Fiery Wall of Protection: Revisited

Back in April of 2011, I created a bottle of Fiery Wall of Protection oil as part of my efforts to recover from a crossed condition.  At the time, I pulled the recipe from Judike Illes' book "The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells".  It seemed to work fine at the time, and I used it with moderate success.  Cut to December of 2011, and it turns out I have some awesome people who read this blog.  An anonymous commenter left quite a few tips for improving my Fiery Wall of Protection formula.  On top of that, in February, Polyphanes took the formula I used along with the comments of Anonymous, and made his own Fiery Wall of Protection formula.  Srsly, check it out, it's a pretty good post.

Taking inspiration from all of these, I revised my recipe and remade it thusly:

Ocean Delano's Fiery Wall of Protection

• Ginger
• Dragon’s Blood
• Rue
• Cinnamon
• Sandalwood
• Devil’s Shoestrings
• Black Pepper
• Red Pepper
• Angelica

I decided not to give the exact amounts I used here, but keep in mind that the ingredients are listed in descending order of their amounts.  I combined them in olive oil and used warm maceration to infuse their essences.  After the oil cooled, I added essential oils of ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, and sandalwood for scent.  The end result (pictured to the right) is a nice, deep red and smells very spicy and warm.

Charging

My method for charging this oil was inspired by de heer Balthazar's post where he details his creation and empowerment of his All Things Under My Feet condition oil.  Symbolically, his method was very sound, and though I wanted to do something like it, I felt that something more symbolic of being surrounded by protection would be more appropriate.

Unlike the last time I made this formula, I drew upon elemental Fire as the primary force behind its empowerment, with the forces of Mars assisting.  Unlike Polyphanes version, I left off the forces of Sol based on guidance obtained from divination.  Pictured to the left is the setup after the first day of empowering the oil.  The black and the blue candles were dressed and empowered for protection.  The red candle is representative of the forces of Mars, while the gold candle is representative of the more refined, divine aspects of Fire.  The white candle represents the light of the divine.  At the end of the initial empowerment, they were all sitting upon a written copy of the invocation I used for calling upon elemental Fire and the forces of Mars:

IAO, AIO, IOA, AOI, OIA, OAI...
By that most high and holy name
I call upon you, O MICHAEL, Governor of Fire
Let descend the Angel Aral to lend me aid.
I draw forth the fire, I draw forth the flame
To surround me like an impenetrable wall:
Protecting me, shielding me,
Keeping me safe from all harm.

I sound forth the seed syllable "O":
O KAMMAEL, ruler of the Sphere of Mars
Bring forth GRAPHIEL and BARTZABEL.
Powers of Mars, work hand in hand with Fire,
Lend your strength and your steel to this Fiery Wall
Help me stand tall and strong and secure.
Let its rays be as spears which drive back the darkness.
Let its heat most potently and aggressively drive away
Any entity, any creature, any force or spell or person
That approaches to do me harm, or drain my life,
Or sap my will, or cause me anguish or ill.

With all of this in mind, here is the procedure I used to empower the oil:

1. I began by performing the Universal Center and establishing the Pillar.
2. Recited the Prayer of the Design.
3. Performed the Zone Offering and then cast a circle and called the directions via the Compass Round.
4. Dressed and empowered each of the candles.
5. Used the invocation above to draw upon the forces of Fire and Mars.
6. Pore breathed the energies of Fire and Mars, and imbued the oil with them using the Triangle of Manifestation gesture.  While doing this, I further invoked the forces called:  Lay your holy hands upon this oil in consecration.  Empower it, that whatever this oil anoints or dresses will be surrounded by such a mighty wall: A fiery wall of protection, made completely safe by the light of your grace and the fire of your might!  In the name of the highest: IAO, AIO, IOA, AOI, OIA, OAI!
7. Set the candles in place and lit them, starting with the candle for divine, then for Fire and Mars, then the ones for protection.
8. Each day after that, for a total of five days, I held the bottle of oil, shook it, and recited the invocation, then lit a dressed and empowered tealight over it.

At the end of the five days, I checked the oil to see if it was done.  A pendulum divination confirmed it was ready, and exploring it with my psychic senses yielded impressions and visions of fire.  Even holding it while doing so resulted in me getting very warm, to the point that I ended up pore-breathing fire out of myself before I finally cooled off.  Two days since then, holding the bottle causes my hands to warm up and me to feel as though I'm surrounded by the namesake Fiery Wall of Protection.  It is definitely cooking, and brimming with spiritual fire!

