Beauty
In the early days of spring, a meadow is covered in a carpet of bluebells. The lush green and delicate blue from the leaves and petals stretches out as far as the eye can see. There is a faint droning buzz in the air as bees alight on one soft blossom after another. The breeze flows past carrying the sweet scent of the fragrant flowers. The beauty is captivating.
A small child sits quietly on the floor with a little fluffy kitten in her hands. The kitten mewls and meows, its little pin-like claws poking into the bare flesh of her little leg. She cries silent tears of joy because she adores the furry creature beyond all measure. The beauty is heart wrenching.
The first breath of a newborn baby. The croak of a raven floating on outstretched wings through a forest. Wild horses running freely through plains of grass. A family reunited after being separated by a wall. A humpback whale breeching. The twinkling lights of the city. The shining swath of stars blasting through the night sky outside of the reaches of light pollution. The kindness of neighbor looking after neighbor. A dog waiting for his soldier owner to return. The countless number of people who put themselves in harm’s way to help another living creature.
Beauty is truly everywhere. We don’t have to look very hard to see it. Beauty makes our hearts burn with a joy that fills our eyes with tears. Beauty restores our faith in humanity. Beauty is our humanity. Beauty is the mystery of the world, and yet, that mystery is oh so simple.
Beauty is the overarching power of this pentacle. We start with the point of beauty and the energy center that resides at the top of our heads. This energy center is where we connect to our god-selves. This is the location of our higher self or the crown chakra. This is the part of our body that connects us to something bigger than ourselves. It is through this connection to our god-self that we can open our inner eye and begin to see beauty everywhere we look. The divine knows that the world is beautiful; we only need open our awareness to be in alignment with that reality.
Yes, the Beauty Pentacle is about seeing beauty out in the world and using that as a fuel for power, happiness, and focus, but it’s not solely an outward focus. The Beauty Pentacle also asks us to take a good look at ourselves, the skin that we’re in, and see the beauty there too. We can’t truly see the beauty in one without seeing the beauty in the other.
In facing the energy of the beauty point of the pentacle, we must also face the dominant culture’s expectations of beauty. Because of our over-culture, the word “beauty” may trigger feelings of not being enough, not meeting standards, or facing unfair judgments. We may find ourselves “in” or “out” of alignment with these superficial standards. The truth is that all people struggle with beauty—with feeling beautiful. This is solely due to outside, external influences, and most of those influences are total crap.
Beauty may be an uncomfortable or triggering word for some of us. Beauty may be a word that you have never felt a connection to within yourself, or you may have never been interested in connecting to beauty. You may not feel like you can call yourself beautiful because of your gender, appearance, work, age, status, ethnicity, or a million other over-culture messages. It could be that none of the labels you identify with allow for you to connect into beauty.
I’m going to tell you something really important right now, and I want you to pay close attention. You. Are. Beautiful. Absolutely, one hundred percent. You are beautiful. It is important that you know that. It may not be possible to feel that, or own that, all of the time. But you need to know it; you need to feel it in the core of your being.
Personal Development
The following exercises are to help you work through your relationship with beauty on a personal level. How do you feel more beautiful? How do you connect to your own beauty? How do you work to connect more with the beauty around you?
check-in
beauty
How do you feel about the skin you’re in? Do you feel like a beautiful being? Do you appreciate and value your physical body, perceived flaws and all? How does it feel to think of yourself as a beautiful being? Write about these feelings openly and honestly.
Discovering Beauty
Look at Yo’self 
The following exercise is meant to help you begin your connection to beauty with intention. This working should help you feel the connection between your own beauty and the power of the Beauty Pentacle.
Find a time and space where you can be undisturbed for at least thirty minutes. Have your journal handy to write down anything important or interesting as it pops up for you. You may want to set your space to help you feel more focused and grounded. This might include soft music, incense, or candles, but no set up is necessary beyond having your journal and beauty mirror ready.
Take a moment to breathe into your body. Breathe slowly and intentionally, allowing each breath to move into and through your body. Start by sending a breath into your toes and feet. Let each inhale be cleansing and comforting—the gift of air to your precious body. Continue to breathe slowly, filling up your body with that breath, letting it build up into your legs, filling your belly, awakening your rib cage and spine. Let your breath fill your arms and hands and fingers. Allow your breath to fill your neck and head, leaving you cleansed and clear.
