Rose Ariadne's Chitchcraft Blog

Dear Friends,

Jupiter has incredibly expansive and beneficial energy that many people are drawn to, and with good reason. Among other things, Jupiter is the planet of luck and prosperity. It’s as big and expansive as it’s actual physical size. When you think Jupiter, think big and bold! It’s no wonder that working with Jupiter is a popular topic.

Luck and prosperity are things that we all want, so it’s a good idea to learn a little bit about Jupiter and how it’s energy works. Personally, I’ve found this to be one of the most fascinating planets not just for it’s magickal energy but for it’s unique status in the solar system. Few people know this, but Jupiter is considered to be a sun that never ignited. It has sixteen minor planets or “moons” in its orbit, and had it reached it’s full potential we’ve have a binary solar system instead of just one sun. Some astronomers believe that Jupiter may have at one point been an active sun, and when our current sun came into power it slowly lost its own. This places the Sun and Jupiter in an interesting mytholigical stance. Much like the death and rebirth of the Sun that we experience each year with the solar calendar, Jupiter is the “older” king who is bowing in reverence to the new king, the Sun.

So what can we learn from the astronomy of Jupiter? It is expansive. It represents latent power. It generates heat and is expansive. It’s energy is powerful, spiritual and large. When people speak of Jupiter being expansive, it isn’t just expansive in money, career or personal power. It can also expand consciousness. The astrological sign associated with Jupiter, Sagittarius, represents this duality perfectly. Sagittarius is the hunter and the philosopher. Sagittarian energy, and therefore Jupiter energy, is equally physical and spiritual.

It makes sense to get in touch with the energy of this planet that could have been our Sun. In addition, Jupiter is the Roman name for Zeus, the ruler of all of the Gods. Manifesting and allowing Jupiterian energy is honoring the God himself.

To get in touch with Jupiter, you need to expand your awareness of what is around you. For this reason, it makes perfect sense to complete a meditation based on Jupiter’s energy. To complete this meditation, make sure to have one of the following crystals associated with the planet:

Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, Labradorite, Sapphire,Turquoise

You’ll also need four purple candles and some sage. This meditation is especially powerful during the time that the Sun is in the sign of Sagittarius (mid November to mid December), but it can be done any Thursday of the year. Make sure to create a space where you can meditate quietly.

Once you’ve grounded, centered and cast your circle, go ahead and light your four purple candles. Relax and take in some deep breaths of the sage. Before you begin the meditation, wave the crystal through the smoke in order to purify it. Then hold it between your hands and feel your energy flowing into the crystal. Picture yourself vibrating in harmony with the crystal, and see your heartbeat pulsing in it. As you are pulsing and joining with the crystal, feel yourself expanding beyond your physical body and filling the entire room. When you’ve filled the room, you continue to expand beyond your home out into the neighborhood, then the entire city, then the state. You keep expanding further and further until you are beyond the Earth. Feel yourself connecting with the entirety of the universe. Expand to the point where you feel yourself join with the divine and realize that all things are one.

When you’ve made this realization, start stepping back into yourself and thanking everyone and everything that you encountered along the way. Once you’re back into your own body, make sure to ground yourself but keep the new awareness of your place in the universe fresh in your mind. Everytime you look at the crystal, you can repeat those feelings of expansion and power.

You didn’t think I’d create a message on Jupiter without including a luck spell, did you? Well, you’re in luck (pardon the pun) because here’s a short sweet spell that will bring more Jupiter energy and luck into your life.

This spell will help you attract luck into your life. You’ll need a drawstring bag, two lode stones, two green candles and some incense. Prepare your ritual as you normally would. Once you’re ready, place the lode stones into the bag and then tie the strings threes times. Light the two green candles and then say the following words:

Luck shall come to me by the powers of three, by my will so shall it be!

At this point, you need to pass the bag through the incense and just above the candles. Then say

The bag is sealed and this charm is made.

Luckily yours,

Rose Ariadne

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring, “Resident Witch In Charge”

Dear Friends,

Mars is a tough planet to get along with sometimes. It (and the Roman God it is named after) have typically been associated with war, anger and strife. However, it’s much more than that. Just as people have different sides to them, so does Mars. It’s the opposite of Venus, so the lovey-dovey peaceful energy is out the window when it comes to Mars. Mars is much more aggressive, but not necessarily destructive. Think of it as more about willpower than war, and you’ll start to see how working with Mars can be effective in your magickal practice and your life.

Mars wants to make things happen so it’s very helpful when you need a spell with a lot of energy and “tooth” to it. Will energy is important in magick because it helps create the results that you want. When you practice a ritual or a spell, you’re putting your will power out there to change and bend the energy that exists in the universe. In order for magick to take place, you have to use your willpower.

It’s easy to see why Mars is associated with anger. Anger is will power that has been amplified to a high degree. It’s will power and frustration balled up into one. However, if you work at using Mars in a positive way you’ll begin to see that Mars has power that leads to victory.