The Formula In Use

With it completed, I decided that the first thing I wanted to use it for was on my apartment.  Using it as part of a larger working for cleansing, protecting and blessing my home, I went around and five-spotted all the doors and windows.  Once that was done, I anointed the edges of mirrors.


The effect afterward was, for me, palpable.  To my mind's eye, the entrances to the apartment were covered in an intense fire that threatened to burn everything around them.  I felt so completely safe, that I realized the formula I used before, while indeed protective, was nowhere near as powerful as this.


Because of how much more effective this formula was, both in terms of the empowerment and the actual recipe itself, I've gone back and changed my original post about it.  My experience with this formula has shown me how much more satisfying the results can be when attention is given to traditional herbal and curio lore.

What I've Been Up To Lately

Lately, I've been thinking that I really should write a bit more than I have been.  The early part of this year has seen a general lull in my online presence, especially here on my blog.

This is not to say that I've been inactive magically.  While I haven't had as much going on as I'd like, I have been active.  The downside is that I seem to have hit a rather unfocused phase in my activities, and so I've been working on that.  My regular practices have been up and down, leading to me being on a type of "break" from that than I would rather not be on.  Through talking about this and related trends in my personal life, I've decided that I need more routine in my life.  After all, you can come home and zone out on the internet all evening only so much before that gets really old.  Well, at least that's the case with me.

At one point I began to take a look at all the "projects" that I have going.  It seems to come down to quite a few items.  I've had some interesting highlights.

CLIENT WORK

At one point I decided to take on some client work, free of charge, to help me gain further experience, sharpen my skills, and complete one of the homework assignments from Strategic Sorcery.

My first client in this vein is a close friend of mine ("Jewel" from previous posts last year), and she had fallen on hard times due to being dismissed from her job and having difficulty getting another one.  After consultations and hitting her problems from a couple different angles, I'm happy to report that she got a job and things are going a little better for her.  On top of that, her musical career on the side has become much more successful since my work on her behalf.  Things are still tight for her, monetarily.  But that's where my work with her fiance/my-other-close-friend "Topher" comes in, hopefully.

My work with Jewel helped me get new experience in a couple of things.  First was the type of tarot consultation that I did for her.  I've been working with some of the material in Ly de Angeles' book "Tarot: Theory & Practice", and like a lot of what I see.  In short, I do a slightly abbreviated version of her full consultation method.  This allows me a good picture of her situation where I can analyze to find any crossed conditions, "weak spots" in the situation where magic will be the most effective, and what specifically should be avoided.

I also got some experience in creating a conjure hand.  Strangely enough, for a while it didn't seem to be having a strong enough effect.  Then, after I burned a candle over it to lend power and also burned an uncrossing candle on the side, improvement happened pretty quickly.

MATERIA, MATERIA, MATERIA

I've continued to use and improve my materia used in spellwork.  I've worked on refining formulas that I have posted previously, and have also worked on creating new ones either from scratch or from a pre-existing recipe.  Talia Felix's book, "Conjure Cookbook", has been absolutely WONDERFUL for this.

One formula that I came up with is a love-oriented one specifically geared toward men seeking men, as I didn't have any Q or Lavender Love Drops, and didn't have access to recipes for either one.  The funny thing about this one is that I had written out the intended formula, meaning to make it as I wrote it.  However, I decided it would be a good idea to consult with my Genius via a pendulum.  The interesting part is that what my Genius indicated for the ingredients and their amounts was completely different than what I had created...and yet it was even more appropriate!  Scentwise, it has a lavender topnote, rose middle note, and cardamom bottom note.  So far I call it "Gentlemen's Favour", but won't be posting it on here anytime soon.

I've also re-done my Uncrossing and Fiery Wall of Protection formulas, and they seem MUCH more effective.  Looking back, though, I've found that the source book I got them from had often pulled its formulas from Herman Slater's formulary, which is a bad thing in my opinion because of a frequent lack of accuracy of his formulas in relation to the lore that at least the formula names were drawn from.

THE CALL OF HEKATE

As I've been going along, I've been feeling more and more of a pull to work with Hekate.  This urge culminated in me sitting down one evening, invoking her, and then going into a contemplative session wherein I met with her.  It was a very dream-like sequence, during which she talked to me about things regarding my spiritual path that have been on my mind lately.  I have gotten some benefit from that meeting with Hekate, and I'm going to work with her a bit more.