When you feel fully present and clear, pick up your beauty mirror and look at yourself. Really look. Take your time with this process. When you start to focus on something that you don’t like, a piece of yourself that you might consider a flaw, send a blessing breath to that part of yourself. Shift your focus on to something that you love about yourself, something beautiful, and breathe a blessing into that part of yourself. Continue to do this process of flaw and beauty, offering a breath each time you see another piece of yourself in the mirror.
Hold your own gaze and take note of how this feels. Is this comfortable or uncomfortable? For some folks this will be an easy and welcome process, while others may find this very difficult or triggering. Feel the feelings that come through, but don’t drop your gaze from the mirror. If you want to smile or wink at yourself, do it! If you want to cry or rage, do it! But hold your focus by continuing to look at yourself in your beauty mirror.
Continue this process for thirty minutes. When you are done, say to yourself, “You are beautiful,” and set down your beauty mirror. Spend some time writing in your journal about how this experience went for you.
Discovering Beauty
Making Rose Water 
Roses are often connected to beauty and luxury. Roses appeal on many sensual levels: sight, scent, touch, and appearance. Creating rose water can be turned into a ritual for your own relationship to beauty.
Where I live, roses bloom twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. This exercise can only be done during these times of the year. Get out and go for a walk. You will want to be able to pick rose petals while you walk (with permission, of course). This may require you to head to a park, garden, or neighborhood that has lots of roses. You will also need a bag or basket for the rose petals that you pick.
As you walk, take note of the beauty around you. It doesn’t matter if you are in a rural, suburban, or urban environment; find something beautiful while you walk. Let all of your senses take in the world around you.
As you find roses, take time to smell them, look at them, and enjoy all of their beauty. Before you pick anything, make sure you ask the plant for permission. Tell the plant that you will be creating a rose water to honor the beauty in the world and ask if it would be willing to be a part of that. Wait a moment for an answer. This may be clear and obvious or subtle, but only proceed to pick petals if you have been given an affirmative answer. If the plant gives you a “no,” move on to another rose bush.
Pick only a few petals at a time. Feel the softness of the flower petals between your fingers. Smell the richness of the blossoms. Take your time with this process. You will need at least three cups of rose petals. Thank each rose as you go.
When you get home, rinse the petals with lukewarm water and then put the petals in a large pot. Fill the pot with enough water to just cover the petals. Breathe deeply and remember all of the beauty that you witnessed on your walk. Let your body fill up with the touch, feel, and scent of each rose that you picked. When you are full of this energy, run the Beauty Pentacle through your body and then use the first two fingers of your dominant hand to draw the Beauty Pentacle over the pot of petals.
On low heat, bring the water to a simmer for thirty minutes, or until the petals have lost most of their color. Strain off the water into a clear glass container. This is concentrated rose water. Draw the Beauty Pentacle over the top of the container and say this:
Blessed with beauty
Blessed with grace
Sweet scent of rose
A kiss upon my face
I charge this water
With beauty and love
May it bless all it touches
Like a gift from above
Beauty
Devotion
Creativity
Desire
Expression
By the power of three times three
As I will it so mote it be
To use, dilute one tablespoon of the concentrate into one cup of water. This can be used as a bath additive, a refresher spray, or as a perfume. The water will only be good for a few days unless you add a preservative. Alcohol works best for this.
Add one part water, one part alcohol, and one tablespoon rose water to make a spray that will last for several weeks. Use it as a beauty blessing any time it is needed.
check-in
what’s been beautiful?
Every day for the next month, write down something beautiful that you saw or experienced. This could be a moment, a view you saw, something delicious you ate, or any other thing that struck you during your day. What’s been beautiful?
Ritual: Gratitude Body Blessing
The state of the skin you’re in doesn’t matter. Your body does a lot for you. The following ritual is a way to connect to yourself and your body. This is a ritual for honoring your skin and giving a blessing to the vessel that holds your life force and spirit.
Supplies: Full-length mirror, anointing oil (your own or the appropriate oil from pages 59 and 60), massage oil or lotion, two large red or white candles, and a vase of flowers.
Set Up: Put the full-length mirror in a place where you can be undisturbed and alone for forty-five minutes to an hour. Make sure wherever you set up your mirror you are able to see your full body when you stand in front of it. Set the vase of flowers nearby along with the anointing oil. Put a candle on either side of the mirror.
