Aside from issues of the heart (and genitals), money is probably the most ancient focus of spellcraft. Innumerable things could be said about money and its place in humanity throughout time. Beyond survival necessities, few things are as desired as money and love. It’s a shame that humanity has been known for the time-honored practice of hoarding money in elite pockets, thus starving the majority of the population from a comfortable amount of resources. It’s even more unfortunate that this practice continues all over the world to this day.
Everyone’s desire for money and financial abundance is different. The selfishly brutal demons of greed and fear are to blame for some people’s desire to have more, more, and still more cash in their wallets and bank accounts, paying not an ounce of care to those in situations of suffering (er, scratch that, that’s just how business works, isn’t it? Sorry, my bad!). We’re taught that the accumulation of “stuff” is true happiness (who cares about the soul?) and that those with more money are of greater social worth. Many of these notions have become second nature, even unconscious, in the group mind.
With all these notions of money as the root of all evil, why have I included a money spell here? Because we all deserve to have it. Though money can propagate wickedness, though it’s a fleeting illusion, though it doesn’t buy happiness, and though money is a neutral force that can be used for good or ill, it’s still nice to have. For now, we are all dependant on the dollar to one extent or another. This doesn’t mean we have to become attached to money (which breeds fear and greed), but that we can permit ourselves to feel guiltless for having a full wallet.
We all deserve to have more than enough and to enjoy the pleasures of money without becoming capitalistic slaves. In particular, spiritual people deserve to have money because they are likely to donate, give back, and assist others in need! There is always a balance.
Stepping Back & Further Application
If you frequently find yourself without cash, why is this? Do you feel that this is simply your disposition in life? Your family situation? Do you work yourself to the bone for the buck or do you see it as secondary in importance to the rest of life itself? Do you have ideas against possessing money that may be metaphysically restricting you to its access? Consider your current position and how you can work to change it without burning the candle at both ends.
There are a million ways to manifest money through magick. Obviously, mundane measures must also be taken. I’d recommend taking chances, such as buying a few lottery tickets and intelligently taking up opportunities that present themselves. Again, it’s all about balance: don’t gamble all your cash away!
Even if you have little money, it’s a good thing to give back, even if it’s small. Give $20 to someone if you have it and they don’t—and don’t ask for it back. Give a buck or two to a transient or beggar. Randomly buy someone a sandwich at the shop. Pick up your friend’s coffee tab. Donate a few random bucks to an animal shelter or human welfare organization. Budget for donating money frequently and get creative (and have fun) giving it to random causes, people, and projects. Such activities increase positive financial karma, promote generosity, and encourage the Universe to reciprocate. It’s fun to share without cause or reason.
Supplies
• a green candle
• a small piece of green calcite (or optical/clear calcite)
• a stick of patchouli incense
• a small loaf of freshly baked organic wheat bread
• green food coloring (organic if possible) and a new paintbrush
• 5 fresh $1 dollar bills (or pound notes, etc.)
• a green permanent marker
• 16 whole bay leaves
• a ballpoint pen
• a small amount of the herb thyme
• about ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil, on a plate
• any combination of the herbs alfalfa, allspice, basil, bergamot, cinnamon, cinquefoil, fenugreek, flax, High John the Conqueror root, jade leaves, moonwort (also called honesty or silver dollar plant), myrrh, nutmeg, patchouli, vervain, and vetivert
• 16 inches of green thread
• a small garden shovel
Notes
• Wear all green clothing or a green robe during this ritual if possible.
• For an added kick of good luck (and a bit of Hoodoo medicine), add a pinch of black cat hair to your altar, wallet, purse, or piggy bank.
Procedure
Begin by casting a circle, calling the quarters, chanting, or raising energy as you normally would, performing protective exercises, and altering your consciousness. Clear your mind, bring focus to your breath, and meditate for at least a few minutes. When ready, begin the spell.
Ignite the candle and place the calcite at its base. Light the incense as well. Hold the loaf of bread high above you, calling out:
Spirits of abundance! Spirits of wealth! Spirits of money! Come now, I summon you!
Using your hands, break the loaf of bread into 4 pieces. Place the candle near the bread. Use the food coloring and brush to draw the following symbols on each piece: the symbol for Jupiter, symbol 15, symbol 16, and a dollar sign.
On one of the dollar bills, draw six extra 0’s after each 1 to create a “million-dollar bill.” Make the bill say “One Million Dollars” on it instead of “One Dollar,” and so on. Place the bill at the base of the candle.
Take the marker and draw the 4 symbols mentioned above on each bay leaf. Place them at the base of the candle. Cup your hands over the candle, bill, and bread and shout 4 times:
Reverto! Redivivus! Ravah! Increbresco! Cresco! Kavar!
Write the above words on the 4 unmarked dollar bills. Use the ballpoint pen when writing, and write the words around the edges of the bills, so as to not mark them up too much. Set them aside.
Sprinkle some of the thyme on top of the olive oil. Cup your hands over the dish and say the words once again. Take one of the pieces of bread in your hands and say:
My breadbasket is always aplenty. I am abundant and prosperous.
