Category: Spells, Workings, & Charms

Burn Those Winter Blues (Spell Saturday #48)

Feeling down in the dumps? Has the winter blues got you? Here’s a quick renewal candle spell to energize your life once more.

What you’ll need:

  • A candle that is the opposite of how you’re feeling
  • A piece of paper

 

The candle will be a personal choice in this spell. For example, if you’re feeling very shut in, you might want a candle that gives a lot of energy so maybe an orange colored candle that smells like honey and clementines might be a good option. Or a yellow lavender-lemon scented candle could be very good when you feel like time is slipping away from you. You can skip the scented candle and just go for color symbolism or you might want to double up and used some aromatherapy or herbs.

Next, write out all the things that have got you down, no matter how minor they may be. It could be something like “man, I hate how all my friends are sick right now” or “I wish my heating bill wasn’t so expensive” or something more vague like “I’m always so tired in the winter”. Be as specific or as vague as you like. Be sure that the things you’re writing down are connected specifically to your current slump and not just a general concern. If you’re not sure how you feel right now, just write or symbolism the “the current me” instead.

Set your candle up and dress it any way you like. Lit the candle and say

“Fire, I create you and summon you to life

Hear my plea and take these concerns away from me”

Burn the piece of paper and let the candle burn out. It’s a good idea to meditate to sort out internal problems or plan the rest of your week/month out while the candle is burning. You can do whatever you like to the candle remains, even reuse it in another (but similar) spell or to repeat this spell at a later date.

Notes:

  • A votive sized candle is the perfect size for this spell because it gives you several hours to meditate or get work done in plus they’re often available in scents whereas it’s more rare to run into scented tealight candles. Larger candles can be used for this spell, especially if you wish to repeat it.
  • Practice fire safety! Don’t leave candles unattended and don’t burn things in an unsafe container.

Happy casting!

 

February Round Up

What a month.

This month has been a whirlwind for me. Posts were going great and I was doing really well on all the projects I had going. But then it suddenly became too much and by the third week of February I crashed entirely. I needed a break and anything I attempted to do except rest fell apart. Since my Silence Festival (three days of unplugged utter silence) was the same week, I just kind of disappeared from the world for a while.

On top of that I had some family stuff and projects that needed some attention (which will continue into March but it won’t be a surprise at least!) Plus I injured myself no less than seven times. My poor hands are covered in band-aids. On the other hand, I’ve recently achieved a small fitness goal so that was exciting for me.

 

 

That being said, look at the site updates! There’s new stuff! Well, kind of. I moved some menus around and cleaned up some back end stuff. Two big things is that I’m now accepting sponsorship and so on. This is more for fellow shop owners and indie deck creators that rather than some big corporation. No worries, this suddenly isn’t becoming affiliate link central. I also added an ongoing projects page. This is a loose timeline of when to expect certain products in the shop or certain projects to be up and running.

There’s going to be some new additions to the site soon that required this kind of sprucing up. Namely, I’ll be putting up a sourced correspondence page for you all. My biggest challenge right not isn’t the correspondences themselves but implementing them in a way that’s convenient and cleanly done. A huge long list isn’t super interesting to me nor is a million page hopping links. If you’ve got any ideas, let me know.

 

 

Oh! But a major score was to be had when I found an intact copy of my links from my tumblr resource page. Tumblr is where I originated as a blog and a lot of my posts were/are really popular there. About a year back, tumblr FUBAR’d page links and in an instant, everything was gone. I’m so excited to be able to give this resource back to the people. The posts may be old and rant-y but their tumblr originals.

The only problem is tumblr itself. It seems to really hate links in super long pages now so even copying and pasting the document over doesn’t work. New links were erased too. So I ended up keeping the page live here on my website and redirecting people here from tumblr so they can click a tumblr post and be re-directed BACK to tumblr. How dumb is that? At least it’s safe from the vicious tumblr gremlins I guess. Sheesh.

 

 

Let’s get to the posts this month though, hm? This February was about love and divination. We started off with five divining techniques to discover your sweetheart and then discussed the spell / divination of knotting a garter which me and like three other people found interesting. Haha.

