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If you are presenting your paintings to a curator or pitching your book to a publisher, you can wear a talisman of your own making to ensure a positive outcome. Many performers, athletes, and musicians have lucky pieces of clothing or some token that gives them the courage to put themselves forth in the best possible manner. I have lucky scarves that I have woven with golden thread and scented with my personally auspicious aroma of vamber.

To maximize the power of the talisman, consider the following suggestions, which I have used to great success. Keep in mind that this will work even better if you place the item on your altar to imbue it with the right energy. On a new moon night, or at least seven days before you perform or present your work, place your lucky scarf, glove, sock, or kerchief on your altar. Now, here is where a bit of candle magic comes in. Light a green, red, or blue candle, depending on your intention. Green is for abundance, red is for fame, and blue is for creative vision. Burn the candle for one hour every evening. When the big day comes, you will be ready.

Sometimes we are influenced by writers without even reading them. I recently found out about early influences on me from writers my family knew. As I discussed in Writing and Writers part 1, with the story of the carob being an influence on Snorri's version of the Baldur tale, second hand or third hand influence can have a big impact. 

After I blogged about Honoring the Bear, I posted a link with some commentary on the Official Animal Spirit Beings Thread in my discussion group, the Asatru Facebook Forum. In my blog post, I mentioned that when I studied the martial art Shaolin Sho Shu Kung Fu Way of the Beast as a teenager I had learned an exercise to connect to the seven beasts of martial arts and had once seen myself in the mirror as a giant mantis, which had frightened me at the time. I had also connected with other beasts, including cat and bear.

Cinnamon, which you probably have a plentitude of in your kitchen cabinet, is a major source of prosperity and can even bring it about in a hurry. Here is a Jupiterian Thursday spell that will bring excellent opportunities your way. Gather some cinnamon, both sticks and the powdered kind, and place it all on your altar. On a Thursday, light incense (preferably cinnamon) and walk through your house, wafting the delightfully sweet smoke into every room. Light two altar candles, one brown and one green. Gather yellow flowers such as daisies and adorn your altar with them. Stand in front of your earthen altar and consider the wonderful, full life you are going to enjoy. Pour the cinnamon spice and sticks into a bowl and pray aloud:

This humble spice I offer to the gods who provide all.

Tolkien once wrote in a letter to his son that he was "a Hwiccian (of Wychwood) on both sides."*

Curious words, are they not? My mind generated an entire alternate universe in which Tolkien was the granddaddy of Fam-Trad Witches, and all the things in our culture that would be different if it were so.

• Creating goddess magic and community practice: Goddess Magic community
  
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• Writing weekly for my (free) newsletter: Creative Spirit Circle
• Writing books! My current books are available on Amazon (as well as often from me directly on etsy).

Is something getting in your way? Do you feel stalled out and overcome with procrastination? To overcome any blocks obstructing your creativity and productivity, you can dispel the negative energy by going for a walk in the nearest park. Find a round, flat rock, six to ten inches wide. This will become an altar supplied directly to you by Mother Nature, and it will have the purest energy. Begin by charging this stone on the full moon at your home altar. Light a white candle for purification, and then place your hand on the stone and chant three times:

Obstacles, take flight!

Here is another spell that will attract new employment opportunities to you, and one that does not have the prerequisite of a particular moon phase. Light a gold candle and place it in a special place beside a chunk of shiny gold pyrite. Repeat this incantation eight times while holding the stone in your right hand. In your mind’s eye, form an image of the job you most desire as you speak:

To see what the future holds,