I have never felt much of a connection to Imbolc and Brigid who is the more popular goddess associated with February and it’s beginning. In searching for alternatives, I found a connection to Juno. Having a preference for Graeco Roman divinities, this is who I choose to devote the first cross quarter feast to. Juno/Hera often gets the short end of the stick in most popular media these days. Usually the stories of her vengeance on the bastard children of Zeus from his uncountable paramours is the most often told story, and for that she is painted as being cruel, wicked, evil, vindictive, a harridan, and generally a bad example of a woman. They often overlook her other qualities, and other stories about her. One overlooked and rather important thing, that is often left out from modern retellings is that she was the divine patron of Jason of Jason and the Argonauts. Jason’s success in his journey came about because she favored him and helped him. As long as he held her favor, his ventures worked out for him. It wasn’t until he lost Hera’s favor, by screwing over Medea and breaking promises to her, and abandoning his own children, did his fortunes change and he ended up losing, hard. The month of February is also named for an title of Juno, that of Juno Februa, or Juno of Purification. The month February in the old Roman calendar was closely connected with purification, which would culminate on the 15th of February with the Februa purification. After this it would become a time of feasting and honoring the Gods, the dead, the Lares, and the prosperity of the people and the city itself as evidenced by it’s stability and prosperity.
I love herbs. My mom is a gardener and growing up with a garden with plants growing and herbs all around has always been interesting to me, although spading and working the soil was not my favorite thing as a kid. When I discovered the magic of herbs, I jumped at it, and one of my first entries in my magical workbook was several pages about herb lore. Although it would be a while before I really started doing a lot with herbs, when I started cooking regularly, they also become a favorite way to give flavor, depth and interest to dishes.
Herbs (which for me cover everything like seeds, barks, roots, petals, flowers, stamens and leaves) have a multitude of means of putting them to work in practical sorcery While I don’t always think about magical relationships with herbs while cooking, sometimes the symbolism I find can be quite potent. An apple pie with cinnamon or clove can be clever and tasty way to deliver a love spell. A good marinara sauce seasoned with basil, rosemary and sage can help to promote peace and blessings among the inhabitants of a home. Make a protection soup with white mustard, black pepper and that ubiquitous pinch of salt, which can both be magical and flavorful. A cup of chamomile tea can be soothing and relaxing, but also help bring luck, especially with money.
Of course, there are more ritualized methods of working with herbs as well, that are not so subtle. Making a herbal blend which you then boil or steep in hot water to make a magical bath. For cleansing I have a preference for sage (the garden variety) hyssop and eucalyptus leaves. For love, Rose petals, lavender buds, and some rosemary make for a gentle love drawing bath that smells quite green and floral. For something a bit more spicy, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom made into a strong tea and then bathed in can also bring a bit for physical enjoyment. You can also just simmer the above spices, or a pumpkin spice blend in a pot of water to get the scent to fill the home before an amour comes over to visit. Similarly a bath in cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice can help to draw wealth and good fortune. You can also bath in chamomile tea, which creates a bath of golden water, a very striking image of as you are bathing in gold.
While not as commonly used by many people, powders are a good way to apply magic. A practice that comes mainly from African American folk traditions, it is often overlooked by people outside of tha tradition, except for well known powders like Hotfoot Powder or Goofer Dust, two powders used to curse people, either to drive them away, or to potentially kill them. You can also use simple powdered herbs for their effects. Putting a pinch of ground black pepper and then a pinch of salt in your shoes can help to protect you from harm, shielding you from curses that have been laid down where you walk. The first time I did this, I almost jumped when I put my shoes on, because I immediately felt this surge of power go through, as though some residual negative energy have been cast out from me. Of course, there are other powdered herbs. You should take a pink of powdered cinnamon and lay it down underneath your door mat, to bring wealth to your home, a good practice if you also have a home business. Laying powdered herbs down that relate to your intention in the 4 corners of your home or property is a good way to reinforce magic performed on that area to help establish protection, blessings, or good fortune in the home or property. You can also use powdered herbs in rituals, using them to lay down symbols that connect to the herbs powers, which are serve to further reinforce your intention and focus. The most recognized one would be a circle of protective herbs, perhaps mixed together, which then marks a boundary for a ring of candles that surround a single candle, used in a spell for protection. When the candles have all burned out, collect the powder again, and carry it with you for protection, or sprinkle it around your home or the place to be protected.
There is a multitude of ways of using herbs, and I hope I have laid out some less commented upon methods here to inspire your imagination when working with herbs in magic.
One of my favorite deities of the Hindu panoply of gods is Ganesha. He is fantastic. I forget when I was first introduced to him, but I have always felt a certain fondness for him, and enjoyed learning about him; the myths, the mantras, the devotions, the festivals.
The popularity of Ganesha extends throughout many of the religions that originated in India. Hindus, Buddhists, Jainists, all seem to venerate Ganesha, and it seems quite a few people outside of that religion, who also are drawn to him.
His origin story is quite well published, and if you want to read it, well, Google it, but I will do a quick paraphrase here. He is the son of Parvati, the wife of Shiva, who was created to guard her while she took her bath. However, while Parvati was bath, Shiva returned and sent some of his followers to call upon Parvati. Ganesha denied them, and beat them soundly when they attempted to trespass. Finally Shiva came to see what the problem was, and not knowing the boy was his wife’s son, they fought. Shiva won, but before Parvati could stop the conflict, Shiva had used his destructive third eye upon the youth, destroying his head. In order to revive him, another head needed to be found, which was an elephant head, which became attached to the boy’s body and he was then revived. There are quite a number of different versions that fill in various details and explain various things, but that is the very short hand version of the story that I first heard.
