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During the past two weeks, I have fielded several out-of-state calls from people dealing with negative energies/entities AND my shop is almost out of sage bundles, as folks have been coming in and buying them by the handfuls.  So, I guess it is time for a quick review of how and why we cleanse our personal space – whether it be our home or office.

First, why do we cleanse a space?  Let me ask – have you ever stepped into a bar immediately following a bar fight?  Even if you didn’t witness the actual incident, did you “feel” the electricity and/or heightened emotion in the air – and you instinctively knew something major had occured?  How about a  home where a couple had just had a huge fight – or one where a divorce was pending?  Or an office with an overbearing, bully of a boss?  Negative, heavy atmosphere, right?  Of course, the holidays can cause some folks to sink into a depressed state – these people come to visit and can leave all their sad baggage behind to add to the mix as well.  

Over time, this heaviness collects and literally “brings everyone down”.  It can be in a home, place of business or office space.  If it gets bad enough, over time it can eventually provide a harbor for negative entities which flourish in just such an environment.  “Clearing the air” so to speak, is easily done and a great way to regain or assert your right to a calm, peaceful space.

This is how I cleanse a space:  All you need is about two handfuls of coarse sea salt and a sage smuge stick (costs about $5 total at Talisman).  While sage is traditional, it can make your space smell like pot (!) so if this will be an issue you can substitute cedar, juniper, camphor blocks/sticks or copal – all these cleanse equally well.  It is nice to do this in the evening if possible – and start by taking a bath with one handful of the salt. While you soak, clear your mind of the day’s concerns and imagine all your negativity being washed away and vanishing down the drain. Once you’re dried and dressed, take the smudge and a lighter (you may have to re-light it periodically) and stand outside your front door.  Light the smudge, let it catch fire and blow it out – wave it around the doorframe, using your hand or a feather/fan to direct the smoke. Say: “This is MY house/office.  Only light and love are allowed here!”  (or something to that effect) as you enter.  In a house, work from the bottom up – basement to attic – and move clockwise through each room. Focus on the corners near the ceiling and don’t forget bathrooms and closets. Important: Leave windows cracked while you work so the “negativity” can exit your home; the smoke will fill the now-empty space so it cannot return (nature abhors a vacuum). When you are done, use the remaining salt to create a “line” at the threshold of your front door – it will help keep your home cleared by causing negativity to “slough” off persons before they enter.

Blessings,

Laura

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I have taken the liberty of posting this blog by Nadia from the wonderful site www.AstroDispatch.com  because it completely and accurately captures the astrological atmosphere of this time.  Humor me – this isn’t my writing, but I thought my readers would enjoy and benefit from this post!  Laura

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On October 20th Mercury enters Scorpio.  What happens when the planet that rules communication slips into the shadow realm?  Secrets, you would think.  Scorpio is known for the deep, dark velvety ugliness that no one wants to acknowledge.

Actually, Scorpio is one of the more truthful signs.  Part of Scorpio’s fascination with the depths is that, often, the truth is not floating around on the surface.  You have to dig deep to get to the facts and no one does this better then Scorpio.  Investigations, inquisitions, research and any taboo knowledge is Scorpio territory.

So the upside of Mercury in Scorpio is the opportunity to find out what’s really going on.  Secrets are churned up, whether we want them exposed or not.  The downside is hammering away at something in search for a truth that doesn’t exist.  Obsession and paranoia (such as the Salem Witch trials) can flourish under Mercury in Scorpio transits.  Mercury was in Scorpio ( November, 1688) when Rev. Samuel Parris, the Puritan Minister during the trials, first preached in Salem.

Are you hiding something?  Or are you bent on finding something that doesn’t exist?  Either tactic will get you in trouble during this transit.

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Fill to top with white vinegar/distilled water (50% each)

Scrubbing Cleanser

1/2 Baking Soda

1/2 Kosher Salt

1 Tablespoon ground lemon rind

1 Tablespoon ground orange rind

Disinfectant Spray Cleaner

1 Qt. spray bottle

Using a funnel, scrape off 1 Tablespoon

from bar of Castille Soap into bottle.

