Natural Magic

Natural Magic by Doreen Valiente
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

People make magic out to be something that is really is not. Magic is unnatural, magic is bad , magic is and magic is that. All these supposition are wrong. Magic is natural and it occurs on a regular basis. Magic can be used for both good or bad of course with attendant consequences. Magic is something most of us do every day quite unconsciously. It is focusing the mind on a desired out come or goal and directing our mental energy towards that goal. Magic is also non denominational and does not require fancy tools in order to be performed, well with the exception of your mind.
Doreen's book cover almost all areas of magic. Starting with the use of the element, air, fire,water and earth finished off with a topping of the spirit of ether. She next moves into using the power of herbs and flowers. Herbs and flower have intrinsic properties to help reach certain goals. Patchouli is great for aphrodisiac effects while wearing a poultice of cinquefoil gives one Mercurial qualities of being able to charm people and get what you want. Collecting herbs for the most part should be done on or near a fool moon.
Numbers are magical as well. To find your personal number you would need to number value chart contained in her book. Add your letters together and you usually come up with a double digit number. Add the two digit of that number together and you get your personal number. You can do the same with the number of your birthday it may be your lucky number. Odd numbers are best. Colors also have magical power. Blue is for healing, purple is for psychic power, read can be for martial aggression or more assertiveness maybe even passionate love. Pink is for gentle love while silver the color of the moon is for psychic ability and intuitiveness. Colors are used rather effectively in candle magic where in the practitioner lights a colored candle corresponding with their desire. Green might be used for money or fertility. Light it say an invocation and focus on your desire.
Talismans and amulets deal mostly with stones and their properties. Talismans bring something positive to us while amulets keep evil away. Bloodstone protected warriors in battle and it was also used to stop bleeding. Different rocks and stone have different planetary properties. Sexual power is brought in as well. Sexual activity produces a lot of energy and power. It was used by the ancient Greeks and in modern rituals of witches. Alester Crowley used a lot of it as well.
Dreams can give us inventions and solutions to our problem and the most unique of ways. They also warn us sometimes of imminent danger. To better improve your dream recall you should keep a note pad by the side of your bed and write down your dreams. Dreams are interpreted differently for different people based on the dreamers own life experiences. Weather can be controlled by magic or the inherent power in weather can be used to help the practitioner reach their magical goals. Animals like cats are often witches familiars. Their inherent psychic ability helps the witch traverse the spiritual realms and communicate wit spirit. Animals are sometime messenger or portents. Crows and magpies mean different things based on how many are spotted. Owls have a meaning and of course the big black dog or the "Black Shuck" portends death and in some cases saves from death. The book finishes off with a discussion on using playing cards for divination and traditional spells that deal with banishing warts.
This is the magic of the village wise woman brought up to date for the purpose of good. Everything is ethical and safe. Reference is made extensively to Agrippas works. Be good to follow up with that.


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