With Valentine’s Day smack dab in the middle of the month, I reviewed Edain McCoy’s Bewitchments which got a pretty great review. For the big night itself, Tarot Emulation Attraction Spell brought your favorite tarot card avatars into your personal closet. Be the High Priestess for your coven meeting then be the Knight of Wands or the Lovers for a night in with a special someone. That special night in could be even more special with the super popular Chocolate Rose Tea Love Philter recipe. If that special someone isn’t paying attention to you, the spell Think of Me or the readin Love Letter could be handy too

 

Chocolate Rose Tea Love Philter by This Crooked Crown

 

Love’s not all about romance though. Friends are important too! The Friendship Knot Spell is definitely something you might come back to when your current crop of friends are less than awesome.

I probably could have followed my own advice offered in five tips for loving yourself or gave myself a reading using the included divination spread Loving Myself. Or maybe I should have visited my astral friends featured in Spirit Destinations: Spirits Who Can Help. Instead I went to my old self-care habit of reading and writing (which isn’t bad either!)

The all-purpose spell Wish Granter, Bring Me A Wish is a bit unusual but might be worth trying if you need something. There was also a somewhat nasty curse using a plant’s growth that I’m kind of in love with. (Not sure what that says about me. Haha)

 

 

So it’s been a weird kind of month. Next month is definitely off to a better start already and I’m so excited to share some new stuff with you. Plus spring is so, so close and I’m really excited to ditch the winter blues. Thanks so much for reading and see you in March!

Decks featured:

  • Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne © Chris-Anne.com

Wish Bringer, Bring Me A Wish [Spell Saturday #47]

This is a bit of an arts and crafts sort of spell but extremely low-key.

  • Paper
  • Pen
  • A bit of your hair, fingernail, skin, etc.
  • A coin

wish-bringer-grant-me-a-wish-by-this-crooked-crown

First, fold your piece of paper so it’s a pocket or an envelope. You can do this in any style you want – even go wild and make some origami. Here’s a super easy tutorial.  It doesn’t matter what it looks like so long as it creates some edges so nothing slides out. Avoid methods that involve tape or glue.

Write down the wish you want to come true in the center interior of the envelope. Be as descriptive or as vague as you’d like. It’s far easier to make your envelope, unfold it, and write in the interior center your wish. But if you’re good at guessing or you’ve made envelopes before, you can write the message beforehand. You don’t want the message on a folding angle if you can help it.

Fold your envelope up, put in your coin and hair, and bring it to a crossroad or beside a river and bury it shallowly.

Notes:

  • Use your fingernail or another hard surface to make the edges as tight as possible. It’ll keep the paper more crisp and keep the envelope from falling apart.
  • You can write your wish on a separate piece of paper if you want but it’s easier and less wasteful to just write on the envelope.
  • The reason we don’t use pre-made envelopes, tape, or glue is to keep the spell as environmentally friendly as possible. If you don’t care, then you can use any old envelope.
  • Any coin denominations is fine.
  • This spell doesn’t designate who should answer the spell’s request. It could be any kind of spirit or being. You can add in why you would like to respond to the wish but there’s no guarantee that the wish will be fulfilled or that the requested being will even answer.

Happy casting!

A Plant’s Curse [Spell Saturday #46]

Plants are usually seen as healers or helpers in magic. It’s not rare to run into a plant that can also be used for cursing. Added to that, most plants used in cursing are used dry and only a bit of it. This spell is not one of those.

This is a spell that only grows in strength. As the plant grows stronger, your target’s success and life begins to fall apart. It’s a serious business curse. It’s not the kind you use when someone’s a jackass but when someone truly deserves to have their life ruined.

What makes a person deserve such treatment? I leave that up to you to decide.

 

A Plant's Curse by This Crooked Crown

 

What you’ll need:

  • A plant you can keep alive
  • A picture of your target
  • The name of your target
  • A piece of your target’s hair (optional)
  • A pot for the plant
  • Soil for the plant
  • Rocks for drainage for the plant (optional)
  • Chalk or sharpie

First thing you’ll need to do is to get a plant you can keep alive. The easiest choice for this spell is a cactus with spines. Poisonous plants are a fairly obvious choice as well. The second choices could be any number of poisonous plants. I think roses would be a great choice if you were cursing an ex-lover. Cuttings from your target’s yard or re-potting a plant that was a gift from them would also be good. Or you can just pick something that you know you can keep alive. The only real requirement is that the plant must be grown in soil. Do not pick an air plant or a plant that grows primarily in water.

