The Witch's Spellbook

Solitary Litha ritual

Needed:

• Seasonal flowers and items to decorate your altar
• The means to create a small fire. A fire pit outside will work wonderfully, but an indoor fireplace is also fine. If you cannot build a fire, use some candles (red or gold are best).
• Some herbs representative of happiness; lavender and vervian are traditional
• A small square of fabric and a ribbon; natural materials are best
• Any percussive instrument (optional)
• A bowl or plate of seasonal fruits or other foods and a glass of fruit juice, red wine, or some other appropriate drink
• An offering bowl (only needed if you are not working outside and/or if you cannot build a fire)

Decorate your altar or working space with summery items. Seasonal flowers and fruits are especially good. Cast your circle and mark it out by walking clockwise around it and laying flowers around its perimeter. Build the fire or light the candles and speak the following words:

At this time of life and joy when summer’s reached its height
I honor the season and the sun with these flames burning bright
And as the year begins to wane, I’ll keep with me this light
To fill my heart and warm me when the day turns on to night

Feel the warmth of the flames and imagine their light filling you. Sit by the fire (or candles) and place the herbs in the center of the square of fabric. Fold the fabric up around the herbs and tie it off to make a pouch. Push all your troubles, pains, sorrows, etc., into the pouch. Throw it into the fire if you’ve built one. If you are using candles, place it on your altar for now.

Stand up and walk clockwise around the fire or candles. If your fire is not in the center, simply walk around the circle. Play the instrument (if you have one) or clap your hands if you like, and chant the following words as you walk:

Turn, turn, turn, turn, the Litha fire is burning
Walk the circle, chant the song, the year’s great wheel is turning

As you walk and chant, reflect on the year — now that it is halfway through, what have you learned? What has come to pass? What is yet to come? Picture a great wheel turning, a representation of the steady passage of time. Continue this active meditation for as long as you like. When you are ready to stop, sit by your altar again and place the food, drink, and offering bowl (if needed) in front of you.  Speak a small and personal expression of gratitude for all that the Earth has provided and for the food and drink before you. Throw a bit of the food into the fire and pour some of the drink onto the ground (or put them into an offering bowl if you are not outside and/or you do not have a fire). Enjoy the rest.

Close your circle and end your ritual, putting out the fire or candles last. Go outside and bury the offerings if needed. If your ritual used candles and you did not burn the herb pouch, keep it on your altar until you can throw it into a fire. If you cannot, you can bury the pouch.

Angel Protection

Whenever you feel like you are in danger, or in need of protection, just call on the angels. Visualize three angels circling protectively around you as you chant this spell three times:

“Lovely Angels, hear my plea

Only three I call to me

I call for your protective power

Here and in my needing hour.”

Blessed Be.

This spell was written by me, Nicci. <3

Updates

The notes system still hasn’t been sorted out, and so the giveaway will continue until it’s fixed up I can see all the notes.

Also, life has gotten a bit busier and so I won’t be around quite as much for awhile. I’ll still run the blog, but I’ll be a bit slower posting spells and answering questions. Keep on sending in requests and messages, though — I’ll do my best to get to all of them.

Thanks to all my followers :) I absolutely love interacting with all of you and it’s been great so far. I’m looking forward to continuing this blog and seeing where it ends up.

Would it be helpful to create a reading list page?

Here’s how I’d work it: anyone could suggest a book and include a rating out of five for it. Then I would post it up on the page with the rating. If anyone has read the book and disagrees with the rating or wants to send in their own, they can send a message for that, too, and I’ll average the rating. I would also include, for each book, the number of ratings it’s received. So, we’d end up with a list of books and a general idea of how good they are :) Thoughts?

On an unrelated note: if you’ve suggested a spell for something but I haven’t put it up yet, just be patient. I’ve got a lot of requests and I’m getting to them all as quickly as I can. :)