light and dark.It is both creative and destructive, just as natureis herself. This is a lesson that we all need to per-sonally embrace while working protection ma-gick and psychic self-defense. It is challenging.However, it will make you into a stronger, morebalanced Witch.

There is nothing so powerful as truth, and oftennothing so strange.

-DANIEL WEBSTER

It has been my experience that the idea of psychicself-defense and protection magick falls into oneof two extremes. In this book, we are going to ex-plore the middle ground, for the truth about thissubject lies somewhere in the middle. The tech-

niques and topics covered here are neither whiteor black; instead, they are shades of gray. Just likethe High Priestess illustrated in the tarot deck, weare going to work from a place of knowledge,power, and wisdom, for this is the essence ofneutrality. We are standing firmly in the middle,seeking knowledge and exploring the magickalpossibilities without leaning from one extreme tothe other.

For the average Witch or magician, trying toget honest information about this topic is a realchallenge. If you ask around and study this con-troversial subject for yourself, you will soon dis-cover that there are two main camps on the topicof psychic self-defense and protection magick.To start, there is one extreme school of thoughtthat suggests all magickal problems and psychicsymptoms are in some way self-generated by thesupposed victim-that somehow all the troublesthis individual is perceiving are, in fact, self-cre-ated, and it's all in their imagination.

There are magickal individuals who honestlythink that other people who work any type ofpsychic self-defense, or who even believe thatprotection magick is necessary, are just self-de-luded and desperate for attention. They honestlybelieve that no Witch or magician would everstep over that ethical line-after all, "Harm none"and all that. So anything else is just all in theseeker's imagination. It does feel like a bit of asnub when you go to research the topic, only tohave a book or an individual loftily inform youthat you are probably overreacting, when all youwanted was some good practical information.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we havethe second extreme view of the subject. This onebelieves that every hangnail in life is somehowgenerated by manipulative or destructive magick:every headache and each instance of misfortunewas created maliciously by another person, andeveryone is out to get you. This is a panic-indu-cing mindset, and it creates loads of chaos. It's the

whole Chicken Little thing-that old "The sky isfalling, the sky is falling!" scenario.

Basically, this attitude encourages magickalfolks to live in fear and to cower behind numer-ous amulets and charms slung around their necksbefore venturing outside the sanctity of their ma-gickally protected lairs. The popular answer forthe magickal Chicken Little is to throw an LBRP(Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram) atevery little situation and then to go along theirway, assured that things are well in hand-for alittle while, anyway.

I believe that the truth about protection magickand psychic selfdefense lies somewhere betweenthese two extremes. I also think it's way past timethat we look at psychic self-defense and protec-tion magick from a practical standpoint and withsome real-life situations, and learn how to handleourselves, should a situation ever occur.

Books are the quietest and most constant offriends; they are the most accessible and wisest ofcounselors, and the most patient of teachers.

-CHARLES W. ELIOT

This book is filled with information, exercises,rituals, and spells. There are ideas for psychicself-defense, and you will learn many new waysto incorporate protection magick easily and suc-cessfully into your life. To begin, we study psych-ic abilities, with all of their individual strengthsand weaknesses. If you want to learn how to ef-fectively defend yourself, then you need to takestock of what abilities and talents you bring to themagickal table.

Everyone has psychic talents of some sort; itis up to you to explore, develop, and then integ-rate these talents into your own Craft. This is vi-

tal to understand; once you know where your per-sonal intuitive talents lie, you are prepared andready. Plus, no two Witches are exactly the same.This psychic individuality is a gift, and it is whatmakes you and your protection magick strong.

We will be exploring all of the natural elementsin this book and applying them to psychic self-defense and protection magick. You will need thisknowledge if you want to have the wisdom towield these powers. By working our magick withthe four natural elements that we so love, we willpull ourselves and our personal energies back in-to a healthy and strong state. The elements ofearth, air, fire, and water will teach you how toprotect yourself and how to achieve neutrality,boundaries, a deeper psychic perception, magick-al strength, and, most importantly, balance, al-lowing your own protection magick to sing in awonderful four-part harmony.

In the air chapter, we study the idea of know-ledge being power. We take a look at psychic at-

tack, and you will learn the warning signs andsymptoms. Once you know how psychic attackworks and how it manifests, then you can easilydefend against it. There will also be an honest andpractical look at the popular topics of hauntingsand ghosts. Plus there are spells and charms toclose an astral doorway or portal, and a ritual de-signed to clear a home.

In the chapter devoted to water and emotions,we will study the effects that emotional vampiresand passive-aggressive manipulation can cause.Here we will practice our emotional psychic self-defense. You will learn ways to identify emotion-al vampires, how to keep these sorts of trouble-makers out of your life, and how to establishhealthy boundaries. In that chapter, you will finda water-theme ritual designed to dissolve andwash away any negativity you may have pickedup.

In the earth-theme section, we will explore thepractical concepts of defending yourself from

psychic vampires and ways to reclaim your per-sonal power. You will learn to stand tough andstay grounded, no matter what sort of characteryou encounter or what life throws at you. Youwill also learn how to take back your power andremain grounded and strong.

In the fire chapter, we'll learn the ways of thewarrior Witch. Here, you will take a look at yourphysical fitness and how it affects your body andaura as well as your protection work, becausephysical fitness does equal magickal strength.Body awareness, body language, and selfhealingwill be explored in this fiery section as well.

The fine art of warding and witchery will alsobe investigated, with a variety of magickal spellsand projects to defend and to protect your home,business, and possessions. From gargoyles torunes to The Key of Solomon, this particularchapter features a wide variety of many differentmagickal traditions for you to discover and applyto your witchery.

I also want to share with you a few of the en-chanting things I have learned along the way. Inthe chapter called "Hex Marks the Spot," we'lldiscuss the true cost of hexes and curses. Hereyou can learn ways to confirm magickal prob-lems with divination and discover the moral to aninteresting magickal tale.

In chapter 8, the difference between a crossedcondition and a curse are discussed, as well asrules for practical protection magick. There areseveral spells and rituals here for removing hexesand curses, and for performing an uncrossing.Candle, herbal, and crystal magick for protectionare also included.

The book will close up with a final chapter de-voted to practical magick. There you will finddaily and lunar correspondences, and thirteensuggested deities that you can call on for psychicand magickal protection work. You will also findthree more rituals, including an intense solitaryritual where you evoke a goddess for psychic pro-

tection, plus a group ritual for magickal protec-tion for your circle or coven that works with Hec-ate.

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it forourselves after a journey that no one can take forus or spare us.

-MARCEL PROUST

Magick is a joy, and it is also a responsibility. Itis and always has been up to the practitioners touse wisdom, compassion, and their own intelli-gence to temper their spells. While this may seemdifficult to imagine or to achieve, just like anyother skill, you only become proficient at psych-ic self-defense and protection magick when youpractice.

Yes, this is a darker shade of witchery;however, while it may be more intense, there isnothing here to be nervous about. Let's work froma neutral place and take a thorough and fearlesslook at it together. We can begin our journey rightnow just by turning the page.

You stand in your own light.

-JOHN HEYWOOD

HERE IS AN important fact for you to consider.As a magickal practitioner and a Witch, you area beacon of light. You will attract the attention ofall sorts of physical beings on this earthly planeas well as the attention of beings on the spiritualplane. Those who practice the Craft and live theirlife in a positive, life-affirming way will attractother lights into their worlds. They will also, fromtime to time, attract the shadows. Learning howto deal with and conquer those shadows in a bal-anced way is an important part of the Craft andyour training.

For those of us who take our Craft seriously,and who work to live our magickal lives withhonor and integrity, dealing with this topic is anemotional one. To live as a Witch is to grow andto gain experience in the Craft. You are alwayslearning, training, and pushing yourself into un-charted territories beyond the boundaries of whatis comfortable. As students of the magickal arts,we are always striving to remake ourselves. Wehave to battle against our own tempers, shortcom-ings, insecurities, and fears, and go beyond ourlimits to transform who we are.

Pushing your limits is part of every Witch'straining. Taking a realistic and serious look atpsychic self-defense and protection magick is yetanother step along your journey. Truthfully, inone way or another as a magickal practitioner,you will indeed have to protect or defend yourselfon a psychic or magick level eventually.

Yes, we all have to go through the variousstages of denial, fear, anger, and then acceptance.

Then, once you realize what the problem is, youcan finally stopped wringing your hands, second-guessing yourself, and wondering what in the hellis happening to your world. It's also time to takea deep breath, take a hard look at where youare standing at the moment, and then start askingyourself a few tough questions.

Have you become complacent? Perhaps yousimply got a bit lax with the upkeep on your per-sonal protection magick. It happens. And hones-tly, from time to time, we all forget, and it's easyto become a bit lazy in regard to magickal pro-tection and psychic self-defense. When you be-come complacent, the universe typically steps inand teaches you a hard lesson. It can happen toanybody.

Do you believe you are too powerful to beblindsided? Seriously, understand what the wordblindsided means. It means you have been caughtunaware-off guard-and that you did not see theincident coming until after it ran you over.

Did you foolishly assume that protection ma-gick for you personally would never be neces-sary? After all, as ethical Witches, we know bet-ter than anyone that there is a price to be paidfor those who cast harmful magick out of spiteor envy. Many practitioners honestly cannot con-ceive of anyone even doing such an incrediblystupid thing on purpose; these scenarios simplydo not happen in their magickal worlds, and theywill refuse to even consider the possibility. Yes,step right up, ladies and gentlemen-here we havea fabulous illustration of denial.

This notion is perpetuated by the Wiccan Rede,which states "An it harm none, do as you will."With this credo in mind, many folks think the an-swer is to send love and light in any situation.Well, good luck with that. Love is fine; but ifsomeone is trying to physically assault you, areyou going to send them love and light, or areyou going to fight back and try to kick them hardin the groin or go for their eyes so you can es-cape?Think about it.

Face it: there are bad people out there. It'sfoolish to not consider the possibility that anymagician or Witch could ever, for any reason,step over the ethical line. To believe that it willnever happen to you is about as irresponsible aswalking through a dark parking lot and danglingyour cash-filled wallet from your fingertips whileverbally taunting any would-be muggers in thearea. This is what I like to call the "Oh, it willnever happen to me" mindset.

Do you lock your front door when you leaveyour home? Of course you do. Do you flash yourcash or credit cards or leave them lying about?No, because that's careless. Do you hand out yourpersonal information to every stranger you meet?Why, of course not. In today's world, you have tobe smart and savvy. There is no excuse for beingnaive.

That's when the truth about magickal protec-tion and psychic selfdefense hits you. That'swhen you become aware.

A Little Something You Did Not Learn in Wiccazo z

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear,but around us in awareness.

-JAMES THURBER

It has been my experience that most practicingWitches today are either intuitive or empathic toa certain degree. Why? Well, if you think about it,Witches just know when magick is afoot, or theysense when magick is at work around them. Thistype of knowing, or sensing, is a valuable toolthat Witches naturally rely on as they practicetheir Craft. This is also that same inner awarenessthat has set them on their magickal path to beginwith. They have come to realize that there is moreto this old world than most people realize, and so

they open up to the possibilities of magick andbegin their quest.

In my book Natural Witchery, we explored thedifferent psychic abilities and how they relate toand support your personal power and your Craft.In this book, we will take a look at how to goabout defending yourself on both a psychic anda magickal level with your own natural talents.And yes, this is a necessary skill to have. AsWitches, we push our boundaries every day to be-come more-more of an adept practitioner, moreknowledgeable and more sensitive to the currentof magick that runs through our lives.

It's important to realize that the same wonder-ful perception that can make a Witch a talentedempath and very sensitive to the ebb and flow ofmagick can also cause the same individual to bebombarded with negativity from others if they arenot careful. The same sensitivity that you havebeen carefully cultivating is like a double-edged

sword. It can easily cause you problems and painif you are not thoughtful with how you handle it.

So what is a Witch to do? You strive for themiddle ground. You need to become more awareof your surroundings and the energies at playwithin your life. Basically, you stay alert and re-main attentive to your own inner warning system.Pay attention to your intuition and your instincts.Take notice of your body and your psychicsenses. The messages may be subtle or strong; forexample, a subtle warning may be feeling uneasyor jumpy for no apparent reason.

The trick is learning to pay attention to thewarning signs that are around you. Don't overre-act. Rather, listen to your gut hunches and focuson your intuition, as this may just save your ma-gickal behind. There is no need to panic. Instead,I urge you to put your game face on and to be-come more alert; then you can take the appropri-ate action and respond calmly and in the best pos-sible way in regard to the situation.

All of the personal training you have under-gone and all of the years of experience that youhave accrued can help you learn to magickallydefend yourself now. That double-edged swordof sensitivity that we just referred to is not to befeared. Instead, it is meant to be honed and prac-ticed with, for it is a part of you-an extension ofyour magick, if you will. That "sword" defendsyour weak spots and enhances your strengths. Itis not something that can harm you. It is, in fact,a weapon that can be used for magickal defense.

And like a knight of old, you don't go swingingthat sword around just for the hell of it or becauseit makes you feel tough. You keep the sword ingood condition while you work on celebratingyour strengths and overcoming your weaknesses.And if you develop your own psychic skills, trainand practice with this magickal knowledge daily,and work from a centered place, it does indeedbecome a formidable defense.

Discover Yours

It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition thatwe discover.

-JULES HENRI POINCARE

There are four main types of psychic talents:clairaudience, clairvoyance, empathy, and intu-ition. The straightforward questions in thequizzes that follow are designed to help you fig-ure out what particular psychic talents you areworking with. Their questions are very similar tothe ones that were in my book Natural Witchery,though for the sake of convenience the quizzeshave been fine-tuned and reproduced for youhere.

Natural Witchery showed you how to incorpor-ate these talents into your Craft, which enabledyou to "turn up the volume" on your own ma-gick. Now, I'm showing you what the strengthsand weaknesses of these particular psychic abil-ities are. This will teach you how to use them toyour advantage and how to defend the weak spotsthat go along with the psychic ability. This wayyou have knowledge, and knowledge is power.Take a look at the following four sets of ques-tions, and go over them carefully. When you havefinished all four quizzes, see which category hasthe most yes answers.

Now, please keep in mind that a yes answershould be yes, as in Yes, this happens to me allof the time. Not Oh, that happened to me once,many years ago. Be honest with yourself. If youwant to truly know where your psychic talents lie,then honesty is the best policy.

Clairaudient Quiz

i. When I am speaking to friends, I alwaysknow what they are going to say before theysay it.

z. I hear key phrases or words in my mindthat will then play out immediately in myreal life.

3. If I have a person's name stuck in mymind all day, I typically receive a surprisevisit or phone call from them within twenty-four hours.

4. I will have a song spontaneously pop intomy mind that then provides me with insightsor information for a particular problem.

5. I always pay attention to my inner voiceor my inner monologue.

6. I often hear other people's thoughts.

7. I often hear what is not said (aka "hearingbetween the lines").

8. I can send a thought or a phrase tosomeone else, and they can hear it.

9. I can hear it when someone is lying to me.

io. It is essential to me to have a quiet, calmenvironment to work in.

Clairvoyant Quiz

i. I regularly experience premonitions.

z. When I close my eyes, I can see actual im-ages in my mind's eye.

3. I mistrust people who will not look me inthe eyes or who look away while speaking tome.

4. Visualization techniques come easy forme.

5. While being taught something new, I dobetter by being shown as opposed to beingtold.

6. I have experienced a clairvoyant vision(see page 2o6) while I was awake and awareof my other surroundings.

7. I would describe myself as a visual per-son.

8. I have precognitive dreams regularly.

9. I can easily tell the difference between aregular dream and a precognitive dream.

ro. I am most comfortable in a pretty, bright,and picturesque environment.

Empathic Quiz

i. As I enter a room, my first thoughts andimpressions are usually about how the roomfeels to me.

2. I am easily influenced by other people'smoods and emotions.

3. Being in a large crowd makes me feeluncomfortable physically and bombardedemotionally.

When I meet someone for the first time, Igather my impressions and assess them byhow they make me feel, despite how theyact.

5. When I am with another person, I can eas-ily understand just how they feel. I can sensetheir pain.

6. I dislike and will try to avoid casualtouching from strangers in social situations.

7. Having heirloom items or antiques in myhome makes me feel uncomfortable becauseof the memories that they carry.

8. I experience a feeling of "butterflies in thestomach," or a tightening of the solar plexusarea, when I am contemplating the possibil-ity of an angry verbal confrontation or phys-ical danger.

9. I am best able to sense another person'semotional state by touching them.

io. I have my feelings hurt very easily andam often moved to tears.

Intuitive Quiz

i. I have experienced a foreboding feeling(which maybe described as "a sinking feel-ing in the pit of the stomach") about a per-

son, place, or serious situation that then ac-tually happens.

2. I tend to blurt out whatever comes to mindwithout first thinking it over.

3. I am an excellent judge of character.

4. I act on my "gut hunches," which arefollowed by positive affirmations that theywere the correct things to have done or said.

5. I rarely worry, because I just know thingswill turn out all right.

6. I let my instincts guide me while search-ing for a book or other new item to purchase.

7. I make major decisions quickly and cor-rectly, as if by instinct.

8. I wake up right before the alarm clockgoes off every morning.

g. I consider myself a quiet and contemplat-ive type of person.

io. I work best and am most successful byfollowing my instincts, despite what othersmay suggest.

How many yes answers did you get in eachsection? The section with the highest number ofhonest yes answers is your area of psychicstrength. Oh-and yes, you certainly may have tiedin two areas or have more than one psychicstrength. People tend to have a mixture of psychicabilities and talents. Now that you have a betteridea of your own, let's move on to the next topic.

The more you read and learn, the less your ad-versary will know.

-SUN TZU, Art of War

While experienced magickal practitioners or nat-ural intuitives, clairaudients, clairvoyants, or em-paths may have a good idea of what their abilitiesare on a psychic level, they may not realize thatthey do, indeed, have weaknesses. Understandinghow negative energy or manipulative magick af-fects your particular psychic talent comes indamn handy. For those of you who are naturallypsychic, this is information that you've probablyhad to learn the hard way. As someone who haswalked this psychic road for over forty years, letme give you some hints that will help you. Itis true that the different types of psychic abilit-ies have both strengths and vulnerabilities, so thegoal is to identify and then safeguard yours.

In the following sections, there will be a briefdescription of the psychic talent and then a de-scription of the weakness of each particular gift.Also keep in mind that many folks are a mixtureof two or three types of psychic abilities, so con-sider each section carefully. Here is more inform-

ation that will be helpful to you as you workpsychic self-defense and protection magick.

Clairaudient Strengths: To begin, clairaudiencemeans "clear hearing." This involves the recep-tion of extrasensory signals as a word, a sound,or a phrase. The strength of a clairaudient istheir ability to be tuned in to several things atonce (which would be a sort of psychic multi-tasking). These are the folks who hear betweenthe lines. They receive internal messages-andthey do hear the things that are meant but neverspoken. Clairaudients follow their inner voicequite often and listen to it without a lot offuss. They are wonderful co-workers and tendto show up just in time to fix problems or tomediate conflicts. Telepathy is associated withclairaudience, and if this is a strength of yours,then I suggest practicing with a friend and seeif you can really send your thoughts to anotheror have them send their thoughts to you. Clair-audients tend to be calm and grounded. They

are very analytical and like to pride themselveson their common sense and their control.

Clairaudient Weaknesses: These are the peoplewho need things proven to them again andagain. They are so used to listening to that con-stant stream of psychic information that theysometimes disregard the more subtle physical/bodily signs or warning feelings. Clairaudientsare so practical that they often have to bepsychically whapped upside the head withsomething incredibly bad before they figureout that something negative is indeed afoot.They do not like to feel out of control of anysituation, so their weakness is that stubborn-ness and a hesitancy to trust strong emotionsor physical impressions. Clairaudients wouldrather trust their own mental powers instead.

Clairvoyant Strengths: Clairvoyants accuratelysee the future, the present, and the past, and

they can helpfully translate the visions they re-ceive to others. The strength of a clairvoyant istheir unique outlook and future-based impres-sion of life. Clairvoyance literally means "clearvision." These folks see all too clearly whatothers would choose to keep hidden. The clair-voyant is tuned in to visual symbols, dreams,and psychic visions in a way most peoplecould only imagine. Typically talented at illus-trated or visually stimulating types of divinat-ory tools such as the tarot, they are mysticalfolks who can effortlessly envision the out-come of their magick. A clairvoyant is proph-etic and is what was called in the old days aseer.

Clairvoyant Weaknesses: Why, they should beable to see anything coming, right? Nope.Often, clairvoyants are so busy weedingthrough the various visions and psychic pic-tures they are bombarded with that it can betough for them to distinguish what is actuallymeant for themselves and what is meant for an-

other. Clairvoyants spend a lot of time second-guessing themselves. As visions often come insymbols and signs, they typically have to de-cipher and then sort out what messages theyare receiving. If the vision they receive is up-setting or a warning of some kind, it can makeeven the most talented of clairvoyants falter.This hesitancy-and being distracted by tryingto figure out what their visions are actuallytelling them-makes them lose precious timeand energy. Clairvoyants are often so distrac-ted by the unease that accompanies a psychicwarning, or the knowledge of negative energybeing present, that they forget to stay calm, toground and focus their energies, and then tofollow their intuition so they can react appro-priately.

Empathic Strengths: Empathy is also known asclairsentience. An empath is a person who canpsychically tune in to the emotional experien-

ces of a person or place. They sense attitudes,emotions, and sometimes human ailments. Thestrength of an empath is their compassion.They truly know what it is to feel another per-son's joy or suffering. Empaths can read themood or emotions of people and animals. Theycan also read the memories of an object or aplace; this particular type of psychic ability iscalled psychometry. Well-practiced and shiel-ded empaths can know if an object, area, orperson has been blessed or hexed, typicallywithout even having to touch the person oritem. They can hold their hands above the sur-face of the object or above the skin of theperson and sense the psychic impressions.Practiced empaths will observe how their emo-tions react while the sensations flow harm-lessly past them.

Empathic Weaknesses: The empath tends to fallinto two categories: the shielded and the un-shielded. The shielded empath has learned tobatten down the hatches when out in public, so

as not to become overwhelmed by the swirl ofemotions and impressions. When confrontedwith negativity, shielded empaths will eitherdodge and let the impressions flow harmlesslypast them, or, if the information seems too per-sonal, they tend to shut themselves downtightly. Either situation may cause them to missthe subtle clues that are valiantly trying to tapinto their emotions by letting them knowsomething is truly wrong. Sensing an attack,it makes them automatically pull down theirpsychic defenses even tighter. This causes aboomerang effect that makes trained and well-shielded empaths hunker down and draw theirauras in toward themselves. What happensthen is that the attacking energy will keep ham-mering away at them, until eventually it finds aweakness in the shield, or the empath's protec-tion eventually falters, and that allows the en-ergy to get in and do damage while their resist-ance is low

Unshielded empaths are usually so sens-itive and vulnerable that they are over-whelmed and frightened about the constantunwanted personal information they are re-ceiving. Unshielded or untrained empathsget blasted right away by any strong emo-tion, and negative energy is very toxic tothem. This causes them to feel even moreoff-kilter, and then they typically becomeill. Once their auras are breached from thenegative energy attack, the harmful energyreally goes to work. This may cause unshiel-ded or untrained empaths to feel paranoid,or they may begin to question their men-tal health. This situation also tends to scareoff newer empathic practitioners, as theseintense feelings of dread and alarm fright-en them and make them feel that this ma-gick business is too dangerous to pursue. In-stead of exploring the feelings and psychicimpressions they are receiving, and trying tofigure it out and learn from it, they panic andrun instead.

Intuitive Strengths: Intuition may be defined asa quick and ready insight and immediate ap-prehension or cognition-the good oldfashionedgut hunch. This ability is sometimes referredto as "prophetic knowing." Intuitives rarelyworry, are fantastic judges of character, and areseldom wrong about situations and issues thatpop up, which can be annoying to the folkswho live with them (I should know-I have avery gifted intuitive in my family). Intuitivesare confident and clear thinking. They makeexcellent decisions and are naturally the personin charge. Even if it is not in their personalityto be the ring leader, their family, co-workers,and other people are always drawn to them forhelp, support, and practical advice.

Intuitive Weaknesses: The intuitive's weakness isarrogance. Bless their hearts, those darn intu-itives typically "just know" when it comes toperceiving psychic information. They may be

overconfident because they are so often cor-rect anyway, and that's what blindsides them.After all, they have already sized up and iden-tified any potential problems. Intuitives maythink they would "know" if there was a prob-lem, so they may ignore a psychic vision oran empathic/emotional impression, which maybe their body's only way of getting their atten-tion when their mind is already made up. Thetrick is that sometimes attacking energy or ma-lignant magick is subtle, and sadly, it can betailor-made to get you in a weak spot, such asyour pride.

So, what did you learn? It's a little humbling, isn'tit? However, this is not the time to be embar-rassed. This is the time to learn and to put the in-formation to good use. It is important to realizethat often psychic attack symptoms and problemsare the product or manifestation of baneful ma-

gick. By studying this topic from a unique pointof view, you have added to your overall wisdom.

And finally, we have another type of scenarioto consider. While it does not fall under a psychiccategory, it is a topic that is rarely touched upon.

This is not an easy path to follow, nor is it for all.

-MARIAN GREEN

Whether you are a high priest or high priestess,tarot reader, psychic counselor, reiki master, cov-en leader, community leader, or magick/ meta-physical shop owner, to be a Witch in the publiceye is to be an individual with a psychic targetpainted on the middle of your back-or a sign thateveryone else sees that says, "Please, tell me allof your problems."

Just this past week, I got pounced on by a wo-man I had not seen or spoken to in over two years.We used to work together, and I suppose she fin-agled my unlisted phone number from my oldboss. Three days in a row, I was bombarded withher pleading and begging for a spell to make hernew husband take her back. She was in her lateforties, had been divorced twice before, and-fromwhat I remembered-she had worked very hard toget back on her own and was happy with hersingle life. So I was very surprised to hear shewas married at all, let alone thrown out by hubbynumber three.

Here is the interesting thing. She spent a half-hour telling me all about her fifteen-thousand-dollar wedding rings, her vacation to Hawaii, thefancy trips they used to go on, the new car hebought her, the fancy house, even the (I kid younot) state-of-the-art, stainless-steel appliances intheir kitchen. She demanded a spell to make himtake her back. She wanted to be back in the big,

expensive house with those pretty new appli-ances.

I tried to explain that I did not work that way,and then she informed me that apparently thegentleman in question suffered from depressionand had decided to take himself off of his medic-ations. He completely changed from the man shethought she had married. He became despondent,gained weight, started having problems with hisjob, and then, in a moment of high drama, threwhis wife of six months out of the fancy house.She never once said anything about love. Insteadshe listed off, twice, all the goodies that she wasmissing, and how she was now alone, penniless(her words), and without a job for the past threemonths while she waited for the man to come tohis senses.

She begged me to do a spell on her husband.She pleaded, and then, goddess help me, she lis-ted off for a third time all the things she no longerhad. I suppose she thought that would make me

sympathetic. But it wasn't until I flat-out askedher if what she loved about the guy was hismoney that she said, almost like an afterthought,"Oh, I love him, too."

Well, how charming.

Long story short, I gently but firmly explainedseveral times about manipulation and how Iwould not cast a spell on her soon-to-be-ex hus-band. I did tell her I would work a spell for herso she could heal, find peace, and get back onher feet. I gently ended the conversation and felta cloud of depression slide over me from all theemotional dumping that I had just been subjectedto.

Then I lit a pink candle for the woman andsaid a quick charm for her emotional healing, aspromised. Later, I went for a walk, worked out,and, lastly, took a ritual bath to get any linger-ing energy off of me. For the next several days,she kept calling my house. Each time I refused

to speak to her; answering machines are a beauti-ful thing. I suppose she figured if she just pleadedlong enough, I would do whatever magick shewanted me to do.

Now, while this is not a classic psychic attack,it is draining. It's called "spell begging," and pub-lic Witches get subjected to this situation a lot.This type of behavior is nasty, exhausting, andmanipulative. It's the old "I'll just nag until I getwhat I want" routine. If you are a public Witch,then you need to be aware of this sort of situationso that you can learn to protect yourself from it,as this is an emotionally draining type of attack.So how do you protect yourself from it? Well,you put some boundaries in place. You are al-lowed private time, so screen your calls and learnto say politely and firmly the following magickword: no.

Besides spell beggars, being a public Witchcan also expose you to envy; it might expose youto unwanted psychic attention, and it may draw

the crazies of this world straight to your door. Itseems that everyone wants a piece of you, as theywant you and only you to listen to and solve all oftheir problems, real and imagined. It's funny andit's tragic all at the same time, and Lord and Ladyhelp you if you decide to help out the dabbler orthe New Age individual who is running aroundall in a panic.

Let's be honest here: do you know what hap-pens to the average Witch when they try to helpout a skittish New Ager, spell beggar, or someonewho is emotionally imbalanced, or even offerwell-meaning advice to a magickal dabbler? Theother person will latch on and then hold on tothe witch tightly. They can be darn hard to shakeloose, too. Why? Because they want to believethat you have all the answers to the mysteries oflife. So how do I know that anyway? Been there,done that, bought the T-shirt. I am sure that manyreaders have been there, too.

Be aware of these occult dabblers and pseudoNew Agers who constantly think they are indanger of some type of "dark" being-a shadowcreature or entity. These typically are the folkswho are curious about magick and the Craft butwho are, in reality, actually terrified of it. Andyou know exactly what sort of person I'm talkingabout.

Can any of you say you have not been to ametaphysical shop or a Pagan function wheresome poor unbalanced individual was runningaround telling anyone who would listen all oftheir woes and insisting it was all because ofbaneful magick or bad energy?

The popular answer for the dabbler is to do un-to the other person before they can do unto you,which is why books on hexes and curses abound-and the dabblers just gobble them right up. Afterall, they have many, many books on Witchcraft,you know. Why, they've been reading about the

Craft for years! Sounds way too familiar, doesn'tit?

Bottom line: if you are a public Witch, you,too, should be especially vigilant. Not fearful,only attentive. Hold your head up, and lookaround yourself in awareness.

A Spell to Promote Psychic Awareness

We are all born with wonderful gifts. We beginas children to explore and develop our talents, of-ten unaware that we are unique, that not everyonecan do what we are doing!

-LYNN JOHNSTON

Here is a spell that will reinforce what we justdiscussed. This simple spell is designed toawaken your psychic awareness. No matter if youare clairvoyant, clairaudient, empathic, orintuitive-or any combination thereof-this spell is

designed to call those abilities and their giftsforth, to help you learn and grow in awarenesswith them.

Supplies: Pen and paper; your quiz answersfrom this chapter; one white votive candle; avotive cup; matches or a lighter; and a safe,flat surface to set the candle on.

Directions: You may cast this spell on aMonday to tie in to the psychic and mysticalqualities of the moon. For more addedpunch, you could also cast this spell on anew moon or a full moon.

To begin, look over your quiz answers.Take a moment and jot down what yourstrengths are. Then make a quick list of whatother psychic talents you would like to per-sonally improve upon. Now set the list downin the center of your work surface, and setthe candle in its holder on top of the list.Light the candle and place your hands on

top of the paper, on either side of the candleholder. Finally, center yourself, and repeatthe spell verse:

Allow the candle to burn in a safe placeuntil it goes out on its own. Take your listand tuck it away. See how your awarenessopens up over the next few months.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with asingle step.

-LAO TZU

Acquiring psychic awareness is a wonderful be-ginning on your personal journey to a deeper ma-gickal discovery. Let's continue to research thetopic, turning our focus and attention on thosefour magickal elements. Each of the natural ele-ments has a specific lesson to teach and moremysteries to reveal when it comes to psychic self-defense and practical protection magick.

In our next chapter, we study the element of airand the idea that knowledge is power. This willenable you to add to your repertoire and to keepworking with the new information that you havejust discovered, thus allowing you to become amore balanced and centered Witch as you traveldown the path of wisdom.

I have gone out, a possessed witch, Haunting theblack air, braver at night.

-ANNE SEXTON

AS THE ELEMENT of air represents knowledgeand wisdom, what better way to learn more aboutourselves as magickal practitioners than to exam-ine what things make us unique as Witches? Dis-covering just where your strengths lie can be anamazing tool for self-development. A topic I lec-ture on frequently and with great passion is that weare not all little cookies cut out of the same "Wiccaioi" mold; we are individuals. Where we live (ourclimates, the local flora and fauna); our ages andpersonalities; our families; our individual tastes,experiences, and personal styles of witchery-allmake each of us uniquely powerful practitioners.

Understanding what affects your own personalmagickal environment is an important step.

So with that in mind, and to gain more know-ledge of yourself as a Witch, go ahead and answerthe following questions:

Magickal Background Quiz

i. Where do you live, geographically speak-ing? (For example, do you live in the moun-tains, by the shore, on the plains, in thewoods, or in the desert? Do you live in thecity, in the country, or in the suburbs?)

2. What are the seasons like where you live?How do they affect your sabbat celebrationsand your magick?

3. When it comes to describing yourself,would you say that you are outgoing, laid-back, or shy?

4. Which of the four natural elements (earth,air, fire, or water) do you most stronglyidentify with?

5. What do you feel are your psychicstrengths, and how do you incorporate theminto your witchery?

6. What life experiences have most stronglyaffected your Craft and how you practice ittoday?

7. What types of magick do you prefer-herbs, crystals, candles, etc.?

8. Are you a hands-on, practical naturalWitch, or are your practices more formal andceremonial?

9. Are you a traditional Witch, or do youconsider yourself eclectic?

ro. How many years have you been practi-cing your Craft?

Look at your answers; this is a definition ofwhat makes you you. All of these things definewho you are in regard to magick. It is vital to un-derstand more about just what makes you tick asa magickal practitioner, because honestly, no twopeople will have the same answers. And that isthe point!