He is associated with having dominion over many things, but his main attribute is the Lord of Obstacles. While mostly often he is asked to remove obstacles, it is also said that he can place obstacles in the path of people who need it. One of his names reflects this power where he is identified as Vighneshvara, which literally translates as Lord of Obstacles (shvara – lord and Vighne being obstacles). There are other variations of this name, but the meaning is considerable consistent. The obstacles he governs are both physical and metaphysical and can be people, places, concepts, spiritual issues, illness and many other things. For this reason he is often called upon when beginning a new venture, to remove obstacles that may obstruct it, as well as when engaging in ritual, to remove obstacles that would impede the success of the ritual.
Another name and association is with knowledge, wisdom and learning. The concept I learned with that is his name Ekadanta which means “One Tusked” as he is often portrayed with only one complete tusk, the other one often broken off and being held in one of his hands. I have a small clay statue showing him holding this broken tusk, and it seems he was using it as a writing implement. The story that I learned is that it was Ganesha who first created writing, and started to write down what other gods said, that it might be preserved and remembered. As he was doing so, his writing implement broken, and there was nothign to replace it. So he broke off his tusk, and dipped it into the ink and continued writing. Because of his connection to knowledge, wisdom and learning, he is also sometimes known as Buddhi’s husband or Buddhipriya, buddhi being a sanskrit word for knowledge and wisdom which is a feminine word and priya meaning fond of, lover or husband.
Ganesha is also associated with a number of other concepts. It is said that the OM is his nature. The swastika is a very popular symbol and it is widely associated with Ganesha. Many statues from the subcontinent of Ganesha often have the swastika prominently displayed on Ganesha, or used in his depictions. He is also said to dwell in the muladhara chakra, as it said the “he holds, supports and guides the other chakras , and thereby governing the forces that propel the wheel of life”
The largest festival associated with Ganesha is Ganesha Chathurthi. This annual festival of 10 days happens in early autumn, typically at some time in August or September (because it is based upon a lunar calendar, the dates vary in the Gregorian calendar. You can google the date). Originally a small family orientated festival, it became a rallying point for Indian independence from the British, and for that reason is widely celebrated across the country, but especially so in specific states and in Ganesha specific temples. The beginning of the festival is marked by the arrival of Ganesha, usually as a large statue. At the end of hte festival, the statue (or statues) are then taken to nearby bodies of water (lakes, rivers etc…) and submerged. While this tradition continues, there has been some discourse over it, as the original statues were often made of clay and would just dissolve into mud, many modern statues started to be made from plaster of paris, which is filled with toxic chemicals, and then painted with toxic paints, which would then pollute the bodies of water. While I have read that some areas have returned to using clay and non toxic pigments, others have started using reusable statues also colored with non toxic paints and dyes, and so they retrieve the statue from the body of water after a few days.
If you want to engage in devotion to Ganesha, a very simple way is through offering him incense and sweets. While he is often depicted with a bowl of traditional indian deserts, I have found he likes all maner of sweets and candies. Including incense (sandalwood is a good choice) is always good, as would including some kind of liquid, even water. The most commonly recited mantra to Ganesha is “Aum gam ganapati namah” Ganesha is very often identified with the color red, although white also is used, along with blue, and it seems orange and yellow are also popular (although usually used with different roles of Ganesha).
A symbol that I am currently contemplating deeply is commonly known as the swastika. It is a symbol that has a long history, mostly good, until the 20th century, where in the hands of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party, it became associated with horrors and atrocities enacted in Nazi Germany. For that reason, many countries have banned the symbol outside of restricted usage for certain religions (primarily eastern, where the swastika has a much richer usage and benevolent symbolism that is much stronger then anything in Nazi Germany).
There are many variants on the swastika, mostly in stylistic depictions, and also vary depending upon the culture. It also has many names. Fylfot, Hooked Cross, Gammadion, Tetraskelion, Tursaansydan, manji, Mjolnir, thorshammr, Mundilfari, sun wheel, At one time, a Buddhist version of the Red Cross was called Red Swastika, and performed in actions similar to Red Cross of western countries.
One of the mistaken lore about the swastika, is that there is a reversed version, which symbolize evil. That is untrue however, as artifacts and usage up until mid 20th century used the swastika with it’s bent legs facing in both directions. Whatever way the legs are turned, the symbolism of the swastika, as a symbol of good fortune and luck, holds true. It was for the beneficial association that Hitler decided to use it, along with pseudo-philosophies about being Aryan, and the connection made by German nationalists both before and current with Adolf Hitler, which encourage him to use that symbol for the Nazi party.
Some of the two best sources I have found about the Swastika and it’s attributes are from Wikipedia, which had a detailed entry, with fascinating links at the bottom leading to other variants.
It was from studying these websites that I decided to work with the swastika a little bit, embracing the it’s attribution of Good Fortune, and using it in a spell for myself to encourage and stimulate good luck. Not in any specific area of influence, but in the sense of any event moving odds in my favor.
To that end, I seek to reclaim this taboo symbol that has been rejected, at least for myself. While I don’t plan on showing it openly in any large way, because it seems like too much effort to explain to every person I see that I am not a Nazi, or Anti-Semetic, and it has nothing to with that, it is unfortunate that this symbols has been so tarnished by the misuse. I think with time and exposure, the idea can be taken back, and the symbol can be reclaimed and used openly again in the Western World, without misinterpretation.
RUNEWORKER 