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Earth Magic: Take Action with a Charm Bag, by Dodge Graham McKay

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

I like to think of magical work that involves assembling, building, concocting or creating an item as a form of earth magic. You are the creator responsible for bringing an item into existence as a focal point for your will and desire. You are the manifester, giving form and function to the object you are making.

A charm bag is a quick and effective magical object that you can create for a specific purpose and discreetly carry with you or tuck into a strategic spot in your environment. Creating one gives you a sense of control over a situation and the gratification of taking action to do something about it. It is a hands-on, satisfying way to make a magical item that does not need to take a lot of time or money to create.

Gather the Parts
The magic starts when you begin to assemble the items you will use to make your charm bag. Do this with intent and carefully select the very best materials you can afford and source. Take time to consider your magical footprint on the Earth and make your charm bag as earth-friendly as possible. Try to use natural materials that will biodegrade. Plastic or synthetic materials may be tempting, but they can take hundreds of years to break down or release noxious chemicals if burned. As magical practitioners, we often call on the energy of the earth to perform our spells and rituals, so being conscious of the impact our magic has on the planet seems only fair and responsible.

Your charm bag does not need to be elaborate or complicated in order to be effective. I like to use four components to make mine:

• A small drawstring bag
• Herbs
• A small crystal
• A token to represent your intent

I like to keep the bag fairly small, no more than about 5 cm by 7 cm (2 inches by 3 inches), with a drawstring to close it. You can check your local arts and crafts supply shop or dollar store for these. I can usually find small muslin or cotton bags at these places, or you can sew your own using scraps of cloth.

Herbs should be dried, as fresh herbs can get moldy and soggy in the bag. Whenever possible I like to cut and dry my own herbs from my garden, or I head outside to harvest responsibly from the wild. But that is not always possible, and it is easy to overthink this one. The herbs you have in your kitchen can be equally effective.

The crystals should be small—something no larger than the end of your thumb or even a just a single bead is perfect. If you don't have a suggested crystal you can substitute a simple clear quartz. If shopping for crystals is not for you, head outside to find a pebble in a suitable color or a shape that resonates with you.

Assemble the Bag
Before you assemble your charm bag, take a moment to ground and center yourself. Make every movement intentional and state your intent out loud. Visualize a successful outcome as you work.

Money Charm Bag

• Bay leaf
• Mint leaf
• Small citrine crystal

The key to success with this one is to not be greedy. Visualize what you really need the money for. Write it on the bay leaf and place it in the bag. Add a liberal pinch of dried mint leaves and sprinkle into the bag, imagining each flake as the cash tumbling into your hands. Next, add the citrine. Citrine is a stone of manifestation, and is referred to as an abundance stone or merchant's stone as it attracts money and financial success. Many a witch shop owner have been known to keep a piece of citrine in their cash register. Pro tip: keep a small piece in your wallet!

Grounding Charm Bag

• Sage
• Dirt from home or other place of comfort and security
• Small hematite stone

Collect a spoonful of dirt from outside your home or any other location where you feel absolutely safe and secure. Thank the place for this gift as you collect it. Add the dirt to your bag and follow this with a generous pinch of garden sage. Any culinary sage you may have in your kitchen will work just fine. Take a moment to smell the sage and focus on the smell and texture of the leaves as you do this. After a moment, add the hematite. Hematite has a coolness and stability that connects us to our inner strength, enabling us to securely ground ourselves and feel calm and centred.

Confidence Charm Bag

• A penny or similar coin noted for luck
• Valerian root
• Small carnelian

Select a coin for your bag, preferably one you found (I have been known to root through sofa cushions or all of the pockets of jackets hanging by the door to find a coin). A found coin represents luck and unexpected abundance. Valerian root adds relief from stress and anxiety while cheerful carnelian stimulates motivation and creativity, enhancing confidence. Try sewing your own bag for this, using cloth that is your favourite colour or has sentimental value. Maybe you have a favorite old shirt that you can't wear anymore, or a sentimental textile that can be recycled for this purpose. These personal touches serve as a reminder of who you are and all of the great things of which you are capable.

Healing Charm Bag

• Chamomile and/or lavender
• A small photo or drawing of the person in need of healing
• Small rose quartz

Chamomile is extremely popular as a tea herb, beloved for its soothing qualities. Lavender has a strong, comforting, and evocative fragrance that aids with pain relief and promoting good sleep. Add these to your bag with a piece of rose quartz, a stone of unconditional love and healing, with a strong association to the heart and circulatory system. Take a moment with the photo or drawing and visualize the person as strong and healthy, then slip it into the bag. You may want to change out the herbs for other ones that target the specific illness from which you need relief—mint for stomach upset, turmeric for inflammation, etc.

Protection Charm Bag

• Thorns, thistles or prickly plant matter wildcrafted from your environment
• Black salt (a complete recipe with instructions for making your own black salt can be found in my book, Earth Magic)
• Black tourmaline

Go out for a walk in your environment and seek out plants that have thorns, thistles, bristles, or spikes. Be sure to take some rugged gardening gloves along with you and carefully harvest a small amount of the aggressive, sharp parts of the plant. Look for plants growing along borders and boundary lines and take a moment to appreciate how these fierce guardians grew in these places. Add the plant matter to your bag along with a spoonful of black salt. Drop in the black tourmaline, which will absorb negative energy and protect against psychic attack.

Use Your Bag
Once your bag is complete, you can use it as it, or you may want to ritually charge it by placing it on your altar or in sacred space and focusing your will on it. How you choose to do this is up to you.

