You never know when a little witchcraft may come in handy. Life is full of problems some small and some not so small that a quick spell may resolve. The rituals in this section are designed to help deal with a variety of situations. In practicing your magic, don't forget the most important ingredients concentration and willpower.

Once you've made certain that no evil spirits can thrive in your home (See Spells for Protection), invite some benevolent spirits to live with you. To attract them, make a small bouquet from rosemary, marjoram and mint leaves; tie it with a red ribbon. Fill an earthenware pot with water and add a pinch of salt. Put the bouquet in it and set it near your kitchen sink. Keep it well watered and pruned, replacing any withered leaves immediately. If you don't, the good forces may neglected in your home and move away.

As everyone knows, a witch's broom can help cast all kinds of spells. Here's one of them. Place a new broom (a vacuum cleaner won't do) on the floor in the middle of your home. Melt the bottom of a white birthday candle; fasten it to the broom's handle; light the candle and say:

When the candle burns out, sprinkle a pinch of salt on each of your doorsills. Take the broom and sweep the salt into your kitchen, and out the back door, if you have one. If you don't, dump the sweepings into a garbage pail and empty it, outside your home, immediately.

To help your investments prosper, bury a silver coin and a drop of your blood in a clay flower pot. Then put a plant in the pot. Take very good care of this plant, for if it flourishes, so will your investments. However, if it dies, you'll lose your

money. (If you cast this spell, your first investment may have to be an old, all silver coin. The modern ones, which contain a base metal, won't have the necessary power.)

For luck in gambling, try this spell. Before placing a bet, rub a green candle with sandalwood oil (or any oil to which a piece of sandalwood has been added). On a green piece of paper, write down the name of the object you're betting on. Light the candle and burn the paper in the flame, taking care not to put it out. Carry the candle stub in a left-hand pocket when yon go to bet.

If you don't know what you're betting on for instance, before buying a numbered lottery ticket, rub the candle with the oil and take it with you anyway. When you receive the number, perform the burning ritual. Keep the candle stub with you until the winner is announced.

If you're a card player, rub the candle as above and burn it to the socket before playing. Then try to rub a bit of the sandalwood oil on the cards before a game. Failing that, rub a silver ring with the oil; put the ring on your left hand at a games; make sure it touches the cards. (This spell also works with dice, bingo games, etc.)

When someone drops in on you at an inconvenient time, you can make him want to leave your house with this spell. Take your trusty broom (the same one used in the spell in Witchcraft for All Occasions); put it, with the handle facing the visitor, behind the door of an adjoining room. Soon the person will feel very uncomfortable and leave.
(This is a one-day spell only; the next day the person regains his usual desire to visit you.)

To cut out someone's visits entirely, cast this spell. At midnight, put your broom across the threshold of the door the visitor uses and say:

To discourage a suitor you don't like, meet him at your threshold with an open pair of scissors (or pinking shears, garden shears, etc.). Find some pretext to hand them to him, cutting side first. He'll soon lose all interest in you.

You've lost your best friend's best pair of earrings, which she never wanted to loan you in the first place. To find them, or anything else you've lost, cast this spell. Bless a gold candle according to the ritual in Spells for Protection, but add a pinch of rosemary to the oil. Before going to bed, light the candle and stare into its flame. As you stare, concentrate very hard on the thing you've lost. (Say its name over and over if it helps focus your attention.) Then go to sleep. Unless someone is deliberately hiding the object, you should find it before midnight of the following day.

If you're a woman who yearns for the pitter pat of tiny feet, try this. Buy a small bag of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Starting at the new moon, eat about five of each type of seed. (If you don't like the taste, add the seeds to your favorite cookie recipe.) Continue eating them until the full moon. If you don't conceive before the next new moon, start the spell again.

Now that that's settled, do you want a boy or a girl? For a boy, add pomegranate seeds to the sunflower and pumpkin mentioned above. Also, stick a knife into your mattress; conceive the child between the new and full moons, and a male heir is almost a sure thing. For a girl, sleep with a frying pan under your pillow and conceive between a full moon and the next new moon.

Ideally, all gardens should be planted at night. However, day or night, make sure that you're working during the proper phase of the moon for your plants. To thrive, root crops such as carrots and radishes should go into the soil between the full and new moons. All others (especially flowers) should be planted between a new moon and the next full moon. When planting's done build a small bonfire near your garden. Burn one of your undergarments in it, and sprinkle the ashes on the ground around the plants.

To keep animals away from the garden, make a small straw doll one about five inches tall. Add to it some things that identify the animals you want to frighten away a bit of rabbit and/or dog hair, a bird feather, etc. Bury the doll on one of the garden's borders.

Above all, you must love your plants and tell them so. How do you talk to plants? The same way you'd like a lover to talk to you. Tell them how beautiful they are; how happy they make you; exclaim over each new leaf and shoot, and so on.

(Plant talk is very good training for witchcraft. If you put your heart into the conversations, the plants do respond. Once you can communicate with your garden, you're well on the way to communicating with all of nature. Do that, and you may one day control nature which is the very essence of witchcraft!)

This is rather advanced sorcery, but with a little perseverance, you may be able to bring it off. (It's marvelous for coping with in-laws, tyrannical bosses, uncooperative employees, etc.) Find a pocket size mirror that's set in a wooden frame. Encircle it with ivy and put it, with the ivy still attached, face up in a pail of water. Leave it outdoors, in a place where it will be exposed to, the rays of the new moon for an entire night.

In the morning, take out the mirror and dry it. Carry it with you, in a hidden place, from that moment on. When the person you want to influence comes near, look into the mirror (but don't let him see the mirror or your glance into it). Then look into his eyes. Keep doing this until you find the person more and more willing to accept suggestions from you. One day you may have him completely in your power.

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