As individuals, we are constantly being bombarded with negative news, fear, screen fatigue, toxic polarization of opinion, and anxiety. Worse of all, these updates are in our pockets! On our smartphones, our tablets, and even on our non pocket devices. We are currently saturated with information! And not all of it good…

One of the things I teach when leading talks and workshops on Psychic and Spiritual Protection, is the importance of News and social media boundaries. Why? Because anything that negatively impacts our emotional wellbeing therefore impacts our spiritual wellbeing. And anything that impacts our spiritual wellbeing can attack or intrude upon us. Not all psychic intrusion is magical, or from the odd wayward Witch who insidiously casts an evil eye upon another. Sometimes psychic intrusion or attack can come from a personal lack of boundaries too.

This restful mind charm uses Lavender, Liquorice and some other natural plant medicine to help bring about a calm mind before sleep, as it’s often the fact that our mind is overactive and busy that keeps us awake, as opposed to the mind not being able to shut down due to a more physiological reason.
This charm is used alongside personal grounding techniques, daily spiritual practice and of course, the implementation of personal boundaries. All of these are crucial for spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing, as it is often when we are neglecting the nurturing of this sacred trinity within us, that we start to struggle.

Below you will find the complete working and how to create it for yourself!

Please feel free to adapt it, or put a copy in your own grimoire or book of shadows. However, I do ask that for those of you reading and using the blog/working please do not share it, or copy and paste it on to any other platforms as it is part of my premium content and is subject to copyright.

Tools and ingredients:

1. One bunch of dried lavender, with fairly long stalks.
2. Two sticks of Liquorice.
3. Some blue or green cord (ideally organic cotton or hemp so that it can biodegrade).
4. A table or suitable sacred space to work at.
5. Juniper essential oil.
6. Chamomile essential oil.

Step one: Taking the bunch of lavender, divide it into four equal bundles. Lay the bundles side by side so that you now have four smaller bunches of lavender.

Hold both hands over the lavender and say the following:

“I call upon the plant spirit of Lavandula. Hear my call.
May this first bunch of lavender bring peace.
May this second bunch of lavender bring rest.
May this third bunch of lavender bring healing.
And may this fourth bunch of lavender bring a soothing ease.
Together they shall form the Lavandula cross, and work together in complete harmony for me and mine”

Step two: Next, take two of the small bunches of lavender and gently push the stems into and around the stems of the other bunch, so that the stems gently weave together. Repeat this step so that the other two bunches cross over the first two and they also gently interweave into each others stems (see photograph for example).

Step three: Take the two pieces of liquorice root and hold them so that one is in your left hand and the other is in the right hand. Then say aloud:

“I call upon the plant spirit of Liquorice!
Hear my call.
May you bring balance and stability.
Ward away all that would distract or harm.
Bring in all that would cleanse and ease”.

Step three: Use the two pieces of liquorice root to form a geometric cross and then, with the organic cord, bind it to the centre of lavender cross.

Step four: Once you have bound the liquorice to the lavender cross, take your juniper essential oil and anoint the centre of the cross with three drops.

Juniper (Juniperus Communis) is a wonderful herb that has been used for many years in both Folk Way’s and herbal medicine. The scent of juniper has the ability to uplift a person’s mood without overstimulating them, while at the same time, bringing a wonderful grounding effect.

As you add the three drops of Juniper, say aloud:

“I call upon the plant spirit and ally of Juniper! Be with me and within me. Bringing ease of mind and strength in spirit!”.

Step five: Next, take the chamomile essential oil and use it to anoint each lavender spoke on the cross. Anoint each spoke with three drops. As you do this, say aloud:

“I call upon the plant spirit and ally of Chamomile! Be with me and within me. Bringing peaceful sleep, restful nights and happy mornings to start the day.”

Completion of the Working.

Once you have assembled the working and it is complete, you will need to do the following.

1. Cleanse your bedroom space – This will mean physically giving it a spring clean and then cleansing it energetically. It is up to you how you would like to energetically cleanse your room. You can use drumming or tuning forks. You may even like to Sain (Smudge in other cultures) the area with a sage or mugwort bundle. Cleansing your bedroom space both physically and spiritually helps in two ways. firstly, it creates an ideal restful space that is conducive to sleep. Secondly, when we cleanse our living or sleeping spaces fairly regularly, we remove what some may call ‘negative energy’. Old emotions like anxiety, frustration, restlessness, anger, worry and even nightmares can linger if we do not let them go, or push them out if they are stubborn enough to not want to be let go of. Moving old and stale energy on that doesn’t serve us is not only a good practical form of spiritual hygiene that keeps us healthy, but it also stops that energy staying and building up. I have, in the past, known negative energy, feelings and experiences to group together and cause psychic disturbances. Disturbances that can, in some cases almost mimic hauntings and poltergeist like activity. So, when in doubt, cleanse it out!
2. Hang the Charm above your bed. You can do this by inserting a nail through the centre of the charm and then gently hammering it to the wall above your bed. As this is a charm that helps with sleep issues, it is important to hang this charm as close to your bed as possible.

Commonly asked questions…

1. Why does the charm use the plants listed and not others?

Answer: The plants selected in this particular charm were all chosen for their specific aromatherapy, herbal, plant spirit and Folk Ways qualities. Lavender has been long used to help sleep and anxiety, as has chamomile. Both have a soothing effect upon both the mind and the body and can ease both sleeplessness and anxiety. Magically and energetically speaking.

2) How long shall I use this charm for?

I have found that in life, everything has it’s season, the same is true with charms. This particular working is designed to be used for up to six months while you implement other practices to aid in helping any sleep or anxiety issues. This includes addressing how much time you spend on social media, what you follow or do not follow online, creating a sleep routine, practicing grounding techniques etc. When you feel you have finished with this charm, simply compost it. It is earth friendly and there is something truly beautiful about returning magick to the earth.

3) What sort of grounding and centring techniques shall I use?

This will be entirely subjective to you and your preferences. You may like to Drum, do a quick visualisation, a prayer or a simple exercise such as the ‘five senses’. The five senses exercise involves focussing on one thing you can see, one thing you can hear, one thing you can feel, one thing you can taste and then one thing you can smell.

My advice would be to play about with grounding techniques and find one that is right for you.

If you enjoyed this blog, please keep an eye out for next weeks post!

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Next weeks blog follows on from this post, and is all about house cleansing, it’s importance and how to do it!