Our own lives and personal experiences arewhat shape us into distinctive magickal practi-tioners; this is a beautiful thing. So celebrate youruniqueness. You can defend yourself with thoseabilities in a way that nobody else ever could.This private information is a power, and thisknowledge supplies you with a base that you canthen easily build upon.

Once you have acknowledged your own per-sonal powers and the unique foundation that youdraw strength from, you will have a better idea ofhow to protect yourself on both the psychic andthe magickal levels. This will give you confiden-ce. And magickal confidence looks good on you!

For now, I want you to study your answersfrom the quizzes from the first chapter and thismost recent quiz. Now write a little essay aboutwhat you think makes you the extraordinaryWitch that you are. List your strengths-both ex-trasensory and personality-wise-and what you be-lieve makes you unique. Then tack up that essaysomewhere in your home where you can see itevery day and be reminded and inspired.

Now that you are feeling optimistic and em-powered by this new information, let's tackle thenext subject of psychic attacks-not with fear anddread, but instead with a healthy interest and abig dose of confident enthusiasm. At its core, ma-gickal self-defense is mainly psychic work, so itis critical to study the principles of psychic pro-tection.

Here is where we have to walk a fine line. Wedo not want to create a bunch of panic-strickenmagickal practitioners out there! What we arestriving for is awareness, because when you have

a working knowledge of your own personal andextrasensory strengths and weaknesses, this in-creases your options so it becomes easier to fightoff random negative thoughts or even an inten-tional energy attack from another without a lot offuss.

How Do I Know for Sure?

I think that it is very good for people to talk abouttheir paranormal experiences and share storiesabout things that they cannot explain.

-ROSEMARY ELLEN GUILEY

Okay: if you want to wind somebody up, askthem if they think psychic attack is real. Hot de-bate to commence in five... four... three... Any-way, you get the point. As someone who hasworked psychic fairs since the early 19905 and

who has been around the block when it comesto the psychic and magickal communities, I canfirmly tell you that yes, indeed, psychic attack ex-ists. Hell, it's alive and thriving.

Psychic attack comes in many forms. For ex-ample, anybody who has ever had to face downan argumentative or condescending co-worker, ajealous colleague, a nasty-tempered boss, a spite-ful ex, or a disapproving relative has had to dealwith a form of psychic attack.

A psychic attack is classically defined as theunconscious or conscious focusing of psychic ormental energies to bring emotional harm to an-other individual. This is, in essence, a personal at-tack. It scrapes away at your confidence and yourego until you feel like you are worthless. Basic-ally, it's when you are confronted with the old"big me, little you" scenario.

Or it is a situation where the attacker feels, forsome reason, that they are going to be the one

to take you down. The reasons for this are many.Typically, it's jealousy-that is often the main mo-tivator. You've got something they want, and theyare envious and angry that you have it and theydon't. It could be anything-a happy marriage, agood job, a thriving career, even a recent weightloss. Whatever. And these tactics are used all thetime, typically by folks who are completely obli-vious to what they are doing. You get hit with abig old dose of hatred. It may or may not be onpurpose. Either way, if it has enough force behindit, the results will be the same. It is the aggressor'sintent that fuels a psychic attack and can make itmore powerful.

So, what should you be watching for? Well,there are several physical/ bodily symptoms orreal-life manifestations you should pay attentionto. Remember to validate these occurrences withyour own extrasensory abilities and skills, and re-call your personal psychic strengths as well. Ifyou are intuitive, see if you have a strong gutreaction to the situation. If you are an empath,

ask yourself how this situation makes you feel.If you are a clairaudient, check in and discoverwhat your inner voice has to say. Lastly, if youare clairvoyant, then take a moment, close youreyes, focus on your third eye area, and see whatvisions unfold.

As Witches on a path to power, we must movepast our fear...

-CHRISTOPHER PENCZAK

The following list is not meant to make you mis-trustful or to frighten you; rather, it is a tool tohelp you put your finger on what the psychicproblem may be. It's important to remember thatmost psychic attacks come from folks who haveno freaking clue what they are actually doing.They are just angry or jealous, and then all of thatmalignant energy gets directed toward you.

We can all be involuntarily affected by otherpeople's negative thoughts and emotions. The in-tense energy that is manifested forms emotionalstrands and astral webs that cling to us. Folkswho are psychically sensitive, such as witches,tend to be affected by these attacks most easily-it's the old catch-22. So, the question remains:how do you help a sensitive to protect themselvesfrom such occurrences? Well, you give them in-formation. Once they have the facts and under-stand what is happening, they can deal with it ina practical way.

Some of these "symptoms" may make youchuckle, and some may cause you to experiencea bit of a magickal epiphany, as in "Oh, is thatwhat that is?"-which is followed by the "Aha!"moment: you know, that lovely feeling of havingyour reactions or intuitions validated. So don'tbe nervous. Put your game face on, and cop awitchy, warriorlike attitude. Armed with thisknowledge, you can now easily protect yourselfwith confidence.

The heebie-jeebies: You know this one...it's thefeeling that something is stuck on you or yourface or clothing like a spider's web. On thephysical plane, you probably won't see any-thing clinging to you, but you'll feel it lingeringthere. It's the uncomfortable sensation thatmakes people keep brushing off their arms,checking their faces for dirt in the mirror, ormaking them look to see if they have a stain ontheir shirt or lint on their nice slacks. Or a per-son might get nervous and twitchy for no ap-parent reason-a classic case of the heebie-jee-bies. It also makes people jump and think, isthere is something crawling on me...and whatis it?

Feeling that you are being watched: This is a clas-sic. First off, check to see if someone really iswatching you-is it your boss hoping to catchyou goofing off, or is it just some hopeful ad-mirer from across the mall, checking out yourbutt? Maybe it's as simple as someone screw-ing up their courage to ask you who did your

hair. Rule out anything mundane before youstart thinking it's a psychic or magickal prob-lem, or even a haunting. Then ground and cen-ter, and check your psychic senses. What doyour instincts tell you? Is this a friendly energyor not? What you are probably feeling is thatquesting psychic energy. If it feels a bit uncom-fortable or pushy, then the psychic negativity isprobing for a weakness; that's what you are ex-periencing. The energy is searching, hoveringaround you and trying to find a way to get in.

Feeling a heaviness on your chest, shoulders, orupper back: Similar to the "I am beingwatched" situation, only this time the energyis really close-as in, it's already on you. Typic-ally, you'll feel it draped around your shouldersand over your chest and upper back, whichmeans that it is actually covering your bodyand waiting to get inside of you. That's theheaviness you feel. Your body feels theattempted-and unwanted-energy invasion and

is trying to warn you with that bodily sensationof heaviness.

An ache in the solar plexus area: Empaths and in-tuitives tend to be affected mostly in this areaof the body. Think about it: the first thing weinstinctually do when we are feeling defens-ive or upset is to cross our arms over our mid-section. The reason we automatically cover upthis area is that there are many nerve endingsthat are spread out over the solar plexus, mak-ing this a large area of psychic reception. Con-sider how people typically describe their intu-itive experiences. "My stomach just sank." "Ihad a gut hunch." It just hit me in the gut." Anache or heaviness in the solar plexus is yourbody's way of trying to get your attention. Thisis an early warning signal. Pay attention to itand validate it, and the sensation of pressureor tightening will ease up when the threat haspassed.

Feeling empty or drained of all energy: With thissituation, you need to rule out a possible phys-ical ailment first. If you are female, could yourmenstrual cycle be affecting you? Make sureyou are not coming down with the flu or a cold.It could just be plain old fatigue or everydaystress too, so rule out those factors initially. Ifthe drained feeling occurs only around a spe-cific person or place, then you have somethingelse entirely. This means you need to focus onyour instincts and figure out exactly who orwhat is causing the problem.

Vivid recurring dreams that are especially violentor disturbing: If you are having recurringnightmares and you have not been watchinghorror films every night before you go to bed,then you need to understand that your subcon-scious is desperately trying to communicatesomething to you, and I bet that you are block-ing these psychic warnings during your wakinghours. So this leaves your psyche only one op-tion: vivid dreams. Keep a dream journal and

write the dreams down. Then, when you canbe calmer about it, go back and carefully readthe entry. Now use your intuition and see whatyou feel the dreams are trying to communicateto you. Acknowledging that part of your mindis trying to get your attention, then validatingand decoding your experiences, will make thedreams subside.

Becoming suddenly accident prone or/and a longchain of small, petty annoyances that rolls intobigger and bigger problems: This last sectionis a two-parter. Indicators of something being"off" include the following: if you unexpec-tedly find yourself feeling like a klutz, whentypically you are not; if you find yourself con-stantly tripping or having "close calls" in ashort span of time; when everything you touchliterally breaks or malfunctions; or you sud-denly begin to lose valuable objects that youswore were there only a minute ago. Now, weall have days where everything seems to gowrong-those are aggravations, and that's not

what I am referring to here. However, whenthe problems just seem to continue for days,if you are narrowly avoiding bodily harm, andthe bad luck seems to have no end in sight,that's when you need to tune in to your ownpsychic talent and see what your instincts aretelling you.

Experience is not what happens to you; it is whatyou do with what happens to you.

ALDOUS HUXLEY

It has been said that experience is often the bestteacher. Now that you've taken a realistic look athow a psychic attack can manifest in the every-day world, you can deal with your experiences in-stead of wondering what in the world is happen-ing and why.

Basically, I am giving you some practical cop-ing skills. The following psychic solutions aresimple, very effective, and easy to use. Do notunderestimate these elemental solutions becausethey are uncomplicated. There is a beauty anda power in simple rituals and practical psychichygiene practices. You will get out of these ma-gickal remedies whatever energy and positive in-tention you put in. These are valuable lessons tolearn; as the lessons evolve into knowledge, intime your knowledge will, in fact, become wis-dom.

Earth cure: Take a deep, cleansing breath in, andblow it out. Sit in the grass, and ground andcenter yourself. Another option: hug any vari-ety of pine tree. Evergreens are incredibly pro-tective, and they are very sacred trees. Or, ifyou prefer, sit with your back against the treetrunk, place both hands on the ground, and stayput for a while. Reconnect to the earth, and al-low any negativity or manipulative magick todrain harmlessly away, out of your system, and

right into the soil. Once it goes into the earth, itwill be neutralized. The earth can recycle thiscast-off energy easily, leaving you refreshedand rejuvenated.

Air cure: A classic and time-honored way ofclearing and cleansing a person or place isthrough smudging. Using incense or a smudgestick, wave the scented smoke over yourself oraround a room and indulge in a little cleansingaromatherapy. Allow the incense smoke to re-move any lingering energy or psychic residue.An alternative fix is to step outside for a fewmoments and let the breeze or a good stiff windblow any astral nastiness right off of you. Holdyour arms out to your sides and face the wind.Now feel it stream through your hair and pullat your clothes. Visualize those dregs of at-tacking energy being pulled right off you andharmlessly taken away into the ether.

Fire cure: Stand in the sunlight for a few mo-ments, and let it burn any unpleasant, lingering

residue or energy right off of you. On colddays, sit by a sunny window and feel the lightand warmth of the sun work its fiery, protectivemagick. If it's summer, slather on the sunscreenand really get some sunlight therapy for aboutan hour. Or you could light white candles thathave been placed in holders and arrange themin the shape of a large circle. Once that's setup, sit inside the circle of candlelight and focusyour magickal intention and psychic talents onfinding and removing any attacking energyfrom your person or home. See the negativitydrawn away from you and straight to thecandle flames like a big dusty moth and thenzap! Away it goes in a puff of smoke. Don'tbe surprised if you hear the candles pop andcrackle as the negativity gets burned off.

Water cure: Take a bath. Strip off your clothes,then dump them in the laundry and hit theshower. Wash that astral sticky web stuff rightoff of yourself. Now, if you are not at home anda bath is not an option, then simply wash your

hands. Cold water breaks any psychic links.Shake the water off of your hands and pictureany residue flying harmlessly away. Anotheridea is to take a walk in the rain or snow. Makea quick dash out in the precipitation. Ask theelement of water to wash it away, or the snowto freeze the problem and blow it away.

Try any of these elemental solutions in anycombination that you desire. You could alwaysstart by working with your favored element, orwork all of these elemental solutions, one rightafter another. Trust your own instincts. Whichtype of cleansing practice do you feel would workthe best for you, considering your magickal per-sonality and style? Now dive in and get to work!

Advice is what we ash for when we already knowthe answer but wish we didn't.

-ERICA JONG

It has been my experience that people who havepsychic attack issues and need help with protec-tion magick want practical answers and quick ad-vice for their problems. Straight talk is always thebest way to go; in keeping with that, we are aboutto explore the unknown. This is a topic I get hitwith a lot: haunted houses and unwanted spirits.

I seriously considered not including this sub-ject matter in the book at all, but I do get askedabout this problem often. People who feel thatthey are dealing with a possible haunting are notgoing to want to read flowery, over-romanticizedprose, or worse-to go out looking for useful in-formation, only to have to wade through yet an-other sensational or exploitative book on the top-ic.

You know how that all goes: Here is my amaz-ing yet horrifying haunted house story that I amlucky to have survived. If you flip over to theback of the trashy tome, you will most likely seethe phrase "Soon to be made into a major motionpicture."

Oh, please. People want down-to-earth adviceand commonsense solutions-and maybe a goodchuckle, so they don't feel so afraid and power-less.

What beckoning ghost along the moonlight shadeInvites my steps, and points to yonder glade?

-ALEXANDER POPE

It's a pretty autumn day. I find myself sittingat a table under a canopy at an outdoor Paganfestival. Someone approaches me with a few ofmy books tucked under their arm. We exchangesmiles; they ask me to sign the books, and I hap-pily comply. As we chat for a few moments, Iget the feeling that the person is leading up tosomething. They are too nervous and keep look-ing around, wondering if anyone is close enoughto overhear them. As they start to steer the con-versation topic to mediums and psychic abilitieswith a question about whether or not I think Ouijaboards are dangerous, I think I know where theconversation is going. Finally the person bucksup their courage and asks with a nervous smile,"So, do you think you could get rid of the ghostthat's in my house?"

As if on cue, someone walking by my tablestarts cheerfully singing the Ghostbusters themesong. I try not to chuckle, and the questionernervously begins to laugh. They qualify their re-

quest with, "Well, I mean, you are a clairvoyantand a Witch; you could do it...right?"

I run into variations on this question all thetime. Amazingly enough, many folks believe thatif you are a public Witch, you must be a paranor-mal troubleshooter of sorts. And if you possessany sort of psychic ability or mediumship talents,they really imagine that they have a line into theirown personal versions of Ghostbusters, GhostHunters, and Ghost Whisperer all rolled into one.My normal response is to ask them straight outwhy they believe they couldn't handle the prob-lem themselves.

Typically I get a goggle-eyed response, fol-lowed by breathless excuses-why, they couldn'tpossibly tackle this on their own. The reasonstend to go a little something like this: theywouldn't know how to start, their family wantsthem to call in clergy, they are afraid to try, and(my personal favorite) it isn't their fault. It'senough to make you crazy.

Keeping to our theme of straight talk, here area few simple suggestions for you to start with.Yes, it is important to start out quietly andwithout a lot of fuss. Typically this will take careof the situation nicely, and it will do the trickfor clearing out negativity and making clients feelmore at ease in their own home. It is also an em-powering act, and empowerment is always a goodthing.

Basic Steps for Clearing a House

If you think there is a presence in your homethat does not belong there, then it's time to cleanhouse. I do not recommend that you attempt aseance with the ghost. Sometimes a ghost is justplain ornery. After all, it has been hanging aroundon this plane with no one to talk to for a longtime. Or if it does appear to someone, it usuallygets a strong negative reaction. Folks start slap-ping up crucifixes hither and yon, thinking theyshould confront a ghost like it is the movie char-

acter Constantine or something-which, in myopinion, makes the ghost cranky and sometimesvindictive.

To begin the clearing process, bless the housewith sandalwoodscented incense or sweetgrass,saltwater, and candlelight. This represents each ofthe four elements. The element of air is repres-ented by the smoke of the incense or the sweet-grass; you have fire from the burning candle; andthe saltwater covers both the earth (salt) and thewater representation.

Set all the accessories on a tray and work yourway through the entire house. With the salted wa-ter, draw stars or equal-armed crosses on everydoor, mirror, and window in the house.

Announce in each room: "I bid all energies notin alignment with myself to be gone."

When you finish up, allow the candle and in-cense to burn until they go out on their own.Flush any remaining saltwater down the toilet.

Typically, when folks think they are sensing apresence, what they are actually sensing is old,leftover emotions and memories that the househas held on to. Most classic hauntings are, infact, old memories that keep replaying again andagain. These are called residual-style hauntings.Basically, something once happened in the home-it may have been a happy memory, or it may bethat it was traumatic. The energy of that eventseeped into the structure of the building and isimprinted. So along comes a sensitive, and hello-they keep sensing, hearing, or seeing the play-back. If you are a clairvoyant, then you need towork on desensitizing yourself to the particularproblem area. Try acknowledging the memory;say something out loud like this: "I acknowledgeyour memories. Go find peace and be at rest."

Then, instead of panicking every time thememory hits replay, you can just acknowledgethe residual haunt and move on. If there is not alot of reaction out of you other than a matter-of-fact response, they tend to (no pun intended) diedown and fade in intensity.

If you are sensitive to older homes and vibra-tions, then keep yourself grounded by carryinghematite in your pocket or wearing amethyst jew-elry for its protective and calming purposes.Also, lay off the antiques. Don't haul otherpeople's memories into your home to compoundthe problem.

You could also set out clusters of clear quartzcrystals within your house, one at each of the fourcorners, and regularly perform a cleansing everymonth on the day after the full moon; that oughtto keep things under control. Another idea is tofill up the house with laughter and love. A homefilled with friendship, laughter, and happiness ishard to drag down with old, negative energy.

I have heard, but not believed, the spirits o' thedead may walk again.

-SHAKESPEARE, The Winter's Tale

What do you do if you believe that you may havenoncorporeal company in the home or work-place? Let's say you did a cleansing, you clearedthe home of negativity to the best of your ability,but things still feel off-or there are manifestations(in other words, you can see or hear something inthe physical realm).

First question: has someone been using a Ouijaboard? I am not speaking of a consecrated spiritboard that is used for divinatory purposes in aritual way. I am speaking of the old-fashioned,pain-in-thebutt Ouija boards-you know, the kindyou can still buy at ToysRUs? Perhaps youthought it was cool, or your teenagers got hold

of one, burned some black candles for effect,and thought they'd reenact a scene from a scarymovie.

Don't roll your eyes at me. Ninety-eight per-cent of the time when I have been called in tocheck out a haunting, that is the underlying prob-lem. (Damn Ouija boards!) Spirit boards aretools, not toys. I once had clients inform me thatthey had used a Ouija board in their home right ina spot where they knew someone had committedsuicide-just to see what would happen. Then theyfreaked out when a ghost came a-calling. Talkabout pulling a tiger's tail!

If someone has been playing with a Ouijaboard, they have opened an astral doorway intoyour home. And now you need to close it, andclose it down tightly and permanently. Thosespirits are pissed off and impatiently hangingaround stuck on this plane, waiting for you tosend them on their way.

Where do you start? Get rid of the board. Gooutside and do a basic cleansing spell over theboard and announce out loud that the portal isclosed. Here is a quick cleansing charm that youcould use.

A Cleansing Charm

Say this aloud and with intention, in a confid-ent voice:

Break the gameboard in half and wrap it inred yarn; if possible, tie rowan twigs (this tree isalso known as the mountain ash) to the red yarn-that's even better. Then put the yarn-tied board ina brown paper bag. Take a black marker and drawthe protective rune Algiz (Y') on both sides of thebag. Shake salt inside the bag and all over theboard. Roll up the bag and dispose of it in a pub-

lic trash can that is located well away from yourhome.

When you return home, do a cleansing andprotection ritual on yourself (and your car, if youdrove somewhere to dispose of the board). Thefirst four lines of the cleansing charm (above)would work nicely for that. Just switch out theword object in the second line for car.

Finally, wash the clothes you were wearing,take a bath, and use lilac or patchouli oil in thewater. Both of these essential oils are fabulous forcleansing and breaking negativity.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldnot be called research, would it?

-ALBERT EINSTEIN

If the spirit board is not the issue, then your nextstep is to discover what the history is of the build-ing and the surrounding property. This means youare going to have to do some research. Consultthe local historical society and the public libraryfor records on the home or the property. Also, aslong as you are digging for clues, check if a vi-olent crime has taken place there. See if you cantrack down the previous owners. Why did theymove, anyway? Has someone passed away in thehome? Are there any forgotten cemeteries closeby the location? See what you can uncover. In-formation is power.

Watch your children and pets. Are there roomsor spaces that they avoid? Pets are good baromet-ers for sensing negative energy. However, if yourpreschooler is habitually afraid of the closet, thisdoes not necessarily mean that you should do abanishing. It means that you should clean out saidcloset and make it a fun place to store clothes,shoes, and toys, and maybe put a night-light inthere. Use your common sense and creativity.

Now that you know the history of the locationand what you may be dealing with, your next stepis to cleanse and bless the house. Start by physic-ally cleaning everything in the home. Scrub win-dows and floors, change the sheets on the beds,do all the laundry, take out the garbage, vacuum,sweep, dust, and pick up. A home that is cleanhas healthier, more positive energy than a dirty,cluttered house. It really will help.

Next, you'll need to do a cleansing of anyleftover negative emotions and a banishing formenacing spirits. Here is where you need to callon your inner warrior Witch. Believe in yourself;there is no place for doubts here. After all, it'syour home-and the best person to clean house, soto speak, is you.

A House Cleansing and Banishing Ritual

Directions and Supplies: I suggest doing thisduring a waning moon phase. To keep things

upbeat and to help you feel confident, workthis on a bright, sunny day. Yes, that's right-do the magick during the daylight hours. Letthe daylight and the empowering, cheerfullight of the sun be your ally in this working.

To begin, turn on all of the lights in thehouse. Open all the windows in the houseand let the sun shine in and fresh air streamin. On a tray, arrange a cup of spring water, adish of salt, a white candle, and sandalwoodor frankincense incense in a burner. Lightthe candle and incense. Put a pinch of saltinto the dish of water and, using your finger,stir it until it dissolves. Hold both hands overthe water bowl, and say this line to empowerthe water:

Bring the tray with you as you work yourway through the house. As you enter a room,

go directly and confidently to the middle ofthe space, set the tray down, and then, al-ways working counterclockwise, sprinkle abit of spring water and salt in every cornerof the room.

Draw stars with the empowered springwater on every doorframe, window, and mir-ror. If it helps you to stay relaxed and brave,sing. Seriously. While anointing the win-dows and doors with the water, I personallylike this classic chant: "We all come fromthe Goddess, and to her we shall return likea drop of rain flowing to the ocean." This ischeerful, and it's empowering. Go for it!

After the windows and doors are done,pick up the incense and wave the smokearound the room. Keep working counter-clockwise, as this will help banish any dis-cordant energies. Lastly, carry the candlearound, exposing each corner to a represent-ation of each of the four elements: the fire

from the candlelight, the air with the incensesmoke and fragrance, the earth from the salt,and, lastly, the water.

Next step: pump yourself up emotionallyand know that you are strong and powerfulenough to remove any unpleasant energyfrom your property. Visualize yourself gath-ering up the energies in a counterclockwisedirection (pantomime this with your hands ifit helps you to focus), and then force the oldemotions out of the windows and the ventsand into the sunlight, to dissipate and dis-appear harmlessly, burned off in the sun'sbright beams.

Repeat this verse after you finish eachroom. Do it with authority and in a strongvoice. This is no time to be timid.

Continue to work your way through eachroom in the building, blessing and consec-rating the entire space-even the bathrooms,basement, and attic. Once you have cleansedthe entire house, go to the center of thebuilding and repeat the charm one final time.Allow the candle and the incense to burn outon their own.

Afterwards, take a ritual bath and cleanseyourself. Put on fresh clothes. Finally, takethe leftover water and salt, mix them up to-gether, and pour them across the thresholdof the main entrance to seal the magick.

As you will it, then so shall it be.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Un-seen, both when we wake and when we sleep.

-JOHN MILTON

Now, on the other hand, maybe you enjoy theghosts that are in your home. I am not suggestingthat every ghost is bad; many are friendly andcurious. Ghosts that seem to respond to yourpresence or like attention are referred to as "in-teractive." In reality, most ghosts are just nosy,lonely, or bored-forget all the movies and televi-sion shows that portray every spirit as a demon oran evil entity.

I know those shows frighten some people, buthonestly, they just make me chuckle. Perhaps youare unafraid of your noncorporeal company.Maybe you are simply curious and are wonderingwhy they are still there. Well, have you con-sidered just asking them?

If you have a ghost and they are trying to com-municate with you, why don't you just ask themwhat they want from you? Maybe they are tryingto help. Recently, I had a fellow author ask me forghostly advice for a friend who felt that her newflower shop was haunted. Seems that Joanie, theowner of the flower shop, would come in to openup the business in the mornings and find all of theshop's lights on. This was upsetting for a coupleof reasons. Number one, she knew darn well thatthe lights were off when she had left the previ-ous night, not to mention the unwanted expenseof having them on all night long.

I recommended that Joanie talk out loud to theghost and politely tell it that, while she appreci-ated its help watching over the store, the lightsbeing on were costing her a fortune. I also sug-gested that Joanie purchase a night-light and turnit on for the ghost at night. I told her to announceout loud, "I appreciate your help keeping an eyeon the shop. Please don't turn on the lights any-

more; I'm leaving a night-light on for you in-stead."

A few days later, it was reported back to methat, for the past two days, Joanie had left thenight-light on and the spirits had indeed left theother lights in the shop off. Since that had workedout so well, Joanie decided that she would try fora little more. She announced to the spirit of theflower shop that it could say hello during the dayif it was friendly, and then a bit later she heardwhat she described as a high, soft, and hollowvoice say in reply, "Hi, Joanie."

Joanie double-checked-she was alone in herflower shop when it happened. Now she says shewill buck up her courage and ask for the ghost'sname-classic interactive ghost activity.

And see? Nothing horrible, no demons in thedaisies, no zombies staggering through the bou-quets of roses. There was no need to panic oreven be afraid. It's just a ghost who is trying

to get Joanie's attention, who apparently lovesflowers, and who just wants to help out.

In Annie Wilder's book The House of Spiritsand whispers, she writes about one particular in-teractive spirit in her i8oos Victorian house thatshe refers to as Leon. Seems that Leon was theprevious owner, and he was also a bit of a prank-ster. He made his presence known and also triedto communicate with Annie and her family fora while. Yes, true story. And no-nothing grue-some happened; actually, something pretty amaz-ing happened instead.

Instead of panicking about the ghost, Anniefollowed the clues that Leon gave her. Eventu-ally, she discovered in her basement pipes an oldcoffee-can safe that Leon had stashed away whilehe was still alive. The coffee can was attached toa shoestring and slid down inside of the pipe.

So Annie pulled the lid off the pipe, pulled thestring (which raised the coffee can) and found

that homemade safe-and it was stuffed full ofcash. Annie tracked down Leon's family and gavethe money back to his adult daughter. How coolis that? When I spoke to Annie recently about herhaunted house, she informed me that Leon is stillthe guardian of the old Victorian house and thatshe, her family, and their visiting friends enjoyhis presence there.

Now, just so we are clear, it's not like the ghostis the family's petactually, they are more like hispets. He keeps an eye on them, still plays pranks,watches over the home, and apparently enjoys thecompanionship, which I think is fascinating andabsolutely wonderful.

Now that's my kind of happy, witchy ending.

Power over others is weakness disguised asstrength. True power is within, and it is availableto you now.

-ECKHART TOLLE

As we close up this chapter, there are severalimportant points to remember that all revolvearound the idea that knowledge is power. Thisneatly corresponds to the first principle of theWitch's pyramid, which is "to know." It is not byaccident that this is the first part of that pyramid.As Witches, we are always on a quest for moreknowledge, and if you want to combat any ma-gickal or psychic issue, then you need to havean understanding of exactly what it is and how itworks.

Now that you have the information, you areable to comprehend how psychic attacks happen.You have learned some simple techniques for thepractice of good psychic hygiene, and you areable to recognize and identify the symptoms of

a psychic attack. Best of all, now you know thatyou can easily defend yourself, and you can dothis without a lot of drama.

We also explored the topic of ghosts andhauntings-and we did it with confidence and curi-osity, not fear. Isn't it amazing how you can takethe fear right out of a topic by dragging it intothe light of day and taking a careful and confidentstudy of it?

Armed with this practical information, you canuse this air-aligned knowledge to your advantage.Do you recall the idea of that magickal swordfrom the first chapter? Well, you have indeed ad-ded to your skills and now have a better idea ofhow to more effectively wield that extension ofyour magick.

Pull in your power with a deep breath and fo-cus on the new knowledge that you have attained.It is vital to realize that when you pull in power,you are centering yourself and working from a

balanced place. You pull in, not to make yourselfappear smaller but, in fact, to focus and intensifyyour personal power.

That internally focused energy now allows youto grow-to expand with awareness and stand instrength, secure in the knowledge that you canhandle anything that gets thrown your way, withpoise, objectivity, and wisdom.

Call to the Element of Air

A sailor without a destination cannot hope for afavorable wind.

-LEON TEC

To close up this chapter, here is an elemental callthat will help you work successfully with the ele-ment of air. I recommend working this outside,and don't be surprised when a breeze washes overyou in answer to your request-or a sweet floral

fragrance may waft its way gently to you. Payattention for more subtle manifestations. If it isalready a breezy day, then turn and face the windand hold out your arms, embracing that currentof air and all of the strength of this element. Letit blow a little freshness and positive change intoyour world. This is actually a type of smudging,only instead of using scented smoke from in-cense, you are relying on the element of air toblow away any lingering negativity or fear.

An elemental call is a powerful act of magick,and it requires awareness and personal control. Itall depends on what you are willing to put into itand if you are prepared to trust in this natural ele-ment and let it do its work as your partner in pro-tection magick.

It is always with excitement that I wake up in themorning wondering what my intuition will toss upto me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it andrely on it. It's my partner.

-JONAS SALK

IN THIS CHAPTER, we are working with the ele-ment of water, its power, and its gifts to us, whichare our emotions. Water plays a huge role in all ofour lives, as the adult human body is approxim-ately 6o percent water, meaning that the elementof water rules the body. Love, sensitivity, and ex-trasensory abilities also correspond to the flowing,feminine, and elegant element of water. Learningto work successful protection magick with this flu-id element requires a study of personal boundaries.

If you have a strong, healthy sense of self, thenyou possess firm emotional and psychic bound-aries. If, on the other hand, you are not feelingconfident at the moment, or if you are workingto overcome the effects of emotional or physicalabuse, then your boundaries are not as solid, andthey may fluctuate. It's not so much that you areconsciously allowing people to "walk all overyou"-it's that while you are working to rebuildand reestablish those boundaries, your resistanceis low, making you much more sensitive to at-tacks and draining tactics from other individuals.

Not all of the attention that you receive is con-structive, good, or even helpful, and you are re-sponsible for your own psychic and emotionalprotection. We all go through tough times when,for whatever reason, we don't feel so good aboutourselves. This is when our personal boundariescan become a bit murky. When this occurs, youshould become especially vigilant with your per-sonal borders, as during this weakened energeticstate, you can attract predators such as emotional

vampires and passive-aggressive bullies. Theysense a weakness, and they come hunting. Thinkof them as being like a shark in the water whosmells blood. They will hone in on that scentand follow it, looking for a meal. This is onlythe nature of any natural predator. According tothe American Heritage Dictionary, a predator isdefined as "an organism that lives by preying onother organisms."

Unfortunately, with people and their ownmachinations, this brings the idea of predator andprey to a whole new unbalanced level. There isno healthy "thinning out" as in the natural world.This is all about supremacy and taking someoneelse's power away from them, so the human pred-ator can feel that they have gained more for them-selves. Some people have never understood theconcept that you don't snatch energy or happinessaway from another. You do not exploit someone'spersonal weakness, or demand power from theelements or from a deity. True power comes fromwithin.

Sadly, there are many magickal and psychicpractitioners out there who have never under-stood this simple truth. They are so busy lookingfor validation of their own self-worth that theynever stop, center, and look inside themselves.So, instead, they are always looking to grabsomeone else's energy or drain another's personalpower all for themselves. This gives the predatora rush and, for a moment or two, makes them feelsuperior.

Face it: there are predators out there. They doprey on whomever they consider to be weakerthan themselves. No, I am not trying to frightenyou; I am giving you an up-front and honest lookat this particular psychic concern. I don't believein sugarcoating things. Here is where you have totake a good hard look at the truth about what at-tracts these types of predatory individuals. Let'sclear out the muck and make this emotional andwatery element that streams through our livescrystal clear; that way you can strengthen your-self, eliminate any weaknesses, become more

educated on this topic, and protect yourself withwisdom, style, and maybe a bit of dark humor.

In the previous chapters, we've been workingtoward achieving a better psychic awareness. Inthis chapter, we go from being aware to reactingand then taking action toward our own psychicand emotional selfdefense in the best possibleway.

Boundaries are a wonderful thing.

Those wacky vampires. That's why I love 'em.They just keep ya guessing.

XANDER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

An emotional vampire is defined as a person whois needy emotionally. This is a human being wholiterally feeds upon the attention of others. Some-times emotional vampires are mistakenly called

psychic vampires, but this is an altogether differ-ent matter. Emotional vampires have no magick,but they can still suck the life out of you. Re-member the following statement: With emotionalvampires, it's all about them.

