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A ritual of reconnection:
Step outside.
Look.
Listen
Feel.
Feel your feet on the earth.
Tip your head to the sky.
If there is rain,
welcome it.
If there is sun,
feel it bless your skin.
Cast your eyes to the horizon.
Bend down and touch the Earth.
Rest your hands against your own heart.
Wait.
The sacred will meet you here.

My newest book of poems: In the Temple of the Ordinary, vol. 2 is available now via Amazon and Barnes and Noble and also open for pre-order on Kindle.

With so few opportunities to meet new people amidst the pandemic, it often feels like love is constantly slipping through our fingertips, just out of reach. And while this has certainly complicated our love lives, it also has made the interactions we do have so much more treasured. Perhaps you’ve experienced something like this; a stranger caught your eye at a Zoom poetry reading, you had a brief but meaningful moment in line for coffee, or perhaps you exchanged looks of longing across the aisle on your last grocery run. Whatever it was, you can’t seem to shake that person from your mind.

Now, your only hope is that chance will bring you together, right? Wrong! To reconnect with this mystery person, try this surefire reunion spell. Take a man-shaped mandrake root (commonly available from magickal herbalists and metaphysical shops), or any statue, photograph, or figure of a man. Place it on your altar, surrounding the figure’s base with red and pink rose petals, then add red and pink candles. Place two goblets of red wine beside this arrangement, and burn the candles every night for a week starting on Friday, Venus’s Day. Sip from one of the goblets and recite:

The world can overwhelm us at times with problems relating to work, illness, and all manner of problems that get in the way and want to stay. But these problems are not beyond your control! The ultimate best times to release bad luck and unwanted negative energies are immediately after a full moon or on any Friday the thirteenth.

For this spell, get yourself a big black candle, an obsidian sphere (or at least an obsidian crystal), a piece of white paper, a black ink pen, a cancellation stamp (readily available at any stationary store), and a big flat rock that is slightly concave in the center. Write on the paper what you wish to be freed from—this is your release request. Place the candle and the obsidian on the flat rock, and light the candle near an open window so the negative energy will leave your home. While the candle burns, intone:

While a bowl is not a tool in and of itself, you can utilize bowls in your spellwork often, anytime you are inspired to do so. Three simple ingredients—a red rose, a pink candle, and water—can bestow a powerful blessing. The rose signifies beauty, potential, the sunny seasons, and love for yourself and others. The candle stands for the element of fire, the yellow flame of the rising sun in the east, harmony, higher intention, and the light of the soul. Water represents its own element, flow, the direction of the west, emotions, and cleansing. This ritual can be performed alone or with a group in which you pass the bowl around. Float the rose in a clear bowl of water, and light a pink candle beside the bowl. With your left hand, gently stir the water in the bowl and say:

I give myself life and health, refreshing water for my spirit.

To clear energy and prepare for a week of calm clarity, find a blossom of your favorite white flower—iris, lily, rose—one that is truly beautiful to your eye. Monday’s setting sun is the time for this spell, enacted immediately after the sun goes below the horizon. Anoint a white candle with clary sage oil and place it on your altar. Take your single white blossom and add that to your altar in a bowl of freshly drawn water. Place sage leaves on a glass dish in front of the lit candle and speak aloud:

This fire is pure; this flower is holy, this water is clear.

Juniper Berry oil has a feminine energy and is sacred to earth deities. This essential oil has a sweet and woody aroma that makes it a great addition to aromatherapy and as an anointing application. It also has a strong clearing property for use before spellwork.

Lavender oil is my number one essential oil because it is so versatile. It is a natural antibiotic, antiseptic, sedative, antidepressant, and topical treatment for scalds and burns, as well as a good detoxifier. Lavender promotes healing, and the lovely scent has a calming effect and is widely used in aromatherapy.

Creating a healing altar will safeguard your physical health and that of your loved ones. Set up your healing altar facing north.

To ensure healthful beginnings, find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your altar to make a tabula rasa, an altar equivalent to a “blank slate.” Take two green candles; place them in green glass holders or votive glasses and position them in the two farthest corners of the altar. Place your incense burner in the center between the two candles and light the incense. Sandalwood, cinnamon, camphor, and frankincense are all powerful purification incenses that are perfect for the creation of a healing altar. Burn one or all of these purification essences to consecrate the space. Adorn your altar with objects that symbolize healing energy to you. You may perhaps choose a candleholder carved from a chunk of amethyst crystal, which contains healing properties; an abalone shell with the iridescent magic of the oceans; a small citrus plant bursting with the restorative power of vitamin C; or a bowl of curative salts from the sea.