Welcome to Spell Saturday #9!

This time I’m taking a spell from Scott Cunningham’s Earth, Air, Fire, & Water. People are very opinionated on Cunningham’s work. I find that so long as you remember that Cunningham was writing for an audience that was, at the time, conflating Wicca and witchcraft and that the material is largely 20+ years old, you’re just find. I do have issues with some of his herbalism and general statements but honestly, you’re going to find issues with anything if you look hard enough.

“The Sand Trap” is a lengthy ritual starting on page 46 and continuing to page 48 of Earth, Air, Fire, & Water. I’m going to paraphrase some due to lengthiness and unnecessary wordiness.

The Sand Trap

This [is] a simple ritual designed to “trap” negative energies before they enter your home.

• Small glass jar, cleaned and dried. Must be glass for this spell. (1)
• Equal quantities of two different colors of sand (2) (Enough to fill half the jar of each if possible)
• Spoon (3)
• Two small bowls to hold sand (4)

Visualize the sand “protective, projective energy.” and “emitting sparks of bright white light that ensnares negativity and draw it inward.” (5)

Now pour a spoonful or the first sand into the jar saying this:

Trap of sand

Trap the ill.

Trap the bane and

Evil will.

Now pour a spoonful of the second color/type of sand in saying the above charm again. Keep laying the sand in alternative bands until you’re out of sand or the jar’s filled.

Once filled, visualize the sand protecting you once again and say the above charm  once more. And you’re done.

Crown’s note:

(1) I find jam jars are great for this but so are small canning jars. Due to the nature of the spell, this is the kind of thing you don’t have to bury in the yard so it’s excellent for apartment and dorm dwellers to keep in a window. It also serves as decoration so it’s literally perfect for stealth protection for those in the woods (6).

(1) Colored sand would be really good for this. You can buy some at craft stores or even aquarium stores. Cunningham says for them to not be artificially colored but I don’t see why that should be? Cunningham does come from a crowd where artificial=bad to some extent and I can’t see a reason why colored sand wouldn’t work so I say use what appeals to you. Picking colored sand can also help add color association to the spell. You can also use as many types or colors of sand as you want or have. I’m not really seeing an explicit reason why two types of sand are necessary here.

(3) The spoons here I think make the process longer. I’d just pour the sand at will and eyeball the amounts. If you want even amounts of sand for aesthetic or whatever purposes, a spoon or scoop probably would be easier. It would take longer though.

(4) I’m not sure I understand the point of the bowls here. I’d just use whatever you’re using to hold the sand originally if that’s easier for you.

(5) There is a very wordy description on how charging the sand and enchanting it in the book. Use whatever method works for you here. You don’t need to do exactly what he describes. Honestly, use whatever visualization or wording you need to use to get the sane to absorb negativity coming your way.

(4) “in/out of the woods” is a term put forward by a member of the witchcraft community on tumblr. It’s intended to take the place of “in/out of the broom closet” which may be offensive to other members of minority groups. Plus, it’s absolutely adorable.

Happy casting!