SpellCrafting: Spells for Witches
SpellCrafting: Starting Beltane Fires
Merry meet!
This issue’s WitchCrafting column has ideas for making fire starters. If you’d like to take it one step further, you can craft them as a spell.
Beltane themes such as burning away that which no longer serves your highest good and greatest joy, planting seeds, and nurturing goals can be incorporated when making fire starters.
For instance, toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint can be decorated with Beltane colors (green, soft pink, blue, yellow, red, brown), pictures of flowers in bloom, or a sigil made for a specific intention. On it you can write what you are ready to release, what you desire to manifest, or any other intention. You can add botanicals, essential oils, charms, gems, or other representations of your desire to further amplify the energy.
Before coating pinecones with wax, you can stuff them with tiny slips of paper. Try making one for what you wish the fire to consume and transform (Roll up these strips of paper away from you), and another for the passions you wish to ignite (Roll these toward you). Colored wax and seasonal scents such as rose, lilac, and frankincense can be incorporated in the fire starters for an additional boost.
Popcorn kernels or seeds can be infused with energy and added to the other the combustible items to manifest desires when starting a fire. Sit with them while you feel what it will be like when your desires become reality. Let the seeds absorb it all, and then release them to the fire, sending your desires up like smoke signals to the Source or a deity of your choosing. When stating your desires, consider adding “this or something better” so you do not limit what Source will provide.
You can chant as you start the fire, perhaps something like:
“Blessed Beltane’s magic fire / Harken now to my desire / By the power of the sun / My intentions are now be begun.”
What is burning inside you? What passion is bubbling up? What will make you happy? Nature is bursting forth as is the power to manifest. Earth energy is active, strong, and full of potential; everything is possible. It’s the perfect opportunity to ensure prosperity, success, love, and good luck. (Note to the wise: luck is neutral; it can be good or bad.) Now is the time to let that fire burn away the old, cleansing the space and making it sacred for new growth, a new practice, a new way of showing up.
After the fire is out, scatter the ashes around your property while asking for protection. You can also use them to anoint your forehead or wrist. You might also consider lighting candles from your Beltane fire, and then saving them for times during the year you’d like to infuse the energy of the season into your workings.
Merry part. And merry meet again.
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About the Author:
Lynn Woike
All my life I have known magic was real. As a child, I played with the fae, established relationships with trees and “just knew things.” In my maiden years I discovered witchcraft and dabbled in the black-candles-and-cemeteries-at-midnight-on-a-fullmoon magick just enough to realize I did not understand its power. I went on to explore many practices including Zen, astrology, color therapy, native traditions, tarot, herbs, candle magic, gems, and, as I moved into my mother years, Buddhism, the Kabbalah and Reiki. The first man I dated after my divorce was a witch who reintroduced me to the Craft, this time by way of the Goddess. For 11 years I was in a coven, but with retirement, I have returned to an eclectic solitary practice.
When accepting the mantle of crone, I pledged to serve and teach. This is what I do from my skoolie – a 30-year-old school bus converted into a tiny house on wheels that I am driving around the country, following 72-degree weather, emerging myself into nature, and sharing magic with those I meet. Find me at thewitchonwheels.com, Facebook and Instagram.