Ritual: Set up your space while singing or playing music, keep the music playing throughout the ritual. Take a cleansing bath in whichever way that you like best. After you are dry, light the candles and stand naked in front of the mirror.
Take some time to look at your reflection. Do this without judgment. Look at the fullness of your body, the blessing and miracle it is. Look at your scars, stretch marks, hair, bumps, lumps, dimples, spots, and wrinkles. Look at what you love, what is lovely, interesting, unique, special, and you. Turn around and peek over your shoulder at the back of your body. Take in the part of yourself that you rarely see.
Let yourself experience the feelings that come up throughout this process. You may want to cry, or laugh, or sing, or roar. All of the feelings that come up are good. Give yourself plenty of time to express them as they appear.
When you feel ready, take the massage oil and rub your feet. You may need to sit on a blanket or chair to do this. Rub your feet, showing your gratitude for all they do. Rub your feet, giving thanks for all the steps that they take and how they swiftly carry your body from place to place. Modify this as needed if you use a wheelchair or have a prosthetic appendage. Honor the work and beauty of the body you have.
Let your hands move up your body, rubbing any sore muscles, tight spots, and stiff places as you go. Show appreciation to your body. Show your skin, muscles, bones, and ligaments thanks for all the hard work they do; pamper yourself.
Again, you may feel called to cry, laugh, or sing. Emotions may build up and spill over. Let them. Let yourself feel and express whatever comes up for you as it comes up.
When you feel ready, pick up the anointing oil, put some of it in your hands, and anoint your feet one at a time. As you anoint your feet, say this: Bless these feet that walk my own unique sacred path.
Anoint each of your knees in turn. As you do, say this: Bless these knees that kneel at the sacred altars of my life.
Anoint the spot right above your natural pubic line with the oil and say: Bless my sex that creates beauty.
Anoint the center of your chest with the oil and say: Bless my heart, formed with love and expressing love.
Anoint your third eye with the oil and say: Bless my sight, which leads my path.
Finally, kiss your reflection in the mirror and say: Bless my lips, which speak the sacred words, including my name.
Stand before the mirror fully anointed. Look at your reflection and say: Blessed be this creature of beauty.
Put your hands in a prayer position and bow to your reflection, looking yourself in the eyes. Take some time to sit in silence. Just be. When you feel ready, journal or continue your blessing by eating something sumptuous. Give yourself the space to slowly come back into your regular life; move slowly and deliberately.
Welcome back.
Discovering Beauty
Beauty Cloak Trance 
Creating an object on the astral plane can impact you on the physical one. One way to bolster your own feelings around beauty is through the creation of an astral beauty cloak that you can use in your regular life. You can choose to keep this item with you at all times or put it on when you are about to step into an important moment.
This is a trance exercise that is best done alone. Find a time and place where you can be undisturbed for thirty minutes. Record yourself reading this trance ahead of time and play it back for the working. Sit or lie down as comfortably as you can.
Trance: Take three long and deep breaths. With each breath feel the edges of your body. Allow yourself to sink into this place. As your breathing continues, you find yourself surrounded by a thick mist. This mist is warm and comforting. It surrounds your body, gently lifting you up higher and higher. You float along weightless, surrounded by a warm, thick cloud. The cloud easily holds and carries you. You float along comfortable and carried. (Pause.)
The cloud begins to sink down, bringing you lower and lower until you feel your feet touch down on solid ground. The mist begins to slowly dissipate, and as it does you see a large wardrobe in front of you. The wardrobe is massive and wooden, with one intricately carved door in the center that flashes with an otherworldly glow.
Take a breath and open the door.
Inside the door, floating perfectly in the center of the opening, is a spectacular cloak. This cloak is luscious, beautiful, immaculate, and luxurious. The cloak totally appeals to your aesthetic. Take some time to really examine it. Look at the cut of it and the color and type of the fabric. Take in any embroidery or embellishments on the cloak. Reach out and feel the texture of the fabric. As you touch the cloak, you can also smell it. A fragrance wafts off of the cloak that fills your heart and makes you smile. The cloak seems to shimmer with magick. (Pause.)
