Practical Magick: Magickal Remnants

© Copyright 2023 Karen Charboneau-Harrison, All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes after a ritual you probably have bits and pieces of parchment, candle wax or small pieces of ribbon or cloth left over. What should you do with them? Should you just throw them away or is there something special you should be doing with your left-overs?

Remember that all of the materials that you use in your workings are infused with the energy of what you just did in your ritual. It would be disrespectful and a dissipation of energy to dispose of them in your trash as if they were nothing. You should take care of any candle wax or other leavings in a simple, yet ceremonial way which accords them (and your spell) the respect it deserves. If you have a flowing stream nearby, you can toss the remains of your materials in the water with a thanks and blessing to release them to their work. Or, you can bury them in your garden with a thanks and blessing. If all you have left is some parchment from a talisman you made, you could burn it completely in your thurible (incense burner) to let it go. Some people save all the remnants up in a special box during the year and then burn them all together at Candlemas as part of their yearly purification.

Sometimes people have candle stubs left from workings that require the burning of a candle for a prescribed amount of time (but not enough time to consume the candle entirely). If this is the case with a candle I've used in a ritual, I tend to finish burning the candle by lighting it at different times during the following lunar cycle when I have a few moments until the candle is burned all the way down. While the candle burns I reflect on the energies I have put into motion. Whatever way you choose to dispose of your ritual materials is right, as long as you do it with respect.

Sometimes you may have other things that are left over from a ritual you did long ago - charged stones, feathers, blessed jewelry, etc. You might elect to keep these effects together in a special chest with a copy of the ritual you did or at least some notation like "Full Moon, October 2005". Or you can completely release the energy in them by re-purifying the items (assuming you have obtained the results from that ritual and you don't need the energy to keep moving) and then leave them in a park or somewhere for someone to find as their special surprise gift. You probably aren't going to want to do this with a piece of jewelry you charged for a specific purpose, but if you've gotten your results and want to release the energy so you can wear the piece in a less ceremonial way, you can simply purify it so that you've let the energy go and you can wear the jewelry whenever you feel like it.

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