Tenth Night

Your affirmation for today:In gratitude I find accomplishment. In accomplishment I find gratitude.

Your symbol for today: stone

Begin your day: Begin in the morning by reading the affirmation and the focus for the day. Today’s segment concentrates on stone, associating the energy of accomplishment with that of Spirit. Close your eyes, quiet your mind, smile, and allow Spirit to fully enter your body. Then repeat the word stone softly, conjuring your vision of stone in your mind. Open your eyes, and repeat the affirmation at least three times. Remember to smile as you finish! Throughout the day, repeat the affirmation as many times as you like. Begin and end with a smile. Write down in a small notebook (or your HedgeWitch journal) anything unusual about this day and events, people, or places that carry a strong stone association. In this way, you will be prepared to perform the tenth night Rite of Stone.

To do today: Choose thirteen gemstones or small pebbles from your property or a local stream. If you have a garden, you may wish to arrange thirteen stepping stones in a prominent area to represent your HedgeWitch journey.

Today I will release…anything that reminds me of a failure I am holding on to. As I clear out my living space, I will keep repeating: “I am making room for success!” I will get rid of broken or unappealing statues, knickknacks, trinkets, and baubles that are cluttering up my personal space. I will make arrangements to fix cracks in walls.

Weekly planner: If you are spending a week on this rite, build or create something out of stone for sacred work. This could be pouring and decorating a stepping stone for your garden, making an outdoor stone altar, working with mosaics that also incorporate gemstones, or even stringing gemstone jewelry. You may wish to make a set of HedgeWitch prayer beads (see Section 5).

Herbs for today: lavender, rose, eyebright, myrrh resin

Supplies for tonight: incense, white candle, the candle you have chosen for your final dedication ritual, thirteen gems or small pebbles, the above-listed herbs, freshly prepared in the same way you blended the herbs for the ninth night rite

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Stone represents your steps (stepping stones) and your accomplishments along the way in your personal journey of transformation, and your ability to be grateful for what you have accomplished and received. Gemstones carry their own inherent beauty and power and can heighten our herbal magickal abilities. Also, stones—whether gems or the stones in your garden—come in many shapes and sizes. The shape of an item also has significance in the practice of HedgeWitchery, as all shapes carry a mathematical vibration (their volume, shape, and size) as well as a correspondence associated with the type of stone (granite, quartz, lapis lazuli, etc.). We can also create shapes and patterns by arranging small stones on the altar top. Here is an easy-to-follow magickal list to use in tonight’s rite as well as in future practices.

Note: The list is a combination of Eastern and Western cultural beliefs.

Square—Earth Element (Roots/Stability)

Colors: Tan, beige, caramel, toffee, orange, gold

Directions: Northeast and southwest

Purposes: Education, learning, luck, romance, love, mother’s luck, stability, foundation

Circle—Metal Element

Colors: White, silver, gold

Directions: West and northwest

Purposes: Family luck, father’s luck, guides and mentors, assistance, protection

Triangle/Chevron—Fire Element

Colors: Red, purple

Direction: South

Purposes: Success and recognition, action and movement, target, passion, the spark of creativity

Rectangle—Earth Element (Growth/Flowering)

Colors: Green, brown, sienna, red ochre, bronze

Directions: East and southeast

Purposes: Good health, growth, prosperity (primary ruler of paper magick)

Wave—Water Element

Colors: Blue, lavender, black

Direction: North

Purposes: Career advancement, life work, emotions, movement through flow (secondary ruler of paper magick)

Rosette (Six-Petal Flower Design)—Earth and Sky

Colors: Green, blue, gold (plants, sky, sun)

Direction: Center

Purposes: Balance, harmony of heaven and earth, spiritual growth

Stars—Fire and Ice

Colors: Gold, white

Direction: Heaven

Purposes: Protection, good luck, good fortune (the number of points make the stars more significant)

Hearts—Spirit Element

Colors: Red, pink

Direction: None (as love infuses everything)

Purposes: Love, compassion, humility, healing

Crescent/Archway—Combination of Spirit, Metal, and Water

Colors: White, silver, gold, blue

Directions: West or north and northwest

Purposes: Moon magick, timing, protection, women, children, creativity, luck from heaven

Rite of Stone

Arrange your thirteen chosen gemstones around your dedication candle. You will not light your dedication candle tonight; instead, we are preparing your altar for the final ceremony. Put your magick key beside your dedication candle. Light the incense and pass it over all the items on your altar.

On a white candle (not the dedication candle), inscribe the word stone with a pin, nail, or clay-inscribing tool. Place the candle in safe holder, and light. Sprinkle your herb mixture around the base of the candle. Intone the following charm, holding your hands over the stones:

Herbal magick, speak to me

Of gems’ and stones’ ability

In dark of night or sun’s bright day

To help me in my witching way!

Pick up one stone and say aloud three times something that you are grateful for. Then say, “Thank you, it works, always a blessing,” and smile. Do this with the remaining twelve stones, indicating something different you are grateful for with each successive stone. Meditate for fifteen minutes on the meaning of stone in the life of a spiritual person. Using the stones or gems, create a shape that signifies accomplishment to you. This will be your magickal stone shape. Be sure to draw this image in your HedgeWitch journal. Allow the candle to burn completely. Leave your gemstones in the shape you chose near your dedication candle until your final ceremony night. Take an extra fifteen minutes this night to contemplate the changes you have experienced and what you truly desire in the transformation of the self. And most of all, never forget to be grateful!

Before you drift off to sleep, close this evening by saying:

Peace with the gods

Peace with nature

Peace within.

It always works.

Always a blessing.

Remember to smile!