Any ritual can be connected to Mars by adding some special elements to give it extra power. Mars has many herbs that are associated with it but some of the most common are allspice, blackberry, cayenne, dragon’s blood, garlic, hemlock, mandrake, rue, blessed thistle and wormwood. Adding these herbs in with your other ritual items will add the will power energy of mars. You can also connect with Mars by doing your ritual on Tuesday. Adding the color red to your ritual will do the same thing.

I’ll include a spell dealing directly with asserting yourself in a very Mars like fashion at the end of this post, but first I’d like to share with you a ritual that will help you connect with Mars energy. For this ritual you’ll need a red candle and a pin. Annoint the candle with some all purpose spell oil, or some garlic (also associated with Mars). On the candle, with the pin, trace the symbol for Mars. This symbol is a circle with an arrow pointing upward and to the right. It is the symbol for male in modern times.

Light a Mars related incense, like Dragon’s Blood, and then focus your energy on the candle. As you focus, ask the God Mars to give you a vision of how you should be using your willpower. Close your eyes and then allow your mind to receive whatever images are there. As you sit in silence, let your inner will be guided by the images that you see. The interpretation of those images is entirely up to you. If you and I saw the same thing, we’d interpret it differently because of our different life paths and destinies.

The following spell can be used to increase your confidence and your will power. It’s helpful to do this spell during the full moon, so you can draw on the energy of the moon. For this spell, you’ll also need to know the astrological sign that Mars is in at this point. You can look up that information by finding an ephemeris online. Take note of the sign that Mars is in, and make sure to find the symbol for the sign. You’ll need that symbol to inscribe in your candle.

You’ll need a red candle dressed with Dragon’s Blood oil, or another appropriate Mars related oil. You’ll also need a shell. The color or type of shell doesn’t matter but it should be one that appeals to you in some way.

After grounding and centering like you normally would, spend a few minutes concentrating on the situation that you would like to use your newfound confidence and will power in. Picture yourself standing up to someone you’d previously been afraid of, or asking your boss for a raise with confidence. Whatever situation speaks to you, clearly picture it in your mind and hold the feeling of confidence in your heart.

Light the red candle, and hold it in your right hand. Repeat the following words:

Please give me the power to be confident.
Allow me to be the best that I can be.

Pass the shell through the flame and say the following:

May this by my lucky charm
To remind me to be powerful, and do others no harm

Kiss the shell and then pass it through the flame, and say the following:

May the power of Mars, and the energy of (the astrological sign)
Grant me what I need
I leave this space a confident person, free to use my will as I see fit.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring, “Resident Witch In Charge”

Dear Friends,

I hope you’ve been enjoying this series of planets so far. When I first started to walk this path, I didn’t understand the powerful connection between astrology and paganism. When you think about it, though, it makes a of sense. As followers of nature, we pagans center our belief system on the elements and other parts of nature. The planets are parts of nature, but they also embody the aspects of Gods and Goddesses from the Greco-Roman pantheon.

As I’m sure you know, Venus is a planet and a deity. In Roman mythology she was called Venus, and in Greek she goes by the name Aphrodite. The Goddess in this form represents all things of beauty: love, friendship, family and gardening. Anything related to arts is also ruled by Venus. There are a lot of different ways that you can honor Venus. As you work to honor Venus, you can visualize the energy as a planet, or as a Goddess – whichever feels more appropriate to you.

Venus represents love, beauty and the arts so it’s no wonder that Venus themed spells are popular. Some of you may have been drawn to the craft from your desire to invite love into your life or get that special guy or girl to give you a call. Before you dive into trying to seduce your latest crush with a love spell, you should know a few things about casting love spells.

In my opinion, and the opinion of many other serious practitioners of the craft, casting love spells falls into a moral gray area. Contrary to popular mass media belief, witches are indeed moral. The Wiccan rede clearly states that “Do as you will as long as you harm none.” Forcing someone to love you or otherwise trapping them into a love relationship would definitely constitute harming someone.

With the love spell included in this post, make sure to keep the focus on making yourself ready for love. If you concentrate your energy on honoring Venus, instead of looking for love you’ll be a lot better off.

Venus spells should be done during the the waxing moon, because Venus energy is building and manifesting. If you want to give your work with Venus extra energy, conduct your magickal work on Friday.

The first spell I’d like to share with you is regarding soul mates. Belief in soulmates is pretty common in the pagan community, although there is some disagreement about whether there is one soulmate in this lifetime or several people that you connect with on a soul level.

This spell involves interpreting dreams. If you aren’t doing so already, I encourage you to start writing down your dreams as soon as you wake up in the morning. It will help you prepare for this spell.

For this spell, you’ll need a lemon, a small bowl of boiling water and your athame. You don’t have to do a full fledged ritual for this spell. You can simply ground and center yourself and then do this in your kitchen or bathroom before you’re ready to fall asleep. Don’t do this by your beside, because it can get a little messy!