With so many "projects" going on, I decided to give The Unlikely Mage's technique for finding direction a try, and came to the following:

• I will focus on studying Agrippas 3 Books.
• I will start engaging in a cycle of conjurations of the Governors of the Planetary Spheres, as well as daily recitation of the Orphic Hymns of the planets.
• After a long time of putting it off, I have been urged to actively work with the spirits of the Strategic Sorcery Mini-Grimoire.
• As per the advice given, I will continue developing my formulas and use of materia.
• Study of tarot and also the Lenormand oracle will continue.
• Discipline in maintaining a regular practice as well as continuing my course of training has been suggested.

On top of this, there are some things that I have been urged not to continue with for at least 6 months:

• Adapting my own conjuration ritual, independent of the Trithemius version.
• Further client work and offering of services and products.
• My study and practice of Geomancy.

That last item is the one that disappoints me the most!  But, all things considered, I think it would be for the best for the time being.  In the meantime, I'll develop the suggested items while finishing up current client work. 

Speaking of the client work, one of the current clients is apparently being plagued by a night hag! So I will soon be preparing the Hekatean spirit trap (the design of which is shown on Jason's book "Protection & Reversal Magic", along with Fiery Wall of Protection and Clearing work.

So this is what I've been up to lately.  There is much going on, and I will have more to report!

The Job Workings, part 3

Where I last left off, I had interviewed for a position doing helpdesk support which, while not a type of position I like, the pay and stability was really attractive to me.  Unfortunately, the interview left me highly intimidated and internally shaken.  The IT director, who was part of the interview, was the type of interviewer to hit hard and fast with intensely difficult questions that are beyond the job involved, and had some courteous, yet sharp (and to an extent unfair), criticism for me.  But despite all that, I turned out to be the best candidate and was accepted for the job.

A month in, however, I found myself under criticism from my manager over something that had more to do with him and his own personality than with me and my abilities.  In response, I went about applying some field magic to help with things.  Namely, I did Crown of Success work via setting lights.  I also dressed certain key spots at work with Crown of Success oil, as well as Commanding oil to gain influence with my coworkers.

Unfortunately, the situation was just too difficult for me to overcome, magic or no.  With time I would have done well, but the manager just didn't like me.  He even stated that my abilities are fine...but he seemed to think I didn't have the energy level for it.

So, they decided to do a bad job of hiding the fact that they were interviewing my replacement no 20 feet from me while leaving me alone to man the phones.  This was 2 months into this job.

Fed up with being lied to, I finally asked my company what was going on and had my fears confirmed on a Friday.  Fortunately, the client company was decent enough to give me one last week there.

I spent that weekend coping, and bringing a lot of magical action to bear on the situation.

SOL AND JUPITER AND SATURN, OH MY!

First, I contacted Tzadkiel, governor of the planetary sphere of Jupiter.  I conjured him and asked him to bring forth Yophiel and Hismael to bring forth the blessings of Jupiter into my sphere, and to bless me with an abundance of job opportunities, and to guide me toward the job that would be best for me.

There were elements of macro and micro enchantments involved here, and it was all spirit work with little materia involved.  I did, however, give an offering with a physical basis.

Next, that Saturday, I conjured Tzaphkiel and, at the advice of my magical group, asked him to send Agiel and Zazel to bless my sphere with stability.  This was more macro than micro because it mostly targeted my general sphere.

That Sunday, I conjured Michael and asked him to send Nakhiel and Sorath to assist me.  With this, I specifically asked for them to let the light of my personality shine forth and help me to find a job with stable hours, that suits my abilities, that challenges me well, and where I will be needed for the long-term.

Throughout all the conjurations, I instructed each power to work with the others as appropriate.

Now, during this particular weekend, I got a call out of the blue on a Saturday regarding a job opportunity.  This itself was odd, given that recruiters normally only operate during the weekdays.  The job opportunity involved was for a company that, after searching online, I found no presence of within the city I live in despite the claims of the recruiter.  But still, I went with it, and Monday they told me I was scheduled for a phone interview on Wednesday at a very accomodating time that allowed me to get home from work first.

Thus, Wednesday came along, and I got home from work.  I decided to prep with a little magic by doing the Conjuration of the Commander from TSS.  The interview went well, and I got along great with the interviewer, who was actually the manager for the position.  I found out more about the job, its challenges, and my responsibilities.  I answered technical questions and gave my opinion about related things.