Emotional vampires play by a different set oflaws. They believe that their needs are more im-portant than anyone else's and that the rules of po-lite behavior and fairness apply to other peoplebut never to them personally. They wanteverything, right at this very moment, and noth-ing is ever their fault. Be warned that if they donot get their way, they will throw spectacular tan-trums or make their victims miserable until theyget exactly whatever it is that they want.

Well, you may wonder, who would be stupidenough to invite a character like that into theirlives? You'd be surprised. Emo-vamps make, asone writer refers to it, "killer first impressions."They are more attractive than other people, andof course much more talented, fascinating, un-

derstanding, or entertaining to be around. Theymake themselves very easy to relate to and theyencourage people to trust them and then to di-vulge their innermost secrets. They flatter youwith deep and direct eye contact and act as if youare the only person in the world who understandsthem and how they suffer. They also will encour-age you to believe that you two share a specialemotional bond, which sounds disturbingly fa-miliar to every romantic vampire fiction you haveever read, doesn't it?

So, yes, emotional vampires do prey on hu-mans, after a fashion. No black taffeta cape re-quired. After all, the emo-vamp is a master of il-lusion and will show you exactly what it is youthink that you need to see. That's how they lureyou in. What you need to understand is that emo-tional vampires will use whoever they can gettheir little claws into to meet whatever desires thevampire happens to be experiencing at that time.Male or female victim-they don't care. Emotion-al vampires will take your money and your af-

fection, and they will demand all of your atten-tion, twenty-four hours a day. These folks are ex-traordinarily highmaintenance friends or lovers.

Emotional vampires, like other predators,groom their potential victims. Whatever victim isthe easiest to control and drain dry is who they goafter. They use flattery to make you feel specialand important in their life. Emo-vamps also em-ploy misdirection to confuse and keep you fromseeing the truth about their own behavior. Theyalso like to isolate their victims and keep themaway from other friends and family, who mightcatch on to their draining, manipulative behavior.The vampires are so charming that typically thevictim does not catch on until it is too late.

If you feel you may have one of these charac-ters in your life, then you need to wise up and becareful, because if you allow an emo-vamp's de-manding, manipulative actions to go unchecked,they will take a chunk out of your very spiritto slake their thirst. Truthfully, you are simply a

means to an end. They will drain you dry and thencarelessly toss you aside when they can't get any-thing else out of you. They want it, they want itall, and they want it now... and they don't give adamn what your feelings are on the matter. Be-cause (as I asked you to remember), this is allabout them.

How often have you heard someone talk aboutan old flame or former friend who either manipu-lated them or took them for everything? Turns outthat they had fooled the other person completely,and the bloodsucker was nothing like their victimimagined them to be. Instead, it was all an act,and Mr. or Ms. Wonderful was actually shallow,cunning, egotistical, and manipulative. Thesetypes of intimate emotional vampires gain powerby knowing your secrets and your innermostneeds. They trick you into believing that if yougive them what they want, they, in turn, will bethe lover of your dreams or the best friend youcould ever wish for, which is all an illusion. Emo-tional vampires are like the classic fictional vam-

pire in many ways. They are shapeshifters, theyonly have power if you invite them inside, andthey have a real issue with mirrors.

You can pick out actors by the glazed look thatcomes in their eyes when the conversationwanders away from themselves.

-MICHAEL WILDING

Beware the shapeshifter: No, no, I'm not sayingemotional vampires turn into actual bats. In-stead, they do something elsesomething muchmore frightening and potentially hurtful. Emo-tional vampires are natural actors. They canand do change their physical appearance andoften slip into a different persona. They liter-ally shapeshift into whatever or whoever it isyou really want (or think you want) to see. Thistype of person is an accomplished actor. The

first thing they do is to manipulate you intobelieving how physically attractive they are-whether they are actually attractive or not. Theemotional vampire is so compelling, and theiract is so polished, that they dazzle you into be-lieving that they are beautiful. They also trickyou into thinking that what you two share isextraordinary. Emotional vampires will put ona hell of a convincing show.. .just long enoughto lure you right in.

They can't enter your life unless you invite them:This means that just like fictional vampires,emotional vampires have to be invited intoyour world to "get in" and be able to do themost damage. They have to be in close phys-ical proximity to you, after allit's all part ofthe grooming process that was mentioned be-fore. Predators always carefully select and thengroom their victims; while this is creepy torealize, it is important to comprehend.

Emotional vampires aren't going to leapout of the twilight shadows and select youby chance. They are always on the prowland are watching carefully for any weak-ness. Then they will try and get closer toyou. They look for a need for friendship, af-fection, or flattery, and, sensing that weak-ness, they start to inch their way into yourlife. Sadly, for people who are lonely or un-sure, the vampires only have to start theshapeshifting routine to make you seewhatever it is you most desire. Once theyhave groomed you to their liking and madeyou nice and compliant, they'll go straightfor the jugular. If you identify emotionalvampires for what they truly are and denythem entrance into your life, then they be-come powerless. Their mind-control trickswon't work on you, and they will eventuallyhave to move along and search out other un-suspecting prey.

The dreaded mirror: While fictional vampirescast no reflection in a mirror-and they are sup-posed to fear the mirror-emotional vampireslove every mirror, because they never can getpast their own reflection. Why, there just isn'tanything else worth seeing in that mirror un-less it's the utter fabulousness that is them!When confronted with a mirror, emo-vampswon't even take the time to acknowledge any-one else, they are so busy admiring themselvesand whatever new trinket or toy they just ma-nipulated out of you. Honestly, while they arebusy appreciating their own reflection, you donot exist in their minds-except as a means to anend.

Dealing with emotional vampires is a lot of work.Some people would prefer to run like hell in theopposite direction than to ever get involved withan emo-vamp. But you do have options. Thereare clever ways to deal with emotional vampires,

whether they are a colleague, a friend, a relative,or a romantic partner.

The best thing I have ever found for dealingwith emotional vampires is to see them for whatthey are-pitiful. Also, it really helps to look atthem like badly written fictional characters froma trashy paperback. That always gets me chuck-ling, and then I start to perceive them for whatthey truly are: narcissistic, vain, and emptycreatures who believe that everyone else owesthem. You need to understand that emotionalvampires, both male and female, believe that theyare so pretty and special that other people shouldwant to take care of them just because they are sofabulous.

Don't give in to their demands, and if theythrow a tantrum, treat them like a screaming two-year-old: step over them and walk away. Oncethey realize that you are not reacting or are notparticularly impressed or worried about their tan-trum, they become confused and stop. If they go

running to you and whining about how cruel youwere to them, then you need to slap some bound-aries in place and explain explicitly to them ex-actly what type of behavior you will tolerate fromnow on. Then stick to your guns: do not rewardbad or manipulative behavior. They will eitherchange or get bored and move on to someoneelse. To that, I say good riddance.

If you want this unhealthy situation to change,then you have to be willing to put some effortinto it-to stand strong, define your boundaries,and demand better treatment for yourself. Other-wise, you will have to deal with even more un-pleasant types.

When a resolute young fellow steps up to thegreat bully, the world, and takes him boldly bythe beard, he is often surprised to find it comes

off in his hand, and that it was only tied on toscare away the timid adventurers.

-RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Fact: not all abusive personalities are big, brawnymen. Some of the meanest and worst people Ihave ever had to contend with were physicallysmall or slight in stature. Sure, they looked non-threatening to the casual observer, but inside theytruly were bullies. A few of the most subtle, nastybullies I have ever encountered were women-sometimes it is the women you have to watch outfor. Power games come from all sorts of people.

The only way that passive-aggressive bulliescan feel powerful is to be unkind to another per-son. They have to show and demonstrate theirdominance often. Whether physically, verbally,or emotionally, they will find little ways to tearyou down. It's never full-out physical abuse. It'slittle things: a cutting comment, a cruel joke, or

low-scale physical aggression. These subtle bul-lies get off on the fact that nobody stops them.

Signs of subtle or passive -aggressive bulliesare the folks who invade your personal space allof the time. They touch you too often and just atad inappropriately; they flirt a bit too hard; or,worse, they are the ones who constantly hit youwhile they talk. It's the whole "smack on the armwith the back of their fingers" while they speak,to punctuate what they say or to get your atten-tion.

Now, to be fair, occasionally we all do a back-hand swat on the arm, lightly and in good fun,to a friend who has just made a really rude com-ment, which is typically followed by you bothtrying not to laugh at something funny betweenthe two of you. That's not what I'm talking abouthere. These smacks on the arm that I am speakingof are not playful. You won't be laughing, asthey are a bit painful. If this action is constant

or chronic, then, truthfully, they are passive-ag-gressive maneuvers.

That arm smack is similar to when a person"accidentally" touches another person in aslightly inappropriate way. You know, the acci-dental brush of your behind or bump into yourchest, where you recoil and feel slightly embar-rassed, but the predator moves in closer or teasesyou about it. If the other person apologizes andmoves back and never repeats it, then it was acci-dental. If they don't apologize, or step even closerand make eye contact, then that is a predatory act.

How can you tell for sure? Well, pay attentionto your instincts. What do they tell you? Also,the biggest clue is the predator's behavior whenyou react or complain. No matter if it's about thearm smacking, the inappropriate touching, or thecrowding of your personal space, the first thingthe bully does is to loudly laugh and tell you thatyou are overreacting.

This often causes embarrassment for the vic-tim, because let's face it, nobody likes to appearweak or foolish. The bully doles out mild phys-ical abuse or inappropriate behavior and you re-act, then they laugh and tell you that you are be-ing oversensitive. You get angrier, they feed offof the attention, and then they tell other people inthe vicinity so they can all laugh about it somemore.. .they feed off that, too, and you lose,which means they win.

Did you catch that last part? They feed off ofthe attention. This is a type of emotional vam-pirism. If you listen carefully, you can hear themslurping up your energy just like a kid finishinga milkshake. Don't give them any more emotionor energy to feed off of. You do have power overthat and the situation, once you identify it forwhat it is.

This type of low-grade physical abuse is a wayto dominate another person. It's a way of showingother people that they own you and have power

over you physically, and that they possess powerover your emotional reactions. So the question re-mains: what are you going to do about it?

Revenge. . .it's better than Christmas.

-ELVIRA, from the movie Elvira: Mistress of theDark

So you've been reading my books for years now,and I bet you think you have me all figured out.I can just hear some of you...Oh, that Ellen. She'sso funny! Why, she never has had to deal withanything unpleasant or unfair. . .not like I do.Would you be surprised to know that I have dealtwith bullies in a less than friendly way?

Yes, indeed, I have dealt with my share ofpassive-aggressive situations and even abusewhile on the job. As I look back, one particular

instance comes to mind, and I admit that how Ihandled it is funny as hell. At the time, however,I was less than amused.

I once worked with a bullying woman whoused that "whap on the arm" maneuver constantlyto try and remind you just who was in charge.What was comical about this particular situationwas that the individual in question was aboutfive inches shorter than I am and very frail inbuild. Definite power trip going on there-this typeof power-tripping behavior is what some folkswould call a Napoleon complex. We had bothworked for about two years together in a littleshop in the historic district of my hometown.(Yes, this is the same boutique that I wrote aboutin Natural Witchery. What can I say? I seem tohave a knack for ending up working in hauntedlocations and for attracting the crazies.)

Back then, I had asked the bullying womanseveral times and very politely to stop the arm-smacking routine, to no avail. She was also the

sibling of the previous owner of the boutique.When her sibling was the owner, no one daredto complain too loudly about the problem-if theydid, they would find their hours cut to the bone.Now, with a new owner and no indulgent relativeto save her bacon, the bully was frightened. Shewas also scared to lose her hours, as she was ahorrible salesperson, not to mention her skill ofmanipulating the new owner into buying thingsfor the shop that the bully personally wanted butthat would likely never sell to paying customers.

I knew that no matter how polite or pleasant Iwas to that woman, she was intimidated and ter-rified of me because she knew that I was a Witch.This constant arm-smacking thing was somethingshe could do to everybody all of the time, andit made the bullying woman feel more powerful.So whenever I worked with her, I became her ul-timate target. How pathetic, and how very, veryfoolish.

So with the thought of establishing healthyboundaries in mind, I quietly approached the newowner of the boutique where we worked to talkto her about the problem. The boss just rolled hereyes and said, "oh, Ellen, come on! She is so tiny.She can't hurt you!"

Thanks for the support there. I found that reallyupsetting, and not just for me personally. Theowner was a nice enough woman, but she hadnever worked retail in her life. She thought itwould be fun to own a boutique, and the passive-aggressive arm smacker was trying to take overeverything, and the owner was not doing a goodjob of it. All of the other employees knew; wetried to help the new owner, but she was totallydominated by our little Napoleon "I will take overthe world" employee.

How did I finally get the passive-aggressivearm smacker to stop? At the core of this situationwas one important fact: I was dealing with abully. It didn't matter that she liked to play inno-

cent and that, honestly, she wasn't too bright. Shewas a bully right down to her toes. So I decidedto use a simple tactic that she would respond toand understand: physical intimidation.

This was not an easy decision, but it was oneI had promised myself to pursue if I ever foundmyself suffering physical abuse from a co-workeragain. Several years before, a hysterical and emo-tionally unbalanced male manager had punchedme in the arm because he was angry at me forasking him to unlock my cash register. It left abruise, I reported it immediately, and it was ig-nored. I also took grief because the store managerdid not want any trouble in her store, and she toldme to let it go. I mean, hello, what century arewe in? A woman reports physical abuse to anoth-er woman and it gets hushed up?

That situation had left me feeling really be-trayed and angry. I contacted the national branchof the company and reported the instance and mystore manager's reluctance to do anything about

it. I calmly told the national office that if they didnot act, then I would go to the local police and re-port it. Then all hell broke loose.

The district manager got involved, and it wasugly. Of course, as is often the case, it was the ac-tions of the complaint-filing employee that werequestioned, never the poor managers. But I stuckto the truth and quietly worked a ton of magickfor justice, and eventually the man was reprim-anded, demoted, and moved to another store.However, when all was said and done, I wasthe one who was labeled a troublemaker, whichtaught me a hard lesson about big business, man-agement, and employee relations.

I simply could not believe that now, in the littleboutique, I was facing a similar situation. Thistime I had no other recourse than to deal with theproblem myself. As I am not Gandhi, I figuredwith this new problem (the chronic arm-smack-ing woman) that physical intimidation was thebest option, as it would have the least amount

of karmic repercussions. I will admit that I seri-ously considered zapping her with a vicious spellor two, but I just could not honestly see how thatwouldn't be viewed by the gods as magickal re-venge instead of a more neutral type of magick-al defense. Sometimes it's a bitch to be conscien-tious with your Witchcraft.

I plotted and I planned. I watched her carefullyand figured out her biggest weaknesses, whichwere her fear of the occult and her lack of confid-ence, and I considered my nonmagickal options.Yes, I agree, it is somewhat disturbing imagin-ing me sitting and methodically plotting anotherperson's comeuppance, but I had to do somethingbefore I really lost my temper and kicked herscrawny butt over the checkout counter. (Okay,okay, I only considered that for a little while. Itdid make me more cheerful as I visualized it-bags flying everywhere, knickknacks falling, dis-plays crashing down...) Wait, where was I? Ohyes, plotting her downfall in the least violent waypossible, sans magick.

So, I waited until the next time the two ofus were working alone. I went to work that daydressed for battle in a very gothic-looking outfit-all flowing black, with darker makeup than I nor-mally wore. The effect was very witchy and un-nerving to the other woman. But most import-antly, it made me feel more powerful. The firsttime she slapped me on the arm, I stopped; Ilooked at her and made direct eye contact, thentold her in a serious and final tone, "This is yourlast warning: do not ever hit me again."

She gulped audibly in response but recovered,then laughed, asking me if I was afraid of her. Ionly smiled quietly and touched my pentagrampendant, which was in plain view that day. Re-coiling visibly from the pentagram, she backedoff and behaved herself for about a half-hour. Ashort time later, as I was ringing up a customer,she walked up to the counter to "help," startedlaughing, and whop! Got me again. This onereally hurt and, most frustrating of all, she did it

while a customer was standing right there. Striketwo.

Within moments, we were alone again, andshe strutted up to me and told me that I had al-most made as big of a sale as she had that day. Isaw her maneuver herself so she would be with-in arm's reach. Then she started to make what shethought was a clever remark, and I held still andwaited.

This time, when she swung her arm out towhap me with the back of her fingers, I wasready. I grabbed her hand, caught her fingers, andpulled her off her feet and up into me. I leaneddown into her face and squeezed her fingers to-gether as hard as I could, which made her squealand scream like a little girl. Then, as I kept mash-ing her fingers together, I said very pleasantly,"What part of do not ever hit me again did younot comprehend?"

She just stood there, her mouth working sound-lessly like a guppy while her eyes bugged out ofher head.

I smiled and, as politely as possible, continuedwith, "These powertripping games of yours willnot work on me. Do you understand?"

She only squeaked as I kept applying hardpressure to her fingers.

"Now," I continued in a conversational tone,"let me explain to you how this is going to be.If you ever touch me again, I will do a hell of alot worse than just squeezing the crap out of yourfingers." I stared hard into her eyes and made sureshe knew I was serious. Then I let go of her handand pushed her away from me.

She stood there, holding her pinched fingersand shaking for a moment or two, while I studiedher the way you would if you happened to comeacross an interesting insect. Then, predictably,

she grabbed her crucifix necklace and held it upas if to ward me off.

"You can't talk to me like that! This will protectme from you!" she squeaked.

I raised an eyebrow at her and softly repliedwith a somewhat evil chuckle, "Really? It did notprotect you a few moments ago."

She yelped and ran from the building. Tragic-ally, the new boss was out on an errand, her sib-ling was out of town, and she had no one to runto, so our little passive-aggressive former armsmacker had to deal with me for the rest of theday.

I'd like to be noble and say I did not cackleabout her being utterly terrified of me, but I'dbe lying. However, she never struck me again,and she avoided me for months, which was prettynice and made for much more pleasant workingconditions, let me tell you.

oh, and now I hear the new boss is about to loseher business. The tiny little Napoleon is still do-ing her head games on the owner and is helping torun the boutique right into the ground. The mor-al of the story? Sometimes you have to establishboundaries in a less than cordial way. When youknow that any spells you cast will be from spite,anger, and revenge, it's best to leave Witchcraftalone, to avoid those nasty magickal karmic re-percussions. That does not mean, however, thatyou are defenseless.

Stand up to those passive-aggressive emotionalbullies, and see them for what they truly are. Thiswill give you power and confidence. A personwho possesses strong, healthy boundaries will al-ways stand up for themselves, rejecting bothemotional and physical abuse. You have a rightto keep both your person and your personal spacedefended. Most of all, stand your ground with asmile; improvise, adapt, and overcome.

Water Ritual for Establishing Healthy Bound-aries

Here is a ritual designed to work with the ele-ment of water and to establish and strengthenyour personal boundaries. This watery ritual wasinspired by my trip to Maine. I spent a lot oftime with my husband walking the shores of thequiet bays and coves, picking up watersmoothedpebbles and being thrilled by the crash and boomat the dramatic, rocky edge of the Atlantic. Talkabout atmosphere ... and it got me to conjuring.

This ritual works closely with the element ofwater, so to perform it you have some options, nomatter where you happen to live. I suggest wear-ing something blue-shirt, sweater, jeans, bluesocks, whatever you have. Get some color ma-gick working in your favor. If you have a seashellor two, slip them in your pockets to reinforce thelink to the element of water.

Outdoor Directions: If at all possible, do this wa-ter ritual outdoors, at the shore of a naturalbody of water-whether that is the ocean, a lakeor picturesque pond, on the beach of a quietcove or a bay, alongside a clear natural stream,or at the edge of a mighty river, it will dependon where you live and what bodies of waterare available to you. Work with the magick ofnature that is found in your area. There is apower there, and this will help to make yourprotection magick intensely unique. After all,working with the energies that are already inyour locale only personalizes and strengthensyour spellcasting.

Indoor Directions: If the weather is inclement orif you are not able to work this ritual outdoors,then set up this ritual and place a large clearglass bowl of water in the middle of the work-space. If you are limited to working indoors,you may want to add some blue candles tosymbolize the element of water and cluster agrouping of shells around the glass bowl of

water. Set up the ritual and get ready to go.Also note that you should adapt the followingdirections to your own situation-for example,dip your fingers into the bowl of water insteadof the body of natural water.

Timing: I would suggest working this ritual ateither sunrise or sunset; you decide which timewould best suit your purposes. Sunrise bringsin the energies of a new day and all those pos-sibilities, while sunset closes out old problemsand brings an end to unhealthy situations, thusmaking room for something new to flourish.

To begin the magick, turn and face therising or setting sun. Silently hold out yourarms and embrace the light and colors ofthe sunrise or sunset. Feel them fill you up.Now turn your attention to the body of waterthat is before you. Smell the water. Reachdown and trail your fingers through the wa-ter as you stand on the shore. Now take yourdampened fingers and place a drop of the

water on your third eye and on your chest,over your heart. Begin the ritual with theselines:

Now center yourself and tap into the en-ergy of the body of water that is in front ofyou. Focus on it and feel its essence. Nowrepeat the spell verse:

Close up the ritual with these lines:

Now relax and have a seat alongside thebody of water. Enjoy your time outdoorsand in nature. Ground and center yourself,and then, when you are ready, make yourway home. Go with confidence and a re-freshed and lighter attitude.

If you are working indoors with an altar,then sit down on the floor next to the workarea. Take a few deep breaths and relax be-fore you put away your supplies. Snuff outyour candles and toss the water from thebowl over your front steps to wash away anynegativity from your home.

Internal power radiates from a core strength.

-STACEY DEMARCO, Witch in the Boardroom

What you have to do to create a positive changein your life and stop emotional manipulation isstay tough, define your personal boundaries, andnot back down. This is where you have to explainexplicitly to other people what your expectationsare. It's not enough to know-you need to believethat you have a right to healthy boundaries. It's awonderful thing to be caring and giving, but youneed to be caring for yourself and to understandthat your feelings count too.

Once you have created some balanced personalboundaries and reinforced your convictions withmagick, the next step is to teach other people howto behave while they are in your presence. Learnto say no politely and firmly. This isn't selfish; itis an integral part of healthy boundaries. If youkeep on giving of yourself with no reciprocation,then you are living in an unbalanced state. Identi-fy the actions and behaviors from other peoplethat you find unacceptable, then inform them ofit. You can inform them by courteously pointingout the unwanted behavior or by asking them to

stop. You can also give them explicit instructionson how you expect them to act from now on. Youcan demand that they stop their behavior, or youcan leave, thus removing yourself from the emo-tional abuse or manipulation.

If you never explain to someone what type oftreatment you expect, they will act however theychoose. By saying nothing and suffering in si-lence, you actually allow the other person to havepower over you. Speak up and honor the workyou are making to bring that positive change intoyour life. Trust and believe in yourself.

While I was researching the topic of personalboundaries for this chapter, I found a lot of rhet-oric about how we, as people, give our poweraway every day without even knowing it. Typic-ally this occurs when we allow someone to treatus unfairly or manipulate us on an emotionallevel. Well, as a Witch, I thoroughly reject thatidea.

Witches do not give their power away. Wegather it up, allow it to fill us, and then direct itto move forward in our lives and create a pos-itive change. Witches are always exploring andsearching for new information, acquiring a deep-er understanding of their magickal world and ofthemselves.

You have been made aware of your ownboundaries, and you've been given an honest lookat the situations that can occur when someonetries to take advantage on an emotional or phys-ical level. You have gained information on howto deal with these types of people and social situ-ations. Best of all, you now have a plan of actionand a ritual to back it up.

By knowing yourself and accepting what yourpersonal strengths and weaknesses are, you dobecome aware and empowered. This informationallows you to care for yourself in the healthiestway possible, on both the emotional and the

physical levels, for as you learn to trust in yourown intuition, this will build self-reliance.

When you calmly assert yourself or defendyourself from emotional manipulation and un-suitable behavior, you are demonstrating confid-ence. Self-worth, self-esteem, and self-trust arethe building blocks of creating healthy bound-aries. These empowering actions will keep youstrong in mind, body, and spirit. How's that forpractical protection magick?

Call to the Element of Water

Like swift water, an active mind neverstagnates.

-AUTHOR UNKNOWN

To close up this chapter, here is an elemental callthat will help you to work successfully with theelement of water. When you call on the element

of water it may manifest in many ways, from asudden shower, to landscape sprinklers suddenlycoming on and drenching you as you walk in thepark, to something small, like water being spilledon your desk at work. So be aware, be smartand safe and stay away from electronic equip-ment when you call on this particular element.Again I suggest working this magick outdoors.An elemental call may be uncomplicated, but it isa powerful act of Witchcraft and a way to celeb-rate your connection to the natural elements thatrule our world.

New knowledge is the mostvaluable commodity on earth.The more truth we have towork with, the richer we be-come.

-KURT VONNEGUT

THE ELEMENT OF earth possesses a stabilizing,restoring, and grounding type of energy. When itcomes to magick, the element of earth is protectiveand provides us with the capacity for growth andsolidarity. It brings permanence and strength.Earth is the hearth and home element, combiningall the earthy qualities that make us feel safe andsecure, such as prosperity, commitment, and sta-bility.

By carefully studying the properties of this en-chanting natural element, we can learn new andmore effective ways to work successful protec-tion magick. In addition, we can also enforce verystrong psychic self-defense techniques, for withinthe element of earth is the power of being presentin your magickal manifestations.

In this chapter, we begin the personal work ofguarding and then rebuilding your power whenyou feel that, for whatever reason, it has beendepleted. At the end of the healthy boundarieschapter, we discussed how Witches should nevergive away their own personal power. In a perfectworld, this scenario would never even be an is-sue. However, we don't live in a perfect world.All of us make mistakes, and we do feel downfrom time to time. So whether your personalpower was taken from you or you accidentallyhanded it to someone else or are just down in thedumps, it's time to get to work.

No matter how this occurred, it can leave youfeeling drained, exhausted, and less than whole.It's time to pull yourself up by your witchy blackbootlaces and dig down deep and reconnect tothe earth. There you will find your power andthe strength to defend your own personal ener-gies, and then you can start to rebuild and becomewhole again.

So far in this book, you have become moreaware of your psychic abilities and the strengthsand weaknesses that go hand in hand with yourparticular psychic gifts. You linked in with theair element to allow new magickal informationto waft into your life, thereby becoming moreknowledgeable about what makes you a uniquemagickal practitioner. You gained wisdom, allwhile airing out old notions about psychic attackand hauntings. In the previous chapter, we stud-ied the effects of emotional manipulation fromemotional vampires, bullies, and predators. Youwere encouraged to reevaluate your personalboundaries and strengthen them with positive

words, positive actions, and waterthemed ma-gick. Now, by focusing on the element of earth,we can dig up new ways that you can defend andreclaim your own personal power and psychic en-ergy.

To begin, we study the psychic vampire. Why?Because when you understand the mechanics ofpsychic vampirism, then you can more easilyguard your personal energies and protect yourselfby staying centered, grounded, and in control.

Intentional and Unintentional, Invited and Unin-vited: What You Need to Know

The strength of the vampire is that people will notbelieve in him.

-GARRETT FORT

Psychic vampires are different from emotionalvampires. Sometimes called psi-vamps, they arepeople who have learned how to take energy fromothers (or who have a natural capacity for doingso) and then use that acquired energy to raise uptheir own personal energy levels.

To begin with, there are many psi-vamps whoare blissfully unaware of their actions. When theydrain away another person's good mood or en-ergy, it is done unintentionally, which is why werefer to them as unintentional. They simply don'tknow what they are doing and have no idea theyare causing harm.

Then there are those uninvited psychic vam-pires who feed wherever they will, without per-mission, and it is absolutely on purpose. They arereferred to as intentional and uninvited. For thesecharacters, this deliberate taking of another per-son's energy gives them a buzz and makes theuninvited psi-vamps feel stronger or superior tothose around them. It's the whole look-what-I-

can-do-and-no-one- can- stop-me scenario (cuethe creepy music and add an evil chuckle, mwha-ha-ha).

On the flip side of the coin, there are alsopsychic vampires who feed only with permission.In other words, they are verbally invited in bythe energy donor with full knowledge of what isabout to occur. These types of psi-vamps will ad-here to ethical behavior when it comes to the en-ergetic feeding from another person, since theywould like to be invited back at a future date.

The main thing that separates the deliberateand inadvertent practice of psychic vampirism is,in fact, intention. As with all magick or psych-ic work, it is all about a person's intention. Someaccidental or unintentional psychic vampiressimply have no clue. These folks are just sad,miserable, or insecure, and they probably lookup to you. They unknowingly want some of yourpositive energy and happiness for themselves, sobeing around you and drawing some of your

spark and essence into themselves makes themfeel better about themselves.

Now, it is true that all of us, from time to time,lean on our friends or loved ones for emotion-al support. We draw strength from their affectionand camaraderie. That is not psychic vampirism,that is love. What makes it different is that weare happy to reciprocate to our friends when theyare down and to be there to support and assistour loved ones when they need us. So don't panicwhen a friend or loved one wants some emotionalsupport. Trust me, you will know the difference.

Typically, this friendly energetic and emotionalsupport is only needed for a short time, becauseeventually they feel better, stronger, and more en-thusiastic, and they heal. They'll begin to laugh atthings again, and then they move along their ownpath in life. If this routine should become habitu-al, that's when you have a possible, albeit unin-tentional, psi-vamp problem.

On the other hand, there are intentional psi-vamps who know exactly what they are doing andfeed without permission, whenever they feel theneed, which is why I refer to them as uninvited.Unfortunately, that purloined psychic energy onlyfulfills their need for a brief time, and then thepsychic vampires themselves become their ownvictim, which is something many uninvited psi-vamps don't realize. The habit they have gottenthemselves into is a very unhealthy one. Truth-fully, they will become dependent on the pilferedenergy of others, and then that stolen energy be-gins to sustain them for shorter and shorter peri-ods of time, which makes an uninvited psi-vamponly want more. So, like an energy junkie, theyare always on the prowl for the next even biggerpsychic energy fix.

Not unlike emotional vampires, intentional,uninvited psychic vampires are masters of illu-sion. They draw in their victims with a clevercombination of wiliness and guile. Intentionalpsychic vampires work best when they can con-

fuse their victims with misdirection, because any-time your mind is in a state of confusion, youshut down your defenses and focus only on thepuzzle that you can't quite figure outwhich makesyou completely oblivious to what they are actu-ally doing.

Uninvited psi-vamps stand just a bit too closeand will pay you specific and flattering attention.That way, you will hold still long enough forthem to make what appears to be light, harmlessphysical contact. This allows them to link intoyou so they can do a surface or a contact feed todrain your energy, all while they smile right intoyour face and steal whatever they want from yourown personal energies.

The truth is that uninvited, intentional psi-vamps are energy thieves. Because honestly, ifyou are taking something from another individualthat does not belong to you, without their permis-sion, then it is stealing. I don't even want to hearthe whole story about how they can't help them-

selves and it's just the way they were born. Well,how tragic and how very romance-novel-gothicof those poor, misunderstood creatures. Let's juststaple the back of their hand to their forehead andall let loose a pitiful sigh in unison. (Yes, that wassarcasm.)

Do not buy into that whole "poor psi-vamps"line of thought. The minute you show any weak-ness for this type of energy thief is the momentthey pounce. Do not allow them into your life orinto your personal space-unless you like the ideaof someone sneaking in and draining you of yourlife force, and leaving you feeling like crap whenthey are finished with you. Oh, and any fantasyyou may have about "sexy vampires" really getssquashed once you realize exactly what it is thatthey actually do.

I don't like vampires. I'm going to take a standand say they're not good.

-XANDER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

There are four main types of energy feeding thatintentional psi-vamps indulge in, from the relat-ively harmless to the sneaky to the manipulat-ive to the exploitative. You could argue this pointforever, but at the end of the day, it all comesdown to the psi-vamp's intention and whether ornot he or she was invited and/or had the donor'spermission.

Ambient feeding is one way that psi-vamps feed,and it is relatively harmless and the leasttroublesome. An ambient feed is typically doneat a large public event, like a sporting event,

concert, classroom situation, or public festival.Basically, psi-vamps sense the energy of thecrowd that is out there floating around. In theirminds, it's just hanging there, free for the tak-ing. If the crowd is pumped up, rowdy, andboisterous, then that's the type of energy theyreceive. If the crowd is more serious orlearned, like at a public class, then they get thatflavor. They focus on it and draw that ambientor surrounding energy right into themselves.

Have you ever heard someone remarkafter an event, "Wow! I just soaked up somuch energy here tonight!" Bingo. That's anambient energy feed. Maybe it was done ac-cidentally, and maybe it wasn't; again, thedifference depends on the intention of theindividual who harvested the energy andwhether they caused any energetic harm toothers.

Deep feeding is an act that is not to be enteredinto casually, according to the modern psychic

vampire. This type of feeding is supposed tooccur only with the express permission of theenergy donor; anything else is a form of psych-ic rape. As you would imagine, this type ofdeep energy feed is typically performed in aprivate and intimate encounter, where the psi-vamp is literally feeding off of the very essenceof their willing donor's life force. It is believedthat the donor experiences a rush when theydonate, but afterwards his or her natural de-fenses are low, and the donor will be drainedand tired. In other words, they can't keepdonating their energy in deep feedings againand again without rest and recuperation, or elsethe willing donor may experience some unfor-tunate physical side effects.

Sometimes this type of consensual deepfeeding is an energy exchange not unliketantric magick, where both partners, by mu-tual consent, give of their own personal en-ergies toward a specific magickal goal. Thisrequires an amazing amount of concentra-

tion, not only for the coordinating of the en-ergy release but because most of us are morethan a little distracted during our most intim-ate moments.