Add 2 cups very warm (heat in microwave)

distilled water and 13 drops tea tree oil.

Shake well – cleans everything except glass.

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Please share your own ideas and recipes as comments – I’ll make sure they get posted!

Blessings,

Laura

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  I am also not surprised by some of the major geological issues we’ve been dealing with – i.e. the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, not to mention the volcanic eruption in Iceland.  If Saturn represents terra firma, then Pluto represents deep, underground workings that can collapse the structure that Saturn provides.  Uranus provides just such an impetus, as whenever it locks horns with planets in an aspect we can always expect an unexpected shakeup.  The conflicting nature of the energies involved in this T-square can also blow the lid of calm, cool, collected, and controlled Saturn with a powerful eruption of raw, subconscious, Plutonian emotion that had been lurking beneath the surface the whole time.  How much more literal a manifestation can we get of this energy than a freak volcanic eruption taking place in an area well-known for its snow, ice, and cold?  I think we’ll continue to see more of these kinds of issues cropping up while this current T-square involving Pluto plays itself out.

On a more personal level, this cardinal T-square signifies awareness of a crisis point in life.  This isn’t meant to instill fear as it is certainly no harbinger of impending doom, rather a universal calling for change and action that we are ALL facing on a global level.  We can be facing issues with finances, our families, our jobs, our relationships, etc. or in several areas simultaneously depending upon what this configuration is touching in our own natal charts.  In my opinion, I attribute a sense of foreboding/imploding to one of two things.  First off, some of us are quite sensitive to this cosmic energy.  Being that this is a major planetary aspect it’s no wonder why some of us have this persistent feeling that something is “wrong” – even if we aren’t feeling its effects firsthand.  Secondly, this feeling can also occur when we have been directly impacted by this energy .  If things seem to be falling apart in one or multiple areas of our lives we may be subconsciously resisting the call to change and restructure how we live.  We may know on one level that things have to change – that something has to give – but at the same time hesitate to pull the trigger and do what needs to be done.  This internal struggle can cause this ominous feeling, as many of us aren’t comfortable with the idea of change.

My advice to many of my clients has been to take a step back and try and recognize where we need to make our own adjustments.  Chances are that we may have ignored the little signs along the way that may have said “wrong way”.  We may have continued to build something up upon a sinking foundation without recognizing that a swamp lay all around us.  The key is WE have to be the one to initiate the change, because things will most likely continue to deteriorate until we take some level of personal responsibility for how we got to where we are.  Then we must take ACTION – whether that means we change our behavior, our state of mind, or both. 

 This aspect gives us an invaluable opportunity to see the reality of what isn’t working in our lives and to grow from it.  Maybe we built a sense of safety and security at work, doing a job that “paid the bills” for years but didn’t allow us to express our need for individuality.  If this situation came to an end during the current T-square perhaps we can try to view it as an opportunity to put ourselves in alignment with what we do.  Sitting behind a computer in a dull, grey cubicle with an unfulfilling “mission” simply to eek out a living can be extremely detrimental for the soul, as it inherently KNOWS it has a different purpose in life even if the conscious mind isn’t yet aware of what that is.  We should attempt to look at a situation like this as an opportunity to try something different and new, allowing us the potential to come into alignment with who we really are.  Also , as big businesses are failing left and right due to Pluto in Capricorn, look to see that many people will be pursuing an entrepreneurial route.  If you have a fledgling idea and have always wanted to try it but were too afraid, now may be the time when you can let go of your fear and take that big leap.  Uranus in Aries likes us to step WAY outside our comfort zones, and although it may seem a little risky, this placement says “Take a chance on me”.   

