"Traditional" Knowledge About Natural Stone Magic

For witches, the best stones are white, black, clear, or some combination of these. Many witches will seek out water stones along the shore of a lake, river, or ocean, because of the link between the water and the moon.

Once you have a suitable stone, you may want to mark symbols upon it. These symbols may be planetary signs, spirit symbols, words of power, or names of power.

It is important to enlist the aid of the spirit, or Numen, dwelling within a stone.

Nectar may be offered as a gift to the stone. Nectar is comprised of two ounces of milk, eight drams of wine, and one dram of honey. Usually, you would work with the moon, annointing the stone with Nectar every other day for a seven day period. You will need to consider the phase of the moon and the numbers of the dates. Another method is to add one drop of your own blood to the stone. This will offer a small portion of your life force to the stone and awaken the Numen.

Having made an appropriate offering, proceed as follows to charge the stone.

Draw a triangle on paper, or upon the ground. Place the stone in the center. Focus your desire upon the stone and speak to the Numen, stating what you desire of it. Make a triangle over the stone with both hands using the fingers of Jupiter and thumbs [the symbol of Manifestation].

If you come upon a white stone with a hole in it at the water's edge, it is the sign that the Goddess will grant you a special favor.

Pick the stone up with your left hand and carry it home. Sleep with it under your pillow. In the morning, bind it in a red cloth or place it in a small, red bag with three pinches of rock salt. Add three leaves of rue and vervain. When the moon is full, pour out equal amounts of wine and water as a libation. Gently toss and catch the bag in the air three times, saying:

Gracious Goddess of the moon above,
Upon this stone pour power and love.

Myth's Notes

This is some of the "traditional" material I received typed up in a BOS in 1984. There is a brief mention of blessing a stone with a drop of the practitioner's blood. The creators of this website strongly advise against using blood in any magical working. Aside from the fact it is icky, the use of blood could result in the transmission of blood-borne diseases, some of which are fatal. The portion of the ritual mentioning use of blood is only reproduced here in a historical context. If you like this ritual, it is to your advantage to use the recipe for Nectar instead of bodily fluids.

In 1984, I was working in a Faery-Elven Trad, which used Welsh deity names. The term "Numen," however, originated in Roman mythology. See numen in the ABC's of Aradia. I'm assuming the high priestess included this material because she felt it was traditional, and she identified the "Numen" with the Faery spirits.

The comment about using water stones is interesting. A feature of Pennsylvania Dutch Pow Wow practice involves the use of a river stone for healing purposes.

Also interesting are the comments about "...annointing the stone...every other day..." and "...the numbers of the dates." The ancient Romans had a concept of "lucky" and "unlucky" days. Generally the odd numbered days were considered "lucky."

The description of blessing a holey stone is very reminiscent of some of Leland's material in Aradia about finding such a stone. Leland's Aradia stated, "To find a stone with a hole in it is a special sign of the favor of Diana." (147) The spirit of the "folletino rosso" (151) or red folletto was invited into this charm of the "stone's Consecrated to Diana." (147) Leland recorded rather long invocation during which the finder was instructed to "...throw up the stone three times..." (151)

Grimassi, in Hereditary Witchcraft (pp 55-56), also described inviting the red folletto or red fairy into the stone by throwing it up into the air three times, which was very similar to Leland's description. The folletto is an Italian spirit or faery. Red is a color denoting buona fortuna or good fortune. Many of the folletti (plural of folletto) described in Italian folklore are wind spirits, which may be why the stone was tossed into the air in order to invite a red folletto into that stone.

In any case, this ritual replaces the request to the red folletto to empower the stone with one to the Gracious Goddess of the moon. In Wicca, the term "Gracious Goddess" is an epithet for Aradia.

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