Less than 24 hours later, I had the job!

I was floored!  Never have I ever been accepted for a long-term position after just a phone interview!  Given the circumstances, I could see why they did it the way they did, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

So, I finished at the helpdesk job, barely having anyone even bother to say goodbye, and got ready for the new job, which was desktop support and definitely preferable to helpdesk for me.  I started the new job the next week on a Wednesday, literally one week after my interview.  All in all, I was unemployed for 2 days total.

And that's the job I'm working at now.  It has its challenges, and it gets frustrating.  Plus, being the only "Computer Guy" onsite has its downsides.  But I'm happier with it.  It's closer to home, pays just as much as the helpdesk job, and it fits well.

WHAT I LEARNED

This has been another lesson that magic can only take you so far when used on a situation that is stacked against you too much.  However, when used well on the right points of a situation, it can do a lot.  It's like any other tool in that way.

I also got a solid lesson in what to look out for in future jobs, and what traits of a manager raise a red flag for me.  And in the future I'm going to make sure I do myself the favor of responding to them with proactive steps to minimize the severity of the blows they can deal to me.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY

In this series of posts, I talked about situations I found myself in.  If I were faced with those or similar again, the first mundane steps I would take are as follows:

• Keep my resume updated at all times.
• At the first sign of any instability, start regularly looking for and applying to job opportunities.  Brush up on interview skills and common interview topics.
• Research the local job market and send notes to all my recruiters that I'm exploring opportunities (again, at the first signs of instability).

Those are just a start, in my opinion.  They can also apply to any contractor getting to within a few months of the end of their contract term.  And, dear readers, if any of you have suggestions for additions to this list, I would definitely be willing to hear it!

On the magical side of things, there other steps I would take or do differently as well:

1. At the first sign of instability, I would enchant a master copy of my resume by the powers of Jupiter.
2. Also at the first sign of instability, I would perform macro enchantments with the powers of Jupiter, Sol, and Saturn.  Jupiter would be for abundance, Sol for guidance and influence, and Saturn for stability.
3. Any cover letters I send would be enchanted by the powers of Venus.
4. I would create some kind of talisman for job finding, such as a mojo hand.
5. Perform some kind of mass micro enchantment, such as shoaling or a large candle working.

And that is in addition to the workings I described in these posts, which includes:

• Uncrossing one's financial or job situation.
• Setting lights targeting aspects of the process of interviewing or onboarding.
• Deploying field magic such as influencing oils on your hands prior to an interview, and dressing key locations around your workplace with success and influencing products.
• Success workings to support one's efforts on the job.

And that, dear readers, concludes my report on The Job Workings.  I learned a lot from this, and I hope you do too.

Sigil Magic

One of the first magical techniques I ever learned was sigils.  Although I did not put them into much use at the time, years later they became a frequently-practiced technique for a while.

Gordon over at Rune Soup has posted an excellent article on this technique, that I wanted to share, in case my readers don't already read his posts as well.  The post itself is chock full of information, and on top of that links to all kinds of other sources of information to flesh out what is there.

If you have not read it yet, go check it out:  Sigils Reboot

It has definitely reignited my interest in sigils.  :)

The Job Workings, part 2

In my last post, I detailed the situation that left me searching for a job again and the financial uncrossing I did.  Before I continue on, however, I want to give a little bit of my history.

From ages 18 to 28, I always held down steady, continuous work (except for a few weeks when I started college).  If I couldn't stand a job, then I found another and left the old one.  This all changed in late October 2009, when the economy ate my job.  Just after this, my truck's transmission failed and it was 4 months before I was able to get it fixed.  While I subsisted on unemployment benefits and kept looking and applying for work, a number of things happened:

• Got a job and got my truck fixed.
• Lost the job in an abrupt introduction to how easily managers will now let you go, as well as the extremely flimsy reasons for which they will do so (seriously: In this case I have yet to meet anyone who does not think the reasons were total horseshit).
• Took odd 1-2 day project jobs.
• Took a 1 week job that ended up being extended to a month.
• Took a job outside my field, making WAAAY less than I did before the layoff, in order to keep my first-tier unemployment benefits from running out.