Once you have your plant picked out, pick an appropriately sized potted plant, soil appropriate for the plant, and rocks for water drainage if necessary. Do yourself a favor and spend ten minutes googling your plant’s requirements for soil, water, light, and drainage before you buy it. I’ve spent twenty minutes standing in the middle of a greenhouse staring at my phone to make sure I had everything I needed for a plant’s survival. Since the plant’s life is immediately tied to this spell, it behooves you to make sure you can keep the plant alive to the best of your ability.

 

 

Next gather the items related to your target. Print out a picture of your target and make sure you have their full name. If you can, get some of their hair. Be careful with how much hair you grab. Roses, for example, love calcium so a hank of your target’s hair is absolutely perfect for a potted rosebush. They’ll love you for it. But some plants want different soil requirements so if you add calcium to the soil, you’ll change the pH levels and risk killing the plant. A few strands of hair won’t hurt your plant but double check your plant’s requirement before dropping a handful in there.

Write on the interior bottom of the pot your target’s full name. Use chalk or a sharpie. Place a few rocks at the very bottom for drainage, if needed. If not, put a thin layer of soil there instead.

Next, rip up the photograph into as small of pieces as you possibly can get. Sprinkle them into the pot. Now place the rest of your rocks for drainage on top of the paper and layer a very thin layer of soil on top of the paper until there’s none showing.

Wet the soil and rocks a little and gently pick up the plant, massaging the roots (without breaking them!) as much as possible and say,

“Little plant

You’ll grow so strong

And all you’ve got to do

Is to take from [target’s name]

Take your strength from their success

The weaker they grow, the stronger you’ll grow

Ruin their life so you can thrive.”

Finish potting the plant, watering it as needed, and place it in the best place for the plant to grow. Ideally, the plant will grow big and strong while your target’s life will slowly fall to ruin. If your plant needs re-potting, simply repeat the spell with new soil, target’s name, picture, and hair.

Make sure to take care of the plant really well. If the plant dies, so does your curse.

 

 

If you want to cancel this curse, you have two choices. And neither are guaranteed to work. The whole curse is based on the plant growing and so does the curse. Canceling that is going to be tricky.

The first choice is to uproot the plant. Either let it dry out in the sun or burn it. Scatter the soil from the plant at a crossroads and cast the stones used for drainage into living water. The picture and hair, if any traces of it remain, should be burned in a different fire than you used to burn the plant. The pot should be smashed or otherwise destroyed.

The second option relies entirely on your confidence to cleanse things. If you’re very competent at cleansing, then take the plant out of the pot it’s currently in and place it on the ground or on a plate temporarily. Cleanse the plant. Reach deep and make sure the plant understands that it no longer derives strength from your target. Give it another source to derive power from, like water, fertilizer, or the sun. You can reuse the pot and drainage rocks but scatter the soil at a crossroads. Re-pot the plant in a new batch of soil. Once again, remind the plant of its new magical source of energy as you re-pot it.

 

 

Notes:

  • If you need to scatter the soil during re-potting, feel free to use as many crossroads as possible. No one’s going to want to see a mound of dirt in an intersection so you’re better off taking a walk or drive and tossing dirt here and there along the way.
  • The stronger the connection you have to the plant, the stronger the curse will be – and the more likely that the plant will be able to cancel it at a later date using the second method.
  • Using hair is the best option here. Skip fingernails as they take longer to break down. Blood could also be used but that’s far less sanitary. Avoid urine or other bodily fluids and they could kill the plant.
  • Plastic’s way cheaper and lighter than a terracotta or ceramic pot but they can be harder to break. Consider this ahead of time.
  • If you’re particularly malicious feeling, you can give your cursing plant to your target as a gift. Only do this if you know they’re going to take care of it.

Happy cursing!

Knot Your Garter

A while ago I was researching love divination superstitions when I came across an interestingly little charm from the 1696.

To know whom one shall marry. You must lie in another county, and knit the left garter about the right legged stocking.. and as you rehearse these following verses, at each comma, knot a knot.