Charm bags should be small enough to fit in your pocket, or you may want to wear it on a cord around your neck. You can also place these strategically in relevant spots in your space—a confidence charm bag in your desk at work, or a protection charm bag hanging above your front door, for example. With a little research you can make a charm bag for any purpose.

A charm bag can be held in your hand to help you ground yourself and refocus your magical intent when you need to activate it. If you are not able to physically hold it, try visualizing it: how does it feel or smell? What is its texture? How much does it weigh?

When the Work is Done
When a charm bag has served its purpose and the magic has run its course, you may want to ritually dispose of it. I have a hard time throwing a magical item into a garbage can, so I have a couple tried and true ways to deal with them:

• Bury the used charm bag somewhere where it will not be disturbed, and it can decompose back into the earth. For this reason it is very important to use only biodegradable materials.
• Collect used charm bags and any other spent magical items in a paper bag. Ensure that these are all things that can safely be burned. Items that release noxious fumes, such as plastic items, should be left out of this. Burn the bag outdoors in a bonfire as part of your Samhain celebrations. My coven has a tradition of doing this, and it is a cathartic part of the ceremony. Candle stubs, matchsticks, poppets, papers—all of the earthly reminders of magic and spell work performed over the past year gets sent into the fire.

I hope you give charm bags a try! To learn more about how to incorporate the element of earth into your magic, please check out my new book Earth Magic.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I am happily married to a great husband and we have a five-year-old son together. I keep thinking and dreaming about a man I had an affair with before I was married to my husband. I feel like we have some kind of spiritual connection. I can feel when he is thinking about me and I still love him very much. What can I do to break free from him and move on?

Erica

Susyn:

It's normal to carry feelings for people who have touched our lives in powerful ways. Since you are ready to move on and break free of your onetime lover, however, I recommend the following ritual for getting final closure.

For this Ritual to Release a Past Love, you will need: 3 votive candles (1 blue, 1 green, 1 yellow), 1 smokey quartz or brown topaz crystal, amber incense, scissors, 3 pieces of rope or twine 5" to 8" in length, 3 small bowls, purified or filtered water, 3 whole bay leaves, sea salt and 1 red apple.

Begin by placing the candles in front of you. From left to right, place the blue, then the green, then the yellow. Place a small bowl in front of each candle. Fill the center bowl with purified or filtered water. Light the incense and then each candle. Set the three bay leaves in the first bowl and then set the smokey quartz crystal on top of them. Place the apple in the third bowl. Lay the three pieces of rope, scissors and salt container in front of the middle bowl.

Remove one of the bay leaves from the first bowl, sprinkle it with salt, and then drop it into the water bowl. Focus on the blue candle, holding the smokey quartz crystal in your left hand while you focus on the relationship you are ending. This will enable you to release any telepathic communication or compelling thoughts that are keeping you connected to this person.

Next, pull another bay leaf from the first bowl and repeat the process, focusing on the green candle. Continue to hold the crystal in your left hand and meditate on the emotional aspects of the relationship; how it made you feel and what was lacking in the heart aspects of this connection. This will help you release any pent up or lingering feelings you still carry about this relationship.

Third, take the last bay leaf and repeat the process, this time focusing on the yellow candle and meditating on regaining your personal power. When you have finished this process, pick up the three pieces of rope or twine, and one at a time, cut them in half into the water bowl.

With the first cut, say out loud, I sever all communication and intellectual ties with _________. With the second cut, say out loud, I sever all emotional ties with _________. On the third and final cut, say out loud, I sever all spiritual ties with _________ and call my personal power back to me.

To complete the ritual, eat the apple. With each bite, think of one reason you are grateful this relationship is completed. Continue this process until the apple is consumed.

*****

Oceania:

Wow! You're happily married to a great husband with whom you share a son - what blessings! It's natural to feel love for an ex if the relationship was meaningful, but when thoughts and dreams become bothersome, they are no longer reflections of love but rather obsessions: endless mental loops that serve to distract you from the present.

Like drugs, obsessions help us avoid reality, so take an inventory of your inner feelings and external life circumstances and ask: What needs my attention? The answer will be where your true work lies. Once that has been dealt with, your obsession will lift.

Perhaps as a child, you coped with difficulties through fantasies and daydreams; if so, that old habit may prevent you from living fully in the moment. For that matter, the affair you had years ago may itself be an example of you using fantasy to distract yourself.

Don't miss out on today by dwelling in the past. Confidently tackle your present challenges and enjoy the abundant simple pleasures life is offering you. Be the best person, partner and mother you can be. It may be that you need an outlet for your creativity, so consider an art project or some volunteer work.

One way to dismantle an obsession is to scrutinize it. You may be idealizing the affair; swirling memories can seem shiny and bright like hypnotic crystals. Break the spell by reminding yourself, If the affair was meant to grow, it would have! The proof is in the pudding, and this affair ended. You calling it an affair implies there was deception involved, loyalties betrayed or secrets kept. Those facts alone should be enough to taint your glossy memories.

If it was NOT a secret affair, you might consider extending an invitation of friendship to this man. Exes who are not toxic can remain in our lives; the passage of time allows us to shift gears and begin to relate as friends or extended family. Could you and your husband meet up with your ex and his current partner, if he has one? Obsessions tend to dissolve in the bright light of reality.

You feel a spiritual connection to him because you served important purposes in each otherís lives at the time. Thereís no need to break free of the past if you can own it and integrate it, so identify the lessons learned and the purpose the affair served. It may have represented your desire for a loving partner or family, which you found in your husband and son. View the affair as a bridge that helped you get where you wanted to go, and remember that while bridges are valuable, you probably wouldn't be comfortable living on one.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.