This is your beauty cloak. If you were to put it on, it would become a part of you. It makes you show up as your best and brightest self. This magickal cloak will also show others how beautiful you are. It shows the truth of your beauty. Wearing this cloak brings forward effects that can be seen in the regular waking world. When you come here to this wardrobe and put on the cloak, other people in your life will be able to see the change in you.
Take a moment to lift this beauty cloak up and out of the wardrobe. Behind it you see a mirror. Place the cloak around your shoulders. Feel the weight of it on your body. Look into the mirror and see your reflection with the cloak on you. See how you glow with beauty when the cloak sits on your shoulders. It brings out your most beautiful characteristics. Let yourself glow. Notice what this feels like. (Pause.)
Suddenly, the cloak begins to absorb into your skin. It is warm, comfortable, and clearly belongs to you and only you. The process of the cloak sinking into you feels like the stroke of a feather across your skin. As the cloak absorbs, you know that at any moment when you need to feel more beautiful you can activate the power of this garment. Any time you need to remember that you are beautiful, you can return to this wardrobe and glance at your beautiful reflection in the mirror. This is another place where you can remember your beauty. (Pause.)
Close the door of the wardrobe. As you do, the mist returns, surrounding you in its warm embrace. The mist surrounds you and begins to lift you up higher and higher. The mist carries you swiftly and easily, holding you strong and solid. The mist begins to descend, moving lower and lower, setting you down gently in your body.
Take a moment to feel the edges of your body. Notice as your edges become more firm and solid. Breathe deeply and take a moment to feel what it is to be in your body at this time and at this place. As you feel ready, slowly open your eyes. Use the palms of your hands to tap your edges and say your name out loud three times.
Take some time to write down anything important or interesting from your trance process. If you feel so called, draw your cloak in your journal, making sure to include all of the details that you discovered in your exploration.
Discovering Beauty Daily Mirror Blessing 
As you dive into your connection with the Beauty Pentacle, it is important that you take steps on a daily basis to hone your relationship to and with beauty. The following is a daily practice.
Every day look at your reflection in your beauty mirror. Look at your reflection for as long as you can. Notice all of your features. The things you love, the things you hate, the things that are changing; notice them all and send each of them a blessing. Spend at least ten minutes a day looking at your own reflection with a heart full of love. Find at least one thing that is beautiful. To end the working, tell yourself, “You are beautiful.”
check-in
you are beautiful
Get your journal and write the words “I am beautiful.” Use the rest of the page to free write whatever comes up for you with these three words.
Discovering Beauty
Mirror Glamour
Beauty is something we want to nurture, and beauty can help us feel more solid and strong throughout the day. When we feel in alignment with what we consider beautiful it can help to improve our mood. When we are in alignment with beauty it is easier to achieve our goals and step into the limelight. Beauty becomes an accessory that we put on. This accessory makes us bolder and braver. It gives us the power we might otherwise feel we lack. The confidence from owning this power brings more confidence, which calls success easily.
There will be days that you just don’t have it in you, you feel run down, or you are off your game. This is the perfect opportunity to use your beauty mirror as a tool for shifting that energy and building you up through the power of beauty.
Hold your mirror in your hand, but don’t look into it. Rather, take a moment to feel what it would be like if you were totally on your game, feeling strong and confident. Let yourself fill up with the glow of that power, and then look at yourself in your beauty mirror.
See yourself strong and confident. See yourself exactly as you would look if you felt that confidence inside yourself. Breathe into that feeling and really see it. Set down your mirror and go about your day fully charged with beauty.
check-in
beautiful stranger
Pull out your journal and complete the following statements:
• The most beautiful thing I have ever seen is …
• I notice the beauty in the world by …
• Calling myself beautiful makes me feel …
• When I see something breathtaking, my body reacts by …
• When I see something breathtaking, my emotional reaction is …
• Beauty is …
If you are feeling exceptionally brave, consider posting your responses on social media and encouraging your friends to fill in their answers to these statements too. The more we share beauty with others and engage in these conversations, the more the doors to beauty are opened.
Discovering Beauty
Beauty Battery 
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t muster any connection to the power of beauty. There will be times when you are low, sad, stuck, or just not feeling it. That’s okay; it’s all part of being human. But there will be times that you need to be your best and brightest even when you aren’t feeling your connection to the flow.