‘This knot I knit,

To know the thing,

I know not yet,

That I may see,

The man (woman) that shall my husband (wife) be,

How he goes, and what he wears,

And what he does, all days, and years’

Accordingly in your dream you will see him: if a musician, with a lute or other instrument; if a scholar, with a book or papers.(1)

Now this is particular charm evolves so the more common usage of it is as written in 1899 “To induce favourable dreams, nine knots are tied on a garter.” (2) There are other regional variations of this as well that are interesting to look at but we’re going to deal primarily with these two variations.

Now, I am a folklorist at heart. I majored in it at college so I love to watch superstitions evolve in this manner (and then dissect why they evolved in this manner).

 

Wrist Bells

 

More importantly, this is interesting from a witchcraft perspective. Here, the practitioner is sleeping somewhere different away from home. While there, they knit their left garter around their right stocking and say the verses. In their dreams, they’ll get a vision of their future spouse. (Remember that around this time, garters more unisex than they are now.)

There’s a couple ways to break down this superstition into an actual practice and it would widely depend on how the garter was constructed and the usage of the word “knit”. I don’t knit personally (I’m a crochet girl) but theoretically, you’d have to pull stitches out in order to restitch the stitches for this charm or you’d end up adding length to the garter and defeating the purpose of the garter entirely. Or, you’d add length to the garter ties, making them longer than used (garters were tied at this time, not elastic as now).

But garters are still a close, personal thing. They’re kept close to the skin and were incredibly individual yet ubiquitous items. There’s also a level of propriety to be addressed with garters. Garter kept your clothing where you wanted it to be, it kept you properly dressed. Typically speaking, you were rarely improperly dressed except around wardrobe-related servants or your spouse. So there’s something of a “revealing the self” aspect to this charm, subconscious though it made me.

As pre-made clothing became more popular, people made less and less of their own garters. Garters eventually became less used as clothing designs changed. The origins of the charm became older and less known. It simplified, due to clothing changes and time itself. It became more of a “knot nine times to reveal your future spouse in a dream” sort of deal.

 

 

Either (and any) variation of this charm has legs to stand on so the actual change isn’t the problem we face when looking to use this spell. Instead, what we need to address in how to adapt this spell to modern times.

Few people regularly wear garters. Many people end up with garters for their wedding clothing and that’s about it. It’s a special occasion thing, usually, so not a lot of people would consider this specifically important. Of course, some people still regularly use garters for costuming, tall socks, or they wear them for work-related clothing.

We need to look at what’s important here. Is the garter itself important? Or is what the garter represented more important? If the garter itself was important, then you would have to use a garter to cast this spell. If the garter isn’t important, then what could be used in place of a garter? Would making nine tiny knots with a piece of sting in the hem of your underwear work in lieu of a garter? Shoelaces? Hair? Hair ribbon? Suit tie? What could be used when it comes to modern clothing?

At it’s heart, this superstition is a knot spell to induce dreams of love. That’s what it’s suppose to do. So… would any knot do? Could you make something and then knot it?

Could you make a garter specifically for this purpose and use the charm for it? Either by knitting, sewing, or even braiding some thread together and tying it to your leg. The steps would probably be creating the garter to your left leg measurements, then tie it to your right leg, saying the charm, then go to bed.

 

 

If you wanted to adapt this to modern usage you’d have to answer these critical questions:

What’s the purpose of the garter? What does it stand for? Does that meaning still stand today for me? Is there an equivalent I can use instead?

How can I knot the garter or garter substitute? Will sewing stitches be representative? Or does it have to be knitted?

In the end, any of these variations would work. I don’t have a “here’s exactly how you adapt this” because there’s so many ways you could go with this. Personally, I’d crochet a garter (because knitting seems to escape me) with my left leg measurements and say the charm as I made each stitch. I’d make it long enough to tie on and knot the tying portion nine times. Then I’d tie it to my right leg nine times, repeating the verses, before heading to bed.

But, that’s me. How would you adapt this classic superstition? Does it sound similar to an old superstition you’ve heard of before?

  1. Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions, editors Iona Opie and Moira Tatem. 2005 Edition, Oxford Press. Page 221-222
  2. Ibid.