Then I got the desktop support job I mentioned in the first post. I was there a year and was laid off for two weeks.  That leaves us back at mid-September of last year, and at this point you can probably guess how skittish and paranoid I had become regarding employment and job-security.

I began the financially-focused uncrossing at the beginning of the first week off.  It concluded mid-week.  By that time I had interviews set up for two jobs: One I didn't like, and one I really wanted!  At that point, it was time for further enchantments!

Jupiter, Macro Style

One thing I did that same week was continue the series of planetary initiations by the angels by conjuring Tzadkiel to grant me initiation into the sphere of Jupier, and integration of its forces into my own sphere.  He granted this with the Jovian grace one would expect of his sphere.  I was drawn into a vision of many financial, authoritative, high-level things and then found myself back in my chair in front of my altar.  In addition to the initiation, I asked Tzadkiel expressly to bless my overall jobsearch efforts.

Targets Identified

Right along with the macro-enchantment from Jupiter, I began doing micro-enchantments.  This consisted of the following:

• Before each of the interviews, I put a small dab of Commanding, High John, and Crown of Success oils on my hands and rubbed them in.  I used just enough to put the lightest coating on my hands, avoiding making my hands look greasy.  I got this idea from Jason, and it's so strategically awesome!  Rub the oil on your hands, do the interview handshaking and VOILA!  Magic deployed!
•  For the job I really wanted, I empowered 3 candles.  Each one had a purpose targeting an aspect of the situation: The first was to go work at that job; the second was to help me pass the military interim security clearance the job required; and the third was to help the flow of the process.
• Further prayers to the powers of Jupiter.

Admittedly, these were not nearly as much as I could have done, but it was a good start.  At that point I had not received the financial magic lessons in Strategic Sorcery.  For the second week of my layoff, nothing really happened.  So after that I went back to work, tried to clean up the mess that was caused by my absence, and continued on with another general job-finding vigil cangle.

As it turned out, I was offered both positions!  The one I wanted even took less than 4 hours to decide!  I turned down the first job in favor of the second, and set about doing the extensive paperwork required to apply for a security clearance.  The second week of my layoff was uneventful and dead in terms of my jobsearch.  So I filled my time doing research for said paperwork, and filling the whole thing out.  This continued even after I went back to work when the two weeks was up.

Unfortunately, there are things that magic cannot help with, and that security clearance was one of them.  The DOD has been cracking down on the part of their process that focuses on a candidate's finances, and given mine, I was denied.  Magic, it seems, could not help with that.  It was a tough and very frustrating pill to swallow ("How can I improve my finances if you won't give me a fucking job???"), but swallow it I did.

Another job came along paying even more, but doing helpdesk (which I don't like).  I decided to go ahead and try for it anyway, and scored a phone interview.  After that I landed an in-person interview.  Even from that interview I was extremely intimidated by their director, and at the end of the interview I was seriously shaken, but they took me.  While on that job I still did magic to help improve my chances of staying there, but it seems that there were more walls I ran up against.

But that will be covered in my next post.

The Job Workings, part 1

Back in September 2010, my job at the time hit its first signs of instability.  It was a desktop support job -the first one of that type of IT support work that I'd had, as my previous experience was in helpdesk.  Being the first desktop support job I'd had, and with the economy being the way it was when I was brought in, the companies I worked under used their advantage to pay me way less than this type of position normally makes.

Cut forward one year and two weeks from my start date, and I was broke, tired, and exceedingly frustrated.  Just a month prior, I found out from the company I worked under (a major technology company) that I was going to be forced to take a total of 32 hours off -unpaid, of course- by September 23rd.  I scheduled this with them to have me off each friday up to and including the 23rd, and things chugged along.
Until Friday September 16th, that is.  At 3:00pm that day, I got a call from my company explaining that the client needed me to take the following 2 weeks off -again, unpaid- starting that coming Monday.

I was screwed.  A dozen and one things went through my mind: what about rent, what will happen at the end of that two weeks, will I be let go, I'm already behind enough on the bills, etc.  Due to the previous cuts, I already had to borrow $200 from family just to cover my moving expenses from when I parted ways with the hellish situation I lived with previously.  Total disaster was running through my mind.

One trait that I've been able to successfully overcome has been the tendency to let fear and depression paralyze me from action.  I flew straight into updating my resume, posting it to the major online jobsearch sites (especially Monster and Dice, in my case), and applying my ass off!