The following working needs to be done when you are at the height of your power, when you are feeling your best self. If you can coordinate your beauty power peak with a full moon, that’s even better. The goal is to take your beauty power peak moment and store some of that power for future use when you are struggling to feel that connection. It’s charging up a beauty battery.
Of course, just like any other battery, it will need a recharge at times. Don’t take your beauty battery for granted. The process to recharge it is the same as the process for the initial ritual charging.
Supplies: You will need a piece of jewelry or an article of clothing to ritually charge with beauty, a bowl of salt water, a bowl of spring water, your favorite incense, earth from your favorite place (sand, soil, or rocks), a crystal, several candles, an athame, an image that evokes the feeling of beauty within you, a bottle or cup of rose water, your beauty mirror, delicious sweet foods, and your favorite drink.
Set Up: Create an altar. You could use your beauty altar or put together a different space. On this altar, place all of the supplies listed in the above section with your piece of jewelry or article of clothing in the center of the other items. Make sure that the image of beauty can be easily seen. Take your time creating this space. Make sure that you find it beautiful to look at.
When you are finished, take a cleansing bath. If a bath isn’t possible, take a cleansing shower. Wash your body, but also wash your spirit body. Take time to release what no longer serves you down the drain. Sometimes a salt scrub can help you with this process. When you are done with your bath, anoint yourself with your favorite oil or perfume.
Ritual: Step up to your altar and take several deep breaths. Center yourself, feeling the edges of your body. Feel your feet on the floor and take time to honor the connection between you, the earth, and the sky. Breathe this into your body.
When you feel ready, light the candles and the incense. Take a moment to notice how the light and smoke changes the feeling of the room around you. Look at the glow of the candlelight and the cloaking magick of the incense smoke. Does this make the room feel more beautiful, more magickal, or energetically shifted?
Pick up your athame and touch the tip of it to the image of beauty that you have placed on your altar. Allow the feeling of beauty to fill up your athame with a thrumming lavender color. When the athame is full of lavender energy, move to the north and send a tendril of that energy out, creating a barrier between you and the outside world.
Turn to face the east, releasing more of that lavender energy as you turn. Visualize the lavender color spreading up and down as you move, creating a bubble around you. Keep turning, moving south, then west, then back to the north, completing the circle. Finally, hold your athame above you, sealing off any open spots. Then point your athame down to the ground below you and fill up any holes or weak spots. Set the athame down on your altar.
Call in any godds, ancestors, or allies that you want to join you in this work. Do this by speaking from the heart.
Pick up the item that you want to imbue with beauty. Dip your fingers into the bowl of salt water and sprinkle the item with the salt water to cleanse that item and prepare it to take on beauty. Run the object through the incense smoke and say this: By the air that carries my sacred words. Move the item over the candle flame, being cautious to not burn the item and say this: By the fire that carries my passions. Sprinkle the item with the spring water and say this: By the water of my living blood. Set the item on the soil, stone, or crystal and say: By the earth that is my body.
Anoint yourself and the item with the rose water. Let yourself feel beautiful. Feel what it is to be at the top of your game: strong, confident, graceful, powerful, at your best.
Set the beauty image flat on your altar and put your ritual object on top of it. Take some time to run the Beauty Pentacle through your body until you feel yourself full of beauty. Let the pentacle continue to move through you until you are overflowing with the power of it. When you feel that you cannot hold onto the power of it any longer, place your hands on the object and release the energy of the Beauty Pentacle into the object. Chant the points of the pentacle as you release the power: beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Continue to chant these words, letting the energy build up. When it reaches capacity, let the power rush through you, moving through your body, out your hands, and into the object you are charging with beauty.
When the energy is fully released, put the item on. Notice how it feels to be fully in your power, fully in your beauty. Pick up your beauty mirror and look at yourself. See how powerful and beautiful you look. Carefully take in the glow of the object that you are wearing. How does this object look as it is fully charged?
Place your beauty mirror back on your altar along with your newly charged object. Open sacred space, and enjoy your food and drink.
Put the object on anytime you need a boost in confidence or personal power. This object is now a beauty battery that can help you recharge when you need it the most. Anytime you feel called, repeat the ritual to recharge the object for future use.
Occasionally check on this item to make sure that the charge is still at full capacity. If you notice it doesn’t feel as strong or starts to weaken, repeat this ritual to fill it back up.