Tarot Emulation Attraction Spell

This is a spell to be attractive sexually. Let’s not kid ourselves here. This spell’s about physical attraction. It’s about making you look sexy. It’s not going to attract people to you that aren’t already attracted to you and it’s not going to get you a relationship. It’s not going to give you a hook up. It’s just a way for you to stand out and feel sexy.

So, in a way, it’s kind of a a love spell. It makes you feel awesome and love yourself. You’ll probably see a pick up when it comes to flirty gestures or sexual propositions.

Tarot Emulation Attraction Spell by This Crooked Crown

What you’ll need 

  • A tarot or oracle deck of some kind
  • Article of clothing you’re going to wear

Search through your tarot or oracle deck and find cards that make you feel sexy or awesome. They should be card that you want to emulate or represent you. Pick cards that also represent how you want others to see you.

Pick as many cards as you want from as many decks as you want. Lay them all out on top of the article of clothing you’re going to wear. It should be an outfit that makes you feel sexy.

When you’re ready, focus on how you want to look and raise the card up to your face and make a swooping motion down the length of your body and place the card back on the piece of clothing. You can recite what about that card you want to bring into yourself as you do this or you can just make the motion. Do this for each and every card.

Then get dressed. Lay the cards out on top of your dresser or stack them in a drawer. Go about your day. When you’re done for the day and you’re undressed, you can place the cards back in their respective decks.

Note:

  • You can also lay the cards out on your naked body, shoes, or jewelry if you prefer.
  • Placing the tarot cards on your mirror is also a good alternative.

Happy casting!

Friendship Knot Spell [Spell Saturday #45]

Friendship spells are weird. They’re probably one of the best kinds of spells for people to cast, but they’re rarely available. Gaining friends when you’re an adult is notoriously hard and is something almost everyone wants yet friendships spells are usually sequestrated into books geared towards teenagers.

What’s with that anyway? I think it’s a product of this weird idea that as an adult, you’re suppose to have stuff figured out. Like a life purpose, awesome life-long friends, best spouse ever, well-paying job, picket fence house, and all that jazz. (Spoilers: Uhhhh, yeah, that doesn’t happen often)

Anyway, I routinely get asked for friendship spells. A friendship knot spell was requested over on tumblr and was put on my “to write” list. The request is now being fulfilled.

Friendship Knot Spell by This Crooked Crown

What you’ll need:

  • Embroidery floss in various colors
  • A list of qualities your friend(s) should have

First, write a list of qualities your friend(s) should have. Maybe they’re very kind or extremely laid back. Maybe they’re adventurous or outgoing. They could be giant geeks or are gym regulars. Whatever you want your friend to be. Pick general qualities like compassionate or something that’s an activity you’d like to share. If your’e trying to gain a group of friends, you might want to write out a couple of lists.

Dig out your color symbolism chart or jot down the colors each of those qualities remind you of. For example, maybe your gym has an orange theme to it so you pick orange to represent that so you can find a gym buddy. Or you pick your favorite show’s color themes so you can find fellow fans. Refer to a color symbolism chart if you’re a bit at a loss or google color associations with that quality. It should, ideally be colors you associate with those qualities.

Once you’ve gotten your color choices, head to a craft store and buy thread or embroidery floss that matches your color choices. You can also dye thread, ribbon, or shoe laces to match. You can use multiple colors to represent the same thing or the same color to represent two things, if you like.

When ready, gather all the thread in your hands in a long tendril and think of the kind of friends you want. You can use comparisons, if you like. If you like the bond that two characters on a TV show have or you’d had a friend as a child that you don’t want to reconnect with but you miss that kind of bond, think of that.

Now make a knot for each quality you want your friend to have. If you have six strands of thread, then make a knot that includes all six strands. Do this for each quality you want your friend or friends to have.

Say the following.

With this knot, I invite companions [tie a knot tightly as you say this]

With each knot, I bring friends to my side [tie another knot]

My friend(s) will be [quality] [tie a knot]

[continue making knots for each quality]

With this knot I close the spell and open my heart to friends loyal and true that w ill come to me before the next moon [tie a knot tightly as you say this]

When done with your knots, carry the cord with you. Wear it as a necklace, anklet, or bracelet. Or tie it to your keys or in your hair. Thread it through a zipper or carry it in a pocket.

