In two short months my newest writing project will officially launch!
Published by Crossed Crow Books, with a cover from the talented Gabriella De La Hoya and editing excellence from Emma Nicole Kowalczya, A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic keeps you sharp, no matter where you go.
Travel puts us all in liminal spaces and although so many of us have a positive affinity for spaces betwixt and between, the liminal comes with practical and magickal dilemmas. A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic provides templates and examples for practicing magic in a broad range of locations and circumstances outside of our normal environs. Pagans and witches alike will find this book worth a spot in their suitcase.
Within this book you will explore the practical, the magickal, and the ethical of responsible and sustainable travel. Through travel-specific charms and spells, as well as divination for the path ahead, readers are provided an experienced and insightful guide for modern practitioners seeking to incorporate a little bit of magick into their everyday journeys.
Whether you’re going down the road or around the world, A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic will give you all the tools you need to keep yourself, and your belongings safe as you embark on travel through all sorts of movement through liminal spaces.
Here’s a bit of an excerpt!
Magical Everyday Items
I love the people in our community who wear their life boldly. Their clothes, jewelry, and tattoos proudly proclaim their spiritual orientation. I am not one of them, preferring to navigate life in the background, rarely putting myself “”out there.” Even so, I still carry magical talismans and sigils with me; they are just less noticeable, and mostly, I use my jewelry.
Magic Jewelry
Earrings whisper wisdom into my ears, amplifying my intuition with every sway. Necklaces serve as guardians, nurturing the energy centers of my throat, heart, or solar plexus, their chain lengths attuned to their purpose. Rings hold a special place in my heart, as they unite with elemental energies, each one a symbol of connection and power.
Before I do anything specific with my jewelry, I magically cleanse and reset its energy. To do so, I create sacred space, then add three pinches of sea or kosher salt to a bowl of clean water. Iodized salt should be avoided if possible; “impurity” might be strong language for a nutritional supplement, but it still represents a dilution of the salt itself for our purpose. I stir the water with my finger nine times to dissolve the salt, then submerge the jewelry. While submerged, I say:
Blessings to you, beautiful jewelry
Release all negativity
By Earth, Air, Fire, and Sea
As I will, so mote it be!
Then I dry the piece thoroughly with a cotton cloth. If I intend to use it soon, I’’ll wear it for days; otherwise, it is carefully placed in my jewelry box, a clean slate for subsequent use. There are caveats to this work that you should remember: not all materials can be submerged in salted water. Some stones dissolve in water or are damaged by salt, including turquoise, hematite, fluorite, opal, labradorite, and pyrite. Be mindful and choose an alternate cleaning process, such as this one:
Physically wash the item by rubbing it with a soft cloth and using a soft bristle brush. Place the item on cotton cloth in bright sunlight for at least 9 nine minutes and as much as an hour. While in the sunlight, before it’’s finished cleansing, speak the same charm I shared above, which I use for cleansing my jewelry.
These cleansings can be used for any item you use as a charm.
Just as a crystal can be infused with intention and energy, we have the power to imbue everyday objects with an extra layer of protection and strength. Whether it’’s through jewelry, keychains, hair accessories, shoelaces, socks, underwear, purses, or wallets, anything that can be carried on our person becomes a vessel for our magical intentions. Here are some examples I’ve used:
• an eloquence charm placed on a stone tucked into a pocket before going into a high-level meeting to convince higher-ups to change a policy they wanted to implement.
• a keychain imbued with “safe travel” energy.
• a charm made from a piece of metal engraved for soothing energy, worn before family gatherings.
When we infuse everyday objects with our intentions— — thereby turning them into charms— — we become active participants in co-creating a magical universe. By doing so, we enhance our manifestation abilities and carry that empowering energy with us at all times, reminding ourselves of our agency in living our best lives. Keeping magic confined to specific times and places diminishes its power, but embracing it on our journeys signifies that magical thinking has a place everywhere and at all times.
These wearable charms can be energized in the moment, created for specific purposes, or worn all the time. Each is activated with a specific, two-phrase sentence and works until the energy runs out. Recharging is usually done by giving the item a rest, letting it charge up in the light of the sun or moon, or actively filling it with your energy. Activating phrases are like affirmations: keep the phrase short, focused, and positive. One phrase describes the item, the other its purpose. For example, my safe travel keychain has a wire cage into which various stones can be placed (I love its versatility!). Before our ferry crossed the Aegean Sea, I put a piece of aquamarine into the cage and held it in my right (dominant) hand. I ensured its energy was “topped up” and said, “With this keychain, my travels are calm; I am safe from harm.”
Other energizing statement examples might include:
• These shoelaces keep me focused and calm. Wearing them, I am grounded and centered.
• This bracelet connects me to the loving compassion of Tara. Wearing it helps me take nothing personally.
• This belt activates the energy of my creativity. I am a creature with an unlimited imagination.
• These undies are nearly as sexy as I am; when my lover sees them, they will want more of what I offer.
No matter the situation, it is possible for the items that you wear or keep about you to magically align with your intentions. It thus follows that when you expect to be traveling, it is ideal for those things you have already chosen with intention and forethought to be further aligned with your purposes by letting them be the bearer of these charms.