Surface feeding is a basic ploy in an uninvitedpsi-vamp's repertoire. This sneaky trick canoccur from a distance of a few feet or evenfarther away. The surface feeding happenswhen an uninvited psivamp selects a target andthen visualizes and creates an unwelcomemetaphysical link from him or her straight intoanother person's aura. Once the link is estab-lished, the psi-vamp then focuses and visual-izes the other energy streaming out from thevictim and into him- or herself. (These linksare often described as tendrils; charmingly,some refer to them as tentacles.) The links, ortentacles, are not physically seen, as they areon the astral plane.

A long-distance feeding act takes a tre-mendous amount of concentration. The

closer a psi-vamp actually stands to theirtarget-if they can look directly at them andconcentrate-the easier the surface feed willbe for them. Because, let's face it, uninvitedpsi-vamps really don't want to expend anyenergy. They want to acquire energy by us-ing the least amount of effort possible. If theattacker is standing close, it's not so hard forthem to tap in. If they are across the room,well, that would require more concentration.If they are touching you, mission accom-plished: they already have a link right intoyour energy.

Contact feeding is just like it sounds. The psi-vamps feed off of their target while they havedirect physical contact or eye contact withthem. This is most easily accomplished by theuninvited psivamp looking into the victim'seyes for a period of time or touching the un-knowing victim with their hands and tappinginto a minor chakra point. As one modern psi-

vamp points out, there are lots of opportunitiesfor casual touching and contact feeding.

Things to watch for? Well, this is whenthe classic misdirection tactic is employed.The uninvited psi-vamp begins laying on thecharm so thickly, all while trying to distractyou from where their hands actually are-andwhat they are doing with them. Oh, it's notgoing to be a smash-and-grab maneuver; thepsi-vamp won't try to physically overpoweryou. . .after all, that takes effort and energy.(Which is something they don't want to ex-pend.) The touching will be subtle and, forlack of a better word, "spidery"-a lingeringhand on your arm, with their fingers lightlydraped on the inside of your elbow... a hand-shake that hangs on a bit too long... or if theyreach beyond the palm of your hand, towardthe wrist. Other entry points can be an armdraped over the target's shoulders, or a handon the small of the back, or even a hug or acasual peck on the cheek.

If an unrepentant intentional psi-vamp hasmade physical contact, then he or she willtry to establish a link and pull energythrough that attached tendril, whether in-vited or not. Bottom line: if it's creeping youout, then that's a big warning!

Are you noticing anything important in all ofthese careful descriptions? Uninvited psi-vampsare stealing-as in taking from their victims without permission. oh, sure, they can class it up andcall the people they go after "targets." Uninvitedpsi-vamps may even claim that they caused nopain because they fed carefully, lightly, or gently,but actually these are people they are preyingupon. Do you really think uninvited psi-vampscare what effect this feeding has upon their prey?Nope. Predatory acts are despicable.

However, there is no need to be alarmed at thisinformation. I am sharing this with you so you'll

have the knowledge required to put a stop to thistype of psychic attack. Also, when uninvited psi-vamps are aggressive in their energy attack or ifthey are vain (and many of them are), you willfeel it right away. How? Well, by being aware ofyour own psychic abilities. Tap into that aware-ness we first talked about in this book and checkyour own psychic senses.

If you are empathic, you may feel the link. Aclairvoyant would probably see something-a typeof energy or color that looks out of placewhilean intuitive would know something had attacheditself to their person. A clairaudient would per-ceive this type of invasion as something soundingout of tune-a sort of discordant energy that keptteasing their conscience.

If it's there, you can perceive it, and then youcan stop it-all by knowing what signs and symp-toms to watch for.

There are such beings as vampires; some of ushave evidence that they exist. Even had we notthe proof of our own unhappy experience, theteachings and the records of the past give proofenough for sane peoples.

-BRAM STOKER

At the end of the day, uninvited psychic vampiresare energy leeches. They try to attach themselvesto you and drain away all your enthusiasm, goodmood, and psychic and physical energy. Here arethe signs to watch for:

A person who constantly has to touch you oralways wants a long hug, whether it's appropriateor not. I'm not talking about the hey, I haven'tseen you in forever type of one-armed hug, fol-

lowed by the pat on the back as they let go andsmile. I mean the kind that hangs on just a bit toolong and you are always the one who tries to getout of the hug first. (Ladies, if your boobs are get-ting squished, then you've got a problem.) Andthis scenario doesn't just apply to a woman try-ing to extricate herself from a guy's overexuber-ant hug. Men in social situations can be victimsof an uninvited female psychic vampire as well.

Psychic Vampire Fact: A psi-vamp can feed froma hug. Most people do a happy, contented sigh,tuck their head onto another's shoulder, and ex-hale gently when they are hugged. They un-wrap their arms and let go of each other a mo-ment later, and both parties are comforted bythe embrace. Uninvited psi-vamps will take ahug into a whole new and sinister realm. Th-ings to watch for are silence and stillness. Un-invited psi-vamps will not chatter about howgreat it is to see you, and they won't be doing ahappy sigh. They will instead place their handsin the middle of your back, right between your

shoulder blades. What they are doing is con-centrating their focus as they place their re-ceptive hands flat on your back, creating a firmlink to your heart chakra. They hold still, thenbreathe in and suck your energy along with theair. Freaky, huh? If they are making yummysounds, then you really have a problem.

Psychic Vampire Fact: They feed from the mostunlikely of points on the body. Unless youknow what to watch for, you may be unawareof what is actually happening to you. Watchthe minor chakras! All of the joints in the bodyare minor chakras. These would be the fingers,wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, andankles. Take a look back at the contact feedingsection-what did I warn you about there? Ihave personally discovered from dealing withone pain-in-the-neck, self-proclaimed vampirethat he always tried to get his hands on theinner arms at the elbow area. This maneuverwas always done while he was speaking tosomeone, and it sort of feels like you are being

guided along or positioned so the vampire cantalk to you privately. It was always the lightestof touches, and it always made my stomachchurn.

Psychic Vampire Fact: They employ misdirectionand confusion. It can happen to anyone. It isvery confusing for people to wonder why theylet a specific individual get so close to themwhen there is nothing about that person theyfind physically attractive. Yet somehow thatperson (vampire) still manages to push theirbuttons. The victim will spend so much timementally arguing with themselves and won-dering why they always let this individual getclose that they leave themselves wide open tothe energy-draining attack.

How do you know for sure when you've en-countered a psychic vampire? Again, pay atten-tion to your own psychic warning signs. If you

find that physical contact with the suspected in-tentional, uninvited psivamp makes you vaguelyuncomfortable or a bit sick to your stomach, youshould take this as a confirmation-especially ifyou find yourself mentally braced before they gethold of you. If this person always has to touchyou when they speak to you, or it seems that theyare physically guiding you or habitually position-ing you so they can speak privately to you, thenthis is also a confirmation.

If your mind races as to how you will politelyget away from them and remove yourself fromtheir clutches, take a deep breath, and groundand center. You do have choices on how to dealwith the uninvited psychic vampire. Just remem-ber that if you give them an inch, they'll go foryour throat, so tuck away your sympathy. Don'twaste it on a uninvited psi-vamp. After all, if yougive them sympathy, they'll only gobble that upand come back for more.

In our next section we are going to explore thetools in your psychic vampire protection kit. Andno, none of these involves a sharpened woodenstake or a rope of garlic.

The only thing that differentiates the way twopsychic vampires attach is their intention.

-KONSTANTINOS, Vampires: The Occult Truth

Okay, so you have identified the psychic vampireand you see them approaching. Are you goingto stand your ground as they slink over, or areyou going to panic and bolt? Guess which answergives a burst of energy to the psi-vamp for an am-bient energy feed? The panicking and the runningaway. Do not panic. Control your emotions, re-main calm, and do not channel you inner Com-

mander Riker from Star Trek and mentally shoutshields up! That's the worst thing you can do.Why? Because if you start thinking along thelines of "I'm going to raise my protective energyso high that they won't be able to get to me," itonly makes you more of an attractive target to apsychic vampire.

Consider that a psi-vamp will be drawn to yourflare of energy just like a magnet. Yes, I knowthis goes against most people's instincts. Do notflare out your aura by raising up your shields.Center yourself. Remain calm. Link in to the ele-ment of earth, and stand your ground. Take adeep, calming breath, and put on your game face.

Step One: Make up an excuse when they wantto give you an embrace. Say that you have acold, you have a sunburn on your back, youpulled a muscle, whatever. Move back quietly,and fold your arms across your chest. Yes, thisis a defensive posture, but it also closes downyour energy chakras across your chest and sol-

ar plexus. Those are huge sources of emotionalenergy, and that's what they (the psychic vam-pires) are after-whether they realize it or notdoesn't matter. Don't let them put their handson you. Say outright "I am not comfortablewith that," and step back. Most psychic vam-pires have to touch you to really drain you, sodon't let them.

Step Two: Purposefully close down your chakras,or at least turn them down like an astral dim-mer switch, and then move back and physicallydistance yourself. Be aware that distance helpsyouand it hinders them. Take into account thatit's easier for psivamps to feed if they are inclose proximity to you. It's even easier forthem if they are touching you. Simply put:avoid casual social contact. You could also putmore distance between the two of you by usingprops. A woman could hold her purse acrossher chest. Or, if you have a shopping bag orbooks in your arms, use those as props to pro-tect your heart and solar plexus chakras.

Step Three: This is a little something I like tocall the "Psi-Vamp Shuffle." If you are in asocial situation with a psychic vampire, thenput some physical distance between the twoof you by making your positions different. Forexample, if they are sitting down, then standup and cross your arms over your chest. Con-versely, you should sit down if they are stand-ing, and cross your ankles or cross your legs atthe knee.

Put a table between the two of you if youare both seated. Place your hands in yourlap, crossing your wrists and keeping yourhands well away from theirs. Cross your feetat the ankles and put your toes on the floorso you stay grounded. Crossing your legs orfeet shuts down or closes your energy cir-cuits so a psi-vamp has a more difficult timetrying to draw energy off of you.

Step Four: Look the offender square in the eyeand give them a slow, confident, and knowing

smile. It confuses them and breaks the link.They don't like to imagine that anybody actu-ally knows what they are up to. Next, send theoffender a mental push in a defensive, not ma-nipulative, way. While you are looking themsquare in the eye, concentrate hard on the im-age of them backing away or visualize that youare separated by thick frosted glass. Once thatimage is built in your mind, push it to them.Those seeking tendrils they send out trying toleech off your energy will smack right into thatcold frosted glass and recoil. Watch and see ifyou notice them shuddering or suddenly com-plaining that it's cold.

Step Five: Use your double-edged sword that wetalked about on page 16. Take a moment andfocus your will internally. Now visualize thatyou are slicing through any inappropriate en-ergy tendrils, tentacles, or psychic cords andlinks with that magickal sword of intention. Ifit helps, imagine that you hear those tendrils hitthe ground with a thud. If you are alone, you

can pantomime the movement if this will bet-ter help you to visualize the removal of thosetendrils.

Step Six: Fight back with vampire tricks theyknow. This is a last resort but very, very effect-ive. Don't get yourself worked upagain, they'llbe more attracted to that swirling emotionaland psychic energy. Instead, focus and center,then put yourself in a businesslike frame ofmind, or just start invoking your inner badasswitchy self. Turn the tables on them by goingfor and touching their inner elbows or wrists,and see how they react when they think youare trying to feed off of them. Sure, it's a littlenastybut hey, it works!

I once got so aggravated and tired of a certainpompous individual's psivamp maneuvers that Idecided to give him a taste of his own medicine,with a little Witchcraft thrown in for flair. So

when I saw him coming at me with his armswide, wanting his hug and with that superiorsmirk on his face, I made direct eye contact andsmiled slowly back at him. I let him hug me, andthen I ran my hand flat down the middle of hisspine with intention and scrambled his chakras onpurpose. He jolted and froze.

Because I wanted this over with once and forall, I then firmly took hold of his long hair withmy fist and let him feel me trying to get a loosepiece of his stringy hair. The last thing you wantis for a pissed-off Witch to have a piece of yourhair, since hair is a direct link back to the indi-vidual. I tell you what-he let go of me like I washot and never tried the inappropriate hug again.

At the end of the day, it all comes down toempowerment. Being aware and empowered canward off psi-vamps. Keeping yourself centeredand grounded to the element of earth can help youto stay focused on the task of protecting your ownpsychic and physical well-being.

Oh, he's a vampire. Of course! But the cuddlykind, like a Care Bear with fangs.

-CORDELIA, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In my travels over the years, I have met all sortsof people-yes, and psychic vampires too. I'll ad-mit that there are some types of self-proclaimedintentional psychic vampires who are so obnox-ious that you start seriously considering whap-ping them upside the head with their own shoes.However, I have also met magickal and restrainedpsychic vampires who were polite, friendly, andsome of the most pleasant people you would everwant to be around.

One gentleman in particular stands out. He ap-proached me while I was on tour last year, andhe briefly and politely shook my hand and toldme how much he enjoyed attending the event and

the class, and we chatted for a few moments.My overall impression of him was that he wasquietly attractive, casually dressed, well spoken,and-best of allhe had the most polite, restrainedenergy of any of the students and fans I had metso far that evening. I tend to be very carefulwith my personal energies while I am on tour,especially for the meet-and-greet section of theevening, because sometimes you do encounter anoverexuberant fan or a slightly disturbed person.It is tough to balance friendly and approachablewith caution and psychic awareness.

Anyway, we chatted for a moment, and I recallthinking to myself how his handshake had not af-fected me at all. As a matter of fact, it was so con-trolled, energy-wise, that I knew this was one hellof a magician. As he turned to leave, a friend ofmine rushed up to the signing table and asked mewith very large eyes and in a stage whisper if Iwas all right.

I grinned at her and answered slowly, as if shehad suffered a breakdown, "Why, yes...I am fine.What's the problem?"

My friend then explained to me that the gen-tleman I had just encountered was a well-knownpsychic vampire from the New York area, and ap-parently he was one of the, dare I say, head vam-pires.

I sat there and chuckled. It's not every day youmeet a "head vampire." Of course, my sense ofhumor is a little "off" anyway. . .but how fascin-ating!

Well, that did explain the very controlled andrestrained energy that I had sensed when weshook hands. Here was a practitioner who knewhis stuff and who kept it in check. I looked up tosee him shaking hands and saying goodbye to myhusband. The gentleman quietly left with a smileand a casual wave. My husband walked up to meand remarked on what a nice guy the man was.

My husband, I should point out, is a verystrong intuitive, so his nonreaction told me a lot.He hadn't even flinched, nor did he feel uncom-fortable. Later that evening, I privately told myhusband about the vampire, and he looked at meand said, "Hmm, well, that's interesting; he wasthe most well-mannered guy there."

So yes, Virginia, there are honorable psychicvampires out there who adhere to a very ethicalcode. In other words, they only feed when theyare invited and from a willing energy donor, andonly with permission.

Not all of them are bad or dangerous; however,some of the intentional, uninvited psi-vamps playat this and get a real vicarious thrill out of stealingenergy and generally being a gothically dramaticpain in the neck. Take a look again at the informa-tion on psi-vamps in this chapter; it will help youweed out the unintentional psi-vamps from theintentional ones. Also, it will help you learn howto protect yourself and your personal power from

an uninvited psi-vamp who is looking to makeyou their next energetic Happy Meal.

Now that you know more about the topic, youcan make your own informed decision. It's up toyou to decide how to handle yourself. Remem-ber that the element of earth helps to make usfeel stronger and more secure. Work with this ele-ment in simple ways to keep yourself groundedand centered at all times.. .even if you have todeal with an uninvited psychic vampire.

Here's How to Get It Back

There are more things in heaven and earth, Hora-tio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

-SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet

There is nothing worse for magick users than tocome to the realization that somehow they gaveaway or let someone take their personal power.Yes, it does happen, even to those of us who havebeen doing this for a few decades. You try to befriendly and kind, you try to be caring, you tryto be sympathetic to others, and all of a suddenyou feel like someone is taking advantage and hastheir own agenda, and that you are being used. Oryou look back and realize that when you arguedwith someone or expressed your fears, you justhanded someone else power-over you.

Maybe it was a colleague who oversteppedtheir bounds and tried to take credit for yourwork, all the while pretending to be your friend.Maybe it was a relative who just sucks you drywith emotional vampirism, or maybe you gotnailed by the local wannabe psi-vamp and yousuddenly clue in as to why you feel so wiped outand drained. Damn it.

What happened to your spark, your drive, yourspunk, and your don'tmess-with-me witchy self?Well, apparently, it is on vacation. The questionis, did you send it on vacation because you wereso stressed out that you kicked into "leave me thehell alone" mode? Have you been sulking and in-dulging in hurt feelings? Or did the power gettaken from you, and it left you standing alonewhile you wondered what in the world was goingon? Well, here's the good news. You have identi-fied the problem and have now realized that youhave a walloping case of the magickal blahs be-cause you gave away, in one form or another,your personal power.

Now that you have made the discovery, youneed to work on grounding and centering your re-maining energies and being stable emotionally. Itis hard work and will take a couple of days be-fore you feel one hundred percent again. Basic-ally, you need to do a little psychic detox, but youcan restore that personal energy. Here's how youget it back and start to feel like yourself again.

Take a few days and remove yourself from theswirl and hectic craziness of life. Begin by do-ing a cleansing; any of the techniques listed inchapter 2's "Elemental Solutions" on pages 40-42will help you. Practice psychic hygiene daily.Work on staying grounded and focusing only ontoday. Don't let worries and stress creep back in.

Clear out the negativity, and start taking careof yourself physically. Take some downtime fora day or two. If you are feeling bombarded byother people's demands and requests, turn off thecell phone and turn on the answering machine. Ifyou have vacation days available, use a couple ofthem and regroup and recoup some of that lostenergy.

If taking a day off of work is not going tohappen, then go to work, but go outside alonefor lunch. Wear your favorite outfit to work andeat your favorite healthy foods. Take a nice longshower, get a massage, or do whatever feels com-forting to you when you get home. Pamper your-

self. Watch your favorite movies, listen to yourfavorite music, and indulge yourself for a day ortwo however you can. This is empowering, and itwill give you the chance to begin to heal.

Next step: you really need to stop beating your-self up about the situation. It happened. Acknow-ledge how it occurred, learn from it, let the hurtgo, stop wringing your hands, and move on. Putone magickal foot in front of the other, and moveforward.

Identify the troublemaker; see them for whatand who they truly are-use your psychic senseshere, and take a good hard look at him or her.Pathetic, yes? Now let it go, because anger won'thelp, but becoming more aware will. Now thatyou perceive the truth, put yourself on guardagainst further trouble. Tap into that psychicawareness that was discussed in the early part ofthe book, and start being more watchful of thepeople and circumstances in your life.

Put on your game face and get to work. Learnto think defensively and to guard your thoughts,ideas, words, and energy. If you don't, someoneelse is always happy to take these things fromyou. Become more aware. Be vigilant, and keepyour eyes and psychic senses open. Here is apsychic detox spell that will come in handy dur-ing this adjustment and recovery phase.

Psychic Detox Spell

Supplies:

• One green votive candle (green is the col-or aligned with the element of earth, and itpromotes relaxation, healing, and peace)

• A votive candle cup

• A small twig of pine (pine is a classic pro-tective plant, and it is also good forstrength)

• An attractive photo of yourself

• Lighter and matches

• Your altar

Timing and Directions: Work this spell in a wan-ing moon phase or on a Saturday (Saturn's day)to help you banish any negativity or psychicgoop you may be carting around. Arrange thecandle in the holder with the sprig of pine onone side and your photo on the other. Groundand center yourself, and then, when you feelready, light the candle. Repeat the spell verse:

Allow the votive to burn until it goes outon its own (it will take about 4-6 hours). Putaway the photo. Keep the sprig of evergreenfor a few days and then, after it fades, returnit neatly to nature.

Finally, ask the God and Goddess for as-sistance as you pull yourself back togetherduring this recovery period. Begin to re-claim your energy with positive actions andstrong, stand-up kinds of Witch statements,such as:

"This person has no more ability to upsetme or to hurt my feelings."

"From this time forward, you no longerhave any negative effects on my life in anyway."

"My personal energies and power are pro-tected. I am safe, strong, and whole."

"I take my power back right now, at thisvery moment in time."

Any of these statements and whateverelse you conjure up in a similar vein (novampire pun intended) will work out beauti-fully.

To protect ourselves most efficiently from psych-ic disturbances, we must be on the ball.

-CAITLIN MATTHEWS

Ah, the psychic shield. It is aligned to the elementof earth, typically envisioned as being emblaz-oned with a pentagram, and is thought to repres-ent all of the magickal and steadfast qualities ofthe earth element. Why, it's the wonder of mod-

ern Witchcraft and the standard of psychic self-defense ... and if it worked all that great, thenbooks like this on protection magick would notbe in such high demand.

No disrespect is intended to authors who havewritten on the shielding topic before. This ma-gickal principle is sound, but it is only one toolof the magickal protection trade. You do have op-tions! What works for one Witch may not workso well for another; it does depend on your ownindividual psychic strengths and weaknesses.

Many Witches and magicians just assume thatif they run into magickal or psychic problems, allthey have to do is to build a psychic shield. There,all fixed. oh, and if only it were that easy...

This mindset always give me the mental imageof a Witch standing and ducking random light-ning bolts from behind a shield with a confusedand somewhat frightened facial expression. See...here's my shield. I'm waving it around at you

bad things out there ... what, you're not intimid-ated? Eeek! The Witch narrowly avoids a blowand scrambles for better footing, continuing tovaliantly, if not foolishly, wave said shield. See?I have a shield, there is even a pentagram onit...you can't get me so long as I duck behindmy magickal shield. . .right? And on the Witchgoes, squealing and cringing as random negativ-ity keeps firing at them, and occasionally nailingthem, because they did not duck behind the shieldfully or fast enough.

So let us take an earthy, practical view of thisprotection topic. Here is something else that Iwould like you to consider. Would a warrior ofold strut into battle with only a shield? Hell, no.They'd go in armed to the teeth: shield, sword,axe, knives, and whatever else they could carry orstrap on their bodies. Do modern-day soldiers orpolice officers walk around with just body armor?Ah, no. They have physical training to rely on,and guns, clubs, tazers, back-up guns, and mace.

Bottom line: they have more than one line of self-defense.

And as a Witch working practical protectionmagick, so should you.

A common mistake that is often made by ma-gickal practitioners is the belief that if theysimply build their protective shields high enough,then nothing bad will get through. Nope. Actu-ally, what happens is that it blocks your view Ifthe shield walls are too high, you can never keepan eye on the surrounding landscape. You be-come blind, and before you know it, the bad guysare climbing over the top of the fortress walls,and your shields have been breached. Unfortu-nately, you were so busy cowering behind yourshield that you couldn't even see them cominguntil they were already inside.

Think about how castles were constructed.There was a drawbridge and possibly a moat.They had arrow slits in those fortress walls and

lookout points, and sentries were always on duty.People didn't just build those high walls and waitblindly inside, did they? No. Do not assume thata psychic or magickal shield will cover your buttin every situation, because honestly, it won't.

As a Witch defending your personal energies,you'd go into an encounter fully loaded. Take thatmagickal sword of intention-it carries informa-tion and the knowledge of how to wield it effect-ively. Yes, take a shield. The magickal defens-ive shield is a fine tool, as is your psychic armor/aura, but just remember that it is not your onlydefense. Recall all of the experience and wisdomthat you have acquired along your path; that isyour magickal combat training. Don't forget yourfavorite protection spells, some positive affirma-tions as were listed before, and your desire to cre-ate an affirmative change in your life. Tap into allof that-use all of the tools available to you-andyou will become impenetrable.

Call to the Element of Earth

Touch the earth, love the earth,honor the earth-her plains, hervalleys, her hills, and her seas;rest your spirit in her solitaryplaces.

-ERNEST DIMNET

To close up this chapter, here is an elemental callthat will help you work successfully with the ele-ment of earth. For best results, do this outdoorswhere you can feel the soil beneath your feet. In apinch it could be done inside, but I suggest takingoff your shoes and visualizing the wood, stone, orsurface that you stand on as a link directly to theground.

Often magickal practitioners who have manyyears of experience forget that there is a lot ofpower to tap into while working with the four nat-ural elements. Don't be one of these individuals.

Respect and honor the earth. An elemental callmay seem deceptively simple, but even so, it isa potent act of magick and personal power. It alldepends on what you are willing to put into it andif you are prepared to trust in this natural elementand let it do its work as your partner in psychicself-defense and protection magick.

Soldiers march and warriors dance.

-KERR CUHULAIN

NEXT ON THE quest for personal knowledge isyour level of physical fitness. Seriously. Are youan active person or are you sedentary? Take a wildguess on which one of those two lifestyles is moreconducive to psychic and magickal protection: theactive one. If you are run down and inactive, thismakes for a weak magickal personality and a dullaura, and there won't be a lot of spark when itcomes time to work your spells. A person who isphysically fit, healthy, and active makes for less ofa possible victim. Think of it this way: it's alwaystougher to hit a moving target.

And here is a bit more information for youto mull over: if you want to be healthy on alllevels-spiritual, physical, and magickal-then youneed to take care of your body in the best wayyou can. Start out with the basics-that anyonecan do. Lay off the junk food and eat more veg-gies, nuts, and fruits. Change your diet to one thatfeatures lean protein, fresh foods, and less sugar.Drink more water. Go outside and soak up somesunshine. Take a walk, and do it regularly. Youshould know by now that your general psych-ic and emotional health is linked to your overallphysical condition.

A Witch who is in good physical shape is, infact, a more powerful Witch. Become more act-ive, and work on living a healthier lifestyle. Youwill be amazed at the difference it makes in yourattitude, your protection magick, and your qual-ity of life. Exercise helps to increase levels of en-dorphins. Those endorphins help to reduce stress.Walking, for example, drains negative energy andleaves you relaxed. It clears your head and your

aura. It also burns calories, raises your heart rate,and tones your muscles. It's good for you. No,I'm not going to go into infomercial mode, but Iam very serious about this. Go-take a walk, rideyour bike, take a nice jog around the park. Get outthere and move!

It's not that some people have willpower andsome don't. It's that some people are ready tochange and others are not.

-JAMES GORDON

Okay, you may be flipping this book over to re-read the back copy and see if somethinghappened and you are reading a workout manualinstead. Nah, it's just me trying to make a point

about how your body, your health, and your ma-gick truly are linked together.

Work with me here-and I mean that. If youwant to remove the victim mentality from yourlife, then you need to take action and fight backon every level. Just like the title of this chapter,physical strength does equal magickal strength.By getting in better shape physically, you willalso gain confidence.

Now, I'm not saying that I expect you all tobe able to run a marathon or ride in the Tour deFrance. What I am saying is that there is no ex-cuse for you not to be able to take a walk, tojog, to ride a bike, or to be an active person. Doyou practice any type of martial arts? Try tai chi,which is all about working with energy to bringthe body into harmony. Each pose or movementis precisely utilized, and it takes control, practice,and stamina to do them. Tai chi is low impact anda great way to bring the body and mind into bal-ance.

What about committing to a weekly dance oraerobics class? If you are a woman looking forsomething enjoyable and challenging to do, trybelly dancing. It's so much fun, it's a hell of aworkout, and it does fantastic things for yourmidsection. All dance is a joyful way to exercise.Dance in all forms is life affirming, and it reallyburns those calories.

For other suggestions, you could lift weightsand do a floor routine and crunches at home. Howabout an exercise DVD...and are you a memberof a community center? Do you have access toan indoor pool or (if weather permits) an outdoorone? Come on, put on your thinking cap...howabout skating, skiing, or exploring a local hikingtrail?

You could take the dog for a mile-long walkevery day. That wouldn't take more than a half-hour at a time, plus it would make your dog veryhappy and healthy. Or you could put your littleones in a stroller and take a nice long walk around

your neighborhood or up to the local park. If youhave exercise equipment at home, don't use it as acoat rack. Get on the treadmill or stationary bikeand use it to make yourself more physically fit,healthier, and stronger. (Yeah, there is that wordagain.)

Why am I harping on that particular word?Well, if you are physically strong, then you areless likely to be hurt by random negativity or in-tentional psychic or magickal harm. We shouldall aspire to be stronger and more fit. And if youdon't feel particularly buff at the moment... well,there is no time like the present to whip yourwitchy butt back into shape.

A few years ago, I had an epiphany. I took agood look in the mirror and realized I wasn't justfull-figured, I was in fact overweight and border-line obese. I had gotten my pictures developedfrom an author event in Idaho and had spent ahalf-hour trying to figure out what the hell waswrong with my camera. Then I finally compre-

hended that it was not the camera. . .1 really wasthat big. Then I realized the truth about a fewthings. Like how on the flight home my backsidebarely fit in an airplane seat, and how the seat-belt on the plane was only just big enough to goaround my belly. Also, a nasty comment aboutmy size that I had received while on that trip wasreally stuck in my mind, and comments like "Usfat girls have to stick together" and "You knowwhat I like about you? You don't care about yourbody shape-you're just funny the way you are."And then there's the dreaded line, "Wow, youhave a pretty face"-which is code for Hey, you'renot bad-looking for a fat chick-became more andmore common. I knew I had to do something.

It was difficult and one of the best things Ihave ever done. I took myself to a hypnotherapistand tackled the weight issue head-on, and I dis-covered a lot about myself in the process. (Emo-tional eater, table for one.) I made a complete life-style change and quit using food as comfort. Ittook about a year and a half to hit my weight-loss

goal, but I lost sixty pounds and have kept it offfor over two years now No crazy TV meal plans,no counting points.. .what I did do was begin toexercise. I also totally changed my lifestyle andmy relationship with food, and I made smarterchoices.

Is it easy? No. Some months are better thanothers, but I am in this for the long haul. Youbetcha there are days when I struggle. About sixmonths into my lifestyle change and twenty-fivepounds lost, I was in Dulles International Airportwaiting for a flight home one day and there wassome teeny-tiny lady sitting next to me, swirlinga jug of chocolate milk and eating a brownie. Ohmy god. I felt like a vampire stuck in a room witha person with a bleeding wound. Then I remindedmyself that I was a sane person who would notresort to violence to get someone else's chocolate.

These days, my newest addiction is shoppingfor workout apparel. This past winter, I founda hot pink T-shirt that says STRONG.

BEAUTIFUL. ME. I fell in love with it-talkabout an empowering messageand I bought it onthe spot. Recently, I wore it while I was out on awalk. To say that the shirt caused a lot of smilesfrom the other people walking in the park or chas-ing their kids around the playground would be anunderstatement. I even got a high-five from somelady walking her dog who called out "LOVE thatshirt!"

It also made me a little philosophical. Strengthtruly is beauty. You know, women especially tendto get wrapped up in whatever the fashion in-dustry says is beautiful. But honestly, that goesfor men too. They have to see all those ads ofguys with six-pack abs and rippling biceps, andI'm sure that's as intimidating for them as it is forus to be confronted by a Victoria's Secret poster.Yikes! There is nothing like seeing a larger-than-life poster of a double zero-sized woman with theta-tas of a breastfeeding mother to make you feelinsecure. It's almost enough to put you off linger-ie.

However, "strong" does not mean massivemuscles. Strength is defined in many ways. Forexample, it can be characterized as a capacity toresist force, and it can also mean that you havethe power to resist attack. See where I am go-ing with this? Just as "beautiful" is not a lowsizednumber on a garment tag, strength and beautyboth have deeper meanings.

With this in mind, perhaps we are better servedby saying that a strong and beautiful person is,in fact, a wise individual who is both healthyand confident. Confidence is the key. If I havelearned anything in the past few years of losingweight and keeping it off, it's that you have to behappy with yourself on the inside if you want tobe happy with the way you look on the outside.

Today, I not only feel better, I am stronger andmuch healthier. I have also noticed a differencein my magick. It's more defined and focused, andthat's the whole point. If I can do it, anybody can.

So think about it, and make a change for the bet-ter.

Starting Your Own Transformation

Failure will never overtake me if my determina-tion to succeed is strong enough.

OG MANDINO

Why not turn your personal and magickal en-ergies internally and concentrate on becoming ahealthier and stronger individual? You can do it.Make your heart stronger, tone up those legs andarms, and work on endurance. Walk a mile-ata brisk pace, it should take you around twentyminutes. Try to jog a little. Hit the local high-school track and see if you can jog half a lap, thenwalk a lap. Then, if you are able, try jogging an-other half a lap. If you can jog an entire lap, that's

one quarter of a mile. Work your way up slowlyand take your time over the next few months. Canyou lift weights? I commandeered my son's oldweight set. The barbell is sitting in my office soI see it every day and remember to lift weights.It's made a big difference in toning up my arms,chest, and back. just find something physical thatyou can do, that you personally will benefit from.

For other options, you could take a martial artsclass. That would definitely put you in a warrior-type of mind frame. One of my covenmates doestae kwon do. She has her green belt, and wow,you should see her do a kick.. .scary but impress-ive. Since she started martial arts, she even car-ries herself differently.

Don't forget about gardening. The GardenWitch part of me is jumping up and down andwaving her arms like crazy. Do not underestimatewhat serious gardening can do to improve yourlevel of physical fitness. It's a great workout.Crawling around on your hands and knees and

taking care of your plants in the garden is goodexercise. I bet you don't even realize how muchwork it is to regularly care for garden plants, tohaul bags of soil and mulch around, not to men-tion the digging and lifting. A couple of hours outin the garden a few times a week is a great way tobe active, build strength, and improve your over-all health. Plus, all that fresh air and sunshine isgood for you.

No Matter What

Only those who will risk going too far can pos-sibly find out how far they can go.

-T. S. ELIOT

So you started your new regimen of fitness andare proudly working away. The trick is to stay in

this for the long haul. Yes, the tough part is stay-ing motivated and sticking with it. Don't slack offafter two weeks. Set long-term goals and discoverways to stay motivated. Find something positivethat keeps you on track. Do you know what keepsme staying in shape? My kids.