If the spell doesn’t work before the next moon, you can unknot the cords, cleanse the thread and try again with new qualities. Or you can bury the cord but do so in a garden plot rather than bare ground.

Notes:

  • This spell is geared to bring you new friends within a month or so. If you want to give yourself more time, you can adjust the time period accordingly in the wording
  • Braiding, knitting, or using macrame techniques is a fantastic alternative to knotting the cord. It’s up to you.
  • Embroidery floss it the most accessible here but feel free to substitute yarn or any other threading material.
  • It’s a super good idea to follow up this spell with spells to maximize opportunities to meet people. So if you’re super shy, then a spell to boost confidence would be a good idea.

Chocolate Rose Tea Love Philter

A philter is a magical potion geared towards inducing love. This Love Philter is a tasty treat that you can share with your partner or drink yourself to encourage self-love. It can be served hot or cold and adjusted to your taste.

I actually do a ton of baking but I don’t tend to share recipes. Something about sharing something that you’ll consume makes me cautious, even if the food is perfectly normal. Kinda weird, right?

Anyway, make sure you read the recipe through entirely and the notes before giving it a try. Remember: ask for consent before giving a loved one this drink!

 

chocolate-rose-tea-love-philter

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 level teaspoons black tea of choice
  • Small handful of organic rose petals
  • 1 cup water
  • 3-5 strawberries
  • 2 level tablespoons cocoa powder or powdered hot chocolate
  • Sugar or sweetener of choice  to taste
  • Strainer

Mix two teaspoons of your favorite black tea and rose petals and steep it in a cup of water for at least five minutes, 10 minutes is optional for this philter. Strain and keep the liquid. While you do this, whisper to yourself what kind of foundation for love you want to have. Maybe you want the evening to be sexy and fun or you want to love your body more.

Wash and cut the tops off your strawberries. Puree them in a blender with the liquid tea until smooth. While you do this, imagine treating each other to something special with your lover or treating yourself kindly.

 

chocolate-rose-tea-love-philter-01

 

Add in cocoa powder or hot chocolate powder. Blend well. Add in sugar/sweetener to taste and blend well. Envision having fun and enjoying yourself or yourselves. You should be getting what you want in this imaginary scenario.

Strain drink into wine glasses (chilled) or teacups (hot) and serve. As you create this, make your final requests such as “we will have a great night”, “I love you”, or “I love me”.

If you want to get super fancy, top with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Serve with chocolate covered strawberries or a delicate dessert.

 

chocolate-rose-tea-love-philter-02

 

Notes:

  • This can be served hot or cold.
  • You can use any black tea you want. I tend to go with Ceylon but Lady Gray’s a good choice too. If you have a Valentine’s or love themed tea, give that a try.
  • I tend to use honey for a sweetener but you can use whatever you have on hand, even granulated sugar. If using granulated sugar, remember to mix very well or the drink may be grainy.
  • Remember to tightly secure the blender cover before turning on the blender. This is a “well, duh” kind of thought but seriously, remember to do this. You don’t want to have to clean up the mess.
  • “Level tea/table spoons” is specified here. When something calls for a teaspoon or tablespoon of whatever, it almost always means a level teaspoon or tablespoon. A level spoon means that it’s not a heaping spoonful but the same level that soup broth would be at if it filled the spoon.

 

 

Drink up!

Decks featured:

  • [Instagram photo] Scrying Ink Lenormand Oracle by Siolo Thompson © Bay & Willow

Think of Me [Spell Saturday #44]

This spell is to have someone think of you. Typically, you’re casting this spell to get a special someone to contact you but this can also be anyone. Lovers, potential lovers, ex-lovers, family, friends, or people you just need to freaking call you back already.

think-of-me-spell-by-this-crooked-crown

What you’ll need:

  • String, ribbons, or thread that represents your target, at least two feet long.
  • String, ribbons, or thread that represents you, at least two feet long.

Gather together some string, ribbons, or thread that reminds you of this person. Maybe it’s their favorite color. Maybe it’s the color of their car or online avatar. Or maybe you select some color symbolism. Up to you.

Collect a second set of strings, ribbons, or thread that represents you. They could be your favorite colors or color symbolism.