Interpersonal Development
The following exercise is designed to help you work through your relationship with beauty and your relationship with others. How do your feelings about beauty impact how you move through the world? Can awareness of your blocks with beauty heal some of the challenges you may be experiencing?
Discovering Beauty Forms of Beauty Contemplation
Understanding how you feel about beauty in different forms can help you step into a more balanced relationship with beauty. The following exercise is a series of meditation contemplations to help you explore your preconceived notions on beauty. Do this contemplation process now and then again in a few months. Compare how your feelings may have shifted after working with the Beauty Pentacle for a longer period of time.
Set Up: You will need about thirty minutes where you can comfortably lie or sit undisturbed. If you are doing this meditation alone, record yourself reading it and play it back. If you are doing it with a group, have one person read the trance for you. Have a glass of water and your journal close at hand for afterwards.
Trance: Get comfortable and begin to slow down. Allow your body to relax and focus on the ease and flow of your breathing. Don’t attempt to force your breath, just let it come as it wants to. As you breathe allow your edges to soften. With each breath, your edges continue to expand, grow, and release. (Pause.)
From this place of expanded awareness, consider the word “beauty.” Consider the external pressures of what it means to be beautiful. How do you feel about your own physical beauty? Do you feel pressured by the over-culture’s expectation of beauty? Sit with the idea of external beauty and see where this shows up in your body. Breathe through any tightness or difficulty. (Pause.)
Run the Beauty Pentacle, allowing the flow of this energy to push through any blocks or obstacles that you may be feeling. Beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Continue to run the pentacle until you feel that you are back to neutral, having released anything unnecessary. (Pause.)
Now consider the beauty of the greater world around you. How do you feel about the wider world, both natural and human created? Do you feel connected to the world outside your home? Do you feel connected to the natural world? Sit with the idea of the world’s beauty and see how this might show up in your body. Breathe through any tightness or difficulty. (Pause.)
Run the Beauty Pentacle, allowing the flow of this energy to push through any blocks or obstacles that you may be feeling. Beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Keep running this energy through your body until you feel back to neutral. (Pause.)
Consider now your inner beauty. Do you feel that you are a beautiful person? How do you know if someone is beautiful beyond external appearance? How much do you value a person’s inner beauty? Contemplate these ideas and see how this might show up in your body. Breathe through any tightness or difficulty. (Pause.)
Run the Beauty Pentacle, allowing the flow of energy to clear out these thoughts and feelings. Let this energy clear out any obstacles or blocks. Beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Keep running the Beauty Pentacle until you feel yourself back to neutral. (Pause.)
Return your focus to your breathing. Focus on the gentle inhale and exhale, and as you do, pull your edges back in. Allow your edges to firm up and return to normal. Breathe, letting everything else fall away except for your breath and body. When you feel ready, slowly open your eyes and pat your edges. Place your hands on the top of your head and say your name out loud three times.
Drink the glass of water that you left out for yourself and take time to write anything that came up during your contemplation.
Community Development
The following exercise should help you connect to the beauty of community. Can you step outside your space and see the beauty outside your door? When we can honor our communities, we enter into relationship with them. This relationship has the potential to heal ourselves and the world around us.
Discovering Beauty Beauty Walks
This piece of magick can be done at any time and any place, but I have found it to be the most effective when I have enough time to fully devote to the activity. Beauty walks will help you to see beauty in each step you take, no matter where you take them. I prefer to go to a wild natural place, but an urban environment works too; just make sure you can walk with as little talking as possible.
Start with breathing. Take a moment to focus on your breath and notice all of your parts and pieces. Notice if you are distracted or pulled somewhere other than the present moment. Pull on any threads that are leading you anywhere except the present moment. With each breath, draw any loose threads back into your body. Any place where you are stuck or feeling called in a different direction, just release that distraction and call that piece of yourself back to your body. Continue to do this until you feel full and present in the moment.
As the threads of you come back into your body, allow them to gather in your center. Perhaps this is in the center of your body. Perhaps this is at your navel. Perhaps this is right in the center of your pelvic bowl. Wherever center is for you, pull all of your awareness into it. Continue breathing as you shift your energy. Allow any distracting thoughts that awaken in your mind to just roll by, bringing your awareness back down into your center.