They are so proud of me and have been soencouraging, both while I was losing the weightand maintaining the weight loss, that it has urgedme to keep going. Now, my twenty-three-year-old son sees me working hard at the track. Ashe finishes up his five-mile run, he comes overand says, "Hey Mom, you're keeping your pacenice and steady. You look smoother when you jognow. Good job." That is so cool!

Now, should you have a physical impairmentor limited mobility, I have some suggestions foryou. While working on this manuscript, I strainedboth of my knees and was restricted to walkingon flat surfaces for a couple of months-no morehills, hiking, jogging, or belly dancing for a

while. And I will admit that I was moping andgriping about the restriction. But I decided to bitethe bullet and do as the trainer recommended,which was to do the physical therapy and to workon strengthening the muscles around my knees toavoid ever injuring them like that again.

While I was out there, walking my boring flatlaps around the loop at the local park and feelinggrumpy and bummed out at the restrictions, a guybuzzed past me in a wheelchair, and I mean hewas moving. Along for company were two bigdogs, a black Labrador and a golden retriever,and their leashes were attached to his wheelchairand they were happily running alongside theirowner. If dogs could grin, they were. At first Ithought they were pulling him, and then I realizedthat the man was wheeling his chair around thatloop and the dogs were running to keep up withhim. You should have seen the arms on that guy.To say they were working out was an understate-ment. They lapped me twice; I had to grin as theyblew past me.

Bottom line: if you are determined to exercise,be more active, and become healthier and morephysically powerful, you will always find a way,no matter what your physical impairments. Evenwith an injury, there is still a way to exercise-it just depends on how much you want to finda way to be active. I have a friend in Californiawho teaches belly dance. About half of her stu-dents have some type of physical limitation, andSolstice just works around that with style. If youwant this physical transformation to occur andyou are willing to put the effort into it, you willfind a way

Remember, we are discussing all of this for avery important reason. To be strong and fit meansthat your magickal and psychic levels of fitnessare just as well developed as your body. Whilewe are spending all of this time working on yourspiritual strength and health, it would be remissof us to ignore the physical part of your life aswell.

By working with your body instead of cursingits limitations, you begin to honor what you canaccomplish. So decide what you can do to im-prove your health, fitness, and strength-on alllevels, for they do support each other and are alllinked together: body, mind, and spirit. Our bod-ies are our temples. We really need to treat themas such and do the maintenance to keep our spir-itual and physical bodies in good repair and run-ning in top condition.

The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from withinstrength, courage,and dignity.

-RUBY DEE

Here is some encouraging and empowering news.When you feel better about your physical appear-ance and are actively working on getting your-

self in a better, stronger, and healthier lifestyle,you will carry yourself differently. And as we'veexplored in other chapters, a person who is per-ceived as strong is less likely to have their bound-aries breached, be attacked psychically, or fallvictim to those sneaky psychic energydrainingtactics. Why is that? Well, if you look like a toughnut to crack, it typically makes the energy leechesavoid you-because you are just too damn muchwork.

Have you ever truly considered what yourlevel of physical fitness, general health, andphysical appearance tells others when they seeor meet you for the first time? Honestly, it tellsthem a lot. It also conveys to other magick usersquite a bit about yourself. Whether you realizedit or not is inconsequential; it is the truth. A tal-ented psychic, Witch, or empath can sum you upin seconds-both on a psychic level and a magick-al level-by your appearance, your overall health,and your body language.

So this means that it is time to open up yourawareness to yet another deeper level. Peoplewho are active have stronger and more confidentbody language. It's very true; by becoming morephysically fit, you do become more aware ofwhat your body is capable of, and this is ex-pressed in many ways to others around you.

Are you confident with the overall picture thatyou present to others? That being said, you maywant to stop and consider what message youroverall physical appearance and body languagedoes communicate to other people-because it alsolets folks know what you think about yourself Doyou shuffle around with your shoulders slumpedand your head down? There is nothing sadderthan people who have let themselves go becausethey just stopped caring or trying. Maybe it's adefensive thing, maybe it's an anger issue, but it'stime to take a hard look at yourself and decide.

Do you self-consciously keep your armscrossed over your middle to hide your tummy?

Or do you walk about confidently, with your headup, shoulders back, and with your posture strongand correct? No matter what your budget, youcan present yourself well, with attractive and flat-tering clothes. Add to that a smile, being awareof your surroundings, and direct eye contact, andyou have the very picture of a confident andpoised individual. Put some effort into it. You areworth it.

What does your own personal body languagereally say about you? If you don't think that theway you hold and present yourself every day mat-ters on a magickal level, you could not be moremistaken. When I walk in to teach a public classor do an author event, I am standing up straight(or sitting up straight, as the case may be). Iam smiling confidently and looking around withawareness. Do I do that because I think I am sofabulous?

Ah, no.

I do this because if a person presents them-selves as a confident, happy, and outgoing per-son, then other people will be drawn to you. Also,while you are speaking they are more likely toactually pay attention to what you have to saybecause of the way you are presenting yourself.This does not just go for authors or public speak-ers, this goes for everybody.

For example, if you go slinking into to workwith your head down and have a meeting withyour boss, how does your posture and attitude af-fect those around you? You will seem defensiveand perceived as if you do not care, which makeseveryone else defensive, uncomfortable, orangry. If, on the other hand, you put yourshoulders back, smile, and walk confidently intothat meeting, you appear to be on your game(even if you are nervous), and people will pay at-tention to you in a more positive fashion.

More importantly, you should be aware thatpositive body language creates a silent "ripple ef-

fect," and the other people in the room will re-spond to how you are holding yourself. To makethemselves more comfortable, typically peoplewill mirror your movements and your attitude, al-lowing you to take control of the situation in apositive way, and all without saying a word.

Becoming more aware of and understandingbody language are useful tools for all magickusers. I find it very interesting that empaths natur-ally seem to be more in tune with decoding bodylanguage and are aware instinctively to what an-other person's posture and facial expressions trulymean. This happens because an empath is alwaysexamining other people once they experience thatperson's emotions. Empaths want to see if theirpsychic clues are backed up by the posture, facialexpression, and body language of this person, andthe majority of the time they are spot-on.

Did you know that person-to-person commu-nication is thought to be over 8o percent non-verbal? It's a little sobering when you realize that

only a fraction of what you actually say makes animpression on the listener. People tend to makeup their minds about a new person within a mo-ment or two. What we discover about a person isexpressed to us by their appearance, mannerisms,attitude, and how they hold themselves.

This is how we all interpret body language.It only takes seconds to sum another person up.And yes, other people do this to you as often asyou do it to others. Now that you realize this,imagine what implications this can have on yourprotection magick, for a person's own body lan-guage is powerful. Learning to communicatewhat you want and expect from others in this waycan be an invaluable tool in both psychic protec-tion and protection magick.

Body-Awareness Exercise

I was always looking outside myself for strengthand confidence, but it comes from within. It isthere all the time.

-ANNA FREUD

When a magick user stands up straight, smileswith confidence, puts their shoulders back, andcenters themselves, their aura flares out allaround them. This strong posture is both a life-affirming and positive action. The more you dothis movement with awareness and intention, themore positive energy gets radiated out into yoursurroundings. Try it for yourself, and see how itmakes you feel.

This all ties into the element of fire. Look at theway it is described: their aura flares out and pos-itive energy radiates out. You can literally lightup a room when you are aware of your body lan-guage and use it to your magickal advantage ina positive way. Go ahead-invoke the element offire. Use this knowledge of body language and

body awareness to your advantage, and let yourlight shine!

Try this charm to go along with your body-awareness exercise. As you are standing upstraight and true, feel your aura flare out aroundyou. Now repeat the charm:

Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimesalso a matter of opportunity.

-HIPPOCRATES

As I finished up this manuscript, the gods decidedto throw me a curveball, and I came down witha bug. Between travel, stress, work, the holidays,and the seasons changing, I managed to comedown with a nasty sinus infection. It took me outfor about two weeks. As I had not been sick fora long time, I was really miffed at the situation.I could not be sick ...I did not have time to besick... however, the reality was that I was sick.

As I drove to the doctor's office for an ap-pointment, I reminded myself that Witches workwith the situations that life throws at them. SoI listened to the doctor lecture me about waitingtoo long to come in and to be sure that this timeI gave myself plenty of time to rest and recuper-ate before I dove back into my typical full-throttleschedule. So, feeling miserable, I did as I wastold. I gave myself some time off-honestly, I wastoo sick for anything else-rested, and began to re-cover.

When I woke up at sunrise on the morningof the winter solstice, I heard my inner voicetell me to go look at the fire chapter againthat itwasn't finished, as I had thought. So I staggeredout of bed, pulled open the living-room curtainsthat face east, snuggled on the couch, and silentlywatched the sky brighten. While I sat there enjoy-ing the start of the shortest day, I re-read my draftand started to realize that there was much more tothe topic of fire and protection magick than justbeing more athletic or physically fit.

It was during this downtime that I had to won-der. . .what about working magick when you areill? What about self-healing work? Especiallywith all the research on protection, self-healingseemed to make a certain kind of sense.

For me personally, the topic of magickal heal-ing complements the element of fire. Our bodiesare electric. Our brain sends electric impulsesto our muscles, nerves, and so forth constantly.Also, at its essence, all healing or physical fitness

magick is basic energy work. This is as simple asyou are going to get: you put in the effort-such asthe work and the energy to be active-to becomemore physically fit, to be healthier, or to heal, andyou get results that can be very transformative.Magickal energy always seeks to transform, andfire is the element of transformation.

There is a link between our physical health andour spiritual health. We are spiritual beings, butwe are in a physical body. We can tell our bodieswhat to do. As one of my friends likes to remindme, "Yes, the whole mind-body-spirit thing is abit cliched... however, it is still true." The reasonit is so important to be in a good physical condi-tion is that it makes you aware of your body on aspiritual level. This helps to bring your physicalsystem in balance with your energetic system.

Your energetic system is what you tap into towork self-healing and to help put yourself backon a more balanced plane so you can continueto work any type of magick. Illness is often de-

scribed as the imbalance of a person's spirit, soI had to ask myself, while I was down for a fewweeks, was I out of balance? The answer was aresounding yes.

Being a Virgo, I made a list of what had beenoccurring in my life over the past few months.Well, look at that.. . too much travel, too muchstress, a full work and social schedule, plus noteating as healthily as I could or being able to stickwith my typical workout routine because of myautumn book promotion schedule (which was aschedule that I had set up myself). It had thrownme off, and I was rundown. I was indeed out ofa healthy balance, and I was a prime target for avirus or a cold. So the universe handed me a caseof sinusitis and I got to learn a lesson about hon-oring my body and its limitations, plus a big re-minder to put myself and my health first.

With all of the focus in this book on protectionmagick, I think this chapter's segue into self-heal-ing is a natural one, and not just for fight ing off

the occasional virus or cold. When we feel thatwe are under magickal attack or under the influ-ence of psychic manipulation, it can weaken ourimmune system, making us more likely to be-come ill.

So if this happens to you, or you just forgot totake care of yourself and then find that you havecaught a bug, here is some spellwork designed tohelp you to heal. Life happens. If you are underthe weather, combine the practical and the ma-gickal, and work on yourself for a healing. I amsure in no time you will be back in fighting form.

Remember: having a healthy physical bodymeans that you have a strong energetic and spir-itual body as well. Being strong makes us moreable to defend our physical and spiritual selvesfrom any kind of attack, be it viral, psychic, ormagickal.

The natural healing force within each one of us isthe greatest force in getting well.

-HIPPOCRATES

The question of whether or not you can work ma-gick on yourself while you are sick is a good one.It makes you wonder what will happen to yourmagick. Will it go all wonky and weird? Is thateven possible? Does your magick actually work?Yes, self-healing magick does work, because youare casting upon yourself. You are taking chargeof your body and its illness and telling your sys-tem exactly what you expect it to do. Don't just sitthere and say, "Oh, I feel terrible." That's a pess-imistic statement that produces an unhappy reac-tion and a negative reality; besides, it won't getyou anywhere.

Instead, say something positive and out loudlike "I am programming my system to fight offthis cold, flu, or infection in the best way pos-sible. I am healing."

When you are ill, you do need to combine thepractical with the magickal. The practical aspectsof seeking medical advice and combining a doc-tor's care with magick only reinforce each other.They do not contradict each other, for you willneed these components to work in combinationtogether if you expect self-healing results. This issomething that is called acting in accord. Thinkof this action as an extra tool to deal with illness,as you are now treating yourself both physicallyand spiritually.

Here is something for you to consider: healingmagick is more focused and stronger when youperform it on yourself. This is why you can easilytell your immune system what you want it todo. Imagine those antibodies inside yourself; nowprogram those little guys to attack germs or that

cold, flu, or infection with a big dose of positive,life-affirming, fiery, warrior-type energy. Ma-gickally program those antibodies to do theirjobs-to find the invaders and take them out.

If you like, do what I suggested in my bookElements of Witchcraft and add to this processby enchanting your medicine to be more effect-ive. By combining these magicks, you can reallyboost the healing process, which helps to pullyour body back into alignment so the self-healingcan proceed with a minimum of fuss, complica-tions, or obstacles. Here is an updated version ofthe healing spell from that book. Oh-and yes, itwas indeed in the fire chapter!

Self-Healing Spell

Supplies:

• A red candle (for the element of fire andfor health and energy)

• A coordinating candle holder

• Your prescriptions or your cold medicine

• One glass of your favorite fruit juice

• A safe, flat surface on which to set up thespell, or your working altar

• A lighter or matches

Timing and Directions:

To tap into the element of fire, considerworking this spell on a sunny day or at sun-rise or sunset. These are times of the daywhen the sun and all of its fiery energyseems to be the most dramatic. Take a fewmoments to visualize your body's own nat-ural defenses, those antibodies we talkedabout before. Now tell them exactly whatyou want them to do. Send them out like sol-diers to attack the illness, infection, or virusthat is in your body.

Now pause and pay tribute your body.Tell yourself that you are in a healing pro-cess and that you will honor your body bytaking care of it as best you can. Light thered spell candle and repeat the spell:

Place your hands on the juice glass and the medi-cine. Then say:

Drink the juice. Set the empty glass back on youraltar and say:

Let the spell candle burn until it goes outon its own. Clean up your altar and put awayyour supplies. If you prefer, you could workthis spell every day until you fully recover.

Please note: This spell could be easilyadapted to a magickal or psychic healing.Just rework the fifth and sixth lines to saysomething like this:

Then drink the juice and complete thespell as directed above. Blessed be.

Keeping your body healthy is an expression ofgratitude to the whole cosmosthe trees, theclouds, everything.

-THIGH NHAT HANH

Self-healing magick is truly very effective. Sinceyou are the one experiencing the symptoms andthe illness, no one can focus on the healing pro-cess better than you yourself can. Use your ma-gick to transform this negative situation into apositive outcome: a healing. It does not matterif you are healing yourself after exposure to apsychic vampire, manipulative magick, or thecommon cold. Your self-healing magick willwork if you believe in yourself and all of the pos-sibilities of a positive transformation.

Become stronger, healthier, more physicallyactive and physically fit. Call upon the element offire to fill you up with confidence and determina-tion, and make a healthy and magickal change toyour quality of life!

Call to the Element of Fire

The inner fire is the most important thing man-kind possesses.

-EDITH SODERGRAN

To close up this chapter, here is an elemental callthat will help you work successfully with the ele-ment of fire. This call may be worked indoorsor out. If you can do this while standing by anoutdoor fire pit or chiminea, or standing under abright, sunny sky, so much the better.

If you have an indoor fireplace or woodstove,then work this while standing in front of the burn-ing logs in the hearth. If not, then turn off all thelights in your room and light several red candlesand group them together on your work area. Feelthe heat that comes off of the flames. Notice

the light that is radiated out, and watch as theirflames dance.

While all of these elemental calls in the pastthree chapters have been straightforward, they arepotent magick that test your personal power andcontrol. As I have stated several times, it trulydoes depend on how much of yourself you arewilling to put into these elemental calls.

Can you truly say that you are prepared to trustin this natural element of fire? Only you can de-cide if you will allow fire's radiant and trans-formative energy to illuminate your life and doits work as your magickal partner in becominghealthier, stronger, and more fit on both thepsychic and the physical levels.

'Tis the witching hour of night...

-JOHN KEATS

PROTECTION SPELLS ARE typically designedto avert negativity, to defend the home, and to fendoff any magickal danger to your person and prop-erty. This type of magick is classically referred toas warding, and it is a powerful line of defense inyour arsenal of witchery.

Wards can be classified as permanent or semi-permanent. Interestingly, they do actually protecta space on both an energetic level and a psychiclevel. They can manifest as a physical sensationor as more of an intuitive one. Warding magickcreates an atmosphere of sorts that will augmentother mundane protection methods for your homeor business, such as an affordable security system,locking your doors, using outdoor or securitylighting, plus being smart and safe with your per-

son and possessions. Working practical magickwith warding will also help you to stay aware ofsituations and people so your personal safety isenhanced. However, neither magickal wards norprotection spells are designed to replace commonsense or your own intelligence.

To be clear: warding magick will not makeyou burglar-proof, but it may confuse would-bethieves or miscreants and make them so nervousthat they decide to avoid your home or business.Yes, sometimes danger may manifest in veryphysical or mundane ways. Working this type ofprotection magick on a regular basis and possess-ing a healthy dose of common sense really im-proves the odds that you will avoid such scenari-os.

Herbal Swags, Wreaths, and Decorated Brooms

Ward (verb): 1. to keep watch over: guard. 2. toturn aside (something threatening): deflect.

-MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY

If I have learned anything over the past few years,it's that just because a magickal application ap-pears to be simple, you should never underestim-ate it. For example, the most mundane-lookingitems can be charged to pack a hell of a magickalwallop. Sure, I have seen complicated spells andexpensive items for sale at stores, all designed toprotect the home or business and to ward yourthreshold. And guess what? I have never foundany of them to be particularly useful or powerful.

Would you like to know why? When you takethe time to create something yourself and chargeit with your own magickal essence, you are creat-ing something that is one of a kind and intenselypersonaland thereby much more powerful.

If you lovingly arrange and place above (orhang on) your door a handmade floral swag, sea-sonal wreath, or decorated broom that you havecreated with magickal herbs, you've got a muchmore powerful magickal item than somethingyou picked up ready-made in a store, becauseyour time, energy, and care has gone into the cre-ation, enchantment, and placement of the object.

For example, a broomstick that has been dec-orated and placed in a position of prominence ina Witch's home is traditionally used to denote aplace of transition-a threshold. Typically, the dec-orated broom is displayed next to the fireplacehearth or hung upon the door. Go ahead, live onthe edge and get crafty. Make something beauti-ful with your own two hands for your bewitchinghome. The sky is the limit!

Perhaps you'd prefer to hang the swag, broom,or wreath on a different doorway. Well, go ahead!The front door is not your only option. Maybeyou'd like to ward your bedroom, study, office,

or magick room. An artist friend of mine madea wreath for the door to her studio. The base ofthe wreath is grapevine, and she arranged specificdried magickal herbs, old paintbrushes, and somegorgeous ribbons on it.

It's attractive, charming, and very much whatyou would expect to see hanging on an artist'sstudio door. To take it a step further, she then en-chanted the wreath for creativity and for protec-tion from stress and distraction. How clever wasthat?

You can easily adapt a spell and make it yourown. For example, if you made a decoratedbroom, swag, or wreath for the room where youdo your spells and studying, to define the areaas your magickal sanctuary, you could do a littlesomething like this...

Wreath, Swag, or Broom Spell for Warding

Gather your supplies and decorate the wreath,swag, or broom to your taste. Once you are donewith your final touches, hold both hands abovethe item and imbue it with your own personalpower. Visualize what you want the item to do-inthis case, to ward the home and add a bit of cheerto the doorway it is hung upon or above.

Now take a deep breath and let it out slowly.Then repeat the following warding spell:

Now hang up the item and enjoy. (If you live inan apartment or this is your place of business, andyou worry that the wreath will be tampered with,then I suggest using a metal wreath hanger anddisplaying the item on the inside of your door.)

Also, if you like, you can rework the spellquarterly. I would suggest doing so on days of thespring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equi-nox, and winter solstice. That way, you are tap-ping into the power of the sabbats and the naturalmagick of the seasons, which will give this typeof magick a powerful enhancement. To re-em-power the item, place your hands upon it and re-peat this simple charm:

Another idea is to enchant your seasonal dec-orations that you already own. I have a wreath foreach of the seasons. (What can I say? I used to bea floral designer, I can't help myself...) So thereis a spring wreath on a grapevine base with driedherbs, silk lilacs, daffodils, and a wee faerie peek-ing out of the flowers. I also designed a summer-theme straw wreath with dried yarrow and laven-der from my gardens and silk sunflowers, butter-

flies that look real but are not, and satin green rib-bons to celebrate the season of growth.

I have a huge autumn grapevine wreath withpreserved oak leaves, herbs, acorns, and colorfulsilk flowers and fall foliage. For the winter holi-days, I have a pine wreath with dried pinecones,silk holly, mistletoe, and ivy; papier-machesparkling stars and a rustic handmade elflookingSanta complete the winter solstice wreath.

Oh, and yes-you can use silk flowers on yourwarding wreaths, swags, or brooms to decoratethem further. As these items are artificial, theyhave no true magickal qualities-you will have torely on your magickal intention, the herbs thatyou add, and the color of the ribbons. However,the silk flowers are lovely and they last for years,allowing you to be thrifty, as that seasonal wreathmay be reused year after year.

Each of my seasonal wreaths is enchanted toenforce a bit of cheerful warding magick right

at our front door. What I find interesting is thatpeople are unable to resist touching them whenthey are freshly enchanted. It's like I often say:"Magick is where you find it, and creativity is thekey."

When we survey the world of art, we find that thegeometrical designs used in hex signsstars with-in circles, and various patterns of stars-have beenpractically universal from ancient Sumeria to thepresent.

-DON YODER & THOMAS E. GRAVES, HexSigns

Perhaps you break a sweat at the thought of a gluegun, floral wire, or floral arranging. That's okay;you do have other options. You can easily hangup a horseshoe on the inside of your front doorfor good luck and protection.

The horseshoe shape was sacred in ancienttimes. It has a similar shape to the Greek letteromega (Q). The horseshoe was traditionally hungabove the main doorway to the home for luck andto protect the threshold. In some magickal cus-toms, the horseshoe is to be displayed ends-up,to hold all of its luck so it will never run out,while others say it should be open ends-down inthe omega shape so all the good luck flows forthand pours over the threshold. Whichever way youchoose to hang your horseshoe, it is up to you;just display the horseshoe with intention and un-derstand the elemental properties that make upthe object. For example, the horseshoe is made ofiron, and the metal iron has interesting magickalqualities.

Iron has the planetary associations of Mars. Italso claims the elemental correspondence of fire.This metal is repellent to the Fae; having a pieceof iron on your person or touching your skin wassupposed to protect a person from being faery-

led, which is a charming way of saying "confusedby the magick of the Fae."

Today in modern magickal use, this metalwards off negativity and evil of all kinds. It isbelieved that malicious spirits cannot bear thetouch of iron or being too close to it. This makesfor very potent warding magick, which explainswhy, in the old days, folks hung those iron horse-shoes right above their doorways. If somethingmalevolent tried to pass through the doorway andover their threshold, the iron would repel it.

I personally love to incorporate the old tradi-tional bits of folklore into modern practical ma-gick. I also have a real affection for Americanfolk magick, such as hex signs. The hex sign isa Pennsylvania Dutch type of art and craft with acolorful and controversial history. Some authorsclaim that there are absolutely no associations toWitchcraft in the hex signs-that it was just a bit offun poked at tourists and gullible reporters duringthe 1930s, and then the rumor caught on-while

other historians and authors point out that per-haps these folks are protesting just a bit too much.After all, Hexe is the German word for Witch.

No matter what you personally believe, thetype of art found in the hex sign is bright, col-orful, and full of fascinating and magickal sym-bols. There are some hex-sign designs that are in-triguingly called "the Wheel of Fortune." Classichex-sign designs also feature stars in many vari-eties, from the five-pointed to the eight- and ten-pointed types. There are many amazing geomet-ric combinations when it comes to the art of thehex sign. You will discover plenty of enchantingdesigns that feature raindrops, crescent moons,horseshoes, six-petaled open flowers (which arecalled rosettes), and, of course, tulips, birds, andhearts.

If you'd like to incorporate a bit of Americanfolk magick into the warding of your house, thenconsider displaying a hex sign on the outside ofyour home. I personally have two hex signs on

the outside of my house: one large one that wedesigned and made ourselves and a smaller, pur-chased one on my front porch. (This smaller onekeeps the main entrance to the home warded in afriendly way.) I even have a small, colorful hexsign hanging inside my kitchen. This final hexsign encourages prosperity.

If you like this idea, there is more informationon hex signs and their magickal colors and sym-bols in my book Cottage Witchery on pages i6-i8.If you already own a hex sign or are about to pur-chase or create one for yourself, I suggest thatyou consecrate and bless it before you display it.Here is a practical protection spell for doing justthat.

Blessing a Hex Sign for Protection

Directions: Hold the chosen hex sign in bothof your hands. Visualize what specific taskyou want the sign to do, be it protection,

luck, love, prosperity, or any combinationthereof. Now take your first finger, trace anupright pentagram over the hex sign, and re-peat the following charm:

To seal up the magick and bind it to thehex sign, with your finger draw around theoutside of the sign in a clockwise circle.Say these lines:

Now, go hang up your consecrated andblessed hex sign in your chosen place.Blessed be.

So far, I have given you lots of ideas and sug-gestions for creating or revamping witchy itemsfor warding and protecting your thresholds, fromwreaths to swags to horseshoes to hex signs.

So what new ideas are coming to mind? Howdo you feel you can best adapt these magickalideas in a way that will complement your ownpersonal taste and magickal style? Go on, get en-thusiastic, and be crafty. There are all sorts ofunique and protective magickal items that youcan create. Hang these above or on your door toward your threshold and to add some magickalprotection to your abode. You will see a big dif-ference immediately.

Gargoyles are often the guardians of dimensionaldoorways into worlds beyond the physical.

-D. J. CONWAY, Magickal, Mystical Creatures

We have been using gargoyles for protectivemeasures on churches and other holy buildingsfor centuries. This type of decoration came intovogue in the Middle Ages and was intensely pop-ular during the age of cathedral building.Churches such as the famous gothic StrasbourgCathedral in northeastern France and Notre Damein Paris are covered in both classical gargoyles,statuary and grotesques. If you look carefully,you will also see gargoyles featured in the archi-tecture of classic buildings all over the UnitedStates. Open your eyes, stretch out your aware-ness, and see how many you can discover.

Technically, gargoyles are defined only as ar-chitectural rainspouts for buildings, while a grot-esque is used for decorative purposes and hadno other function beside an ornamental one.However, today we use the word gargoyle to de-scribe both the rainspout type of gargoyle anda grotesque. Once upon a time, these gargoyles

and grotesques were thought to be so hideous thatthey would prevent any evil from entering thesanctuary, but as time went on, they were thoughtof more as stone guardians instead of scare tac-tics.

For magickal applications, a gargoyle is con-sidered to be a protective type of spirit. They of-fer defense and are a sort of magickal guardianthat is preserved in stone. According to folklore,if gargoyles are confronted with evil, they willturn to flesh and break away to do battle on theastral plane. If your gargoyle has wings, then it isfree to fly about and guard the property from theair. Gargoyle statues make for an ideal residen-tial warden. Put them to work, and let them guardyour home.

It is traditional for a gargoyle to be placed bythe front door of your residence. It is also sugges-ted that you place the gargoyle in any place youthink may be vulnerable. This can be on the out-side of the houseright on the front porch if you

wish, or by the back door; it's up to you. Use yourpsychic awareness and sense where you feel yourhome may be at risk.

If you live in an apartment, you can hang a gar-goyle over the inside front door or position it ina place of honor in the entryway. A coven sisterof mine has a large resin gargoyle displayed rightabove her inside front door. He is a very fiercewinged specimen with what appears to be a chainaround his neck, flared wings, and a protrudingtongue. She uses that gargoyle to ward her home.When you walk into her apartment, you can feelthe magickal wards close quietly behind you. It'svery comforting and welcoming. You automatic-ally look behind you, and when you see the gar-goyle over the door, you simply have to smile. Hehas such a presence that you want to greet him.

If you would like to empower your own gar-goyle for protection, here is a spell that willneatly do the trick.

Gargoyle Warding Spell

Timing and Directions: I would work thisspell at sunset on a Saturday; that way, youpull into the spell the astrological influenceof protective Saturn, plus the incredible co-ordination of the energies of the end of theday, the end of the week, and the finalityof the sunset. If you work this spell in thewaxing moon, work to increase protection.If you work the spell during a waning moon,then use those energies to push awaytroubles or to minimize problems or in-truders.

Place your dominant hand upon the gar-goyle. Center yourself, and the repeat thespell verse three times:

To bind the spell and close up the magick,repeat these concluding lines:

Now place the gargoyle in the chosen spotand, if you like, give your gargoyle a secret,imposing name known only to the two ofyou. Should you ever need to call him out,he will respond.

Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either awild beast or a god.

-ARISTOTLE

When gargoyles are on the job as wardens of yourhome, they will help drain negativity and detertoxic individuals who try to worm their way intoyour life. Ferocious gargoyles do not suffer fools.And while they are able to absorb negativity, theywill also keep folks on their toes.

If you are wondering where to find a gargoylefor your own abode, I suggest trying a localgarden center or perusing a few New Age, out-door living, and gardening types of catalogs.Also, I have noticed gargoyles popping up forsale at various Pagan festivals by some cleverartists and merchants. They come in all varieties-from cheerful and humorous to gothic and impos-ing to frightening and grotesque. It's up to youto decide what style gargoyle would be the mostcomplementary for your purposes.

As for the stone gargoyle just outside the frontof my own house, he looks like a combinationof a winged lion and a pit bull. He is a gorgeousbeast and is the official guardian of our home.He sits in a prominent place in the gardens, sur-rounded by purple pansies in spring, orange con-eflowers in summer, and golden chrysanthemumsin autumn. He does appear to snarl at any pass-ersby. Oh-and if you wondered... the flowers donot soften his tough-guy persona at all.

I have actually seen people flinch from thatgargoyle-typically disapproving relatives andthose unfortunate folks who foolishly come to thedoor to proselytize. I can honestly say they nevercome back for another try, which always amusesthose of us who live here and earns him a pat onthe head from me. I think my gargoyle is ador-able, but I would never say so in front of him.

The gargoyle is a classic symbol of protectionand guardianship, and is one of the many symbolsavailable to easily incorporate into your own

style of warding magick. Now, we will study adifferent type of magickal symbology. This nextsection may surprise you a bit, but it is a systemof magick that I have worked practical magickwith for years. To begin, let's look at how sym-bolism is defined and how it applies to us today.

Symbols work in the most amazing way. They arelike codes to speak directly with the divine mind.

-CHRISTOPHER PENCZAK

Symbolism is defined as the use of symbols torepresent things such as ideas or emotions. Sym-bolism presents a creative learning experiencethat can be as complicated as the learning of anylanguage. The practice of symbolism is central toall religions. We Witches, Pagans, and other ma-gick users often attach favored symbols to our

magickal intent according to the situation andspecific need. We do this instinctively, as thosesymbols give our minds something to work with.In a real way, they grant us stepping stonesbetween our wishes and dreams and the physicalmanifestation of our magick.

There are many classic symbols associatedwith the Craft and with protection magick in par-ticular. There is the traditional pentacle, theEgyptian ankh, and the Eye of Horus. SomePagans may prefer the triskele or Celtic tripleknot or even the Norse Thor's hammer. The im-portant thing is to work with a symbol or symbolsthat personally resonate with you.

There are hundreds to choose from, so seewhich symbol best speaks to you and your ma-gickal intentions for protection. Some symbolsseem to tap into the archetypal imagery that isheld deep within the mind. Truthfully, a symbolcan have myriad interpretations, and one person'srepresentation for one thing can symbolize

something entirely different to someone else.Symbols don't have to have a "rational" meaning,and they don't have to always look like what theyare magickally representing either.

The trick is to think of symbols as keys-keys tothe higher self, to a higher state of consciousness,and to a deeper connection to the Divine. It is theform of the symbol that will create a key in yourmind for the purpose and intent of what you aretrying to accomplish.

This is like taking a key and unlocking a door.Your chosen symbol will unlock a certain aspectof whatever you are trying to do. By teachingyourself to focus your mind in the right way, or tosee the symbol again and "click," you move to adifferent level of awareness.

What makes it interesting is that over time, therepeated use of a symbol can build up power.Think of it like charging the batteries in your cellphone; the power is on hand and ready to use

whenever you need it. So use your chosen sym-bols as keys to trigger your mind for a specificpurpose-in this case, to invoke protection.

Curiosity is the key to creativity.

-AKIO MORITA

Here is a really simple idea for incorporating thepentacles from The Key of Solomon into yourown protection magick. Yes, I said simple. Thisis a book on practical protection magick, and Iam a very practical woman. Now, it is true thatthe pentacles from The Key of Solomon are of-ten incorporated into very involved kabbalistictypes of rituals. However, I personally have beenprinting out the various pentacles for years ontocolored paper or reproducing them in colored inkon parchment. Then (brace yourselves), I use aglue stick to adhere the pentacles, or seals, onto

plain white seven-day jar candles to add someboost to my magick.

I have also been known to print out thesepentacles on colored scrapbook paper, cut themout, and then run those seals through my scrap-booking repositionable sticker-making machine.That way, I can peel and stick those magickalpentacles from The Key of Solomon wherever Iwant them. This has always worked out just beau-tifully for me.

I am sure somewhere, some ceremonial ma-gician just fell over in a dead faint at the merethought of such irreverence.