Sit down quietly and think of the perfect scenario in which they’ll contact you. Maybe they don’t call you enough, maybe they don’t answer your texts. Or they simply are too “busy” to hang out. Be specific. If you want to see them three times a week, then say that. Go ahead and get a little unrealistic and think of exactly the kind of scenarios and things you’ll do during that time. As you do this, run the string through your hands. Make sure you keep the two sets of thread separate. You can braid a set together if you like but don’t braid the two sets together. So if set one has three strands, and set two has five strands, you can braid the three strands from set one together and separately you can braid the five strands from set two together but don’t braid the two sets (so all eight strings) together.

Keep the cord on hand so the next time you talk to them, see them online, or in person, you can tie a knot. Make a quick but solid knot in the cord. Do this for an entire week and make as many knots as you’d like them to contact you each week. Make only one knot for each instance you see them (whether online, in person, or what-have-you). You may find that you have enough knots before the week’s out. You can stop as soon as you get to the number of times you want to be contacted.

With the second set of strands, you should make a knot every time you think of them for the entire week.

Once the week’s finished, knot the two sets of string together and say something like,

“Think of me

I think of you

So think of me“

Keep this cord with you at all times until they start contacting you as much as you want them to. If the cord becomes worn before this happens, burn it and repeat the spell. If the person never contacts you as you wish to be contact, you may want to readdress whether they care for you as much as you care for them. If your desires become fulfilled, bury the cord in a garden, leave it for birds to use in their nests, give it to your target as a gift, or keep it in a junk drawer.

 

 

Notes:

  • You can use a single piece of string, ribbon, or whatever else for this spell.
  • Embroidery floss is kind of perfect for this spell as it gives you lots of color choices and has a very long length.
  • Make the cords super long. It’s better to have too long cords than not long enough cords for this particular spell. Two feet is a good starting point.
  • Feel free to switch up the wording to better suit your needs. I usually go back to my theatre roots and start co-opting words from The Phantom of the Opera.
  • I know I said “sit quietly” but if there’s a song or playlist that perfectly matches your feelings for this person, go ahead and listen to that on repeat.

Happy casting!

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5 Love Divinations to Reveal Your Sweetheart

Love divinations is one of the most common types of superstitions in the world. Everyone can probably vaguely recall at least one type of superstition that’s suppose to reveal whether or not someone loves you or will love you. Open to any page in a superstition dictionary and you’ll probably find a love related one. It’s that ubiquitous and it’s the number one question I get asked about as a professional reader.

That’s not a bad thing. People want to feel loved and there’s so many different culturally specific charms that have developed to reveal love to you. Here’s fourteen of my favorites for you to try and enjoy:

 

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01 Apple Peels

Apples are, without a singular doubt, associated with love. From the golden apple that started a war to numerous divination methods, apples are commonplace in love rituals. While there are methods of divining a future love from pretty much any part of the apple, we’ll look at the peel itself.

Peel an apple in one singular piece as much as possible. Move slowly and take your time so you get it right. Toss the apple peel over your left shoulder and see what letter the apple peel formed on the ground. The letter should stand for the first letter of the future lover’s surname or Christian name. (1)

 

 

02 Plucking Daisies

Ever pluck the petals of a daisy to find out if they love you? You knot the charm “They love me. They love me not.” After each sentence, you pluck a petal and when you run out of petals you have the answer you seek.

Did you know that’s there’s another usage for this verbal spell? It’s used for determining whether your lover is faithful to you. Supposedly that’s why you say “he loves me, he loves me not”. Apparently, performing this little rite should be done around noon, facing the sun. (2)

There’s another verbal charm that could be said “Rich man, poor man, farmer, ploughman, thief” and whichever you say when you run out of petals, reveals the kind of person you’ll marry. (3)

 

 

03 Hair & Fire

Find a single a friend and sit together by yourselves from midnight to one in the morning in complete silence. During this time, you both pluck the hairs from each others’ head to match how old they are. So if you’re nineteen and your friend is eighteen, you should pull eighteen hairs from your friend’s hair and they’ll pull nineteen from yours. Toss the hair one by one into the fire while saying,

“I offer this my sacrifice to him most precious in my eyes,

I charge thee now come forth to me that I this minute may  thee see”

The vision of the future spouse will appear. (4)(5)

Interestingly, the wording is almost exact no matter where I read the superstition. This is because it originally comes from page 215 of Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillip. Where he got it from is unknown but that’s where the wording originates from.

