Middle Earth Magic: Inspired Ideas and Seasonal Spells for Your Enchanted Life

I grew up on a farm in West Virginia and learned much about herbs, trees, animals, gardening, foraging  and so much about nature. I incorporate this wisdom I learned from elders in my family into my spellwork. When I finally left the farm, I majored in Medieval Studies, my attempt to emulate my idol, J.R.R. Tolkien. All these influences led me to my own blended brew which I call "middle earth magic," containing a mix of the modern and the time-tested "old ways." 

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Cerridwen Greenleaf

Cerridwen Greenleaf

    Cerridwen Greenleaf has worked with many of the leading lights of the spirituality world including Starhawk, Z Budapest, John Michael Greer, Christopher Penczak, Raymond Buckland, Luisah Teish, and many more. She gives herbal, crystal and candle magic workshops throughout North America. Greenleaf's graduate work in medieval studies has given her deep knowledge she utilizes in her work, making her work unique in the field. A bestselling author, her books include Moon Spell Magic, The Book of Kitchen Witchery, The Magic of Gems and Crystals and the Witch’s Spell Book series.  She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

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Dreams: Losing Something

Having dreams about losing something is similar to having dreams about being lost. There is probably something missing from your waking life, or something that you are feeling insecure about. Usually the thing you have lost is important, so when are trying to interpret the dream, it’s key to figuring out what you’re missing. The lost object can be a symbol for a lot of different things. For example, someone dreaming about losing their locker combination could be a sign that they are feeling insecure about a something related to school- one of your classes, perhaps. Dreaming about losing your wallet could be a sign that you aren’t being careful with your money. You might be spending your money too recklessly and not saving any for the future. Pay attention to the object that you lost in your dream and think about what kinds of things you associate with that object. If it’s a pencil, that could be related to study, intelligence, or creativity. Keys could symbolize a feeling of security or privacy. Shoes can relate to travel, motivation, and a sense of purpose. This dream will mean something different depending on your lost item, how you feel about that item, and how you think the item can connect to events in your waking life.

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Making Magic with Crystals and Gems

Gems are powerful tools that can pave the way for a better life for you. There is a long history of the use of gems, stones, and crystals as amulets, symbols, charms, and jewelry in magic. These myriad stones can really enrich your life in so many ways. In the next chapter, you will learn how to make your own magical gem and crystal jewelry and how to charge the stones you already own with supernatural power.

Do you want to get a new job? Jade jewelry magic will do the trick! Need to get over a heartbreak? A chrysocolla heart-healing spell will soothe your soul. Are you an author suffering from the dreaded writer’s block? A creativity crystal incantation is exactly what you need. Gems and statues positioned in strategic places around your home can help accelerate the positive vibrations you are activating by practicing crystal and gem magic. Using what I call crystal feng shui, you can place a crystal or a geode or an appealingly shaped rock in the appropriate position of your home to facilitate change. For example, amethyst will promote healing and release any negative energy that is clinging. Clusters of citrine will activate vibrations of abundance and creativity.

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The Mystique of Minerals

Each gem, mineral, crystal, and stone discussed in this volume has its own unique properties. Look at it this way: We have a vast healing and life-enhancing trove of beautiful and sacred stones from which to choose, and each stone has its own inherent, divine qualities. Each one is unique for the energy it emits and how it interacts with our subtle energy field, or aura. In the same way that no two fingerprints or snowflakes are alike, each crystal is completely individual, never to be repeated again in nature. Man-made crystals are exactly alike, thus reducing their appeal and healing qualities, at least in my mind.

Crystals found in nature are imbued with special qualities from the minerals and rocks surrounding them. Geologists are fond of explaining the varying colors of crystals as chemical impurities, and while that may well be so, I prefer to liken the development of crystalline color to the making of a fine wine, wherein the soil and even the neighboring trees, plants, sun, and rain affect the grapes and the resulting nectar. So, gems have notes, like a perfume or a wine or even music. Truly gifted gemologists can distinguish these delicate differences, especially the vibratory sounds.

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Dreams: Being Lost

Dreaming about getting lost somewhere might be a sign from your subconscious that you have lost direction in your waking life. Perhaps you feel like you don’t quite fit in at school or maybe you just feel like you are somewhere you don’t really belong. Maybe you’ve surrounded yourself with people that don’t suit you, or you’re trying to adjust to new surroundings. Because your body and mind are taking time to adapt to these changes, those feelings of being “lost” find their way into your dreams. It’s also possible that you have realized that the path you are on is leading you somewhere that you don’t want to go. Maybe you are being pressured by friends or family to do something that isn’t right for you. Maybe you joined a new after-school club that’s not really your thing. You could be pushing yourself to be someone you’re not so that you can please the authority figures in your life or fit in better at school, and because of this, you’ve started to lose some of your sense of self.

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Happy Celtic New Year!

Halloween stems from the grand tradition of the Celtic New Year. What started as a folk festival celebrated by small groups in rural areas has come to be the second largest holiday of today. There are multitudinous reasons including modern marketing but I think it satisfies a basic human need, to let your “wild side” out, to be free and more connected with the ancient ways.  This is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest and you can commune with the other side, with elders and the spirit world. It is important to honor the ancestors during this major sabbat and acknowledge what transpired in the passing year as well as set intentions for the coming year.

This is the ideal time to invite your circle; the ideal number for your “coven” is 13. Gather powdered incense, salt, a loaf of bread, goblets for wine, and three candles to represent the triple goddess for altar offerings.  Ideally on an outdoor stone altar, pour the powdered incense into a pentagram star shape. Let go of old sorrows, angers and anything not befitting of new beginnings in this New Year Bring only your best to this auspicious occasion.

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Tips ’n’ Tricks: Dream Crystals

Thomas Edison carried quartz crystals with him at all times and called the stones his dream crystals. He believed they inspired his ideas and inventions. Literary legends George Sand and William Butler Yeats also relied on crystals to help spark their considerable creativity.

Data has also been gathered to show the effectiveness of quartz in certain healing techniques, such as chakra therapy, acupressure, and light-ray therapy, as we will discuss in depth later. But the simplest way to promote healing with crystal is to wear a stone.

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The Power of Crystals and Gems

Where do gemstones get their power? They all have a crystalline structure that can collect, store, and release electromagnetic energy, similar to the way today’s commonplace battery does.

Scientists and engineers have discovered through experimentation that a crystal will accumulate and concentrate the energy of any given energy field in close proximity. Further, they’ve discovered that if a crystal is squeezed, energy from within the crystal is released. Light can also be released during the compression of a crystal. While the expansion is infinitesimal, electrons are emitted and are then reabsorbed by the crystal, thus producing energy. Schoolchildren discover this by rubbing or heating crystals and feeling a marked static change. This is known as the piezoelectric effect. Anyone who doubts the power of this effect need only be told that it is one of the causes of earthquakes.

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