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Why are my Natural Magick products
superior? I don't fudge or cheat, not on ingredients or in
my process. You get high quality, natural products made according to
strict traditional guidelines. Natural Magick takes cues directly from
Nature and diligently researches literature and lore.
Here are the elements of traditional ritual production
that are guaranteed in my products:
Magickal Timing
We take our cues from Nature. Some
activities are favored by the New Moon, some by the Full Moon, others
by the Dark Moon. Since Babylonian times, the days of the week have
been said to be "ruled" by the seven visible planets: Sun, Moon, Mars,
Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. This is why we have seven days of
the week, in fact! Although called by different names, the essential
properties and powers of the planets have been understood to be the
same all this time. Natural magicians have used this system since
ancient times for everything from planting of crops to business
decisions to creation of magic incenses, oils and brews. Natural Magick
strictly adheres to a combination of this planetary and lunar
influence. For example, Success is ruled by the Sun, and is a state of
fullness. Therefore, Success oil is made on the Sunday on or just
before the Full Moon. Blessing is a function of the Moon, Venus, or the
Sun, and it is a quality of freshness and newness, so Blessing incense
is made on Monday, Friday, or Sunday on or just after the New Moon.
Elements
Earth, Air, Fire and Water are
the classic alchemical "elements," and this system of correspondence is
also used in Natural Magick products. It governs the
selection of ingredients, and even the direction I face while making
the product. Protection is a function of the Fire element, so I choose
fiery ingredients for this oil, and face the South as I blend it.
Knowledge of Ingredients
For some reason, I have always
been interested in the names of plants. I started this path
as a native plant botanist. Unfortunately, magical texts are fraught
with the use of common names rather than scientific Latin names. I was
frustrated by this, and so I have for over a dozen years looked at
references and compared the ingredients. Also I just seem to care more
about botanical accuracy than other folks in this tradition. If I say
"Bay" you will know if I mean Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis), Bay "Rum" (a
blend of Pimenta dioica "Bay" and other spices) Bayberry (any of
several Myrica species) or Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana), to give one
fairly confusing example! Although all of them can be used to season
boiled crawfish, they all have different magical properties!
Correspondences
Magical formularies are filled
with tables of correspondence, generally based on the principal of "Doctrine of
Signatures." Where no correspondence information can be
found in literature, I can figure it out. For example, what phase of
the moon corresponds to the goddess Iris of the Rainbow? The answer is
in the bow of the rainbow. It was dark during the storm, now it is
light with the rainbow in the sky. Therefore Iris is made during the
bow-shaped New Moon which follows the Dark Moon. The colors of the
rainbow are used to make art; Venus rules the arts, therefore Iris is
made on Fridays.
Here is another example of how
I use correspondences and Doctrine of Signatures in my work.
I have an Anacacho Orchid tree (Anacacho bauhinia) in my yard, which
has sweetly smelling white flowers. Was it a Moon or Venus tree?
Bearing white flowers is often a Moon signature, whereas Venus rules
perfumery. The answer came one Full Moon night as I wandered through my
tangled forest gardens. I stopped to enjoy the fragrance of the
flowers, and there was none! This tree's flowers are only fragrant in
the daylight hours; therefore it must not be ruled by the Moon but by
Venus, the Morning and Evening star. Then I looked at the leaves which
are heart shaped, clearly a Venus signature and thought to myself,
"Well, duh!"
Just the way things smell,
their colors, or their common names, is often enough information.
Chamomile essential oil is blue, as is yarrow, making them excellent
choices for a water element formulation. Cedar wood smells like a
coffin, which is why I combine it with Blood Orange in the Vampyre oil.
Money is made where? At a mint, and mint the plant is much associated
with prosperity. I try my best to find these correspondences and use
them for the most potent Natural Magick.
Deosil or Widdershins?
Deosil, pronounced JESH-ul,
means clockwise, and is the direction of the motion of the Sun. It is
used for all purposes of creation, making, blessing, and increase.
Widdershins, surprisingly pronounced the way it is spelled, is the
counterclockwise direction, and is the direction for magic of unmaking,
getting rid of, banishing, uncrossing and if you must, cursing. The
direction of rotation is most important while grinding Natural Magick
incenses. Exorcism is the only incense I grind widdershins. All the
others are magics of increase and therefore they are ground deosil.
Also, the mother stock of my oil blends is made into a round bottle,
swirled in the appropriate direction.
Numbers
Early on, mathematics, science
and magic were all one and the same study. For better or
worse, science split from magic, but magical tradition retains a
reverence for numbers. Threes nines, and thirteen are considered moon
and goddess numbers, so I use three essential oils in multiples of
thirteen for the dark goddess Hecate. Five is the pentacle, and the
number of fingers on my hand, so it is used for purposes of protection
and human power. Sevens is for luck and prosperity, and planetary
favors.
When this Natural Magic system
is used, the choice of ingredients becomes like choosing words, and the
way those ingredients are put together becomes grammar and syntax.
This is the language that Natural Magick uses to communicate our
intentions to the Universe, reflecting the clues we find in Nature back
to the Source. So Mote It Be!
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