Dear gods, she used the words pentacles, Keyof Solomon, and scrapbooking sticker-makingmachine all in the same paragraph! Well, perhapswe should just send them some healing and a bigdose of get-the-hell-overit type of energy. Comeon, people, live on the edge, and be practical andcreative! The sky still has not fallen on my head

and, at last check, the sun still rises in the east,and I've been doing this for years.

These symbols are keys for me. When I seethem, I enjoy the history and the reputation thatthey carry. When I create or reproduce them, Ifocus on their symbolism, and my mind clicksover into another state of awareness. Basically,I get down to business when I work with thesepentacles from The Key of Solomon. They putme in a different frame of mind, which is exactlywhat we discussed before. These trigger my mindand my magick for a very specific purpose.

The truth is, magick can be as simple or as ritu-alized as you personally choose to make it. At theend of the day, it still all comes down to your in-tent. So if you decide to incorporate your arts andcrafts supplies or scrapbooking goodies into thecreation of these pentacles, or you work with themore traditional colored ink and parchment, that'sall up to you. Go with what you have.

For best results, magickal timing is an import-ant part to creating these pentacles, so I dostrongly recommend working with the day of theweek associated with the astrological body in thetitle of each pentacle. For example, the pentacleof the moon must be created on a Monday, thepentacle of Jupiter is to be created on a Thursday,and lastly, the pentacle of Saturn should be pro-duced on Saturday. These pentacles can offer youa lot of options for a creative bit of Witchcraft.

On the following pages are three pentaclesfrom The Key of Solomon that I successfullyincorporate into practical protection magick.Another creative way to incorporate thesepentacles into your own protection magick is tohand-draw them onto three-inch wooden discspurchased from an arts and crafts store. This way,these protective pentacles become permanent am-ulets. Technically, an amulet is a magickal itemthat is programmed or empowered for protection.These inscribed wooden pentacles do make a nicevisual symbol to incorporate into your spellcraft

or even as a portable type of amulet that you cancarry with you, offering you the option of placingthe disc in your pocket, suitcase, or even in yourvehicle's glovebox for some personalized, power-ful, and portable protection magick.

Here is a spell verse that you can use to bindthe magick of your newly created pentaclesfirmly to you. Hold the newly created pentaclein your hands and say out loud exactly what youneed it to do. Then repeat the spell verse:

Enjoy working with these pentacles from TheKey of Solomon. They can really add power andpunch to your protection magick.

The Fourth Pentacle of the Moon

The Fourth Pentacle of the Moon is ideally re-produced in silver ink. You can also print or drawthis pentacle on silver craft paper. Only create

this pentacle on a Monday, the day of the weekthat is associated with the moon and all its ma-gick. This pentacle will defend you from all eviland protect your person from harm or injury tobody and soul. It is linked to the angel Sophiel.Sophiel is believed to grant the knowledge of allherbs and stones to whoever calls upon him.

The Sixth Pentacle of Jupiter

The Sixth Pentacle of Jupiter is traditionallydrawn in blue ink. You can also print or draw thispentacle on blue paper. Only create this pentacle

on a Thursday, the day of the week that is asso-ciated with the planet Jupiter and all its magick.Traditionally, this pentacle will gift you with pro-tection against all earthly dangers.

The Second Pentacle of Saturn

The Second Pentacle of Saturn is traditionallydrawn in black ink. You can also print this withblack ink onto parchment-looking scrapbookingpaper. Only create this pentacle on a Saturday, theday of the week that is associated with the planetSaturn and all its magick. This pentacle will helpyou overcome your adversaries.

This pentacle features the famous SATOR ar-rangement of letters that is often referred to inmedieval magick. This is a square of five lettersin five rows, and if you look carefully, you willsee that the letters spell SATOR on the top, bot-tom, and sides of the box going up, down, andfront to back. Here it is translated from theHebrew characters:

SATOR

AREPO

TENET

OPERA

ROTAS

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learnhow to handle them, and pretty soon you have adozen.

-JOHN STEINBECK

To close up this chapter, here is a cornucopia ofquick ideas for warding magick and practical pro-tection charms. These come from many differ-ent types of magickal traditions, from Hoodoo to

floral fascinations, herbal magick, and the runes.There is something useful here for everyone.

These suggestions are straightforward andfairly uncomplicated to do, so read over thesevarious magickal ideas and see what you can eas-ily incorporate into your own personal style ofwarding and witchery.

• Red brick dust: The dust of red clay bricks pro-tects against negative spells, and it repels evilof all kinds. According to magickal tradition,no evil can cross a line of red brick dust. To ac-quire some, take old red clay bricks and smashthem up into a powder. You will want to usethe softer clay bricks that were once used inolder homes-these are ideal. Look around forold, crumbling bricks (you may find some re-claimed older bricks used in landscaping pro-jects). You may add the brick dust to a buck-et of floor wash and then scrub the threshold,porch, and front steps of your home or businesswith it. You can also sprinkle a thin line of the

powder before your door. I would suggest do-ing this on a full moon or new moon night, ifpossible. If you cannot wait that long, then Isuggest doing this on a Mars' day (Tuesday) ora Saturn's day (Saturday).

• The iris flower is a protective flower. Thisflower is sacred to the Greek goddess of therainbow, Iris. You can easily grow this magick-al blooming herb in your gardens at home. Ifyou do not have a garden, visit the local flor-ist and pick up a few stems. Then place thefresh-cut flower in vases around your homeor office, or make a small arrangement andthen place the flowers close to your doorwaysand thresholds. If you like, you can incorporatecolor magick into this floral fascination: redfor protecting your health, yellow to keep youwise and secure, orange for vitality, purple forpower. . .the iris, as its name implies, comes ina rainbow of colors and sizes. There are evenblack varieties. A black iris would be excellentfor warding off negativity and evil. One vari-

ety of iris that I grow at home in my own gar-dens is called `Before the Storm'. This is a fra-grant, large, gorgeous, gothic black iris with anundertone of maroon. It's bewitching.

• A fresh sprig of the herb rue (Ruta graveolens)is often incorporated in Strega (Italian Witch-craft) for protection and to ward off the evileye. Tuck this pungent herb into charm bags orgrow it in your gardens to enforce protectionfor your entire property. Please note: this herbis not to be ingested. It is an abortifacient anda skin irritant, so handle it carefully.

• Carrying a piece of iron, wearing an iron ring,or tucking an old iron nail into your pocketrepels psychic vampires. (The trick is to havethe iron in direct contact with your skin.) Theiron actually shuts down the psychic centers ofyour body, which blocks the flow of your per-sonal energy; in other words, it grounds youlike nobody's business. This would annoy

psivamps and make you much less of an appet-izing energetic Happy Meal.

Runes: Here are some basic, practical uses fora few protective runes. You can paint theseabove your doorway or on the walls. Inscribethe rune on a shell, stone, or small circle ofwood, and carry it around with you in yourpocket or purse like a talisman. Another sug-gestion would be to do what my friendCharlynn did: embroider the runes inside ofyour clothes where you can feel them but noone else can see them.

• Thurisaz: I This rune represents the ham-mer of Thor. It symbolizes pure will andpower. This rune will add a boost to yourwarding magick.

• Hagall: X In magick, this rune is used toencourage protection. It also promotes good

luck and a positive magickal outcome toyour spellwork.

• Eihwaz: Fl This rune symbolizes the yewtree. One of the more potent warding runes,this rune removes obstacles and increasespower. Incorporate this particular rune forserious banishing and protection spells.

• Berkana: B This rune is a protective runealso. Classically, it symbolizes the MotherGoddess and fertility; however, it is alsoused to protect or to ward structures such ashouses and places of worship. This shieldingrune brings peace, love, and harmony to thehome.

• Algiz: `f' Here is the classic protection runethat most magickal folks will recognize. Ifind this rune to be particularly potent if it isinscribed or painted on a natural item suchas a seashell, stone, or piece of wood. Thisrune provides protection from your enemies,

shields its bearer from evil, brings good for-tune, and builds up your life force. It alsopromotes friendship.

May those who love us, love us. And those whodon't love us, May God turn their hearts. And if hedoesn't turn their hearts, May he turn their anklesSo we'll know them by their limping.

-OLD IRISH CURSE

ARE CURSES AND hexes real?The short answeris yes. I know that this goes against the standardCraft line. For years we have had this whole pub-licity campaign for the Craft where we assure thegeneral public that Witches "harm none," thathexes and curses are very rare, that there is nosuch thing as an unethical practitioner, and yadda,yadda, yadda.

After all, if you did not have concerns aboutthis topic, you probably would not be reading thisbook. We talked about this in earlier chapters, butit bears repeating. Many teachers and practitioners

will tell you that true curses are uncommon andthat only unbalanced people believe they are avictim of a curse, but I am here to tell you thatthis is simply not true. However, if it makes youfeel any better, you are much more likely to runin to a fluffy white-light type Witch than a classicDisney villain-type practitioner.

If you want to wax philosophical, you can al-ways say that without the dark, there is no light,or that the dark is what makes the light appear sobright. But I believe it is more than this. I havealways maintained that magick is a study in neut-rality. There are many shades of gray. Magick isindeed an impartial force of nature: it can be assoft as a spring rain or as destructive as a bolt oflightning. It has always been up to the individu-al Witch to harness this power and then use it inthe most beneficial, neutral way. That being said,it's time for some honesty, so let's be candid andreally look at this controversial topic of hexes andcurses from a place of neutrality.

Where do we begin? We start at how accessiblethe information actually is. Have you taken agood look lately at all of the various types of ma-gickal books that are out there? Seriously, go tothe bookstore and really take a hard look at whatis available. There are many books filled with allsorts of curses, hexes, and manipulative spells,and the occult dabblers or Witch wannabes whoare bent on revenge just gobble them right up.They are popular topics-only a fool would not re-cognize this sad but true fact. The information isout there, and it is available in massmarket paper-back.

However, the more you understand abouthexes, curses, and psychic attacks, the more youbegin to see that the majority of the time whenthere are problems, the culprits are wannabes,weekend witches, or dabblers willing to try any-thing to see if it works. To be clear, a wannabeor a weekend witch is defined as a person withno real spiritual practices. They are simply play-ing at, or dabbling with, the Craft. Furthermore,

we should accept that there are individuals whoare bent on magickal revenge for some perceivedslight. They could also simply be on an ego trip,wanting to prove just how much more powerfulthey are compared to you. But this is what I wantyou to remember: folks who dabble or who playat the Craft and who toss out curses and hexes doso from a position of weakness.

It is important to keep that fact in mind. Ifsomeone has to take the time and energy to throwa curse or a hex, or send destructive psychic en-ergy your way, then you already have them run-ning scared. These pathetic, foolish hexes andcurses are always done out of fear or a needfor revenge. Nine times out of ten, the magickaltroublemaker feels jealous or inadequate.

This is your advantage. So use it.

Curses are like young chickens-they always comehome to roost.

-ROBERT SOUTHEY

When people lash out by using negative psychicenergy, or hexes and curses, they are looking fora fast, mean, and easy fix to their problems. Buthere is something else you probably were nevertold about the people who cast hexes and curses:they may feel great about themselves for a while,but typically they are incapable of keeping theirmouths shut about what they have done becauseit makes them too hyped up and nervous.

Have you ever stopped and seriously con-sidered what the backlash or physical price ofsending out that much hatred, spite, or envywould be to the person who threw the hex? Tobegin, there would be a high, which would lastbriefly before a sense of exhaustion would rushin. Since all of their energy was fueled by rage,it does not flow out, or depart, smoothly. It ex-

plodes and consumes everything close to thepoint of origin, including the person who cast thehex, as they literally would be standing at groundzero.

Their body immediately reacts with exhaustionas that violently spent emotional energy hasrushed out and left them hollow inside, and nowthey have to fill up with something. Typically,they fill up with nervous and toxic energy. Natureabhors a vacuum, so it replaces that energy withwhatever is physically the closest-in this case,the noxious intentions of the caster and that veryharmful, negative energy.

Once all that rage is spent, the caster gets hitwith a big old backlash of the jitters; think of itas the worst possible kind of caffeine rush. Theydon't even realize why they feel that way or whatthey took into themselves right after they finishedtheir hex, because now they have bigger prob-lems. As they can't sit still, they can't focus; theyare all giddy, anxious, and wound up; and even-

tually they have to tell someone about what theyhave been up to.

They mistakenly feel it's just too delicious notto brag about their own activities. I have nevermet such a person who could not keep from talk-ing about their curse or hex to anyone who wouldlisten. It's all that toxic and nervous energy-theyjust can't help themselves. And that's how theyslip up. These folks like to show off and boast tosomebody, and they hope that others will be in-timidated or impressed somehow

Interestingly, the topic of "How to Do Hexesand Curses" is making its way around the festivalcircuit as well. I once listened to a magician lec-ture about how the best curses were so subtle andso insidious that the victim does not realize theyare under magickal attack until after they are toosick or exhausted to fight back, because the bestcurses destroy a target slowly. This apparentlywas the magician's area of expertise, and he wasproud of this ability; according to the speaker,

this was a family specialty. Well, isn't that nice?I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy right about now

At the festival lecture, the audience was cap-tivated at the horrible things this person braggedabout. I sat there, sick to my stomach, while thelecturer went into rapid-fire, glorious detail abouthow to "do unto others before they can do untoyou"-without mentioning all of the unfortunateside effects that are gifted to the person foolishenough to perform a curse or hex.

Why did I stay put at the lecture? Because thelast thing I wanted to do was to stomp out of therein a righteous huff and draw attention to myself.(Also, it is considered highly rude for a guestspeaker to leave another presenter's lecture unlessyou yourself have to go to your own lecture.) SoI was stuck.

My snarky side sat and silently hatched allsorts of ingenious ways to get myself out of thatlecture . .1 considered trying to bend time to

make the class finish faster. I wondered if I couldsend energy to the fire alarms so they would gooff, or encourage the lights to go out (I've ac-cidentally done it before)-anything to get out ofthere. However, I realized that would be just asbad as doing a hex myself, and honestly, to trysomething that over-the-top would probablyknock me on my butt for the rest of the day, en-ergy wise, and I still had clairvoyant readings andmy own lectures to do.

What I did instead was ground and center, thenturned up all of my psychic abilities to full blastand asked to see the lecturer as he truly was. Ichecked my empathic abilities and carefully tookstock of his body language and gestures. What I"saw" was a hyperactive, spiteful egomaniac witha very poor self-image who was not in the best ofhealth and who was also in financial trouble. Thatvibe radiated off of him, and because of it, hewas desperate to make other people believe thathe was a famous, important, and fabulous globe-trotting Pagan celebrity.

Once I realized that, I had to literally cover mymouth with my hand, as I had a bad attack ofthe church giggles (you know-laughing when it'shighly inappropriate, and the harder you try not tolaugh or make any noise, the funnier it becomes).So I cleared my throat and discreetly wiped thetears from my eyes. I worked hard to keep my fa-cial expression bland and to try not to laugh atthe real show the lecturer was giving. I was semi-successful. Sometimes humor is, indeed, an awe-some deterrent to negative energy and its influ-ence. A few people at the lecture noticed me try-ing to contain myself and seemed concerned; Iquietly told them it was allergies.

That's not a lie. Apparently, I am allergic toself-important, hexlecturing weenies. Instead ofhives ...I just break out in the giggles.

If the apocalypse comes, beep me.

BUFFY, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Okay, funny stories aside, trying to figure outif you have indeed been hexed is a serious andscary matter. It's frightening because you don'twant to overreact, but you do want to be open toeverything that may be occurring around you, soyour best bet is to make a list. No, I'm not kid-ding. This is not my Virgo-esque attempt to or-ganize the world...

Seriously: document and keep track of whatis occurring in your life if you think that youor someone you love is under psychic attack orhas fallen victim to a hex or curse. Knowledgeis power. Take note of the type of people in yourlife, their behavior, and what is happening andwhen the instances occur. By doing this, it willhelp you to trace the trail straight back to theperpetrator. In this book, psychic strengths andweaknesses have been discussed; so were thesymptoms of a psychic attack. Stay calm. You dohave practical ideas and information to help you

deal with any of these problems, right at your fin-gertips.

In the meantime, you will need to ask yourselfa few tough questions, such as: what is yourweakest area and where are you most vulnerableemotionally? This is important to know. Be bru-tally honest with yourself, and I want you to care-fully consider something...

Remember when you first started to compre-hend magick and the way it actually worked?Do you recall the old standard Craft line that"Magick follows the path of least resistance"?Well, take that idea a step further. As magickdoes indeed follow the path of least resistance,where would that negative magick find the leastamount of resistance if it was attacking you? Inother words, if you are rundown, stressed out, oremotionally vulnerable, then take a wild guesswhere that negative energy is going to do themost damage. The answer is in the place whereyou have the least amount of resistance or ability

to fight back. So, once you have identified whatis happening and figured out any problem areasor weaknesses, correct them immediately.

After that, I would suggest that you confirmyour findings by consulting your favorite divinat-ory tool, such as the tarot. Shuffle the cards welland ask if you are under magickal or psychic at-tack. To begin, select five cards at random. Placethe cards from left to right in a straight horizontalline. Now take a careful look at the cards that ap-pear in your reading.

• The first card of the reading will signifythe past and what brought you to this point.

• The second card is the present, meaningwhat is happening right now

• The third card shows the future-what isstill to come.

• The fourth card represents the "otherpeople" in the situation: who they are andwhat motivates them.

• The fifth and final card is the outcomecard.

Keep in mind that a tarot reading is always areading of possibilities. Think of the cards in thistype of reading as signs on a road. Now that youhave been given the lay of the land, so to speak,you have a better idea about what is ahead... andit is completely up to you how you choose to pro-ceed.

If the cards are basically positive in tone, thenthe answer is probably no, you are not hexed orcursed. If they are more negative, then your an-swer is yes, you are under psychic or magickalattack. Also, watch for Major Arcana cards. Themore of those that show up in that five-card read-ing, the more serious the issue is. If it helps, have

a friend do the tarot reading for you. They can bemore impartial, and you may get a clearer answer.

Most importantly, don't guess. Know. Checkyour psychic instincts and tap into your own abil-ities. Combine that with your divination results,and what do they all tell you? Gather as much in-formation as you can, and then get to work to re-move the problem and diminish its effects. Mostimportantly, do not panic, and keep this to your-self. If you run around blabbing to everyone thatyou have ever met that you are under some sort ofmagickal or psychic attack, then by talking aboutit you only strengthen the negative magick andenergy.

So zip your lips, put on your game face, andgo to work. Be as strong and as brave as youpossibly can. Also, you should forget any un-realistic ideas you may have of just "sending itback." Honestly, that's like a magickal water-bal-loon toss-eventually both parties get tired, some-body drops the balloon, and splat, someone gets

soaked (meaning you have about a fifty-fiftychance that you will be the one to lose). However,if someone has sent negative psychic energy yourway or thrown a hex at you, you can indeed nulli-fy that negative energy and magick or, better yet,put it to the ground and stop the game there andthen.

All of us will have to deal with an enemy atone point or another in our lives. As Witches,it is also within the realm of possibilities that atsome point we will have to deal with a magick-al adversary as well. How you deal with the situ-ation defines who you are as a magickal practi-tioner. Here is where I encourage you to not justsit there, fret, and whine about it. Instead, youare going to step up, face it head-on, study, andlearn. That way, you are prepared, and you haveoptions. In this next section, I am going to giveyou a real-life example that I think you will findvery illuminating. Read this story carefully, andsee what you discover.

You have enemies? Good. That means you'vestood up for something sometime in your life.

-WINSTON CHURCHILL

I once offered advice to a coven that had to re-move a few troublemaking members from theirgroup. This coven was a large group and washappily established. Recently, they had expandedtheir coven and added three new potential mem-bers. For the first six months of their being in-volved with the coven, all three guests were mod-el members. During this time period, they wereon a get-to-know-you basis. The three new po-tential members in question seemed happy, eager,enthusiastic, and fun-loving, so they were pro-moted to the rank of candidates.

On the surface, all appeared to be goingsmoothly, but as soon as their trial basis ended,

the real problems slowly began. The high prieststarted to notice that other inner court, or es-tablished, members of his coven rarely spoke tothese three particular new candidates and literallykept their distance at coven functions. He re-minded the other members to take it upon them-selves to get to know the new candidates betterand to do social events together.

As time went on, he realized that he had a realproblem on his hands. Seems like the three hope-ful members loved to stir up trouble. It was repor-ted back to him that while at a public class withother coven members, two of the hopefuls wereloud and obnoxious and disrupted the instructor.This duo even went so far as to brag to the othernonmagickal people in the class about the coventhey were in, boasting about how they had worntheir new coven pentacles out to the local bar,looking for a fight.

Meanwhile, back at the covenstead, the thirdhopeful member was suddenly having a problem

abiding by the coven's rules and guidelines. If hewas told to dress nicely for a formal ritual withthe coven, then instead this candidate showed upin old jeans and sloppy, faded sweaters, sporting abelligerent attitude. To make matters more chaot-ic, the bar-hopping duo started acting up at thecoven gatherings by being extremely loud, bois-terous, and disruptive. Thankfully, they usuallymanaged to pull it together and behave at ritual.But as soon as ritual was finished ...bam! Theywere noisy and more wild than ever.

The high priest chalked it up to excitement andinexperience on their part. After all, the three ofthem had been perfectly behaved for the first sixmonths. Feeling like he was a part of a sitcom,he then patiently explained the type of behaviorthat was expected of the candidates, once again,which they all listened to with wide eyes andhopeful expressions.

Thinking this was a one-time thing, he gentlytalked to all of them. He kindly but firmly ex-

plained what the coven's policy was on public be-havior, and he also firmly encouraged the trouble-some duo to work on improving their behavioroutside of coven functions as well.

Of course, they always had an excuse or madelight of the subject, so the high priest met withhis high priestess, and they decided together tostart watching these candidates even more closelywhile the established members basically closedranks, stayed polite, but kept their distance.

Shortly thereafter, the behavior of the threecandidates became really obnoxious. One of theprospective members started announcing that hehad no further need to study, as just by being inproximity with the high priest and priestess hewould learn all he ever needed to know. Whilethis individual was informed that this was simplynot the case and that study was an important partof their training, he laughed and then refused tocrack a book or do any of the reading assignments

or journaling exercises that he was given by hismentor.

As things started to spiral out of control for thecoven, it also came to light that one of the threecandidates had a substance-abuse problem. Thecandidate had lost a substantial amount of weightvery quickly, bounced from job to job, and dis-played manic and hyper behavior all of the time.

This made it very difficult for the priest andpriestess of the group, as they wanted to believethat it was simply a crazy string of coincidences.They firmly believed in the whole "perfect loveand perfect trust" thing. Goodness, but wasn't itinteresting that this person always seemed to begoing to the doctor or urgent care center for someinjury or household accident, and then complain-ing to the other members how the physician keptrefusing to treat him and accusing him of justwanting pain meds?

To make matters more upsetting, the third andyoungest candidate started disrupting scriptedrituals to ad lib and even "accidentally" evoke adeity into the ritual circle. Then this individual(the same one who had refused to study) startedto complain that the coven wasn't working withanything dark or edgy enough. It did not seem tomatter to the newcomer that those types of moreintense rituals were not for a beginner, and sothe complaining about coven policy began, alongwith a lot of whining about how this person's"gifts" were being ignored and squashed by thecoven leaders.

Last but not least, the other two candidatesthen ganged up on another established memberand tried to talk him into leaving the group. Theyplayed the whole "Hey, listen, nobody will tellyou this, but nobody likes you" game. (I supposesince they were reprimanded for picking physicalfights in a bar that they decided picking a moresubtle fight-playing mind games at a covengathering-was their next option.)

Sadly, this went on for a few months and wasnot reported to the other coven members. Butafter a little while, the younger initiated memberwho was the victim broke down in tears and con-fessed his concerns to the high priestess, who wasappalled.

She reassured the distressed member thateverything was fine, and they spent some timetalking about his fears. The high priestess held ittogether until he left, and then she called the highpriest and unloaded. Between the other behavi-oral concerns over the past few months and thisnew development, their minds were made up. So,the priest made the calls and removed all three ofthe troublemakers from the group. He was politebut firm. The rest of the coven was relieved butsad that the situation had ultimately turned outthe way it did.

The priest took it very hard and kept reviewinghis own actions, trying to see if there wassomething, a clue or some information or action,

that he had missed. He did not like to believe thathe was so foolish as to be totally taken in by allthree of these candidates. After all, during the tri-al period they had been exemplary. Apparentlyonce that trial period was over, they decided thatgood behavior was no longer necessary.

Had he been too hard on them by correctingtheir behavior, or was he not firm enough?Everything had gone wrong so quickly! To behonest, this trio had caused such a wide varietyof problems, and so often, that he and his priest-ess were exhausted from simply trying to keepup with damage control. It is hard when you arein the moment and dealing with all of these situ-ations at once. You do not always have the optionof stepping back and seeing the whole situation,which is why people always say that hindsight iszo-zo.

He prayed to the gods for guidance, meditatedabout the situation, and eventually realized thatthe God and Goddess were teaching him a lesson

about leadership. So he accepted the lesson anddecided a much longer trial basis (as in one totwo years) was probably his best course of actionfor the future. Perhaps this new coven rule andmuch longer trial period would give the groupmore time to assess the personality of a possiblenew member, and this would help them all avoidsimilar problems in the future.

Then he and his high priestess rewrote the cov-en guidelines, and they were voted on and ap-proved unanimously by the remaining covenmembers. The healing process began, and thepriest and priestess worked to repair the emotion-al damage that had been caused. Then the cov-en stood together, chalked it up to experience,wished the three former candidates well, andmoved on.

Or so they thought.

Within a month, a string of random annoyingproblems and serious issues started to pop up for

all of the original coven members. They rangedfrom everyday health problems like the flu to ser-ious complications with another coven member'swife's pregnancy. There was an unexpected deathof a close relative in one coven member's family,and two other members each had to deal with thedeath of a pet.

A third coven member's cat became seriouslyill and almost died, while a different coven mem-ber had furniture delivery snafus and car repairproblems-one day she had no brakes while driv-ing home from work-and on it went, from closecalls to illnesses to death and back to financialdifficulties. At first, the high priest and priestessrefused to believe that there was anything funnygoing on. After all, that whole hex-and-cursebusiness was just movie make-believe-that sort ofthing did not happen in the real world, and cer-tainly not to their coven.

Interestingly, the high priestess had been hav-ing increasingly violent and frightening dreams

during this period of time. As a sensitive, shewas growing suspicious and had secretly startedto keep track of all of the coven members' prob-lems.

Bless her organized heart, she sat down andmade a master list in an effort to make sense ofthe crazy situations. Her master list included a re-cord of all the incidents that had occurred witheach of the coven members and their families anda timeline of these occurrences. Holy cats! Theymatched up from the full moon date when thetrio had first been removed from the group to thefollowing full moons two months later, with theseverity of the occurrences flaring up at the newmoons and full moon, respectively.

When I was approached with this problem, Iwas shocked. Then the high priestess handed meher list, and I could not ignore the facts in front ofme, especially since I was acquainted with someof the members and knew for a fact that they hadexperienced problems and losses. I tossed down

a quick five-card tarot reading to get a confirm-ation on my instincts, and the cards were verygrim.

The first card represented the past. It was theTower, which means a blow to the ego or a shock-ing event that shakes up everything and foreverchanges your outlook on a person or situation.The second card symbolized the present, and itwas the Five of Pentacles. This card means ill-ness, worries, and financial difficulties. The thirdcard showed the future and was the Ten ofSwords, which translates to betrayal and beingstabbed in the back. The fourth card denotes theother people in the situation and was the Threeof Swords. This card signifies sorrow, heartbreak,and delay. I also felt that it represented the triothat was removed from the coven. (Rumor had itthat these three had now started their own group.)So this seemed to me to be confirmation that thethree ex-members were still together, stirring upmagickal trouble. After all, three swords, threeex-members-that's not a coincidence. The final

card, which showed the outcome, was the Moon.This Major Arcana card illustrates deception,moon magick, and illusion, and it also shows thatpeople involved in the situation are not as theywould appear. What's more, it is the card of theCrone Goddess.

Damn. I went over the list and the tarot readingagain. That was an impressive list, and a spot-onyes answer to the question as to whether the cov-en was being cursed. Obviously, there were somevery unbalanced and angry ex-members at workhere.

As I read over the list, I jokingly said to thehigh priestess, "Girlfriend, all you need is thetheme song from the movie The Craft and acouple of hormonal girls in Catholic school uni-forms, and you'd have the entire package!"

Then the priestess got teary, so I handed her atissue, gave her a hug in support, and then we satdown and brainstormed, and I made a few sug-

gestions. I also told her to quit beating herself upabout the situation-to embrace the lesson that shewas just handed and to learn from it. Later, thehigh priest and priestess met on their own andcame up with a plan of action for their coven to-gether.

The entire coven soon gathered together andworked a protection ritual to put an end to thesuffering and psychic attacks that were occurring.Considering their outcome card was the Moon,the card of the Crone Goddess, I had suggestedthat they call on Hecate for help with protectingtheir group. Hecate is an awesome force whenit comes to protecting Witches. I mean, why besubtle? These were some intense circumstancesthat they were dealing with.

Each of the remaining coven members also didpersonal protection magick on their own as well.Every member physically cleaned their housesuntil they sparkled. They were also careful to re-move any mementos from the trio and to dispose

of any photos of the three former members. Inaddition, they each performed purification ritualson their own homes and warded their thresholds.Finally, all of them started working daily to buildtheir magickal defenses back up and to maintainthe psychic protection and fortification for them-selves, their families, and their pets.

Not only did their practical protection magickwork, it began to work immediately. All of thecrazy occurrences stopped. They rededicatedtheir unity as coven members at the followingsabbat, and they began the healing process. I re-ceived a follow-up phone call from the high priesta little while ago. The coven is all doing well, andthey are more united and stronger than ever.

Everything has got a moral if only you can findit.

-LEWIS CARROLL

The moral of this coven's story is to never ra-tionalize things away. Believing that this couldnot happen to your own coven or circle becauseyou yourself would never do such a thing or be-cause you believe that you are much too cleverand savvy and would catch it before it got too badis very foolish.

We all second-guess ourselves occasionally.We all can make a bad judgment call or trustthe wrong person from time to time. That is howwe learn. Hopefully you won't go through any-thing as severe as this coven experienced, butyou or your group will probably have your ownproblems to work through. Telling yourself thatnobody would ever purposefully attack you on apsychic level or dare to perform a hex or a curseis simply naive.

I believe that what happened in this situation isthat three angry and unbalanced people decided

to get even with magick. Add to that a personwho is abusing drugs and another who loves toget into physical fights, and a newer practitionerwho likes to play with dark and intense deitieswithout the respect those deities deserve, andyou've got some wildly dangerous and unpredict-able energy in play.

Most folks have a filter of some kind. That fil-ter reminds them when they are right and whenthey are wrong, and it keeps them out of danger.It's called a conscience, and when you add illegaldrugs or ego to the mix, then that safety net, orfilter, is gone. They probably refused to admit tothemselves that their own bad behavior was toblame for them being removed from the group.

After all, it's so much easier to blame some-body else or claim that your " dark talents" arebeing ignored than to step up and admit that youare at fault or that you are way over your headwith a specific deity. Some deities are not meantto be homogenized or softened. They are what

they are. If you do not respect them, what they arecapable of, and their history, then you are a fool.It's been my experience that the gods do not suf-fer fools-at all.

What will happen to the trio who did the hex-ing? Oh, I imagine their little worlds have im-ploded by now I also know that the coven mem-bers asked for justice and decided to leave thedispensing of that justice in the capable hands ofthe Lord and Lady. I have no doubts the old Oneswill come up with very creative ways to teach thetroublemakers a very thorough and hard lesson.

After all, if you cause that much harm to thatmany people on purpose, it comes with a hell ofa karmic price tag. Think about the ground zeroeffect that was discussed before; it was magnifiedtimes three. You know that had to hurt.

Character is what you are in the dark.

-DWIGHT L. MOODY

No DOUBT ABOUT it: Witchcraft is popular, andit attracts all sorts of spiritual seekers. Manypeople are fascinated by the idea of magick and thepath of Witchcraft, but very few of these folks areactual Witches. Anyone can study the Craft andsome may have a real affection for it, but at the endof the day there are just a few who will have theinnate power of the Witch.

How can you tell the difference? There is bothhumility and responsibility present in a true Witch.We hold a lot of power; with that, you have to

be responsible, and you must possess a good doseof humility. Just like the line from Spiderman,with great power comes great responsibility.When you cart that much firepower around, yourealize quickly that minor aggravations and pettydisagreements are not worth your time or ma-gickal talents, because typically they will workthemselves out all on their own-without you hav-ing to constantly add magick to the mix. There isno need to throw a spell or to cast a charm everytime something minor pops up. As a true Witch,you learn to hold your magick and your temper atthe same time.

It is vital to learn how to control your own re-actions and emotions. Effective magick does re-quire a healthy dose of accountability and self-control. If you indulge in a magickal temper tan-trum, then you are only wasting your very valu-able energy. It is much wiser to reserve that per-sonal energy and use it toward a powerful mani-festation of protection magick instead.

Walking the path of a Witch develops your in-nate sense of character and your sense of honor.There will be days when you walk down a happyand light-filled path, and there will also be dayswhere you are surrounded by negativity andshadows. Eventually, all Witches and magickusers are put to the test in one way or another.Have you ever considered that this is all a part ofthe gods' divine plan for us?

So here you are, walking your own magickalpath, and now suddenly you are in a darker place,and there are shadows, fears, and possibly bane-ful magick that need to be dealt with. At thispoint, you are entering survival mode. Your ad-renaline has kicked in, and your first instinct isprobably to fight back just as ferociously as if youwere being attacked physically. But is that reallythe correct way to go?