Not willing to pull out a friend’s hair? There’s an updated version published where you sit alone in silence and between midnight and one by one pluck your hair from a hairbrush to match your age (so nineteen hairs for nineteen years old) and put it on a scarf in a row so you can see each hair. At one in the morning, turn over each hair and say,

“I offer my hair as sacrifice,

To the one most dear in my eyes.  

I call on you now to come to me

And this minute you I will see.”

And then the misty vision will appear to you. (6)

While I like the updated wording and the ability to cast the spell by myself, I’d probably use the fire and burn the hair plucked freshly from my head. Because that’s how I roll. But having other variations is nice too.

Speaking of variations, there’s a variation that the hair is to be burned in a linen cloth along with some of the herb true-love. The True-Love herb mentioned here is herb-paris, true lover’s knot and known scientifically as Paris quadrifolia. (7) Be careful if you decide to hunt up herb-paris. It’s name is derived because of it’s shape appears to be paired like lovers and looks like a lover’s knot but it’s poisonous.

 

 

04 Names

Names and words have long been recognized for their magical importance. Love divination by names is no different.

One continuing divination method is to take the name of potential lovers or a bunch of current lovers and write them on separate pieces of paper. Then paper is then wrapped each paper in clay and tossed into water. The first to rise back up will be their valentine.(8)

This one has a very great many variances out there. Some people will burn the names to ashes, lay the ashes on a mirror, and they’ll dream of their lover. Or they use bread instead of clay. Or they use the alphabet rather than names. There’s even a method with holly twigs and blood. (9)

This one is perhaps one of the most varying out there but the theme remains. Gather the names of potential lovers or the alphabet if there are no potential lovers available. If you’re using the water method, they wrap the name in something that floats, toss it in the water, and see which one comes up first and closest to you. That will be the initial or name of your lover. If using the fire method, you can use smoke divination from the burning process, or spread the ashes out in front of you to find letters or names spelled out.

 

05 Nuts

Nuts are often cited as a fertility ingredient and therefore are often used in love spells. There’s an interesting evolution in burning of nuts. Essentially, you lay out a nut or nuts on the hearth of the fireplace while saying the potential lover’s name. If the nut flies away, they return your affections. If the nut stays still, then they don’t. The verbal charm “If you love me, pop and fly. If you hate me, lie and die.” (10)

Another variation exists where if you already have a lover you can check their faithfulness depending on how the nut reacts. If it jumps away, then they’re unfaithful. (11) What’s interesting is this version may have been the original version used before the “pop and fly” became popular. So if the nut jumped away, the lover wasn’t interested rather than the current superstition of the jumping nut revealing a passionate lover.

Hazel nuts or chestnuts are often used but I heard this superstition using walnuts as a young girl.

 

 

There’s tons and tons more ways to divine who your future lover might be and it’s a popular (and fun) game to play as Valentine’s Day approaches. While cartomancy like tarot or palm reading are always popular, these folkloric methods are usually low key but culturally powerful ways to foretell the future. They might be silly now but they’ll well beloved and worth considering if you’re looking to do a love reading for yourself.

What kind of love divinations did you do as a kid? Did you recognize any or have one that was super common where you grew up?

 

  1. Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions. Opie, Iona and Tatem, Moira. Oxford Press. 2005. Page 3.
  2. Cassell Dictionary of Superstitions. Pickering, David. Cassell Wellington House. 1995. Page 79.
  3. Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions. Opie, Iona and Tatem, Moira. Oxford Press. 2005. Page 115.
  4. Ibid. Page 185.
  5. Cassell Dictionary of Superstitions. Pickering, David. Cassell Wellington House. 1995.  Page 124-125
  6. The Fortune-Telling Book. Kemp, Gillian. Little, Brown and Company. 2000. Page 98.
  7. Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions. Opie, Iona and Tatem, Moira. Oxford Press. 2005. Page 185.
  8. Ibid. Page 246-277
  9. Ibid.
  10. Ibid. Page 289
  11. Ibid.