Fortunately for me, with the industry I work in, once you post your resume online, calls from recruiters will sometimes just flood in, so to speak.  As expected I began receiving at least 2 calls or emails per day, and by the end of my first week off I had two job interviews scheduled.

In addition to that, I applied for unemployment.  My state has an initial waiting week before benefits kick in.

And right there along with it, I knew it was time to dredge up some magical action.

I've HAD It With This Muthaf***ing Cross On My Muthaf***ing Money!

The aforementioned series of events made something snap inside of me.  Prior to this, I had not done much magical work to pull my finances out of the hole they’d gone into.  In retrospect that was especially stupid (and lazy) of me, but then again stupid and lazy are what many people do when suffering from severe depression.  Nonetheless, at this point I decided enough was enough.  The entire previous year-and-a-half had been one long string of financial disaster after financial disaster.  Everytime I came close to even beginning to set things right, something else would happen to make me backstep too far back.

I didn’t even bother with a divination; I knew what was going on: My finances were crossed.  This added to my consternation even more because of the uncrossing work I did back in April of 2010.

In general, the procedure for this was much like my previous uncrossing, except that I made more materia for it that, ingredient-wise, gave a distinct focus on the uncrossing of one’s finances.  This wasn’t absolutely necessary, but I wanted something special, something powerful, and something especially powerful!  Here’s a summary of what I did each day:

DAY 1

1. Brewed and used the Financial Uncrossing bath, letting it run down the drain afterward and dedicating it and the crossed condition to the Underworld powers.
2. On the day of the Sun and in the hour of Jupiter, I fixed a white vigil candle using my Financial Uncrossing oil and related herbs.  During the fixing process, I called on the powers of Sol and Jupiter -in particular, the Intelligences and Spirits.  Then, I lit the candle and wafted the appropriate incense around me.
3. I added some of the Financial Uncrossing oil, along with my VanVan oil, to some diluted pine-sol in a spraybottle and cleaned house!  I made sure to give special attention to spritzing the carpets and then vacuuming them, going from the rear of my apartment toward the front door.
4. Divined to see if the condition, if any, was broken.  The divination reported that there was still a spiritual affliction upon my finances.  At least this confirmed what I initially didn’t even bother confirming!

DAY 2

1. Bathed using the Financial Uncrossing bath, the same as Day 1.
2. Stood before the still-lit vigil candle and prayed for the condition to break.  Wafted the incense around me.
3. Brief spritzing of the cleaning solution around my apartment, from rear to front.
4. Divined to see of I was still afflicted.  I was.

DAY 3

1. Bathed using the Financial Uncrossing bath again.
2. Prayed before the candle and wafted the incense around me.
3. Spritzed the apartment lightly and then five-spotted doors and windows from rear to front.
4. Divined to check the status of the condition: Broken!

I proceeded to go through the rest of that week with things flowing along nicely.  In fact, I got two job interviews, both of which I got accepted for!  I turned down one in favor of the other due to payrate, but there was a TON of paperwork involving a security clearance I had to get through.

But I’ll cover that on my next post!

[New Year New You] Wheel of Morality: A Response

The goal I focused on for the New Year New You project was to get all of my bills caught up and to start my emergency fund off with $200.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite make it on time.

But that's just the bad part.  The good part is that I got all but two of my bills caught up on Monday.  I've been keeping my budget and, if I'm not mistaken, I will have the funds for the remaining two tomorrow.  Any tax refund that I get will go toward my emergency fund, and it currently is tax time.  I just have a missing 1099-G form holding me up.

In short, although I didn't achieve my goal by Valentine's Day, it has a very high likelihood of being achieved within the next week or two.


What Did I Learn?

In the end, most of the last couple years where I've been perpetually behind on bills wasn't due to any other reason than my own neglect.  I don't just mean my neglect at initially causing them to be behind, either; there were times where I favored getting takeout more than keeping that money to put toward getting caught up.

I've also learned the sheer extent to which I've been in a bad position in life, teetering on the edge of complete and total ruin.  I've been leaning on the kindness and generosity of state and family, and that's no way to live your life.  By not having at least a little money motivation, I've been dooming myself to a life of daily grind, routine, and a type of slavery where I never get to really have an amazing, fun time.  I want more than that!

It's a struggle, and it may be a struggle that I will always undergo, but it's totally worthwhile!


Where Do I Go From Here?

