Magic is your birthright. I believe that we’re all born with the power to imagine a life we love, then take the steps to create it from scratch. I believe in the mystery of the unknown and live in that secret place between dreams and reality. You have this power, too, whether you realize it or not. For many, learning magical practices isn’t learning at all, but a remembering.
Making magic from simple tools and ingredients that are all around us is an art form that spans every culture and continent, starting from the beginning of human consciousness. Today, there are hundreds of different types of witchcraft, folk magic, earth medicine, and energy healing modalities. It’s all rooted in the same place: a connection to the earth, to the self, and the movement of energy. It would be impossible to list all of the magical ingredients you have at your fingertips–including many you probably have in your pantry–but here are just a few, along with their magical correspondences.
Salt is a powerful tool for purification and protection. You can add salt to a bath for energy protection and cleansing, or use salt water to absorb negative energy or create a magical barrier of protection. I like to put a mound or two outside my front door for psychic security, and add to soups, stews, and other foods for a dash of purifying energy.
One of the most beautifully fragrant herbs on the planet, oregano is perfect for fostering love, fertility, health and luck. Some use it in spells or charms for letting go and moving on. I’ve also sprinkled fresh, chopped oregano in a cleansing bath for luck and protection.
Sturdy and easy to work with, bay leaves represent prosperity, success, protection, and even psychic powers. You can draw or write on the leaves to conjure your desires or add to an abundance-drawing bath.
Rose is a powerful medicine for love, self-love, and compassion. Use rose in tonics, tinctures, and oils when you’re working on love spells or spells with the goddess, fertility, or femininity. In many ancient traditions, the heart is both a physical organ and the seat of consciousness, so working with rose isn’t just heart-opening, it’s mind-opening as well.
Cheap, easy to grow, and easy to find at your local Whole Foods, garden sage (the kind you eat) works just as well as more expensive white sage. Use sage in tea, food, or in spell baths for wisdom, protection, cleansing, and overcoming grief.
Ruled by the sun, cinnamon can spice up any spell quickly! Use a dash of cinnamon in a love or money spell for quick results, or to spice things up in the bedroom. Light the tip of a cinnamon stick and use it to smudge yourself and your space, or add a drop of cinnamon oil to baths and ritual oil blends for blessing, protection, love, and libido.
Light the tip of a cinnamon stick and use it to smudge yourself and your space for blessing, protection, love and libido.
Want to speed up any spell’s results? Add a pinch or two of cayenne. This powerful spice is known to make things happen quickly. It can also aid in banishment spells or protect from outside energies.
Perfect for powering love spells, friendship spells, or money spells, sweet ingredients are used in many potions and elixirs. Sweet, sticky ingredients will help draw good things to you, help a job interview “stick,” or even help make someone “sweet” on you.
I love using cleansing lemon in teas, but also as additions to other simple spells. Lemons soak up negative and unwanted vibes like a sponge, so make sure to add some to any spell where you need cleansing, purifying, or protection.
Crystals are beautiful and powerful, but any rock can represent a powerful grounding earth element in your spell work or on your altar. Incorporate rocks or crystals to ensure your space is grounded and focused.
Sounds silly but water is a powerful magical tool that anyone can use. Water is nourishing, cleansing, and is associated with psychic abilities, emotions, and the dream world. Use water to cleanse (physically and spiritually) or to capture magical essences from moon energy, sun energy, crystals, or flowers.