Welcome to the Autumn Equinox 2022 episode. Yes, I know, Mabon isn’t until next Thursday, but I want to talk about it today, give us a little time to make some plans, get some ideas for ritual activities.
And we are going to get into all that fun stuff, but first, I got an email from a witch in a bit of a unique situation.
Hey Eli! I have a situation that I can’t seem to find the right spell work for. My father passed away in 2020 leaving me property he bought in a gated golf community that he originally had planned on building a retirement home on. Unfortunately, this planned community never panned out and I can’t seem to sell the property. I’m not the only one in this boat- lots from this community are on the market for $5!! I have even tried giving it away to charity but they will not take it due to the property owners association fees which are close to $150 every month.
I feel like I have exhausted traditional methods (as in, dropping the price, consulting with realtors, property lawyers, etc.) At this point I am not trying to make a profit from this at all, I just don’t want to be saddled with the financial burden of the property association fees each month. Said property is out of state and more than five hours away from me. What would you recommend spell wise to try to get this property sold?
This was a cool question, because we don’t always know how to approach a unique situation like this, that is uncommon. We always work magic for success, money, love, relationships, work, that sort of thing. But this situation doesn’t fall so neatly into one of those categories. But let’s ask: what do we need this spell to do? We need this spell to bring someone into this witch’s life who wants to buy this property. Which means that we need to work some attraction magic. And attraction magic, although it can definitely be used to attract a romantic partner, can also be used any time we need to call something in to us, and this is exactly such a situation.
So keep that in mind as we go through this, because we are going to work some attraction magic specific to this scenario, but we can make this process work for any sort of attraction magic that we may need. And we can do it without having to change much of anything. Same herbs, same oils, same candles, the only difference will be the intent of the witch doing the magic.
So, for this work, we can make a sigil to burn. This will be the main crux of this spell, but we need a couple other components as well. So let’s make some attraction oil first that we’re going to use to anoint the sigil and also our candle a little later on. This oil will just require a tablespoon or so of lemon peel/lemon zest, about a tablespoon of lovage (substitute equal amounts of marjoram and rosemary if you can’t find lovage, sometimes I can’t find it in the spice aisle), and then two ounces or so of olive oil. Steep these together for several days at room temp, or over low heat for an hour or so. Strain out the herbs and bottle your oil, and into the bottle of oil add a small piece of lodestone, hematite, or even a small magnet. We can use our attraction oil anytime we need to attract anything, be it a person or a specific thing, or a solution to a problem.
Next, let’s work on the sigil. There’s a good method for creating sigils called the Lo Shu Grid method, and I covered it at length in the Sigil episode and you can listen to that episode or you can read the transcript on the website, middleagedwitch.com, but it basically starts with a phrase. Think about this phrase for a good long time and make sure it’s exactly what you want. Ideally, your phrase will be worded using affirmative language, such as “Someone buys my father’s property” rather than wishing language such as “I wish/I want/I hope someone will buy my father’s property”. Work with your phrase for as long as it takes to get it just the way you want it, draw it and redraw it as many times as it takes until it feels right.
Once you’ve got it perfect, redraw it on a fresh piece of paper and charge it. Consider drawing it with charged ink. You can make a version of your own witch’s ink by combining ashes from old spells, if you have burnt coals leftover from old ritual fire pits or your own fireplace, you can grind those together as well, you can throw in specific herbs, powdered incense, a bit of your attraction oil, etc. And mix it with a little moonwater or Florida water until you have the consistency you want. Then use your finger or a paint brush to draw your sigil. But you can also just use a pen.
You can charge your sigil however you like, there is no right or wrong way. You can meditate with it, you can charge it with crystals, you can charge it in sunlight, moonlight, using your own orgasms is a really powerful way. Just work on blasting as much of your psychic energy into this symbol you’ve made. Then anoint it with your attraction oil. I like to draw a clockwise circle around the sigil with the oil using the pointer finger of my dominant hand. I think anointing it with some saliva or a small amount of blood will also be helpful. We really want to call this person in.
Then we anoint a candle with our attraction oil and light it, and use the flame to light the sigil. Burn that sigil safely (you probably want to do this outside), and once it’s nothing but ash, collect those ashes and blow them toward the west, and let your candle burn itself out. This is a bit of a lengthy process as far as spell work goes, but we are asking the universe for a lot. So it’s worth the effort.
And now, let’s talk about the Autumn Equinox, or Mabon if you prefer. Although this is the Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the Spring Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. There are a couple witches in Australia who listen to this podcast, and I don’t want to forget about them, but for the purposes of this episode, we’re going to be referring to Autumn. I’m sorry, Kate! Maybe just put on the Ostara episode today!
But for us northerners, this is the midpoint between the summer solstice and the winter solstice. At this point, our gardens are pretty much spent, at least mine is, and we are ready to harvest everything and preserve what we want to save and start battening down the hatches in anticipation of the winter cold. And this is also the time of year that witches get really antsy. The veil is getting thinner than usual, we can feel the change in the air. Especially in the mornings, we get that autumn freshness. And it is such a welcome respite from the oppressive heat that we get here in my neck of the woods. It was 118° here last week. That’s 47° for my Celsius witches. Its fucking hot. I’m sick of it. It’s B.O. and swamp ass and hatred. And I’m done with summer. Thank you and goodbye.
I am here for sweater weather and Halloween decorations and Sandra Bullock movies and new books and spiced cider and if you see me at Bath and Body Works sniffing the pumpkin candles, then be sure to say hi. I’ve been sweaty as hell since May. Your girl is sick of this heat.