More financial enchantments are in store.  For a long time I had planned on creating a magical cashbox, detailed in TSS.  But with the tools and materials I've had available, my primadonna side won't let me.  So, I'm considering a Jupiter/Mercury-based spirit bottle!  I even have a cobalt glass bottle that is just right for it!

Of course, I'm not stopping there.  There will be conjurations of various and sundry spirits for information and guidance, at least one talisman, sigils fired off, and other goodness.  More immediately, I'm going to be enchanting for repairs on my vehicle, which at this point is more an issue of the funds to pay for my mechanic's cheap prices!  ;)

I even have a post in mind to detail magical actions I've taken to help with my employment.  And once I start seeing proof of results or failure on them, I will detail the cases of my first clients!  I'm so excited!

I'm definitely keeping on with the New Year New You project for its longer-term version, if it's still ongoing. Even if it isn't, I'm taking notes of the relevant posts from her blog and will probably put them into practice! That brings me to my next point...


Final Word

I want to take the opportunity to thank the lovely and marvelous Deb for putting this experiment together.  She really has a muse going on there, because I know I've been inspired!  I look forward to more goodness!  ;)

I feel a little Meme-ish

[New Year, New You] Fall Off The Horse, Get Back On - Rinse and Repeat

I've been at odds with life lately.

By "life", I mean that strange *thing* that can alternately mean fate, chance, The Way Things Happen...the whole package.  It's what your parents are talking about when you're a teenager complaining about something or other, and they tell you, "Well, that's just life!"  Shit Happens, as they say, and on most occasions, it seems like there is little or nothing anyone can do about it, least of all you.  Even though it's happening in and to your life.

This post is in response to the New Year New You writing prompt by Deb entitled 'Some Enchanted Evening'.

Well, when "Just Life" happened to me recently and I lost my job because of some namby-pamby feely-weely personality fascist, I jumped straight into enchantment in a way I never truly have before.  In a recent post I talked about how I immediately went into conjuring the powers of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury to lend stability to my life and to help me find work again quickly.  They delivered, and I've been at the new job for 2 1/2 weeks now.  It's been an adjustment, but it's coming along.

I've been lax with the enchanting lately, though.  It has honestly felt like, since I got my new job, I've been trying to play "Recuperate" and failing at it.  There are things I haven't entirely processed, and I really need to stop, assess where I am and where I want to be, and then move forward accordingly.

However, that is just in regards to my life in general.  For my stated goals for the New Year New You experiment, however, I'm only slightly behind.  There has not been much enchantment that needs to be done.  The only things I can think of are as follows:

• Doing work to assist with better discipline as I near the completion of my stated goal.
• Doing further workings to pull together more money from miscellaneous sources to finish faster.
• Setting up a Jupiterean/Mercurial spirit bottle/house to help with my financial goals.

This coming Tuesday, I will be starting the work on the discipline, and on subsequent days after that, I will be doing more work toward the rest.

Miscellaneous Update

It's been so long since my last post that, yes, I must post twice in a row!  :P

Having covered the things going on in my general sphere lately, I wanted to cover a few miscellaneous things that I just felt like updating you about, dear readers!

Black Arts Oil

A while back I made Black Arts oil and posted about it.  In addition to a recipe and method for making it, I posted a picture of the product immediately after bottling and shaking.  Since then, as happened with the other oil I made and put into a mana potion bottle...after the ingredients settled, this little project took on an artistic little turn, as shown in the picture to the left!

This somehow looks very fitting, and I really like it!  A lot of the tiny granules of sulphur settled on the tendrils of the spanish moss, and it looks a bit like something twisted and ash-covered in there.

The Witch's Jar

My initial uses of my new Witch's Jar have seen positive results.  It has been a few weeks since I last used it, so I need to get cracking on that if for nothing else than to test the extent of its abilities.



Handmade Mojo Bags

In the past week or so, I made a set of red flannel bags by for use in making Mojo or Conjure Hands.  In Strategic Sorcery, Jason teaches a specific method of constructing them that was taught to him by Papa Legba.  In the same lesson, he goes on to give two recipes he has used with success.  I took the one for finding a job and modified it for long-term employment ends as well as finding secondary income while working a full-time job.  I'll update with the results once I actually make and empower it.

Initially, the bags took a while to sew by hand, as I don't have a machine and didn't know good hand-sewing technique.  But then I watched some videos about hand-sewing, put the stuff I learned there into practice, and now I can get through a bag in about 20 minutes.