I was recently rereading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland On A Ship Of Her Own Making* by Catherynne M. Valente. Besides adoring A-through-L, I remembered how lovely the story is. If you haven’t read it, you might want to as it tells a pretty fantastic fairy tale. It’s especially beautifully if you pair it with S.J.Tucker’s album Wonders* which you can buy or listen to, for free over on her bandcamp site*. Tucker often writes songs about Valente’s work and Valente’s all for it. I adore when artists do collaborations like this, don’t you?

All of that being said, you don’t need to know the story at all to cast this spell! This spell is give you courage and create new experiences for you. It’s best used when you’re about to embark on an adventure like going off to college, starting a new job, or traveling.

WARNING: This spell involves blood.

Make sure to read the spell the whole way through, especially the notes. This isn’t a tricky spell so much as an exacting or intricately subtle spell.

What you’ll need:

• Your blood
• A portable light
• Your shoes
• Your name

Flip your shoes over so you see the soles of your shoes. When you’re ready and have the blood available, turn on your light source and put it in front of you but within arms reach.

Press the blood to the sole of the shoe and say,

“By my blood and name

I am not afraid

By my blood and name 

I am ready

By my blood and name

I am brave, strong, and true

By my blood and name

I will have wonders too

What’s before me may be hard and I may have to fight

But I am ready

What’s before me will bring wonder and joy

By my blood and name.”

Turn off the portable light with a deliberate move. Let the blood dry on the shoes and treat your wound.

Notes:

• If you do not have a safe method of getting blood, please either wait until you’re bleeding from something such as a cut to cast this spell or skip it entirely. Your blood is essential to this spell so don’t use an alternative. It’s all or nothing, as I’ve written it. Just please be safe!
• Portable lights can be anything from a flashlight, flashlight app on your phone, lantern, candle, LED light. It just needs to be something that stays light and is portable.
• The shoes should, ideally, be the ones you’ll wear for the specific circumstances you’re casting like for (like a job or vacation). If you’re not going somewhere new, just pick the pair of shoes you wear the most. If you’re fast, you may be able to get more than one pair of shoes.
• It’s probably a good idea to wash the shoes before you cast this spell, if possible. Or at least wash the soles.
• Your True Name is your full, complete name. This could be the name you’re known by legally or it may be your magical name. It’s a name you call yourself in your head. The one that fits your soul.

Happy casting!

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*Indicates outside links such as Amazon