As mentioned earlier, Pluto in Capricorn can also highlight financial difficulties.  Frequently this can coincide with a job loss, though there are many other reasons people are finding themselves find themselves “in over their heads”.  Regardless of the cause, now is a time when we must get back to basics in a financial sense.  We must look at what we truly NEED, not at what we WANT.  If we’re paying for a mortgage on house that is too big for our needs maybe we need to look at downsizing.  Do we need to have a $500/month car payment just so we can have the prestige of saying we have something “nice” and “new”?  Maybe we need to start looking around at some of the material objects we have accumulated and think about having a yard sell or look into selling them at a consignment shop if we need to come up with extra cash to pay off creditors.  Let’s try and use this as an opportunity to uncomplicate our lives and rediscover what really matters.  As long as we have food, clothing, shelter, and the love of our families isn’t that all any of us really need?

Perhaps instead the problem we face at this time is one of relationship.  With Saturn in Libra we can fairly expect that partnerships will be put through their paces.  This is a testing process demanding that there be fairness, equality, and seriousness about how we handle our commitments to others.  If the relationship has become seriously lopsided where one party gives continuously while the other takes it’s no wonder why problems would crop up.  Saturn in Libra also forces us to ask ourselves “How well is this relationship meeting my needs?” as Saturn is a planet of necessity.  If the answer we give is “Not well.” we must either work together to make it so or recognize the other party’s limitation in being unwilling/unable to meet our needs and move on.  In either case we must be prepared to make changes and take action ourselves and not rely on the other party to do it.

Please remember that each person’s experience of this T-square will be unique, however I felt it important to speak about the implications of this aspect on broader terms so that you can get an idea of the potential “flavors” this major planetary configuration can have.  Because the keynote of the cardinal signs is “activity” I am urging people not to be paralyzed by feelings of fear or doubt that may crop up during this time.  We need to remember that there is always a lesson to be learned during difficult times, and that we can take ACTION to change our attitudes and/or circumstances if we are dealt a hand that is not to our liking!    

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As a Wiccan, I am forever saying that it seems the older we get the less likely we are to fire up the ol’ cauldron.  For every action there is a reaction and one must weigh the pros and cons, trying to see the issue from every conceivable angle, before seeking to tug the threads of the collective consciousness.  The process can be so challenging that many times it’s just easier to allow the Universe to have full control over a situation, as opposed to working ones’ way through the careful wording of a well thought-out manifestation ritual.   The problem with throwing your time and energy behind this type of energy work is that it may not allow for the wisdom of the Universe to permeate.  For example, you go on a job interview.  The job is perfect – moreover, you have wanted to work in this particular field for years.  You feel certain that you’ve aced the interview, but decide to do a little candle work along with a concentrated meditation to ensure the Universal Divine knows EXACTLY how badly you want this one.  And you are crushed when you receive your “thanks, but no thanks” letter two weeks later.  You remain crushed – until an ex-boss calls you a month later, offering an amazing (and better!) job within her new company!   Would you have been available for the second opportunity had the first manifested?  Probably not.  Moreover, it is disrespectful to the God & Goddess to command them to perform in a certain way.  We ask, respectfully – we do not demand or order.   Whether it’s a new job, relationship or home – often the “one that got away” is the one you were meant not to have – because bigger and better was just around the corner.

That said, it is silly to think we have to be passive in our approach to the things we need.  Good health, abundance, love – all come to us much more easily when we combine a good attitude, personal effort and directed energy toward what it is we require.  The biggest hurdle to manifestation is determining exactly what it is you want – that, and learning to separate our wants from our needs.   Remember that the Universe does not appreciate any form of gluttony.  And let’s face it:  “Lots of money” “A really big house” or “someone amazing to fall in love with me” are not exactly precise guidelines to work within! 

Allow me to illustrate with an example.  About six months after I opened Talisman (my little new-age shop in Monroe, CT) a young woman approached me with the request “Do you have any spells for dogs?”   I asked her to tell me exactly what she needed.   It seems she had recently moved from Vermont to Connecticut with her baby daughter and beloved Rottweiler.  She had rented an apartment that stipulated in the rental agreement that she could have one large dog.  However, the day she moved in, the landlord (who lived upstairs in the two-family house) took one look at the dog and said, “Oh you have a Rottweiler?  I didn’t realize that.  I can’t live with a Rottweiler – I’m sorry, he has to go”. 