When you feel ready, begin your walk. Take notice of the beautiful things around you. The beauty you encounter may not be obvious. Notice the small things, the shadows, the weird, and the interesting. Do all of this with your awareness firmly seated in center. Anytime your awareness starts to creep back up or your mind chatter tries to distract you, stop your walk, breathe, and let your focus go back to your center.
Look for signs, omens, or messages that may come to you on this beauty walk. Pay attention to the environment that you’re in. Look, listen, and be a part of that environment. You may want to stop along the way and write down anything important or interesting as it happens. You may want to pick a flower, a leaf, or a petal and press it into the pages of your book. You may want to take photos along the path. Or you may want to wait until you return to your starting point and remember the pieces as they come back to you. Let your walk unfold.
When you return to your starting point, take time to release your bundled-up awareness. Let your thoughts and energy return to their normal state. Make sure you give yourself the time and space to write down anything important or interesting from this experience.
Global Development
The following exercises should help you connect to the beauty of the world. How can you take beauty beyond your life? Can you hold your beauty on a personal level and still hold the beauty of the planet? When we remember that we are of the earth, how can we feel anything but beautiful?
Ritual: Opening Your Eye to Beauty
We all have an inherent eye for things that are beautiful. And what each of us finds beautiful is unique. But to delve into the power of the Beauty Pentacle, it is important to attune your seeing eyes, and your inner eyes, to the beauty in the world around us.
The following ritual should be done when you have an hour to dedicate to the process. In this ritual, as with all rituals in the book, allow it to unfold slowly. Don’t rush to do the steps in order to check things off of your list. The work of the Beauty Pentacle is not a checklist. It is a gentle sigh, a sweet fragrance, a soft touch. It should be slow and lovely and lush. Giving yourself the space to explore beauty is, in and of itself, beautiful.
Supplies: A white candle of any size, a bunch of fragrant flowers, something soft (like a silk scarf, a chenille blanket, a piece of fur, or whatever else appeals to your sense of touch), something sweet to eat, soft music, and something soft and cozy to sit on.
Set Up: Set up your beauty altar with all of the supplies listed above in a way that is pleasing to your eyes.
Ritual: Begin by sitting in the comfortable place that you have prepared. Take a deep breath and feel your center. Give yourself some time to fully arrive—mind, body, and spirit—into the place you are currently inhabiting. When you feel fully present and ready to begin, light the candle and start the music.
Take some time to listen to the music. How does it make you feel? Where do you feel it? Let the music seep into you: breath, blood, and bone. Hear the beauty of the music, the magick of the music. Let the sound of beauty slowly expand your awareness.
When you feel ready, look at the bunch of flowers on your altar. Let your eyes feast on the colors, shapes, and textures of these green bloods, these plants. Think about the magick and wonder of plants growing. Smell the blossoms, taking in the sweetness of each flower. Drink in the scent with your nose and let it fill you up. How do these scents make you feel and where do you feel them? Fill yourself up with the beauty of the flowers.
Again, when you feel ready, pick up the blanket, cloth, or fur that you have placed on the altar. Run your fingers across it, taking in the tactile expression of this piece. Run that fabric across your skin, over your arms, feet, neck, and face. How does this make you feel? Soak up the beauty of this item through your hands and skin.
Set down the fabric and pick up the sweet food. Smell the sweetness. Look at the shape and size of this item. Feel its texture with your fingers. And finally, bring this food to your lips, running it across your soft skin before biting into it and letting the flavor of the sweetness caress your taste buds. Breathe in, allowing the fullness of flavor to consume you.
When all of your senses are swimming in beauty, take note of how this feels. Let this feeling expand around you, awakening your critical eye to the power of beauty. Look around the space that you are in, beyond the altar that you have created. Notice how your senses easily focus on the beauty around you. If possible, get up and move around the space. What else is beautiful? Where else can you find beauty? Take time to explore the beauty that is just within your reach. When you feel complete in the exploration, return to your seat at the altar.
Let beauty be a flame of power within you. Gather all of the beauty that you have been feeling and running through your body, and allow it to band together in your third eye—that spot between and above your normal seeing eyes. Let this beauty grow into a flame of power that burns brightly, connecting you to all of the beauty that is around you. Let that flame of power connect you to all of the beauty in the world, in every step you take. Let that flame settle, becoming a part of you that is constantly on alert.
