Legend of the Jade Dragon
Page 27
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Salt and Herbal Breaking-Bad-Luck Spell
Here’s an easy charm to shake up negative energies and move them out of your house. If you’ve had a run of bad luck lately and can’t seem to find out what’s causing it, give this a try. For each room in your house, you will need:
1 cup sea salt
2 ½ cups bottled spring water (or water from a clear stream, lake, or river)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried lavender
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
juice of one lemon
You will also need:
A spike of quartz crystal (you will be able to reuse this, but don’t use your favorite if you’re worried that it might fracture)
A bowl for each room (glass or plastic; don’t use metal)
Wait until the day before the new moon. First, clean your house, clearing out cobwebs and dust (this is important: negative energy and chaos thrive in dusty areas).
In a large stainless steel or enamel pan (don’t use aluminum) mix the water, rosemary, lavender, and cayenne. If you are making enough for several rooms, you don’t need to make separate batches; just put all the water and herbs in one big pot. Bring to just below a boil and simmer for ten minutes. Cool to room temperature and strain.
Add the lemon juice and the salt. Stir clockwise with a wooden spoon to dissolve salt. Add crystal and let sit at room temperature for thirty minutes. Remove crystal and divide liquid into the number of bowls needed. Place one bowl in the middle of each room that you wish to cleanse. Leave uncovered. Rinse crystal in lukewarm water and set aside.
If you have children or animals, put the bowls where they can’t be reached. Do not drink this mixture. Leave the herbed water overnight. Salt water absorbs negative and chaotic energies. The herbs act as an extra booster, since they are used in magical practices for purification, clarity, cleansing, and protection.
The next morning, pour the water down the drain and run cold water after it for a few moments to flush it out of your pipes. Do this only if you are on a sewer system. If your house has a septic tank, take the water to the nearest body of running water (a river, stream, ocean), or way out into a field or forest, and dispose of it there. Don’t pour it onto any plants; the salt won’t do them any good.
Wash the bowls with soap and water. I do this regularly every month or so to keep my home free of chaotic energy, which attracts bad luck and negativity. And remember—sometimes we are the ones who make our own bad (and good) luck. Always pay attention to what you might be doing to cause an uncomfortable situation, and also be on the lookout for opportunities to bring new and wonderful changes to your life.
Bright Blessings,
The Painted Panther
Yasmine Galenorn
The Back Story of Legend of the Jade Dragon
Before I wrote Legend of the Jade Dragon, I had been thinking about curses that come down through the ages, specifically about cursed items. I was also thinking back to when I was a professional tarot reader. Occasionally, I had to break the news to my clients that life wasn’t going to be all rosy for a while. I was always tactful, but I never pulled punches. I read the cards the way I saw them.
But there also times when the message wouldn’t come through. I’d lay out the spread and nothing would speak to me. I firmly believe that when a reader can’t understand the reading, it means that she or he either isn’t supposed to ask the question, or isn’t supposed to see the answer. That the client needs to discover the answer on their own.
One night, I was reading for a group of clients. Every few months a group of real estate agents would have me come in and read for everybody after the workday was done.
Well, when it came time to read for the owner of the company, I laid out my cards. The central cards in his reading were the Hanged Man and Death.
Now, the Hanged Man is a card symbolizing voluntary sacrifice—giving up that which we need to for our evolution in this life. And Death...well, it reflects transformation. The fact is, the Death card seldom represents physical death.
But everything else in the reading was a jumble of chaos. I couldn’t pull anything out of it. In fact, when I lowered myself into a trance-state, there was a solid barrier there that I couldn’t get around. I told Robert (not his real name) that while it looked like a major transition was coming—quite possibly a very disruptive one—I wasn’t being allowed to see what that disruption was, or anything beyond that. He had to pass through it before I’d be able to read the cards for him again. I offered him a refund, we wrapped up the readings and I went home and everything went along as usual.
Fast forward about six months. I hadn’t heard from my realtors for a while, when Robert came into the shop where I read the cards. I was glad to see him again and we sat down to talk. I never have forgotten—or will forget—what he had to say.
Robert leaned his elbows on the table and said, “You remember when you last read for me? When you couldn’t see my future, beyond the Death and Tower cards?”
I nodded.
“Well,” he said. “I know why.”
“What happened?”
His smile vanished. “I went home that night and I died.”
I stared at him, thinking he looked pretty lively for being dead.
“I had a heart attack, and I died on the operating table for over ten minutes. They managed to resuscitate me, but I was stone cold dead for a while. No wonder you couldn’t read my future—at that time, I didn’t have had one.” He seemed incredibly chipper about it.
We talked at length about what that meant. He had done a complete turnaround, changing his lifestyle drastically since that night. He had eliminated bad health habits, started to exercise, cut back on stress. So yes, the Tower and Death cards had played themselves out in his life. He had died, been given a second chance, and made the changes (sacrifices) that would keep him healthy. That was one of the only times the Death Card ever played into my readings in that way, but I never forgot it.
As I thought about cursed items, and about that reading, I began to play the What if game all writers play.
What if Emerald read the cards of someone carrying a cursed object—say, a dragon made out of jade?
What if her client was doomed to die and she didn’t realize what the reading meant?
What if the cursed dragon had fallen originally fallen into the hands of an adventurer and his family had been devastated by the curse?
What if Daniel Barrington—the man in question—happened to inherit the dragon, and the curse passed on to him?
What if Daniel died, and Emerald inadvertently ended up with the dragon?
The image of a jade dragon flashed into my mind, and I was off and running, and Legend of the Jade Dragon was born.
Biography
New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and is the author of almost fifty books, including the Otherworld Series, the Whisper Hollow Series, the new Fury Unbound Series, and many more. She’s also written nonfiction metaphysical books. She is the 2011 Career Achievement Award Winner in Urban Fantasy, given by RT Magazine.
Yasmine has been in the Craft since 1980, is a shamanic witch and High Priestess. She describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Kirkland WA with her husband Samwise and their cats. Yasmine can be reached via her website at Galenorn.com.
Indie Releases Currently Available:
Bewitching Bedlam Series:
Bewitching Bedlam
Maudlin’s Mayhem
Blood Music
Blood Vengeance
Tiger Tails
Fury Unbound Series:
; Fury Rising
Fury’s Magic
Fury Awakened
Fury Calling
Otherworld Series:
Moon Shimmers
Earthbound
Otherworld Tales: Volume One
Tales From Otherworld: Collection One
Men of Otherworld: Collection One
Men of Otherworld: Collection Two
Moon Swept: Otherworld Tales of First Love
For the rest of the Otherworld Series, see Website
Chintz ‘n China Series:
Ghost of a Chance
Legend of the Jade Dragon
Murder Under a Mystic Moon
A Harvest of Bones
One Hex of a Wedding
Holiday Spirits
Bath and Body Series (originally under the name India Ink):
Scent to Her Grave
A Blush With Death
Glossed and Found
Misc. Short Stories/Anthologies:
Mist and Shadows: Short Tales From Dark Haunts
Once Upon a Kiss (short story: Princess Charming)
Silver Belles (short story: The Longest Night)
Once Upon a Curse (short story: Bones)
Night Shivers (an Indigo Court novella)
Magickal Nonfiction:
Embracing the Moon
Tarot Journeys
For all other series, as well as upcoming work, see Website