It is certainly true that effective protection ma-gick involves working carefully with our ownshadow sides and the darker aspects of our per-

sonalities. Real shadow work involves lookinginward, seeing all of the aspects of our person-ality, and then claiming them. To best be able todeal with these types of intense protection ma-gick from a place of integrity, it is vital to behonest with ourselves. If we can't deal with ourown tempers and shadows, and work from a placeof objectivity and neutrality, then we are not go-ing to be able to truly and effectively defendourselves from others' psychic energy or magick.It does indeed take personal control, honor, andintegrity to effectively counteract baneful ma-gick.

Now that you are standing in the dark, facingthe shadows, your first test of character has be-gun. How will you rise to the challenge? You dohave options, and you do have many practicalresources. To begin with, you can take the in-formation presented here in this book and calmlywork to neutralize and stop harmful psychic en-ergy and negative magick in a responsible way,with a minimum of fuss.

I think it is wonder at the power that gives somehumility to the Witch...

-SYBIL LEEK

Before you begin this type of self-defense work,there are a few golden rules that you should fol-low:

I. Know your psychic weaknesses.

z. Recognize the magickal/psychic attack.

3. Confirm the problem with a divinatory tool.

4. Comprehend that all magick follows thepath of least resistance.

5. Be proactive, and nip the problem in thebud.

6. Gather the best, most complementary sup-plies possible for your spellcraft.

7. Work protection magick from a positionof neutrality, integrity, and humility.

Notice that all of these rules are active, notpassive, as you have to be responsible, determ-ined, and strong while performing practical pro-tection magick. You also need to be clever andcalm while you gather information and supplies,so you will know best how to proceed. If you fol-low these seven simple rules, you will have su-perior results with all of your protection magick.

Learning to effectively deal with the problemsin our magickal lives does develop character. No,it will not always be easy, but it will make youinto a stronger, more balanced, honorable practi-tioner. Allow yourself to grow and learn in your

Craft, and react with humility and integrity in anytype of situation. With that thought in mind, hereare some candle spells to get you started on yourpractical protection magick.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

-CHINESE PROVERB

Using candle magick to remove a hex, curse, orcrossed condition is a time-honored practice. Notonly does it work, it works very well. For thistype of magick, I prefer the big glass jar candles.These may also be called novenas, or seven-daycandles.

Today, rituals designed to break a hex or curseare sometimes referred to as uncrossing rituals.However, to be clear, the difference between a

crossed condition and a hex is that a hex is asevere magickal assault or attack, while a crossedcondition is something more subtle that may goon for a long period of time. In magick, a crossedcondition is often seen as a spiritual problem, nota magickal one.

Think of a crossed condition more like a road-block in the path of your success. Is it the end ofthe world? No. But it sure is aggravating whenyour way seems blocked no matter what you do.Uncrossing magick will redirect a person and canput him or her back on a more open and positivespiritual path. What is interesting to note is thatafter performing an uncrossing ritual, you mayactually gain new insights into yourself.

When it comes time to work an uncrossing,break a hex, or perform curse-removal magick,I find the seven-day glass jar candles to be verybeneficial. Remember, as long as that candle isburning, your protection witchery is actively atwork. The longer the spell candle burns, the more

magickal power it actually builds up-especiallywhen the spell verse is repeated each day.

Jar candles are practical for protection magick,as they do come in a rainbow of colors and sizes.If you take a careful look around, you can typic-ally find plain jar candles in different colors any-where, even at the grocery store. Or, if you prefer,head over to yon local magickal or metaphysicalsupply shop. Don't forget to try the neighborhoodarts and crafts store as well. Watch for sales onjar candles and stock up. A wellsupplied and pre-pared Witch is a smart and practical Witch.

An Uncrossing Candle Spell

This candle spell allows for some personal-ization by choosing your essential oils for thecandle. There are a few different oils to choosefrom in the supply list, so choose the oil thatbest resonates with you or simply use what youcan easily acquire. I purposely listed essential oils

that are easy to find, along with their magickalproperties. You can also personalize this witcheryby choosing a specific day of the week to beginthe spell; see more on this idea in the "daily tim-ing" section below.

Supplies:

• One deep red seven-day jar candle (deepred is the traditional uncrossing color)

• Essential oil that corresponds with un-crossing work; suggested oils include cedar(a classic uncrossing oil), hyssop (forcleansing), and white pine (to bring healing,prosperity, and purification)

• A clean dropper for the oil

• A long, thin screwdriver (to push holes inthe candle wax)

• Strike matches (because you want thesmell of sulfur to sting the air, plus it adds anice punch to the magick)

• A photo of yourself or of the person youare working the uncrossing for

• Your magickal workspace or altar (thisshould be a safe, flat surface to set up thespell where the candle can be left to burnfor several days)

Lunar Timing: I suggest working this spell duringa waning moon phase. This way, as the mooncontinues to wane, so too shall the blocks inyour life, and any obstacles in your path willdiminish.

DailyTiming: You may also utilize the specificdays of the week for even more fine-tuning ofthis uncrossing spell. For example, start the un-crossing spell on a Sunday to remove roadb-locks to your success. Begin on Mondays for

an extra dose of moon magick. Cast on Tues-days to diminish blocks to your courage andpassion. Wednesday will remove obstacles toclear communication, while beginning this ona Thursday diminishes blockages to yourprosperity and good health. Starting on a Fri-day removes obstructions to your love life, andSaturday eliminates barriers to your personalsecurity.

Directions: Set the candle down on a flat surface,and hold on to it carefully. Then take thescrewdriver and gently push the shaft of thetool straight down into the wax as far as itwill go. Pull straight up and repeat until youhave three small channels in the candle. Thenchoose your essential oil or oils, and carefullydrop the oil down into the channel. (A coupleof drops in each channel will do the trick.)

Set the candle down in the spot where youhave chosen, and ground and center your-self. Prop up the photo against the front of

the candle or attach it with a piece of tape,then strike the match and light the jar candle.Begin this spell by saying the spell verse be-low. You will notice that the lines in the spellare set up to accommodate whether you aredoing the spell for yourself or for another.Take your time and say the spell with inten-tion.

Repeat this entire spell verse every day, atleast once a day, while the jar candle is burn-ing. Depending on your particular candle,this may be for five to nine days. Finallywhen the candle is completely burned out,close up the spell with these lines:

Allow the candle to burn in a safe placeuntil it goes out on its own. When you arefinished with the jar candle, wash it out withsaltwater to remove any lingering magick,and place the glass jar in the recycling bin.

A jar Candle Spell to Break a Hex or Curse

Here is another jar candle spell. This one is de-signed to break a hex or curse either for your-self or for another. I often receive requests for this

type of work. Keeping that in mind, I wanted topresent you with two versions of the spell. Onceagain, you will have several options to choosefrom for your essential oils. The magickal proper-ties of the suggested oils are described in the sup-ply list. Decide which oil, or combination of oils,will suit your purposes the best.

Supplies:

• One purple seven-day jar candle (purplecandles are thought to be especially potentagainst baneful magick)

• Essential oil or oils that correspond withthe protection theme of your choice; sugges-ted oils for hex breaking include rose gerani-um (for balancing and magickal defense),lavender oil (for protection), sage (for puri-fication), and vetivert oil (for protection, andit will also work in harmony with your ownessence)

• A clean dropper for the oil

• A long, thin screwdriver (to make holes in thecandle wax)

• A stick or cone of dragon's blood incense(dragon's blood drives out unwanted ener-gies and clears out negativity)

• A heatproof incense holder

• A photo of yourself or the person you areworking the spell for

• Strike matches (because you want thesmell of sulfur to sting the air, plus it adds anice punch to the protection magick)

• A safe, flat surface to set up the spell wherethe burning candle can be left for severaldays

Timing: For best results, work this spell duringa waning moon phase. Corresponding days of

the week for this are a Tuesday (Mars' day) ora Saturday (Saturn's day).

Directions: To begin, choose your purple jarcandle. Set it down on a flat surface and pokethe screwdriver's shaft straight down into thewax. Pull straight up and repeat until you havethree small channels in the candle. Thenchoose your essential oil or oils, depending onyour need, and carefully drop the oil down intothe channel. (A couple of drops in each chan-nel will do the trick.)

Set the candle down in the spot where youhave chosen, and prop the photo up againstthe candle or attach it to the candle with abit of tape. Now ground and center yourself,then strike the match and light the incense.Once the incense is smoking away nicely,wave some of the scented smoke from thedragon's blood incense around the work areaand around yourself as well. Say these lines:

Replace the incense and the holder carefully onyour altar setup. Take a moment or two to en-joy the atmosphere. When you are ready, light thepurple jar candle and begin this spell by sayingthe verse below Take your time, and say it withintention. There are two versions of this spell lis-ted. The first is to be worked for yourself; thesecond is worded to aid another.

The Spell Verse for Yourself

The Spell Verse for Another

Allow the incense to continue to burn un-til it goes out; please keep an eye on it whileit is smoking. After the incense is all ash,carefully shake the cooled ash across theoutside of your threshold. This is a symbolthat nothing with baneful intent can enteryour home or interfere with the spell while itis in progress.

Be sure to repeat the entire chosen spellverse every day at least once a day whilethe jar candle is burning. Depending on yourparticular candle, this may be for five to ninedays. Finally, when the candle is completelyburned out, close up the spell with theselines:

Please note: This hex-breaking spell candle mustremain lit continuously until it goes out on itsown. If you need to move it to a safe loca-tion while you are out of the house, then doso. I often put my jar candles inside of a largecast-iron cauldron and place the cauldron onmy brick hearth. That way, even if somehowthe candle was knocked over, the candle stayscontained within the fireproof cauldron. Some

practitioners place their jar candles inside of asink or a bathtub (away from drapes or showercurtains) or place their spell candles inside anunlit fireplace. You may have to move thecandle around a bit for a few days. I have al-ways found the magickal results to be wellworth any minor inconvenience of plotting outa safe spot for the burning spell candle.

When you are finished with the jar candle,wash it out with saltwater to remove anylingering magick, and place the glass jar inthe recycling bin.

Even in the darkness, every color can be found...

-JOSS WHEDON

Color is the perception of the frequency of light.Technically our observation of color is based onthe light absorption, reflection, and sensitivity ofthe rod and cone cells in the retina in the eyeto the different parts of the spectrum. There arethree properties of color that are discernible to thehuman eye: these are hue, saturation, and bright-ness. There are also the classic seven distinct col-ors that the human eye can identify: red, orange,yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Accord-ing to science, the wavelengths, or energies, of allthese colors are different.

Exposure to certain kinds of color can affectyour breathing rhythms and even raise your bloodpressure. Color can help with healing; its effectsmay soothe or excite, and it can also fire you upinto action. As Witches and magick users, we arealready very well aware that color and its use isa basic tool in spellcrafting. We are also attent-ive to how the colors around us can affect ourmood, our health, and our magick, for the ener-

gies evoked by color have a direct effect on ourpsyches.

Using color in your Craft is a straightforwardway to target specific magickal problems. Eachof these ten bewitching colors has a specific en-chanting application, especially when it comesto psychic protection and self-defense magick.This information may be applied to candle spells,charm bags, or altar cloths-even the cosmeticsyou paint on your face or the clothes you chooseto wear. Think outside the box and come up withnew ways to use color magick for psychic self-defense and protection magick.

Red: This dynamic color influences at a primallevel. It lifts your spirit and stimulates and gen-erates emotional intensity. Using the bright andpure color red in protection magick can help tobring you back from psychic overload, and itcan energize you when you are rundown andexhausted. Red is a passionate and courageousshade. In protection spells and charms, the col-

or red may be used in conjunction with oth-er colors to strengthen your magickal inten-tion. This is a classic color for uncrossing ma-gick, and it is a color of endurance and phys-ical strength. This primary color is tradition-ally used to represent the Goddess as the Moth-er. It is also used to correspond to the southernquarter of a ritual circle and the element of fire.

Orange: The joyful color orange has a positiveenergy and is expressed in a cheerful and in-stinctive love of life. Magickally, it brings asense of well-being, openness, spontaneity,happiness, and abundance. It can recharge yourpersonal power when you are tired, stressedout, or ill. Used for protection magick, the col-or orange can restore health and vitality.

Yellow: The illuminating color yellow brings tolight the positive qualities of self-confidenceand openness. Yellow bestows clarity andwarmth, and on a physical level it enables youto be comfortable with yourself. This is an

intellectual color that encourages communic-ation and intelligence. In protection magick,yellow can calm an exhausted nervous system,and it also promotes clear thinking. On anemotional level, this color can be used ma-gickally to restore self-confidence, and it willhelp you to rediscover the joy in life. Thisprimary color is often used to represent theeastern quarter of a magick circle, and it cor-responds to the element of air.

Green: This is the color of life. A bright and pureshade of leaf green brings tranquility and har-mony to your entire magickal self on both thepsychic and the physical levels. Green is thecolor of nature and green magick; it can en-courage relaxation, healing, and peace. In pro-tection magick, bright leaf green is consideredto be one of the more relaxing and healing ofthe enchanting colors. It can be used in ma-gick to help remove psychic toxins and to aidin physical healing from the effects of hexesand curses. The color green can help calm you

down when your nerves are shot, and it aids inrestoring both psychic and magickal balance.This lifegiving color is classically used to rep-resent a god of nature, such as the Green Man.Green also signifies the northern quarter of amagick circle, and this color corresponds to theelement of earth.

Blue: The inspirational color blue is connected tothe sea and the sky. It evokes spirituality anda sense of divinity. The primary color blue isused in psychic healing to trigger the body'sown healing abilities. In protection magick,royal blue is employed to heal spiritual andemotional trauma, as pure and brilliant shadesof blue bring tranquility and serenity. Workwith sky blue to promote self-confidence andclear thoughts. Turquoise blue will promotetranquility and protection. Clear true blue istypically used to represent the western quarterof a ritual circle. It is naturally aligned to theelement of water.

Indigo: This color is described as hypnotic andwill have a transformative effect on the body,mind, and spirit. This is the color of the psych-ic center that governs clairvoyance. This shadestimulates creativity and serenity while pro-moting confidence and tranquility. This deepsapphire color encourages intuition and protec-tion. Indigo may also be successfully incorpor-ated into psychic protection rituals, as it willallow you to see things as they truly are. It is amystical color of clear vision and gentle emo-tional healing.

Purple/Violet: This is an enchanting color andone that is perennially popular with all magickusers and psychics. In bright and clear shades,purple is a power color; it symbolizes en-lightened thoughts and a deep connection tothe spiritual realm. This makes purple a won-derful shade for an altar cloth or to hold ritualtools or tarot cards. The amethyst color canhelp you connect to Deity and will assist inkeeping you calm and in control. Bright shades

of this color (which may also be called violet),when used in protection magick, can dispelfears, anxiety, and any magickal imbalance.This is also a powerful color for counteractingbaneful magick. Purple/violet is also rumoredto balance the body's metabolism and is tradi-tionally used to grant very potent psychic pro-tection.

White: White is a purifying color. It is the color ofspirit and of the highest level of consciousness.In protection magick, working with this huewill bestow spiritual relief and peace, and itcan also clear your mind. Using icy and brightwhite in color magick will cleanse your body,mind, and spirit of any psychic tendrils andunhealthy emotional attachments. The colorwhite reflects, and it does indeed clear out anypsychic goop that you may be carting around.During the darkest times and when you arein the deepest despair, work with white forpowerful healing and protection. This snowyand brilliant color can light your way onto new

spiritual paths, and it will restore you to ahealthier balance. White can clear your mind,allowing you to have a more balanced per-spective of your world. Traditionally, white isassociated with the goddesses of the moon andthe Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess.

Gray: Gray is a color of neutrality. In nature, thiscolor is found in rain clouds and fog. It is apart of color magick and is very often underu-tilized. Gray is an excellent color to work in-to protection magick when you are unsure ofwhere the source of psychic attack or negativemagick is coming from. Mystical gray ensuresthat your protection magick travels back to thecorrect point of origin. Using smoky shadesof gray in protection magick also helps to re-inforce that you are coming from the middlegroundyour magick is neither classified as"sweetness and light" nor dark, destructive, ormalevolent. This color signifies a neutral ma-gickal energy that nullifies anything baneful.This type of color magick is meant to shut

down and stop anything that was thrown yourway, with a minimum of fuss.

Black: Black is the traditional shade employed inprotection magick. It is also popular for use inbanishing, binding, and warding magick. Thecolor black does appear in nature: the midnightsky and the deepest, richest soils are black.This is the classic shade of witchery, mystery,and magick. When you work protection ma-gick with the color black, you are actuallypulling all of the aspects of the other colors in-to this single midnight shade. The color blackabsorbs energy, and it is all other magickal col-ors combined into one. A friend of mine refersto black as the "Mac Daddy" of all protectivemagickal colors. The color black shields andprotects us. It is the color of the Crone God-dess, the underworld, and the cauldron of re-birth. Use it wisely.

Maybe you have to know the darkness before youcan appreciate the light.

-MADELEINE L'ENGLE

The following botanical ingredients are verycomplementary for protection magick. Use theherbs in their natural form, fresh or dried, to workinto protective sachets or charm bags. I simplycould not resist including some herbal magick tothis book. Personally, I often arrange fresh herbsaround the base of a spell candle, or you can growmany of these plants in the garden around yourhome for some enforced magickal protection foryour property. Here you will find the botanicalname in italics for proper identification and somefolklore on the plant. At the end of each sec-

tion, the magickal and astrological corresponden-ces are listed.

Angelica (Angelica archangelica): All parts ofthis stately garden herb are incorporated intoprotection magick, exorcisms, and psychichealing rituals. According to folklore, angelicabrings inspiration and angelic protection. An-gelica blossoms and foliage are often scatteredaround a home to repel evil and negativity. Theroots are often added to charm bags to breakspells and for protection. The planetary corres-pondence for angelica is the sun, and the ele-mental association is fire.

Cedar (Cedrus spp.): This herbal tree and its fo-liage are often worked into healing and purific-ation spells. Cedar is a popular oil that is oftenincluded in ready-made uncrossing candles.You can easily work with cedar shavings byincorporating them into fragrant charm bags,while a wand made of a fallen cedar branchis thought to be especially beneficial for pro-

tection spells. The planetary correspondence isthe sun, and the elemental association is fire.

Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens): The cypresstree, also known as Italian cypress, is a symbolfor immortality and eternity, and it has thestartling folk name of "the tree of death." Thismay be because of its link to Hecate and darkermagick, or it may simply be due to the fact thatit is a tree often found in European graveyardsand was once a popular wood with the Egyp-tians for building coffins. This tree's foliageis to be used when working with the goddessHecate. In the language of flowers, the cypresscarries the definition of "mourning." It is clas-sified as a feminine plant. Its magickal associ-ations are the planet Saturn and the element ofearth.

Hydrangea (Hydrangea spp. ): An old folk namefor this blooming shrub is "seven bark." Thehydrangea is classified as an herb. This shade-loving, blooming shrub is often overlooked

when it comes to protection magick, but it isreadily available and a wonderful addition toyour magickal gardens. The dried bark and theflowers themselves may be utilized in hex-breaking spells, to ward off negativity, and forpsychic protection magick. Interestingly, in thelanguage of flowers, the hydrangea blossomsymbolizes "moodiness." Consider the colorsof the traditional `Nikko Blue' hydran gea.Throughout the growing season, the flowerheads range in color from blue to purple, thenfade to green with a touch of burgundy in theautumn after the frost tips the flowers. Thereis a wealth of different color magicks that canalso be applied to your protection work, andall on one shrub. I would assign the moon fora planetary correspondence, since this shrubthrives in cool shade. The elemental associ-ation is definitely water.

Lavender (Lavandula spp.): Lavender is a pop-ular Witch's plant. The scent of lavender hasa healing, calming influence that soothes the

spirit. Lavender is a shielding and healing plantand a protective herb. It also has the qualitiesof banishing negativity and keeping negativethoughtforms at bay. Lavender is an herb oftransformation, so it's a perfect addition tospells and charms for protection magick andpsychic self-defense. In the language offlowers, lavender was believed to soothe atroubled heart, and this herb symbolizes devo-tion, luck, and happiness. Lavender's magick-al associations are protection and purification,and its planetary correspondence is Mercury.Its element is air.

Morning glory (Ipomoea spp.): These annualclimbing vines can grow over fifteen feet inheight in just one season. The deep blueblooms open in September, and the vines, fo-liage, and flowers may be worked into protec-tion spells and bindings. According to flori-graphy, the morning glory conveys the mes-sage of being "sustained by your affections."There are several varieties of morning glories

available to Witches today. One of my favor-ites is a variety called `Grandpa Otts'. Thismorning glory is dark purple with deeper star-shaped markings on the flowers. It is very dra-matic and witchy, plus dark purple is a greatcolor for protection spells. Finally, the magick-al associations of this blooming vine are theplanet Saturn and the element of water.

Periwinkle (Vinca minor): This plant has the en-chanting titles of sorcerer's violet and theflower of death, due to its habit of growing ongraves in cemeteries. Periwinkles bloom heav-ily in the spring and again lightly in the au-tumn. It has five-petaled purple flowers with astriking white star in the center. The vines canbe successfully worked into binding rituals.This perennial groundcover is associated withthe planet Venus and the element of water.

Pine (Pinus spp.): Pine needles burned as an in-cense can cleanse a room of any evil or negat-ive intent. The scent of fresh pine is clean and

bracing. Pine oils are often main ingredientsof hexbreaking and curse-removal oil blends.Pine needles can also be utilized on those oc-casions when you feel the need to send the at-tacking spell back to its sender. If you are in-terested, in my book Garden Witch's Herbal Ihave a "Return to Sender" spell that incorpor-ates pine needles. Finally, the pine tree is asso-ciated with the planet Mars and the element ofair.

Rose (Rosa): The rose is a classic magickalflower with all sorts of magickal applicationsbesides love spells. Rose petals included in aritual or scattered around a ritual circle makethe magick actually manifest much faster. Inother words, it speeds things up. Not only thepetals can be used in magick. It is also possibleto use the rose thorns to prick someone's con-science. Instead of using pins in a candle orpoppet, the rose thorns are used instead, tomake someone realize the consequences of badbehavior. Also, you can apply color magick

to the individual rose to fine-tune the magickeven more. These beautiful flowers are classic-ally associated with the planet Venus and theelement of water.

Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia): The rowan is alsoknown as mountain ash. All parts of the rowanare utilized in magick: the leaves, blooms,twigs, and berries. Rowan wood is used to bindmagick and magickal items of any sort. If yourecall, its use was suggested in the removal andbinding of a trouble-making Ouija board backin chapter 2. The rowan has the planetary as-sociation of the sun and the elemental corres-pondence of fire.

Rue (Ruta graveolens): Folk names include herbof grace, mother of the herbs, Ruta, Witchbane, and garden rue. In magick, rue is oftenused for hex breaking and for warding off theevil eye. Rue is also a classic herb for pro-tection magick and to increase your psychicpowers. You can easily tuck a few rue leaves or

flowers into a protective sachet. The scent ofthe plant is strong, so I would not recommendwearing the charm bag. Place it inside of apurse, briefcase, or drawer instead-just be sureto keep it out of the reach of children. Also, tobe on the safe side, women who are pregnantshould avoid contact with rue. Rue is a pop-ular herb with Italian traditional Witches, theStrega. The plant is sacred to Diana and Ara-dia. This herb is ruled by the sun. Its elementalcorrespondence is fire. Warning: Rue is a toxicplant. Brushing against the foliage may causecontact dermatitis. Do not take internally. It isalso an abortifacient.

Sage (Salvia o f ficinalis): This multi-purposeherb grants wisdom, healing, and protection.The name sage comes from the Latin word sal-vare, which means "to heal." Bundles of driedsage are traditional for smudging and forcleansing a place or person of negativity. Es-sential sage oil is popular for adding to spellcandles and incorporating into psychic healing

and protection spells. The planetary corres-pondence for sage is Jupiter, and the elementalassociation is air.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): Yarrow is oftenworked into healing spells. Holding or wearinga small posy of the blossoms of this perennialherb will protect its wearer, and it also enforcesconfidence and protection. Yarrow blossomsand foliage are used to cleanse any place orperson from negative influences. This is a clas-sic Witch's plant, as it is an all-purpose ma-gickal herb. No Witch's garden is completewithout at least one variety of yarrow. Its plan-etary corresponded is Venus, and the elementalassociation is water.

Herb Magick for Protection

In the woods, we return to reason and faith. ThereI feel that nothing can befall me in life-no dis-grace, no calamity which nature cannot repair.

-RALPH WALDO EMERSON

For a quietly powerful type of protection magickthat can be worked at any time or phase of themoon, create an herbal charm bag. Peruse the pre-vious list and choose the botanicals that most res-onate with you or that you can most easily ac-quire. For this spell, you will need to gather yourchosen herbs, a six-inch square of fabric, and co-ordinating colored ribbons to tie the bundle to-gether. (I suggest red for power, black to banishnegativity, or gray to neutralize troubles.) Or youmay prefer to use premade sheer organza bridalfavor bags. These make a good and quick altern-ative for charm bags for folks that do not sew. Seeif you can find black, red, or silvery gray favorbags.

Place your herbal ingredients inside of thepremade bag and draw the ribbons tightly togeth-er, then tie three knots. If you are using a squareof fabric, gather up each corner and make a smallbundle. Wrap the ribbon around the bundle andthen secure it with three knots. Then say:

Now hold the charm bag in the palm of yourhands and enchant the bag by infusing it withyour own personal power. Hold firmly in yourmind the image of being calmly and quietly pro-tected from any and all harm. When you feel thecharm bag starting to warm up in your hands, re-peat the spell verse:

Pocket the herbal charm bag and keep it withyou, on your person, for one month. After thetime has passed, open up the bag and return theherbal components neatly to nature. Wash thefabric and ribbons (or organza favor bag) by handand allow to air-dry so you can reuse them againat another time.

It's best to get to know stones before using themin magic.

-SCOTT CUNNINGHAM

There is a wealth of power in the earth and thestones, gems, and crystals that come from it.

Here is a quick list of some of my favorite pro-tective stones. These featured stones are typicallyeasy to find, and they are listed in alphabeticalorder and with a brief description of their ma-gickal associations. Consider how you could em-ploy these down-to-earth protective tools in yourwitchery. You could wear the stones in jewelry,tuck a few in your pocket or purse, add them toan herbal sachet bag for more power, or surrounda spell candle with the stones. There are dozensof creative and practical ways to use crystals andstones in your spellwork.

Amethyst: This gorgeous purple gemstone is apowerful and protective crystal. The amethyst

is believed to protect its wearer from psychicattack and manipulative spells and charms. Itis also a calming, healing, and stress-relievingstone. The amethyst helps bring body, mind,and spirit into a healthy balance. Its planetarycorrespondences are Jupiter and Neptune, andits element is water.

Black Tourmaline: One of the best stones for pro-tection magick, it wards off psychic attack,psychic attachments, vampirism, and negativemagick. It is a brittle stone, but natural chunksof it can be made into potent magickal jewelry.It is an incredibly powerful crystal for protec-tion work on all levels. Its planetary corres-pondence is Saturn, and its element is earth.

Bloodstone: A deep green stone with flecks ofred bleeding through, a bloodstone is used forhealing work, and it promotes both physicaland psychic health. It helps to clear out pollut-ing energy in your system and is another greatstone to work with when you are recharging

and rebuilding your personal power. Its planet-ary correspondence is Mars, and its element isfire.

Carnelian: This reddish-orange stone is the oneto work with when you are rebuilding yourpower and magickal defenses. It is a healing,restoring, and energizing stone that is oftenconnected to the root chakra. It stabilizes andstrengthens. Its planetary correspondence isthe sun, and its element is fire.

Hematite: This silvery black stone is used forgrounding and protection. It is a strengtheningstone that will enhance your courage and con-fidence. Its planetary correspondence isSaturn, and its element is fire.

Jet: Jet is actually fossilized wood, and it hasbeen used as a protective stone for centuries.Jet is a lovely black stone, and it is a popularstone along with amber in Witches' ritual jew-elry. Jet is a balancing stone. It helps promote

the wisdom of the ages, and it will help to bal-ance out turmoil in your life. It promotes sta-bility and lessens the symptoms of depression.Its planetary correspondence is Saturn, and itselement is earth.

Labradorite: This blue-gray stone is used fortransformation; it banishes fear, reduces anxi-ety, and helps remove psychic clutter fromyour life. It also allows you to remove illusionsand to see the truth. Its planetary correspond-ence is Neptune, and its element is water.

Lapis Lazuli: This dark-blue stone is flecked withgold. This stone is sacred to the goddess Isisand is known for opening up the third eye-yourpsychic vision, or clairvoyant skills. Lapislazuli has the reputation for not only repellingand blocking psychic attacks, but also reflect-ing that negativity right back to the sender.Lapis lazuli helps to restore balance betweenthe mind, body, and spirit. Its planetary corres-pondence is Venus, and its element is water.

Malachite: This gorgeous banded stone in shadesof green is used for protection. It will absorbdestructive energies and negative magick. Amalachite stone may be used to break anypsychic tendrils, links, or cords. Just rub thestone over the areas that you feel are affected.If your malachite stone should suddenly break,then it has taken all of the negativity it couldand has to shatter. This is a warning that youshould be especially careful. Its planetary cor-respondence is Venus, and its element is earth.

Onyx: An onyx stone gifts you with strength. Itwill help get you through times of trial andstress. It is rumored to help you keep silent,and it is a classic stone to stop hexes, ward offcurses, and block intentional and unintentionalpsychic attack. Its planetary correspondence isMars, and its element is fire.

Snowflake Obsidian: This is actually molten lavathat has cooled so quickly that it did not have achance to crystallize. All obsidian is very pro-

tective. The snowflake obsidian has mottledwhite patches on the stone that look like snow-flakes against a night sky. This type of obsidianin particular is a calming stone. It helps tosoothe frayed nerves, alleviate stress, and calmyour worries. It also helps you to celebrateand to learn from all of the lessons life handsto you. Its planetary correspondence is Saturn,and its element is fire.

Tiger's-Eye: A classic protective brown stonewith golden-colored stripes, this stone is usedas a talisman to block and deflect the evil eyeand curses in general. This is an earthy stoneand can help you to feel reconnected, rooted,and stable even during the toughest times.Tiger's-eye boosts your confidence and canhelp you overcome any blocks in creativity. Itcan lessen despair and lift your spirits. It's agreat all-around and affordable stone for pro-tective and cheerful bracelets, necklaces, andearrings. Its planetary correspondence is thesun, and its element is fire.

Turquoise: This blue-green stone is well knownfor its healing and emotionally protective prop-erties. A gorgeous stone, turquoise is popularfor jewelry; it is typically set in silver. Tur-quoise is a purification stone. It pushes awaynegativity and is thought to represent the unityof earth and heaven, male and female. This isa great stone to work with if you are feelingexhausted or are prone to anxiety or panic at-tacks, as it will help to soothe your fears andlet you begin to heal. It bestows tranquilityupon its wearer. Its planetary correspondenceis Venus, and its element is earth.

Crystal Spell for Protection

Read the following directions carefully and de-cide for yourself how you can personalize thiscrystal spell to make it more powerfully unique.

Timing: There are two days of the week that aremost opportune for protection magick: Tues-

day, which corresponds to the god of war,Mars, and Saturday, which links to the godof karma, Saturn. You may work the spell ineither a waxing or a waning moon phase. If themoon is waxing, then pull protection towardyourself. If the moon is waning, then push neg-ativity away from yourself. Should you chooseto work this spell on a full moon, tap intothat incredible boost of a full moon's magickalpower. Lastly, if it is a new moon, then workwith the hidden powers of the dark moon toquietly and secretly strengthen the protectionmagick.

Supplies:

• A small round mirror

• One black candle

• A coordinating style of candle holder

• Lighter or matches

• Your altar, or a safe, flat surface to set upthe spell

• Your favorite protective stones from thelist above (or use any protective stones thatyou have already)

Directions: Set the candle and its holder on topof the mirror. Arrange the stones in a circlearound the mirror and candle holder. Take afew moments to visualize that you are groun-ded and centered. See yourself sending stabil-izing roots deep down into the earth. Breathedeeply and slowly, and relax. Push any un-wanted or discordant energy out of your sys-tem and into the earth, where it will be harm-lessly neutralized.

Next, pull up new, healthy, and stabilizingenergy from the earth, and allow it to fill youup, strengthen, and empower you. Focus onthis energy and pull it straight into your cen-ter. Imagine it glowing there, a nice warm

ball of light, awaiting your command to re-lease its magick out into the world to createprotection and positive change.

Now light the candle and repeat the spellverse:

Calmly, release that ball of light built inyour center out into the world. Then close upthe spell with these lines:

Allow the candle to burn out on its own ina safe place. After the candle is spent, pock-

et the stones and keep them with you for oneweek. Blessed be.

Weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continueddark overnight, with widely scattered light bymorning.

-GEORGE CARLIN

The darkness is nothing to dread-not when youare armed with sensible information and theknowledge of how to protect yourself. You dohave options and opportunities to turn any chal-lenging situation into something positive and lifeaffirming. This chapter, for example, has beenstuffed full of practical candle, color, crystal, andherbal magick for you to incorporate into yourpractices.

Don't forget to refer to all of the previouschapters on psychic protection and magickal self-defense. Perform those rituals, do the exercises,and work on developing your magickal andpsychic awareness of both the light and the darkenergies that are at play within your life. Evokethe elements when you need to find your balanceagain. Identify and correct your weaknesses, andrecognize and celebrate your individual psychicpowers and magickal talents. This book can showyou how to work from a place of neutrality andstrength, no matter what life throws at you.

But that is not all. As a bonus, there are evenmore correspondences, protection spells, andrituals to be found in chapter 9. These will giveyou additional options and ideas with which youcan conjure up your own personal style of pro-tective magick. I am sure you will find it veryuseful.