Breathe, taking in how you might now feel different. Continue touching that flame throughout your day, allowing the beauty to fully integrate with your body and your third eye.
Discovering Beauty Google Earth
One of my role models is RuPaul Charles. I often refer to him (jokingly and seriously) as my “guru.” (And I’ve been saying that for years, well before his book by the same name came out, thank you very much!) RuPaul may not be a Witch or a Pagan, but he sure does use language that makes me think we have more in common than might appear at first glance. In his book GuRu, he talks about how easily we can get stuck on small insignificant problems that keep us from seeing beauty in the world. RuPaul says, “Oh, I’m focused on this one small thing over here? The truth is, that’s not that important.” 22 It’s like a reality check.
Life can be harrowing, stressful, difficult, sad, even ugly and traumatic. But that is not all of life. Even within the hardships we face there is still beauty, mystery, and magick. We can get so focused on the minutiae of what is going on in our own individual lives that we can lose sight of how awesome the world truly is.
In his book, RuPaul suggests going to Google Earth and looking up any place on the planet from a perspective where you can’t see the specifics of the terrain.23 Look at the perspective of where that place is in relation to where you are. Look at how massive the world truly is. Drill down on Google Earth, getting closer and closer. Use technology to examine the landscape, explore the street views, and look at this place in detail. Let the magick of the internet expand your awareness and let you sink into this place.
Remembering how small we are isn’t meant to make us feel bad or insignificant, but rather, it is an opportunity to remember how big and beautiful the world truly is. There is so much potential, magick, and mystery that we are a part of. We are a part of the web of life on this planet. What is happening on the other side of the world still impacts us, but the weight of it is subtle and imperceptible. Remembering our place in that web can be a reality check and a step back into the beauty of the world.
Final Beauty Ritual
Once you have worked through all of the exercises and rituals in this section it is time to create a ritual for yourself to honor and acknowledge the beauty that you have created in your life. You will need a full day for this ritual. You may want to include others in the working to help share more of the beauty with the world.
Take time to plan your day in advance. The Beauty Ritual should be unique and individually created for you and how you look at beauty. This ritual is made up of four parts based on the elements, each incorporating beauty in your own personal way.
These ritual suggestions can be done in any order. Let your intuition and imagination lead this ritual. Follow your instincts. Do what appeals to you the most. Let yourself be immersed in beauty for one full day. This is a ritual to see the beauty around you, connect with your own beauty, and pamper yourself. At some point during your day, write a love letter to yourself and hold onto it for the longer ritual that should begin after dark.
Air
Listen to your favorite music
Sing
Play musical instruments
Spend time outside in the fresh air
Fire
Create a fire and scry into the flames
Dance
Visit a sauna or steam room
Get a Reiki treatment
Water
Go to a body of water
Swim
Soak in a tub
Drink your favorite drinks
Earth
Go to a park, grove of trees, or wild space
Adorn yourself in clothes that make you feel beautiful
Eat a meal of your favorite foods
Gather flowers, herbs, or foliage to decorate your altar
Spend the day doing a mixture and combination of these things. Plus, add several of your own ideas. Make the day as luscious and beautiful as possible. When you feel ready, go to your beauty altar and refresh it. This might require you to take it fully down, wipe down the surface, and then reassemble it. You may want to add new items to your altar that you gathered during the day, or you may feel called to take some things away. Take your time with this process. Sing or play music if you feel so called.
When your altar is set up, read your love letter out loud to yourself while looking into your beauty mirror. After you have finished reading your love letter, say to yourself, “You are beautiful.” Sit in contemplation for as long as feels necessary. Look at yourself in the mirror. Do anything else that you feel called to do while in this space; take all the time that you need. This is a ritual of celebration of your beauty.
Once your contemplation is complete, enjoy a meal of your favorite foods or the foods that you only let yourself have on special occasions. Take time with each bite to savor the flavor and taste. Eat slowly, noticing the temperature and texture of the food. If you have been working with any godds or allies during this day, make sure to give them offerings of what you are eating.
check-in
how’s it going?
Take out your journal. Read over the following questions and give yourself time to write down your thoughts. After working through the beauty point, how have your feelings on beauty changed? Do you find yourself noticing the beauty in the world more often? Look back over the challenges that you’ve faced and write what comes up for you when you see all that you have accomplished.