E is for Evil Eye

Evil Eye – The Evil Eye is one of the oldest and most widespread curses, and simultaneous superstition to some, around the world.  You can find instances of the Evil Eye and protection from almost everywhere.  What is the origin and history of the Evil Eye and what are some of the charms and spells used to guard one against it?  What can happen if someone puts the Evil Eye on you?

We have an Evil Eye hanging from the rear-view mirror of our car. It was given to us by our dear friend Melanie who bought the glass eye from Dilly's, placed it on a leather thong and gave it to Damon for protection on the road. 
Since we received it we've had 2 cars and have been careful to cleanse and transition it between the first and the second. Other than some vandalizing (and we knew immediately who had done it) we've had no issues with the car. The first care was a POS (piece of something-not-so-good) and I'm really shocked that it didn't fall apart on us when driving. Our new one is a Scion xB (the toaster looking cars) and its our baby. 

I strangely feel safer with our evil eye hanging from the rear view. I don't mean that we drive crazy and rely only on it, but we've missed dozens of would-be crashes and I do think that that piece of protective blue glass may have had a hand (or an eye) in it. 

But what is an Evil Eye?

I knew it was supposed to be protective and I've read bits and pieces about them in such books as Dracula and what not but I didn't know all that much about it until I took Anthropology 101 with Dr. King. 

I was meeting Dr. King in her office to discuss making Anthropology my major (didn't happen but...) and she had various types of evil eyes all over her office. I pointed them out and said we had been given one for our car. 

Dr. King then explained why the evil eyes are blue.

Supposedly evil eyes are made by people in countries like India and South America where people usually have brown eyes. When western explorers and the like began to invade and explore they were called many names but one of them is Blue-eyed Devils. 

Evil eyes are made from blue glass or paint to resemble blue eyes, meaning they reflect back any evil the Blue-eyed Devils sent out to the people. 

I was intruiged by this so I began to do some more research...

There are more types of Evil Eyes than just the blue disks like the one we have in the car. 

There's simply looking at a person with ill-intent in your heart, which is a sort of laying the evil eye on someone. There's also looking at someone who owns something with jealousy (which is why the blue evil eyes are placed on babies, cars, houses, anything someone might covet).

Other ways to break these evil eyes and prevent them from doing harm is cleansing, placing salt or mojo bags on or around effected objects or people, and counter-curses. 

All in all, I'm very grateful to Melanie for giving us our evil eye and I will be using it in our car for a long long time. 

Hunting and Magick

Its hunting season here in TN and my husband, as I type, is outside practicing shooting his bow. I was picking up a broken bow of the kitchen table earlier and thought, "This would make a decent wand." This led to many other ideas about how magick and hunting could easily be integrated.

A witch that hunts, or has loved ones that hunt, could do spells that vary from ensuring a kill to protecting the hunter to preventing bad weather.
While I haven't put that much thought into it, I did come up with what I feel are good ideas to integrate into hunting spells.

Use an arrow for a wand or athame.
Consider making camo print robes...could be cute if you go for that sort of thing, plus, they certainly call to the earthier side of magick.
Bless all the hunting clothes they will wear with both protection and health spells
Bless weapons with victory and protection (that they don't hit anyone else other than their intended target)
Blessing the kill after the hunt and giving thanks not only to the gods but also to the animal.

Gods and Goddesses of the Hunt that you can call upon in your spells include:

• Artemis or Diana (especially for bow hunting)
• Cernunnos (especially for deer hunting)
• Skadi (especially for winter hunts)
• Neith (Neit) (especially for bow hunting and Egyptian fans)
• Herne (especially for protection on the hunt or night hunts)
• Sarbanda (an assimilation of Ishtar)
• Horus is also said to be an Egyption God of the hunt

What are your ideas? Do you hunt? Do you use magick while hunting or preparing to hunt?

Spring Cleaning: Protection Charms

Just about every witch or practitioner I know has a charm or two for protection. Whether its in their cars, homes, purses or on their person.
I have 2 protection charms that are very prominent in my life: the evil eye in my car and the orgone accumulator on my t.v.

Evil Eyes are those blue disks with blue, white and black eyes painted on them. They are very popular in Southern Asia but can usually be bought at craft stores and new age shops. Evil Eyes are said to deflect any bad energy sent at you, whether intentional or not. This included anyone looking at you or your things covetously, cussing you when you accidentally pull in front of them, or a serious curse upon your well-being.