So we began by going over what was obvious – practicality before magick, always.  The rental agreement was a legally binding contract and the landlord had agreed in writing to allow one large dog (we aren’t looking to break or bend the law).  The day after she moved in, she sensibly invited the landlord and his wife to brunch, during which time her dog actually lay calmly at the landlord’s feet and he even reached down to pet it from time to time.  Upon leaving, however, he turned and said to her, “That IS a nice dog – for a Rottweiler.  However, I just can’t live with one.  I’m sorry.”  Before coming to see me, she had called the landlord’s wife to plead her case one last time before bringing the dog back to Vermont to live with her parents.  The wife told her that her husband’s best friend had been mauled as a child by a Rottie and he was deathly afraid of them – and to please stop asking, as he would NEVER agree to allow the dog to stay.

This conversation took place on a Friday – and she had arranged to make the drive back to Vermont with the dog on Monday.  So we began with a yellow candle, which was charged then anointed with Road Opener oil.  I instructed her to take the candle home and build around it a shrine to her dog – including pictures, his collar and leash, toys, vet records – and to place the candle in its holder on top of the rental contract.  She spent one hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night (same time each night) in an uninterrupted manifestation ritual.  I told her to SEE her dog playing in the back yard, lying in his bed, eating out of his food dish – SEE where his bowl and bed would be placed – SEE the landlord coming downstairs to give him a pat before leaving for work – SEE her infant daughter growing up with him.  This is very different from praying, believing or asking because this is the difference between KNOWING something will happen versus believing it will.  Doing all this at the same time each night, and allowing no outside interruptions (besides a waking baby!) requires discipline and illustrates serious intent for the issue at hand.

This story has a happy ending:  I had a visit on Tuesday morning – she came into Talisman to tell me that just as she was packing up her car to make the trip north, the landlord called and said he had a change of heart – her dog could stay!  This very same manifestation ritual worked in the same manner for another patron with issues of secondary infertility.  She had a six year old son, and had been trying for two years to have a second child with no luck.  Same technique with a different candle/oil/shrine – and she was pregnant the next month (she used a pink candle and was blessed with the daughter she had been hoping for!).  Ditto the mother of a grown child with serious medical issues whose husband was in the running for a job that would provide much-needed comprehensive medical benefits:  Not only did her son-in-law get the job, but the company agreed to begin medical coverage before the six week wait period was over. 

Thoughts do become things.  The power of positive thinking, combined with energy drawn from the Universal Divine, is an awesome force indeed.  And please – I had nothing to do with these outcomes besides providing instruction and the necessary materials.  I like working with candles because the very act of lighting one is a clear signal that energy work is about to begin.  The flame itself is both a focal point and additional source of energy.   Be clear that the work itself was done by the petitioner in tandem with Divine Will.  I believe that it is empowering to occasionally take part in owning one’s destiny by manifesting some changes in the road ahead rather than passively “Forrest Gumping” your way through life!       

Where this process fails miserably is when you attempt to force or bend the Will of another to your own.  Notice that the young woman with the dog didn’t get angry or nasty with the landlord; instead she worked within the parameters of the law (without threatening a lawsuit) and visualized a positive outcome – for both parties.  Seeing yourself in the desired job is not the same as trying to energetically get inside an employer’s head to ensure the only option (in their mind) is to hire you.  And yet, through all of this, one must never be so dead set on an outcome that you are unwilling to bend to the wisdom of the Universe.  We may channel the Divine Energy but we ourselves are not the God or Goddess – we must reckon with our own inability to see past our current circumstance to what lies ahead.  How many times in your life has something truly awful happened – and six months later, you were saying “it was the best thing that could ever have happened to me”?  I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t had an opportunity to say those very words.  This is The Tower card of the tarot deck at play – unexpected or catastrophic change which often portends a serendipitous event to follow.

And that, I suppose, is both the challenge AND opportunity in all this – to actively work toward a positive outcome while allowing a higher power to oversee the process.  I feel strongly that this is not a mandate for a passive life but rather the guidepost for a magickal one!