My daughter came down the other morning, gestured out the window to the snow that was falling, and asked–in typical teenage fashion–”What is this bullshit?”
“A Midwestern March,” I answered. I shared her annoyance at the snow, but wouldn’t necessarily label it bullshit. The Wheel of the Year turns, but that progression isn’t always smooth and sometimes there is snow even when you are finished with winter.
And, honestly, I’m not surprised by the cold and snow. It seems to carry a message that there’s still a lot of work that hasn’t been done, a lot of issues that have been left unaddressed. “It’s not time to move on,” the Wheel says. We’re still stuck: the pandemic lingers on, global warming and climate change loom ever large and menacing, war has broken out again. The same patterns and problems sit in our chests, making it difficult to breathe at times.
All of that is a lot to deal with, making our personal setbacks and stall outs feel less important and easier to ignore. Why do shadow work when the world is in the state it is in, after all? At times like these I think we need to focus on what we can affect, on what we do have control over, even if it isn’t much. Magick gives us the power to focus on the personal and the internal, even when life around us is a mess.
With that in mind I think we can take the unwanted snow and turn it into a tool for breaking through and making changes.
Magick for Breakthroughs
You will need:
- a bowl of snow (in the absence of snow you can use ice)
- An orange candle
- Lemon essential oil (or a citrus essential oil)
- Olive oil (or any carrier oil)
- Citrine
You’ll notice that the spell components (with the exception of the snow/ice) are all associated with brightness and warmth. This spell is a work of magickal alchemy, where the snow (or ice) is melted and transformed by the heat (both literal and magickal) of the other spell components.
Orange is a color of change, while citrine has properties of manifesting change. Lemon (or other citrus essential oils) bring in the power of the sun and heat to get things moving when they have stalled out (or been frozen).
Gather your spell components and lay them out on your altar or wherever you work your spells. Cleanse and ready your space.
Place your citrine in the bowl of snow (or ice). As you do so, say, “I break through that which is holding me back.”
Add a couple drops of the essential oil to a teaspoon of your carrier oil. Anoint your candle with the oil while saying, “I overcome obstacles that keep me from moving forward.”
Set the candle behind the citrine in the bowl. Light it while saying, “I transform adversity into advantages.”
Sit quietly with your spellwork. Watch the snow (or ice) melt, going from a solid to a liquid state. Bring to mind any problems that you haven’t addressed and envision them melting and changing as well. Sit with any uncomfortable emotions that have been plaguing you and send the heat and brightness of the candle’s flame at them, breaking them down. See any stagnant energy, thoughts or beliefs crack and collapse, allowing you to move beyond them.
Let the candle burn all the way down. Once the snow (or ice) has melted completely, collect the water in a bottle. The citrine can either be cleansed for use in other spellwork or added, with any leftover wax from the candle, to a spell pouch. Keep the pouch on your altar or with you until the next new moon, to keep the breakthrough magick going. When the new moon comes, bury the wax.
You can use the water in other spells for manifesting change. Or you can pour a little of it down drains in your house to move static energy out of your home. Or you can add it to a bath or a wash to cleanse your aura, etc. Or sprinkle it on the threshold of your doorway so that whenever you step over it, energies of manifesting change are activated. There are many more ways you can use the water to keep the momentum going.
Originally posted on Patreon March 14, 2022.