Orgone Accumulators are crystal and copper designs in special resins that work to turn EMFs and un-beneficial energies into beneficial ones. They work best when set in the area of your home that sets off the most micro-waves or EMFs. I would set it on our laptops but ours is the size of a fist and our laptops are constantly moving. So ours sits on the t.v. in the central area of our home.

I try and cleanse my protection charms about once a year. This is partly so the don't leave their intended space for long (and so I don't forget to put them back) and partly so that I'm not constantly handling them and changing their energy.

To cleanse them, I use a small white candle (usually a tea-light), tea tree oil and water in an oil burner and/or a preferred incense, sea salt and filtered water and a rag.
I usually draw a circle and ask my guides to watch over me and bless my actions but this is not normally a formal circle or calling the quarters. You may perform a formal circle if you wish.

With each charm, I'll wash it over with some sea salt and water. I visualize the grim of bad energies caked on their being scrubbed away to reveal the shining charm, almost like new. I then dry each one off and prepare to recharge them and cleanse them spiritually.
In order, I hold the charm above the flame (being careful not to burn myself) and charge the charm with the cleansing and protecting power of fire, which burns away the bad and lights the path. Above the incense and/or the burning oil I charge the charm with air's ability to clear the bad and breath new life or a breath of fresh air. With the clean water I recharge each charm with water's cleansing ability to wash away the bad and change the tides/energies for good. With the salt I ground each charm and charge it with the strength of earth to stand against bad energies like a protective shield or fortress.

I thank those energies that have helped me, ground the energy I have stirred up, and close the circle. I immediately put each charm back where it needs to be.

This small rite can also be done after a move since the charms are dealing with ricocheting energies.

Spring Cleaning: Magick and Mundane

My mother is the world's biggest lover of lists. She has a list for just about everything whether its shopping, wish lists, to-do lists, book lists, etc. She has encouraged this habit in me so I've made a basic list of things I need to do in order to finish my spring cleaning.

If you decide to make a list yourself, you can actually add a lil magick to the mix by asking guides (whatever you please, including deities of the hearth and home or maybe some friendly house faeries) to bless this list as a sign of your intentions and give you aid and motivation to get the listed projects done. You can event add a few runs or sigils to the paper for added energy and motivation if you are like me and need that little kick to get going.

My partner, Night, and I have a very small apartment. It literally is a box and the bathroom has the only door, aside from the front entrance door. Everything else is in the same room including bedroom, sitting area and kitchen. So this is the cause of my organizational grief.

My first thing to do, before I start cleaning, is to put up all the clothes, take out all the trash, and clean all the dishes. Then, the fun starts, I get to go through everything, EVERYTHING, and pick out what I no longer want or need (and can reasonably part with) and put the mess in bags and boxes to take to Good Will or the dumpster.

The next thing to do is a thorough cleaning of the apartment. If you have a house, this will probably be taken a day at a time. I will vacuum, mop, wash, dust, and polish until I am worn out. Then I'll get my cleansing tools together. For me, this is usually sea salt, filtered water, a purple rag, and intention. You could also ad your besom as a cleansing and clearing magickal tool but as I do not have one, it is not on my list.

I will salt the corners of each area, banishing un-beneficial and bad energies (I no longer say negative after reading Penczaks' book The Inner Temple of Witchcraft) and protecting the home. Salting each corner is something I do just about every new moon or so for protection of the home and those in it. My cat usually follows each salting with a good investigative sniff and then a nod in my direction as if she approves.

I will also add salt to warm water and bless it with protection and cleansing. With the purple rag I will literally wash the walls and the tiled kitchen bathroom floors with the blessed water. I'd do the ceiling too but I can't reach and my partner doesn't feel its necessary.

With the same salt water or with a smaller bowl of higher salt concentration, I'll draw runes and sigils of protection over the front door and the window-sills, using my index and middle finger.

I will also burn incense and a mixture of tea tree oil and water in an oil burner to add to the protection and cleansing. Tea tree oil is not only a protective oil but also rids the area of molds, bacteria, fungus, and viruses. I also mix tea tree oil with alcohol or witch hazel and water and spray it around the bathroom to prevent fungus.

To end the day, I'll call upon my guardians, spirits, faeries, and deities to bless this home, those who live here, and all those who enter it with love in their hearts. I ask that they protect us and keep us. So Mote It Be.