While we have definitely entered the territoryof a darker shade of witchery, there is nothing

here to fear-not when we stand strong and arewilling to be responsible for our own magickalactions. Let's look around ourselves in awarenessand then react with humility, grace, and wisdom.

The path is sure. Let your magick light theway.

Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it.Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

-JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

To CLOSE OUT this book, here is some finalpractical information that I thought would come inhandy for you. You will soon discover that I havethis information set up so you can take it and im-mediately apply it to your witchery and spellcraft.After each bit of information, an accompanyingspell or ritual is provided.

To begin, here are the classic daily corresponden-ces. These illustrate what the magickal theme forthe day is. Also refer to page 16z's "Daily Tim-ing" for more ideas on incorporating the individual

days of the week into your protection magick.Following this is a ritual that incorporates all ofthe energies from each day of the week.

Sunday: Planetary influence-Sun. Colors-gold and yellow. Magickal applications-suc-cess, fame, and wealth.

Monday: Planetary influence-Moon. Colors-silver and white. Magickal applications-glamour, illusion, and women's mysteries.

Tuesday: Planetary influence-Mars. Colors-red and black. Magickal applications-pas-sion, courage, and banishing fear.

Wednesday: Planetary influence-Mercury.Colors-purple and orange. Magickalapplications-communication, travel, andchange.

Thursday: Planetary influence-Jupiter.Colors-royal blue and green. Magickalapplications-healing and prosperity

Friday: Planetary influence-Venus. Colors-pink and aqua. Magickal applications-love,romance, and family.

Saturday: Planetary influence-Saturn.Colors-black and dark purple. Magickalapplications-protection, banishing, and re-moving negativity.

Putting Negative Energy and jealousy to theGround: A RITUAL

0! Beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feedson.

-SHAKESPEARE, Othello

It happens; I'd love to tell you it does not, butthere are times when you will deal with anotherperson's jealousy and envy. If you are empathic,or you are an especially sensitive Witch, havingthese feelings directed toward you can be debil-itating, especially when they come from friendswho should be happy for you and your successbut instead are eaten up by their own feelingsof inadequacy. Jealousy and envy are ugly emo-tions. To say that they are unhealthy is a bit of anunderstatement, as these destructive feelings aredamaging not only for the individual who is ex-periencing them, but also for the person who is onthe receiving end.

Earlier in this book, I mentioned that some-times your best bet is to put baneful magick andnegative psychic energy to the ground instead ofjust "sending it back." Well, here is some practic-al magick that does exactly that; this ritual putsthat energy and/or magick straight to the ground.Best of all, this ritual incorporates all of the be-

witching energies of each of the seven days of theweek.

Timing and Directions: This spell is best per-formed outdoors. Also, like many spells thatdiminish negative effects, I recommend work-ing this ritual during a waning moon phase.

To begin, perform one of the elementalsolutions for psychic attack that were fea-tured in chapter z; choose the elemental curethat resonates most closely with you. (Thesebegin on page 40.) After you have done that,you may continue with the ritual.

Supplies:

• A tall, clear drinking glass filled halfwaywith tap water

• Green food coloring

• An outdoor space in the garden or yardwhere you can pour the water on the ground

• 7 white tealight candles (to represent eachday of the bewitching week)

• 7 clear glass candle holders (to keep thetealight flames safely protected and con-tained)

• A lighter

To begin, arrange the tealight candles intheir glass holders on the ground in a largecircle. Make sure you leave plenty of spacefor you to walk safely between the candles.Also, please remember to be very carefulwith open flames around grass and leaves!Be smart and safe with outdoor candles.

Once your circle of seven candles hasbeen arranged, step inside with the othersupplies and have a seat or kneel on theground. Now, set the water-filled glass andfood coloring carefully to the side, and begin

to light the seven candles, one at a time, untilyou are surrounded by their light.

Each candle represents a day of the weekand its magick. As you light the first candle,say the first line. Continue with the nextcandle and each line until you finish withSaturday's seventh candle.

Take a moment and center yourself. Tap intoyour inner wisdom, find your sense of humilityand responsibility, and continue with this verse:

Now pick up the glass and add several drops ofthe green food coloring to the water. Set the foodcoloring to the side. Stand up inside of the circleof candles and begin to carefully swirl the glassaround until the water turns a shade of green.

While you do so, visualize that any spite, envy,or jealousy that is being unfairly directed at youbecomes incorporated into that green water. Donot become angry; just let that swirling waterdraw all of the negativity into itself. If you findyourself releasing any hurt feelings by crying, letyourself shed a few healing tears. Continue to

swirl the liquid around, watching it change fromclear to green. Once it is mixed, stop swirling thewater, and hold the water glass in both hands outin front of you and repeat the spell verse:

Now carefully step out of the circle ofcandles a few feet, and pour the green waterneatly onto the ground. Take your time.Don't fling the water aside; instead, lean for-ward and pour it straight out and into theearth, where it will be absorbed and anyenergy or magick can harmlessly dissipate.Then stand up straight, and close the spell bysaying:

Return to the circle of candles and havea seat on the ground. Set the empty glassaside. Place both of your hands flat upon theearth and draw up some stabilizing, healingenergy. Stay there as long as you like andallow yourself time to heal your own emo-tions and psychic senses, and begin to re-cover. When you are ready, extinguish thecandles, place your palms flat upon the earthone final time, and say these lines to closeyour ritual:

Clean up your supplies and take thecandles back inside. If you like, you can re-light the tealight candles once you are in-doors and allow them to burn out while you

keep an eye on them. Wash out the drinkingglass that you use with salted water to re-move any lingering magick, and then finallywash the glass with dish soap before you useit again.

Notes: If you are limited to performing this spellindoors for any reason, then I suggest insteadof using a clear glass that you put the water ina cup with a lid on it. When you get to the partwhere you leave the circle of candles, stop andextinguish those flames, as you will be leavingthem unattended.

Then go and take the water-filled cup toa park and quietly continue the spell fromthere. Once you return home, you may re-light the candles if you wish. You may haveto improvise and adapt the spell to your ownneeds, but I am sure you will come up withsomething clever if you just put your mindto it. Blessed be.

Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which henever shows to anybody.

-MARK TWAIN

First Quarter: (from the new moon to the waxinghalf moon) The waxing moon phase is classic-ally associated with the Maiden Goddess andfresh starts. Look to the western sky to seethis moon set in early evenings. Your person-al psychic energy will be building now, andyou will notice that you are more sympatheticand sensitive to other people's emotions at thistime. Awaken your intuition and become moreaware of the psychic activity that is aroundyou. This is an auspicious time to work on es-tablishing good, healthy boundaries. Now putthis information to use in clever ways.

This lunar phase is a magickal time ofbeginnings, growth, and creativity. As themoon grows fuller each night, this lunarphase is used to pull positive changes to-ward you. The waxing first quarter moon isthe occasion to celebrate freedom, growth,the learning process, health, and to acknow-ledge your inner potential. Classically, thisis also the time to pull positive changes, newfriendships, and positive opportunities intoyour life, for as the moon grows larger, sowill your magickal goals manifest.

Second Quarter: (from the waxing half moon tothe full moon) This phase is associated withthe Goddess as a huntress, pathfinder, spellspinner, and creator. During this lunar phase,emotions and instincts are heightened. Youwill notice that precognitive dreams, empathy,intuition, and clairvoyance will peak as the fullmoon grows closer. Ride this natural psychic

tide and turn up the volume on your psychictalents; see what they show you.

During this lunar phase, protection spellswill come to fruition swiftly, especially ifthey are straightforward, practical, andheartfelt. All of the magickal topics listed inthe first quarter are complementary in thislunar period as well. This week-long phaseis ripe with potential and all about possibil-ities. Also keep in mind that the closer youcan cast your spells to the actual date of thefull moon, the more power and oomph yourprotection witchery will actually have.

Full Moon: (the full moon phase lasts for threedays: the night before the full moon, the dayof the full moon, and the night after the fullmoon) Typically, the Goddess at the full moonis portrayed as the loving and fertile mother.She is wise, beautiful, generous, and compas-

sionate. However, I would like to remind youthat all mothers will protect their children fero-ciously. If you mess with someone's kids, theirmother will find a way to take you down per-sonally. What would possibly make you thinkthat the Mother Goddess would be any dif-ferent? So keep that type of energy in mindwhile working protection magick. Call on theGoddess as the Mother for protection, and thenleave the details up to her. She can be very,very creative in the defense of her children.

The full moon is an awesome all-purposemagickal lunar phase, and the sky is the lim-it. The best magickal tip to remember is thatthe full moon is all about tapping into oneof the biggest jolts of power that is availablefor each month.

Third Quarter: (from the second night after thefull moon to the waning half moon) I associate

this phase of the moon with the Goddess in herdark sorceress/bad-ass chick persona. Whenthe moon begins to wane, it ushers in a power-ful time of internal energy and an opportunityto quietly look within. Focus on those dreams,visions, instincts, and gut hunches. If you areclairaudient, pay particular attention to yourinternal messages right now If there are situ-ations to be dealt with, you can discover themnow. All psychic energy is focused within. Bestill, listen carefully, and see what you learn.

This is the best lunar phase to banish yourown fears, to put to the ground someoneelse's jealousy or envy of you, to push awayillness, and to smoothly dissolve relation-ships and friendships that you have out-grown. This is a prime lunar phase to pushpassive-aggressive bullies and emotional orpsychic vampires out of your life as well.

Work magick in the third quarter to re-move depression, bad dreams, disease, neg-

ativity, and any obstacles that you are fa-cing. Now is also the time to carefully dis-solve problems and to work uncrossing ma-gick. Cast out troubles in the healthiest waypossible for all concerned. Remember thatas the moon wanes, the situation or problemwill dissipate too.

Fourth Quarter: (from the waning half moon tothe dark of the moon) As the moon becomessmaller in the evening sky, this time of thewaning moon is associated with the Goddessas the wise Crone. During this lunar phase, youmay notice that your psychic talents either takea vacation or come roaring out to play. I per-sonally have always found that psychic abil-ities such as empathy, mediumship, and psy-chometry are more pronounced at this time.Power is focused internally now, and this is thelunar phase that is complementary for person-al spellwork that releases old self- images and

that works to drive out fears and any unhealthyhabits from your life.

Magickally, now is the occasion to tackleserious issues, such as extreme protectionmagick, bindings, or banishings, and to keepaway criminals, prowlers, or stalkers. This isalso the prime time to neutralize baneful ma-gick and to break hexes and curses. Castingyour spells in the final days of the moon'scycle, the dark of the moon (when the moonis not visible at all), will increase the forcebehind your uncrossing, banishing, or hex-breaking magick. This final phase of themoon is often linked to the darker aspects ofthe Crone Goddess, when she is a wise andpowerful spiritual warrior.

Dark of the Moon Ritual:

EVOKING NEPTHYS FOR PSYCHICPROTECTION

This is a psychic protection ritual designed tobe worked in a solitary fashion. Truthfully, someof the most intense and powerful magick youwill ever perform will be done solo. This ritualinvolves evoking (calling upon) the goddessNepthys (see page 198 for more information onher). To be clear, you are not invoking (callingDeity within yourself), you are evoking-callingDeity to be present at your working and to helpyou.

Timing and Supplies: Definitely work thisritual during a waning moon phase, asNepthys is most easily reached then.

• An indigo-colored votive candle (it willburn about 4-5 hours)

• A complementary votive candle cup(votive candles turn to liquid right away;you definitely need the proper candle cupfor this or you will have wax all over youraltar)

• Tumbled stones of sugilite or blue gold-stone (these correspond with Nepthys)

• A dried lotus pod (check the dried flowersat an arts and crafts store)

• A picture of Nepthys (check the Internetand print out a nice depiction of this deity;Nepthys has a tall basket on her head thatis her hieroglyph-if it is the throne symbol,then the deity is Isis; both Nepthys and Isishave wings, so look at the depictions care-fully)

• Lighter or matches

• Your altar or a safe, flat surface to set upthis spell

Directions: Arrange the altar to your liking. I sug-gest setting the tumbled stones and the lotuspod around the outside of the candle holder.Place the depiction of Nepthys in front of the

candle holder, where you can easily see it.Ground and center yourself; be mentally readyto work the ritual.

Now light the candle. Visualize thatNepthys is standing directly behind you.Don't turn and look if you feel a presence,just trust in this deity and take pleasure inthe experience. Now that you feel her near,imagine that she takes you gently into herarms and wraps her dark wings completelyaround you. Take a few moments and enjoythe sensation of protection and love. You aresafe from any psychic attacks and negativ-ity. Enjoy her blessings while you are withinher arms. Now repeat the spell verse:

Remember, this is an evocation: by call-ing this goddess's presence to your side, youmay notice some physical manifestations.For example, you may feel cooler or warm-er, or it may feel as if someone has theirarm draped across your shoulders. Enjoy thesensation and the feeling of security andstrength that she brings to you for the nextfew hours. Go about your business, and keepan eye on that spell candle. You will contin-ue to feel Nepthys by your side for as longas that indigo candle is burning.

When the candle goes out in a few hours,return to your altar and pick up the picture of

Nepthys. Look at it carefully, and thank herin your own words for her assistance today.Now formally ask Nepthys to depart by say-ing these lines:

Clean up your supplies and store the lotuspod. Save that picture of Nepthys and addit to your Book of Shadows, or tuck it in aframe as a memento to be used at anothertime. Pocket the tumbled stones that werearound the candle holder, and keep themwith you for one week. They will help re-inforce the psychic protection. Having hadNepthys at your side for a few hours willmake you wiser and more confident, andable to handle any situations. Blessed be.

The glorious gifts of the gods are not to be castaside.

-HOMER

Here is some information on thirteen protectivedeities for you to call upon as you design and castspells of your own creation. You will find a bit ofinformation on the pantheon and the deities' spe-cialties. Also, there are associated colors and, ifapplicable, stone, crystal, metal, and herbal cor-respondences to be used in their magick as well.

Anubis (Egyptian): The jackal-headed god. Anu-bis is the gatekeeper to the underworld, a pro-tector and a guardian. Anubis can walk withyou during challenging magickal situations.He can help to remove fear so you can find thecourage to do what needs to be done. Colors:green and black. Crystals and stones: malachiteand nebula. Herb: myrrh.

Artemis (Greek): The Maiden Goddess of thecrescent moon and the hunt, Artemis leads thehunt with her wild women. Artemis can teachyou to be brave and courageous no matter whatgets thrown your way. She is known for actingquickly and decisively to protect and rescuethose who call on her for aid. She is swift topunish offenders, even though she detests viol-ence itself. She a protector of women in child-birth and of mothers and their children. Co-lors: silver and white. Metal: silver. Crystalsand stones: moonstone, labradorite, and selen-ite. Herb: mugwort, also known as artemesia.

Hecate (Greco-Roman): The triple-faced, torch-bearing goddess of the crossroads. A deity ofchoices, endings, and beginnings, Hecate iscalled the Phantom Queen and is a patronessand protector of Witches. She may appear as abeautiful young woman, an attractive matron,or a wise old crone. Hecate is a powerful andno-nonsense deity to work protection magickwith. While she has always been associated

with darker magick and curses, she is also in-credible for calling upon her assistance in turn-ing back and stopping baneful magick. You canalways tell when Hecate is near, as dogs willbegin to howl and the wind will blow Colors:black, green, and silver. Crystals and stones:snowflake obsidian and onyx. Herbs: lavenderand willow.

Horus (Egyptian): The falcon-headed son of Isisand Osirus. Horus is associated with both thesky and the sun, and he is the patron of mattersof law and justice. Naturally, the falcon islinked with this deity. He is a powerhouse ofwarrior god-type energy. Horus is the protectorof Egypt, and his symbol, the Eye of Horus, isa classic protective symbol. Colors: gold andwhite. Crystals and stones: fire opal, citrine,and sunstone. Herb: sunflower.

Isis (Egyptian): The supreme Egyptian MotherGoddess, Isis is a winged high priestess of ma-gick and enchantment. Her area of expertise

is magick-all kinds of magick-and she is veryprotective of her devotees. Her other special-ties include magick for marriage, family, divin-ation, and protection. The cow is her sacredanimal, and one of her magickal symbols isthe full moon. Isis is typically depicted with athrone on top of her head, which is her hiero-glyph. Colors: white and deep blue. Crystalsand stones: red chalcedony, lapis lazuli, andazurite. Herbs: water lily and lotus.

Kali (Hindu): The "Great Protector" and champi-on of women in peril. Call on Kali if you arein physical danger, and she will come to as-sist you. Over the years, I have heard manystories about women who called on Kali whenthey were in danger, and each time somethingamazing happened. I must caution you to in-voke her only in extreme situations. Kali isn'tthe one to call on if you are feeling pissy orjust having a bad day. She is a force of natureand is called "the Destroyer"-keep that firmly

in mind. Colors: black and red. Crystals andstones: jet and garnet.

Lilith (Sumerian): The divine lady owl and ulti-mate femme fatale. Lilith is often thought of asa beautiful vampire. She is seductive, power-ful, and dangerous, but if you need help fend-ing off unwanted psychic vampires, she's justthe deity to call on. The screech owl is her sac-red animal. Colors: red and black. Crystals andstones: carnelian and obsidian. Herb: deep red,thorny roses.

The Morrigan (Celtic): The Morrigan is intense.This is a goddess of bloodlust, revenge, andprophecy, and she reigns over the battlefield.She is a ferocious, vengeful, frightening, chal-lenging goddess, but in the best possible way.She will challenge both you and your fears andany preconceived notions you may hold of her.She is a berserker's rage, the washer at the ford,and the Bean Sidhe, all rolled into one. Ravensand crows are her sacred birds, and remember,

these are carrion eaters, not just witchy blackbirds. The Morrigan will test you constantly,and she demands both a healthy amount of fearand respect. Colors: blood red and black. Crys-tals and stones: bloodstone and garnet.

Nepthys (Egyptian): The green-eyed dark sisterof Isis, Nepthys is called the Revealer, and shecan help you discover what would remain hid-den. Nepthys is excellent for darker magick,general protection, and psychic self-defense.She can show you your shadow side and teachyou how to accept yourself as you truly are.Nepthys is best called during a waning moon,and her energy is similar to Isis, just a bit dark-er and more intense. Nepthys is always depic-ted with a basket on a stand on top of her head.Color: midnight blue. Crystals and stones: su-gilite and blue goldstone. Herb: lotus.

Sekhmet (Egyptian): Sekhmet is the lion-headedgoddess associated with Upper Egypt. She wascalled "the Terrible One," "She Who Is Power-

ful," and the "Eye of Ra" while she was in herprotector form. A mighty solar goddess of fire,power, destruction, and war, her breath createdthe desert. She is an extremely protective deityand an excellent goddess to call upon if youfeel you are under psychic attack. Sekhmet willcome roaring to your aid so long as you are re-spectful of her power. Colors: red and black.Crystals and stones: red or brown tiger's-eye.

Shiva (Hindu): The lord of sweeping change. Callon Shiva if you need change to come rightaway. He will dance into your life and clearthings out quickly. just be sure to be very spe-cific with what your magickal goals are andwhat you actually need removed from yourlife. Symbols for Shiva include the crescentmoon and the trident. Colors: red and white.Stone: Shiva Lingam.

Thor (Norse): The everyman's god. Thor is agreat warrior and is thought to admire acts ofbravery and courage. Thor likes a good fight

and is always happy to lend his aid to people inneed. This is a beloved god and one who genu-inely loves his people. Thursday is named afterhim; it is literallyThor's day. The lightning boltand the hammer are his symbols. Colors: sil-ver, red, and yellow Crystals and stones: gran-ite, quartz, and slate.

Zeus (Greek): The leader of the Olympians anda storm bringer, Zeus is a powerhouse of en-ergy and magick. He can grant wisdom, cun-ning, and protection if you approach him re-spectfully and honestly. His symbols are thelightning bolt and the eagle. Colors: white andgold. Metal: gold. Crystal: amber (I suggest thefossilized resin amber, as it is known to hold anelectrical charge).

Coven Protection Magick with Hecate

The Earth began to bellow, Trees to dance Andhowling dogs in glimmering light advance, EreHecate came.

-VIRGIL, The Aeneid

Here is a protection ritual for your coven. Theremay come a time when you have to clean house.If members have been removed or have left forpersonal reasons with harsh words, or if troublesarise that are directed at your group, this will helpto protect your entire coven and their loved ones.

This ritual calls on Hecate, who has manytitles, including Patroness and Guardian ofWitches. The basic instructions are here, but thisritual does allow you room to personalize this toyour specific coven and your own group prac-tices.

Timing, Directions, and Suggested Supplies: Thisspell is best cast during the waning moon, ordark of the moon, to remove any troublesome

energy that may be lingering around the group.To begin, I suggest setting up a central altardevoted to Hecate. Cover the table with prettyfabric in a dark, bewitching shade. Items thatcorrespond with Hecate are black candles, old-fashioned metal keys, iron cauldrons, and pho-tos of black dogs. The following herbs are allassociated with the goddess Hecate: cedar,cypress, dandelions, garlic, lavender, mint,mugwort, palm, peony, pomegranate, thyme,and willow.

You may need a large card table to ar-range everything to your liking. Take yourtime, and make the altar bewitching, attract-ive, and personal for your group. I suggestplacing a large cauldron in the center of thealtar and filling it full of candles; get someatmosphere going. You can choose whatevercandle colors you think will be most benefi-cial (refer to chapter 8 for suggested colorsfor protection magick).

In addition, have every member of thecoven bring a representation of Hecate andcontribute to the altar setup; this should def-initely be a group effort. Other items that aregood to include on the altar are photos of thecurrent members of the coven and photos oftheir family and pets. If you have a covenlogo or coven jewelry, include that on youraltar setup as well. All of these images anditems will help to link the protection magickstraight back to the coven and their lovedones.

Once the altar is set up and you havecandles flickering, gather in a circle aroundthe altar and cast your ritual circle together.

Quarter Calls:

(EAST) Hecate Phosphorus, the light bringer,shed your illumination and magich down on usall.

(SOUTH) Hecate Trevia, triple faced, protect usalways in the winter, spring, summer, and fall.

(WEST) Hecate Nyketerian, lady of the night,Queen of the Witches, guide our hands andhearts.

(NORTH) Mighty Hecate, protect our coven'sgood name as we grow together in the magickalarts.

Casting the Ritual Circle: Now start in the easternquarter and have the first person take the handof the person to their left, and say:

Then the second person repeats this asthey take the hand of the person to their left-and around the circle of members this goes,one at a time, until everyone has spoken theline and you have gone completely aroundthe circle clockwise. Once the last hand is

clasped and you are all holding hands, thensay in unison:

You may release hands. Next, the evoc-ation is spoken. All of the coven membersshould say this together.

Evocation:

We call upon the Triple Goddess Hecate toguard, protect, and defend the members of thiscoven and our reputations. No spell or curse, nospoken phrase, no written word, email, or phonecall shall harm us, our name, or the coven wehave built.

To any who wish harm to us individually or tothe entire coven, may their negative and spitefulactions be nullified. May their bitter words turnagainst them, showing the community for whothey truly are.

May Hecate herself defend, protect, and keepall of our coven members and our families safefrom any and all psychic or magickal harm. Hec-ate help us to be successful, to stand in strength,and to travel our magickal path together. Let theteachings and practices of our coven bring illu-mination, joy, and wisdom to us all in the bestpossible way.

Now raise energy as your coven typically does.You may choose to spiral dance, hum, or clasphands again and build the energy higher and high-er. Once the energy has peaked, release it by toss-ing your hands up to the sky. Now all of the mem-bers should say together:

Sink to the earth, and ground and center. Aftera bit, share cakes and ale according to your cov-en's own practices. While you are all chatting andrelaxing, keep the conversation upbeat and posit-

ive. Don't bring any talk of old hurts or negativityback into this ritual. When the cakes and ale arefinished, stand up and release the quarters, thistime starting in the north and moving widdershins(counterclockwise).

(NORTH) Mighty Hecate, we thank you for yourpurpose and your strength. Blessed be.

(WEST) Hecate Nyketerian, we thank you foryour loving assistance this night. Blessed be.

(SOUTH) HecateTrevia, ruler of the earth, sky,and sea, we thank you for your courage and con-viction. Blessed be.

(EAST) Hecate Phosphorus, we thank you foryour illuminating presence and wisdom withinour lives. Blessed be.

Thank Hecate and open the circle by saying thefollowing as a group:

The ritual is finished. May your coven or circlebe blessed.

Stand in the light when you want to speak out.

-CROW PROVERB

Amulet: A type of herbal charm, ornament, or jew-el that aids and protects its wearer.

Baneful magick: A modern term for malevolentmagick that is used to manipulate, harm, orcause injury.

Banishing: A magickal act that removes (banishes)negativity or baneful magick from your life.

Boundaries: Personal boundaries are the physical,emotional, and mental limits we establish toprotect ourselves from being manipulated,used, or hurt by others.

Charge: To fill or imbue an object with magickalenergy.

Charm: A rhyming series of words or a simplespell used for specific magickal purposes.

Charm bag: Similar to a sachet, a charm bag isa small cloth bag filled with aromatic herbs,charged crystals, and other magickal ingredi-ents. Charm bags may be carried for any ma-gickal purpose: health, safe travel, protection,to increase your confidence, and so on.

Circle: An informal group of Wiccans or Witcheswho study and practice magick together.

Clairaudience: Clear hearing. This involves thereception of extrasensory signals such as aword, a sound, or a phrase. Often associatedwith telepathy, which is the ability of hearinganother person's thoughts. The best way to de-scribe clairaudience is that you are hearing

what is not spoken or that you are "hearingbetween the lines."

Clairvoyance: Clear seeing. The ability to seepast, present, and future. In the old days, aclairvoyant was referred to as a seer. A clair-voyant sees images and pictures that may besymbolic, or they can be as intense as watchinga miniature psychic movie scene (a vision) in-side the clairvoyant's mind.

Correspondence chart: A listing of what items arecompatible in magickal use and will work inharmony with each other. For example, deities,days of the week, herbs, colors, and crystals allhave magickal correspondences.

Correspondences: A magickal classification sys-tem of interrelations by which all things arecategorized.

Coven: A group of Wiccans or Witches who prac-tice magick and worship together, with formal-

ized rules, degree systems, training, and ritualpractices.

Craft: The Witch's name for the Old Religion andpractice of Witchcraft.

Curse: A magickal working intended to bring badluck, sickness, or injury to its target.

Dabbler: A person with no real spiritual practiceswho is simply playing at (or dabbling) with theCraft.

Elements: The four natural elements are earth,air, fire, and water.

Emotional vampires (emo-vamps): People whoare emotionally needy. Living in a constantstate of drama, they demand unhealthyamounts of attention and affection. These arehuman beings who literally feed upon the at-tention and emotional energy of others.

Empathy: Also known as clairsentience. An em-path is a person who can physically or psych-ically "tune in" to the emotional experiences ofa person or place. They sense attitudes, emo-tions, and sometimes human ailments.

Enchantment: A spell. An act of magick. Thisword is often used interchangeably for theword spell.

Evocation: In magickal terms, an evocation iscalling a deity to be present by your side asyour honored guest while you are working ma-gick.

Garden Witch: A practical, down-to-earth type ofmagickal practitioner. A Garden Witch is wellversed in herbal knowledge and its uses, and isa magickal gardener.

Gargoyle: Technically, gargoyles are defined asonly architectural rainspouts for buildings,while a grotesque is used for decorative pur-

poses and has no other function besides an or-namental one. However, for magickal applic-ations, a gargoyle is considered to be a pro-tective type of spirit. Gargoyles offer defenseand are a sort of magickal guardian that is pre-served in stone. See chapter 6.

Green magick: A practical, nature-based systemof the Craft that focuses on a reverence for thenatural world, the individual's environment,and the plants and herbs that are indigenous tothe area. Herbal and natural magick are essen-tial to green magick.

Gut hunch: A tightening in the solar plexus areaof the body. Typically, gut hunches are connec-ted to intuition and the receiving of psychic im-pressions.

Herb: A plant that is used for medicine, food,flavoring, or scent. Any part of the plant-theroots, stem, bark, leaves, fits, seeds, orflowers-may be used for such purposes. An

herb may be a tree, shrub, woody perennial,flower, annual, or fern.

Herbalism: Also known as herbal magick. Theuse of herbs in conjunction with magick tobring about positive change and transforma-tion.

Hex: Classically, this word has been defined aspracticing Witchcraft. Today, if someone istalking about a hex, they are typically referringto affecting another person by means of a bane-ful spell.

Hex sign: The hex sign is a Pennsylvania Dutch-type of art and craft with a colorful, controver-sial magickal history. The type of art found inthe hex sign is bright, colorful, and full of fas-cinating and magickal symbols. See chapter 6.

Intuition: A quick and ready insight and imme-diate apprehension or cognition-the good old-fashioned gut hunch. This ability is sometimes

referred to as prophetic knowing. In thesimplest terms, you just know.

Invocation: In magick, an invocation is the draw-ing in of a deity's essence into your own body;it is also called aspecting or drawing down theGod or Goddess. To invoke is where you take adeity into yourself; in other words, divine pos-session.

Magick: The combination of your own personalpower that is used in harmony with natural ob-jects such as herbs, crystals, and the elements.Once these are combined and your goal is fo-cused upon, typically by the act of repeatingthe spell verse and the lighting of a candle orcreating an herbal charm, the act of magickthen creates a positive change.

Natural magick: A stye of magick that works inharmony with the various powers of the naturalworld and four elements of earth, air, fire, andwater.

Psychic attack: The unconscious or purposefulfocusing of psychic or mental energies to bringemotional harm to another individual.

Psychic detox: This is a way to cleanse your sys-tem of psychic goop and negativity. See thepsychic detox spell in chapter 4.

Psychic protection: An active way to protectyourself from other people's thoughts, feelings,and psychic energy.

Psychic shield: One of the many tools availablefor psychic and magickal protection. Seechapter 4.

Psychic vampires (psi-vamps): People who takeenergy from others; they either have learnedhow or have natural capacities for taking en-ergy from others and then using that acquiredenergy to raise up their own personal energylevels. There are three types of psi-vamps: un-intentional (unknowing or accidental); inten-

tional uninvited (deliberate or predatory); andinvited, who only feed with permission, withtheir donor being both aware and willing.

Psychometry: The psychic reading of an objector place by touch. This talent is linked to em-pathy.

Rune: A sign or a character in any of the runicfutharks. Runes are figures from an ancient al-phabet that are used as a divinatory system,and the symbols are often used in spellcraft forwarding or protection magick. (See chapter 6.)

Spell: A spell is a series of rhyming words thatverbally announce the spellcaster's intention.When these spoken words are combined withspecific actions such as lighting a candle, cre-ating an amulet, or gathering an herb, this isthen worked in harmony with the tides ofnature and, combined with the spellcaster'spersonal energy, makes the magickal act en-

dowed with the power to create positivechange.

Spell begging: Just what it sounds like: when aperson nags, begs, or pleads for another per-son to do spells for them. Typically, this is be-cause the spell beggar is personally frightenedby magick, too lazy to do the research, or lack-ing the confidence to stand up, make a change,and to do the magickal work required to actu-ally fix his or her own problems.

Uncrossing: The magickal removal of roadblocksin your life. Uncrossing magick is typicallydone to straighten out spiritual problems.

Warding: To magickally defend and protect yourhome, possessions, or place of employment. Amagickal alarm system of sorts.

Wicca: A Neopagan earth religion. Its followersgenerally believe in harming no one with theirmagick. Wiccans follow and celebrate the sea-

sons and cycles of the year, and see the Divineas both masculine and feminine.

Wiccan Rede: The absolute rule that Wiccans liveby. States "Do as you will, harm none."

Witch: A practitioner of magick. A Witch maynot necessarily be a Wiccan. That being said,most Witches will work their magick from aplace of neutrality. Witches know and acceptthat they are fully accountable and responsiblefor all of their actions, on both the mundaneand the magickal levels.

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Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTSINTRODUCTIONPractical Protection MagickThe MagicianThe High Priestess: A Study in NeutralityExploring the Middle GroundWhat You Will Find in This BookBeginning the journey soPsychic Awareness and WitcheryPsychic Awareness: A Little Something You Did

Not Learn in Wicca sosPsychic Talents: Discover YoursCLAIRAUDIENT QUIZEMPATHIC QUIZINTUITIVE QUIZPsychic Strengths and WeaknessesThe Public WitchA SPELL TO PROMOTE PSYCHIC

AWARENESS

The Next StepKnowledge Is Power (Air)Psychic Attack? How DO I Know for Sure?Symptoms of a Psychic AttackElemental Solutions for a Psychic Attack 4oDown-to-Earth Advice on Hauntings 4zHaunted Houses: Who Ya Gonna Call?BASIC STEPS FOR CLEARING A HOUSEGhostbusting for WitchesA CLEANSING CHARMDoing Your Haunted HomeworkA HOUSE CLEANSING AND BANISHING

RITUALSharing the House with a Friendly GhostStanding Tall and Looking WithinCALL TO THE ELEMENT OF AIRSetting Boundaries (Water)Dealing with Emotional VampiresIdentifying an Emotional VampirePassive-Aggressive Emotional BulliesThe Bully versus the WitchWATER RITUAL FOR ESTABLISHING

HEALTHY BOUNDARIES

Defining Your BoundariesCALL TO THE ELEMENT OF WATERGuarding and Reclaiming Your Power (Earth)The Psychic Vampire-Intentional and Uninten-

tional, Invited and Uninvited: What You Needto Know

Types of Psychic Vampire Energy FeedingWarning Signs &Symptoms of Psychic vampir-

ismProtecting Yourself from a Psychic VampireAre All Psychic Vampires Bad?Gave It Away? Here's How to Get It BackPSYCHIC DETOX SPELLWait, Won't Just "Psychic Shielding" Work?CALL TO THE ELEMENT OF EARTH

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