Rein it in Eli. Okay, so the term Mabon is a relatively modern creation and its roots are Wiccan and I spoke last year about the pushback against calling it Mabon so I won’t get into it here except to say that I know some Wiccans don’t care for it. Please don’t send emails about it, I’m not even Wiccan. It’s just a commonly used term that describes the Autumn Equinox festival and some witches prefer to call it Mabon and that’s fine. But anyway, the Autumn Equinox is the second of the three harvest festivals on the Wheel of the Year. Lammas, or Lughnasadh, was the grain harvest, the Autumn Equinox marks the fruit harvest, and Samhain is the cattle harvest.
Of course we’re all excited about decorating for autumn and bringing in all the gorgeous colors of the new season, and this is a completely legit way to recognize the Equinox. And for a lot of our witches who are unable to openly practice their witchcraft for various reasons, this is often the only way that they can express their craft. A seasonal display as an Equinox altar is perfect, especially on a fireplace mantle or in the kitchen, as these places in the home represent the hearth. An acorn garland can represent blessings, a leaf garland to represent strength and well-being, an apple slice garland for enchantment, or an orange slice garland for luck.
Putting out a cornucopia is another sort of down-low way to represent your craft. The origins of the cornucopia are steeped in pagan mythology, but they’re so commonplace now and so synonymous with autumn that we don’t even really think about it anymore. One of the best-known myths depicting the origin of the cornucopia, or horn of plenty, involves the birth of Zeus, who had to be hidden from his father Cronus. The infant Zeus was cared for and protected by a number of divine attendants, including the “Nourishing Goddess” Amaltheia, who nursed Zeus with her milk. Amaltheia was commonly depicted as a goat, and the infant Zeus had immense strength, that when playing with his nursemaid, he accidentally broke off one of her horns, which then had the divine power to provide unending nourishment.
The cornucopia came to be associated with a lot of Greek and Roman deities, especially those associated with the harvest, including Demeter, Hades, Fortuna, and Annona. So we can keep a cornucopia on the dining room table, in deference and in observance of the pagan harvest festival, and when your religious aunties come to visit, they’ll see nothing but a beautiful autumn tablescape.
Making corn dollies or straw dollies is another traditional harvest costum that I love. Traditional pagan European culture held that the spirit of the corn or grain lived amongst the crop, and that the harvest made it effectively homeless, and corn or straw dollies were created to give the spirit a place to dwell. The corn spirit would then spend the winter in this home until the next planting season in the spring, when the corn dolly was ploughed into the first furrow of the new season. There are a lot of tutorials for making corn dollies, and I did a video a while back for making corn dollies that I will link in the transcript for this episode on middleagedwitch.com. If you’re interested in making your own. They’re fun, they’re simple, they cost practically nothing, but they’re such a cool, rustic way to introduce a little more tradition into your autumn decor.
Preserving food is a total Equinox activity. Because, historically, part of celebrating the harvest was to take stock of what was in abundance that could be put up for the winter season when the soil is too cold to be worked and the sun is too dim to provide the light necessary to support the crops. Obviously, in modern times, at least in countries where food supply is stable, we don’t generally worry about what’s necessarily in season. We’re pretty spoiled to just being able to grab some apples from the grocery store any time of year.
But if preserving food isn’t your bag, cooking and baking is a fantastic way to mark the sabbat. Which brings me to the next bullet on my list. Hosting a Mabon or equinox dinner or bonfire. If you’ve got witch friends, invite your witch friends. If you don’t, you can just call it a party to celebrate Autumn. And everyone wants to come celebrate Autumn, and you can begin a new tradition among your friends. It’s like Thanksgiving, but you don’t have to invite anyone you don’t like. It’s Thanksgiving, the prequel.
One of my favorite ways to mark the fruit harvest is by giving it up for one of my favorite deities, Dionysus. Dionysus, who was called Bacchus by the Romans, is the god of wine and pleasure, the god of the grape harvest, and fruit and orchards. And so a really great way to celebrate not only the Equinox, but also to venerate Dionysus, is to go wine tasting. Imagine that as a religious experience. If you don’t live in an area with vineyards and wineries, do not despair. Have your friends over for a wine tasting. Everyone brings their favorite bottle, put on some good music, put out some cheese and nuts, get shitfaced, pour one out for Dionysus, and send everyone home with a couple aspirin at the end of the night.
Another really cool activity is making mead or spiced cider or mulled wine. Google some recipes until you find one that sounds good, and start experimenting. It’s early enough in the season that there’s time to perfect your methods and you can bring your homemade hooch to holiday parties or serve it at your own equinox party. We can also use these libations in ritual, as offerings, and as a way to just participate actively in the creation of spirits. The point of the harvest festival is to celebrate. This is not a somber religious observation. The ancients knew how to party when it was time to party. The harvest marked the end of a season of industriousness and hard work.
Our ancestors worked good and goddamn hard for months and months, doing all that they could to ensure that there would be food sufficient to carry them and their loved ones, their families and communities, through the lean season. So when the last of the wheat was cut from the fields, and the last of the fruit was packed from the trees, when everything that could be preserved was preserved, they gathered together to celebrate.
There will be plenty of time for introspection as we close in on the Winter Solstice and Yule. For now, we are recognizing the hard work that went into making sure that everyone survived another season, that there is food in the pantry, that we are surrounded by our friends and families, that for now, for today, we are okay. That’s reason enough to celebrate. Next week’s episode actually falls on the Autumn Equinox, so I hope you’ll join me then. We are going to talk about Mirror Work. Until then, take care, and have a glass of something that warms your insides one way or another. Contact me on socials at @middleagedwitch or send me an email at eli@middleagedwitch.com. My name is Eli Ro, and this is the Middle-Aged Witch podcast.
