Book of Shadows: Intention Ritual

My pre-Ritual set up.

I took 9 pictures to share with all of you of the Intention Ritual that I did tonight at 10:10 PM on 10/10/10. The date, time, day of the week, and moon phase all helped give a boost to this Intention Ritual. If you are interested in learning more about the Intention Ritual or doing one, please click here.

There's my gnome, Sir Hedgewick Alejandro van der Gnome!

First, I got my area all nice and set up. I opted out of incense as the white candle I used was scented and I didn't want two different scents. I put out my angels, saints, rosaries and other holy items. I even put out my gnome . . . Sir Hedgewick Alejandro van der Gnome! I set up everything on my vanity after I cleared it off.

The angel with my nameplate I received when I was young.

Next . . . I waited. It took forever but I waited until it was 10:10 PM. I took a deep breath and began writing. I felt deeply connected to the place . . . the time . . . what was going on . . . what I was doing. It felt right. It felt like me. It felt familiar . . . as if I had done it before in a past life. At that moment I wondered if I had been a Witch in a past life. I have always been curious of this . . . but tonight it felt very familiar. Reflecting back on it . . . I now feel very certain that I was a Witch in at least one past life . . . but possibly many.

My paper, pen, and thread.

Then it was time to hold the candle and focus on Spirituality, God, and, I tried to "charge" the candle with my "energy" and, yes, intent. It got to the point where it almost seemed as if I were melting the candle. But as I sat there, eyes closed, I could feel my head spin. I knew what was happening. That familiarity came back. I am confident now in saying that, yes, this has happened before in another life. At that moment I was connecting with myself . . . my soul. My Spirit . . . my Higher Self . . . was coming together. My Clairaudience began to open up more as I held the candle and focused. I could hear voices; couldn't make out exactly what was being said but I definitely felt a male was speaking to me, trying to get something across. There was at least one other voice that was quiet . . . possibly a girl . . . could have been a young girl. The male seemed to repeat something a few times. But it all felt right; it felt as if he could have been telling me that I was coming back to where I have been in past lives. I don't know for sure what he was saying . . . but that's the feeling I received. The energy was so strong that my head spun.

One of my intentions for coming to Witchcraft is to open my Psychic Abilities up more. Yes, I believe it is happening and I am excited to explore them further. I felt a wonderful presence of love and guidance. Hopefully these feelings will continue.

One last picture before the Intention Ritual began.

Next, I put the candle in my candle holder. I lit it and then began to focus on my intent, the past of Witchcraft, its history, what I hope to do with it in the future, what I hope to learn, and so on. It was calming and, yes, I felt at home and at peace. I felt various emotions, though, when thinking over the past history of it and all the lives that were lost because many thought Witches were doing the Devil's work. I felt like I had been accused of doing so. But by thinking about the present and the future, it made me feel so much better . . . free . . . light . . . happy. It felt right and it felt like me.

The letter I wrote.

Repeatedly in this entry I have said "it felt like me" or "it feels like me" because it does. It's familiar. By pure chance I happened to do this today. I didn't plan for it to be done on 10/10/10 . . . nor a Sunday . . . nor during a waxing moon. Yes, nighttime was my choice. After a friend pointed out it was 10/10/10 I threw in the 10:10 PM time to match. But it almost was as if fate led me here for a reason (which I believe everything happens for a reason) and that it is a very important reason. It is just meant to be!

When I lit the candle.

Once I was finished focusing and putting out the energy (as I felt I was doing), I had to tie up the scroll. Let me just tell you . . . when you have nails, trying to tie a thread in a bow is impossible. It took me two tries with a piece of tape to get it to stay. But all is done! Yay!

When the Intention Ritual was completed and the scroll was wrapped up, I blew out the candle. Some wax ran down the edge of the candle and the glass. I'll have to clean that off later, I suppose. I put the scroll away in my vanity to keep it for later when it is needed.

What a gorgeous flame!

For those of you that wonder what this meant to me on a religious level, remember that I am Catholic and incorporate Christianity into my Magick. To me, this Ritual was like saying a really deep prayer. It was like dedicating myself to God and the Universe. I was confirmed when I was in 8th grade and I took on the name Elizabeth. At that time, confirmation meant this to me; it was dedicating myself to growing religiously. For me, now, this Intention Ritual was another step religiously to get closer to God, the Archangels, Angels, and Spirits . . . but also to get closer to my Spirituality. So I hope this makes some more sense to those of you that didn't see the point in this Ritual. Some Witches even take on a magickal name although I will wait until later to do so. I already have an idea of what I would like . . . but I will wait until later after I have time to focus and think about things (as I may change my mind). Remember that I do not practice Witchcraft as a Religious but rather as a way of life; I incorporate my religious beliefs into Witchcraft, though.

The end result. The flame is still there if you look closely but it was almost as if it knew it was over and time to dwindle!

I hope that this is the start of something new; something great. I know it will be. I look forward to doing more Rituals and exercises in the future. I hope to share them with you, too, so that you, too, can do them and can read my experiences, as well. I thank you for joining me along this Spiritual Path!

Beautiful Blessings,
Natasha <3