Try to time this for one hour before you’re going to fall asleep. As you cut into the lemon with your athame, chant the following words:

Thou who is out there waiting for me,
Come into my life as you’re supposed to be,
Run through my soul, and out of this knife
Become this lemon I hold in my hand
Come to me tonight, across the land

As you’re cutting the lemon into six wedges, squeeze each wedge completely into the bowl (see why I said to do this in the kitchen!). After you’ve squeezed all of the juice out of the lemon wedges, inhale the fragrance of the juice in the hot water five times. When you go to sleep, you’ll have a dream of your soul mate. Keep in mind that you may or may not have met them already. Once you awaken, write down as many characteristics as you can remember.

Since Venus is also associated with creativity and art, I also wanted to share with you a spell dealing with this part of her energy. As an artist and writer, I often find myself tapped out creatively. This spell will help you renew that part of yourself.

For this, you’ll need an orange calcite stone. Annoint it with vanilla (for Venus) and, once you’ve grounded and centered yourself, try the following chant:

Little stone, please now inspire,
The perspective I require
Bring ideas and the muse when I have the need -
As I will, so mote it be!

Once you’ve enchanted the stone, you can carry it with you or place it where you use your creativity (like your desk or your easel).

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring, “Resident Witch In Charge”

Dear Friends,

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun and it’s swiftness and speed are represented in the magick that it rules over. It’s the planet of technology, travel and mental activities. We honor Mercury each day when we hop into our car and speed down the freeway, when we participate in a friendly debate with friends and when we answer our e-mail. Mercury is everywhere, so why does it need to be honored, you may ask?

Quite frankly, Mercury is one of the planets/deities (depending on how you look at it) that has a profound impact on your day to day life. If you don’t believe me, try looking up the next Mercury retrograde. This period, when Mercury appears to be moving backwards from the earth’s perspective, lasts about three weeks long and occurs three times per year. If you begin to take notice of these times, you’ll recognize that Mercury-related activities (travel, technology, your mind) goes a bit hay-wire. Mercury is related to so many different and important things in your life, it’s important to learn how to work some Mercury magick.

Before I show you the specific spells that deal with Mercury energy, you need to know some correspondences. Wednesday is ruled by Mercury, so it’s a good idea to time your magick to fall on this day. The color orange and the stones of amber and topaz are also associated with this planet. If you want to incorporate flower essences or plants into your magickal workings, almond, lavender, peppermint and dill are all appropriate for working with Mercury.

The first spell I’d like to share with you that deals with the energy of Mercury is a safe travel spell. This spell should be performed on the Wednesday before you set out on your journey. You’ll need the following items:

-A map of your route (printing one out from Mapquest is perfectly fine)
-A green pen
-White chalk
-two pieces of topaz or amber (or regular quartz crystal if you have one – make sure they are very small in size)
-Orange ribbon

Start out your magick by grounding and centering yourself. Picture yourself connecting with the earth in such a way that you’ll never get lost and you always know where you are going. You are drawing the earth’s energy up into yourself, so you’ll always be able to know just where to go.

Once you’ve opened your ritual in the manner which you’re accustomed to, place your map on the altar and trace your route from your home to your destination with the green pen. Next trace the route in the same direction with you chalk. As you use the chalk to mark the map, visualize the chalk as an aura of white protection around your journey and your traveling party.

Next, take your crystals and put one at your starting point and one at the end of your journey. As you place the crystals, say the following words:

Bless our journey and keep us from harm
With light of protection and Mercury’s charm,
Our path be straight and free from strife,
Many more adventures left upon my life.

Close your eyes, and visualize your safe journey. Fold the map into thirds and make sure to keep the crystals safe inside. Wrap the orange ribbon around your parcel and tie it. You should take this with you on your journey to ensure your safe travel.

Mercury is also the planet of communication, so it’s good to have a few spells dealing with communication in your book of shadows. These type of spells help you control the conversation and the outcome of the conversation. One of the most important communication spells to have is the following spell which will help you be understood and heard correctly. This spell is important to use during retrograde, when miscommunication becomes the norm.

For this spell, you’ll need a turquoise stone or piece of turquoise jewelry, as well as a white candle and anything else that you normally have on your altar. Once you enchant the stone, you’ll carry it with you at all times to make communications flow easily.

Ground and center and cast your circle as you normally would. As you prepare to do your magickal work, keep the recipient of your message in mind and think about the message you would like to convey. Hold onto the stone or the piece of jewelry and pour all of your energy into it. Repeat the following words:

Stone of sheer diplomacy
Make my voice heard
The point that I must make today
Must not be disturbed
Remove all clouds
Make clear the mark
As I will, so mote it be.

After you’ve completed the spell concentrate your energy on the stone until you feel comfortable, and then close your ritual as you normally would.

Mercury effects your life in so many different ways, it’s important you develop an arsenal of spells to deal with it effectively.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring, “Resident Witch In Charge”