Place the piece in your lap. Pick up another and say:
I always have more than enough; I shall never hunger, I shall never thirst.
Place that piece in your lap as well. Grab a third piece and say:
My wealth I share with others, as the gods of wealth provide.
Set that piece on top of the 4 marked-up dollar bills. Grab the last piece and say:
With gratitude do I accept the money I manifest. So shall it be!
Wave that piece through the incense smoke, burn it briefly with the candle flame, and dip it in the olive oil (with thyme). Finally, sprinkle some of the herbal blend on the bread and place it on your altar, leaving it there for a month or more as an offering.
Take one of the pieces of bread on your lap and slowly eat it, dipping it in the olive oil. While you eat, visualize yourself being happy having more than enough money. See yourself buying luxurious items, having absolute financial security, and helping other people with the cash. Once finished, drink a sip of the olive oil, offer some to others, and anoint your forehead with a dab.
Thank the spirits of abundance and close the circle as you normally would. Roll up the “million-dollar bill” and tie it with the thread. Stick this inside the other piece of bread that was on your lap. Also smash the calcite into the bread. Using the garden shovel, dig a hole on your property (in front of the front door if possible). Sprinkle the rest of the herbal mix on top of the bread and bury it all. This will secure the spell’s magick in your home.
Take the bread that you put on the bills and put it outside for the animals to find and devour. This will recycle the spell’s energy in nature.
Finally, take the 4 marked-up dollar bills to a grocery store. Place each bill in random locations in the store (behind a bottle of soy
milk, between two boxes of cereal and so on) so that others will eventually find them. This will amplify the spell’s energy in society. Be sure you buy something at the store so your covert magickal operation of generosity and abundance doesn’t get exposed!
Saturn
Zodiacal rulership: Capricorn (and Aquarius, classical astrology)
Color association: Black
Sephira: Binah
Number: 3
Day: Saturday
Archetypes: Dark Mother, Father Time, Death God/dess, Underworld God/dess, Destroyer, Crone
Themes: Karma, restriction, discipline, life cycle, death, initiation,
responsibility, perseverance, limitation, sacrifice, fear, binding,
harshness, destruction, aging
Though all of the spells in this book are aligned to the given planet’s energy—and integrate specific alignments attuned to each planet—this one pays utmost attention to its planet. In this spell, the practitioner taps into the essence of Saturn through various archetypes of the planet. For this reason, a variety of deific names are used rather than one alone.
Life is a process of change, which is one message that Saturn clearly delivers. For the most part, change is feared in our society. It’s easy to form an idea about something, someone, or oneself and cling to that notion continually. The Greek philosophical saying Panta rhei; ouden menei (everything flows; nothing is stagnant) can be seen as Saturnian wisdom.
This spell is designed to help sever and destroy those energies that no longer serve you. Drawing on the concept of Life as Change, this working is designed to connect you to the energy and necessity of sacred death. Because this rite is directly concerned with the potentially overwhelming energy of Saturn, allow me to first give some history.
Before the discovery of the outermost planets, Saturn was viewed in classical antiquity as the farthest planet from the Sun, earning it metaphysical associations with death and the cycle of life itself. Naturally, mythological deities representing death and the overarching life cycle were ascribed and aligned to its properties. Pluto, in modern astrology, now additionally carries many of these associations.
As deities of life, light, and fertility exist, they must too have their equal-opposite counterparts. Without death there would be no life, and this often maligned force of nature demands equal observation. All pantheistic structures include one or more representatives of the vibration or occurrence of death, be it the death of the land or the death of humans and animals. To be sure, Saturn had no option but manifest as an enigma, for death itself is a grand mystery.
The ancient Greeks recognized the deity Kronos as the first-born Titan. His name is also spelled “Cronus” or “Kronus,” and should not be confused with the deity Chronos, who is Father Time. The Titans were the mythological offspring of the primordial deities Gaea and Uranus. Because of his divine associations—which are comparative to that of Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris in Egyptian mythology—Kronos was especially honored during antiquity’s Golden Age, and he continued to be celebrated in Greco-Roman harvest festivals.
The Roman agricultural deity Saturn (or Saturnus) was aligned with Kronos as the Greek and Roman cultures merged. Saturn was the father of Ceres, Veritas, and Jupiter. In the mythology, Saturn overthrew and castrated his father Uranus. Later, because of a prediction that one of Saturn’s sons would in turn overthrow him as universal sovereign, Saturn devoured his children as a preventive measure (much as the Egyptian sky goddess Nuit “devours” her children, the Sun and the stars, each night). However, Saturn’s mother Ops hid her sixth child, Jupiter, on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Later, Jupiter overthrew Saturn and the other Titans. (Note that in Greek mythology, Jupiter is equivalent to Zeus and Ops to Rhea.)
Saturnalia was the Roman festival associated with Saturn, and it took place around the time of the Winter Solstice (the zodiacal transition into Capricorn, which Neopagans call Yule) as a festival of the harvest. Saturnalia was a celebration of Earth’s bounty, as well as a time to feast. Fascinatingly, common culture went topsy-turvy during the holiday, as the slaves and lower caste individuals were allowed to “turn the tables on their masters” and be free to do as they pleased.
Later in history, as the experience of death was anthropomorphized into a deific form, associations were drawn between the folkloric Grim Reaper and Kronos/Saturn. Azræl, the archangel of death in Islamic belief, has also been associated with these deities, though he seems to have a livelier and less corpselike depiction.
Saturn is known as Sani (or Shani) in Hinduism, one of the nine planets called Navagrahas. The deity that rules Sani is the karmic judge.
Some modern Wiccan traditions draw associations between the Saturnian archetype and the Holly King who rules the dying year. The common Wiccan imagery of the Oak King and Holly King is derived from The White Goddess, by Robert Graves, which is itself a poetic account of ancient histories interwoven with modern myth. Indeed, the archetype of death is a universal phenomenon because death itself is life’s doppelganger.
Stepping Back & Further Application
For starters, are you ready to release the things you feel no longer serve you? Are you clinging to past ideas? Do you have perceptions of self that are unrealistic? It may be a good idea to reflect for a certain period of time before performing this working. Think about what kinds of things no longer serve your path—and this can be anything. What restricts your happiness and the pursuit of your goals? Are you willing to begin the process of allowing these things to slip away, and thus be replaced with different energies, ideas, and so on?
Keep in mind that Saturn also works subconsciously. If there are things in your life you don’t realize are inhibiting, this spell will still set the ball rolling on severing these things from you. Don’t resist the change, but be aware of how the ritual’s effects carry onward.
Supplies
• a black towel and a black blanket
• black body paint, greasepaint, a body marker, or bat’s blood ink with a brush
• a black candle with the symbol of Saturn inscribed on it
• any combination of the herbs agrimony, alder, asafoetida, basil, bay laurel, belladonna, bistort, black pepper, boneset, cedar, comfrey, cypress, datura, elecampane, elm, eucalyptus, galbanum, hemlock, hemp, henbane, ivy, kava-kava, mandrake, mullein, nightshade, patchouli, poplar, skullcap, slippery elm, and valerian
• a fresh rose
• a boline, athamé, or sharp blade
• 1 whole beet (not pickled!)
Notes
• Substitute mandrake (either Mandragora or American mandrake) for any of the toxic herbs on this list, if you’d rather. If you do in fact use the deadly herbs (belladonna, nightshade, hemlock, and henbane), use extreme caution, ensuring that you don’t ingest, inhale, or touch them with bare skin.
• If you can’t settle on a timed alignment for this spell, you may choose to perform it on a Satur(n)day at either 11 pm or 3 am (ideally with the Sun or Moon in Capricorn or Aquarius). If performing at 3 am, do so on a Friday night so that the ritual will technically take place on Saturday.
• To represent Saturn, wear all black for this ritual or simply go skyclad.
Procedure
Instead of casting a circle, hop in the bath (or shower if a bathtub is unavailable) with the black body paint, marker, or bat’s blood ink set aside. Spend some time meditating on Saturn. Reflect on what Saturn represents as a planet, and on the variety of mythologies aligned to the celestial body.
After bathing or showering, dry yourself with the black towel and remain naked. Look at yourself in the mirror, connect your eyes with their reflection, and take 3 deep breaths to center your energy. These breaths should be taken in through your nose and out through your mouth, and should be very long and deep.
The symbol of Saturn repr
esents the deity’s sickle. With the body paint or marker, draw a large symbol of Saturn on your chest. Take some time to perfect this design. Make it thick and visible, painted with the “cross up” and “tail down.” If you are a more seasoned occultist, draw the Seal of Saturn on the back of each hand.
To continue attuning to Saturnian vibration, draw the Saturn-aligned numbers 3, 6, 9, 11, 15, 30, 45, and 52. Put these on various places on your body, such as the arms, legs, and belly. Whether or not you understand the numerological correspondences of these numbers is unimportant (though doing serious studies into the associations could be of benefit).
Grab your black towel or blanket. Wrap it around yourself, concealing your nudity. You can choose to stay nude for the ritual, or you can put on black clothing or robes. With your tools in hand, journey outside to an area where you can be undisturbed in nature, even if you have to journey to get there.
Once in a good spot, unwrap the blanket or towel, standing nude (unless you’ve chosen to wear black clothing instead) and your body covered in symbols. Looking up at the night sky, take 3 more long, slow, deep breaths, filling your body with the energy all around you.
At this point, light the black candle and set it in a secure spot. Lie with your back flat on the ground, your flesh touching the ground. Cover yourself with the blanket from the neck down, and sprinkle the herbal mixture atop the blanket. Finally, lay the rose across your chest to, in a sense, symbolize death. Once again, take 3 deep breaths to center your energy and feel yourself in this symbolic ritual setting.
Once you feel appropriately grounded, either whisper or roar (depending on how you feel inspired or how vocally conducive the setting is) 3 times:
Planetary Spells & Rituals Page 19
