My husband had an interview for his first internship within a new job field today, so I designed my very first ritual to bless his efforts!

Last night I prepared an (unmeasured) mixture of cinnamon stick fragments, a whole nutmeg, 3 whole cloves, a hefty dash of ground allspice, and a hefty dash of fresh ground ginger. I sealed these in a small mason jar with a sigil that I created using the instructions from the following site: http://sigildaily.com/activating-rituals/ The base phrase I started with was "[husband's first name] will get this internship".

This morning, keeping the lights low, I lit a grass-scented candle on the mantle over my fireplace and tidied up my living room/dining room area. Because it's important to him to have an empty sink, I made sure all the dishes were washed. I transferred my spice mix to an earthenware cup and set the sigil to rest against the candle to dry a little bit (it had absorbed moisture from the fresh ginger). I also set an earthenware bowl next to the candle.

At sunup (7:18am where I am) I turned off all the lights and started my electric kettle boiling and had my husband stand facing the candle. I poured the boiling water into the spice mix cup and had him hold it with both hands, just smelling it. I burned the sigil in the candle, saying "This sigil represents your success, particularly in that you will get this internship." As the sigil burned, I dropped it into the bowl.

I had him turn towards me and I took the cup. I dipped my fingers in the hot water (ouch) and touched his forehead, saying "You will enter this interview with calm and confidence." Then I asked him to close his eyes, dipped my fingers again, and touched each of his eyelids, saying, "You will impress the interviewer with your intelligence and drive." (It's important to note that I chose those two attributes because they are his particular strengths as an individual).

Then, I handed him the cup, and said, "My will be done." clap Then I pressed two fingers into his chest hard enough to make him sway back a little and said, "Thy will be done." clap.

Then I blew out the candles and turned on all the lights and we left! We will use the water for our potted plants and put the wet spices in our compost.

During this whole process, I was wrangling a clingy toddler, but that didn't seem to impede the energy at all. I ended up forgetting one line I had planned: "The answers will flow easily from you, without great effort" and I would have touched the water to his lips. This line was particularly for him, because he finds it especially difficult to find his words when he is nervous. I'm disappointed that I forgot it.

He said he found the ambience of the ritual appealing and seemed very touched. After his interview he said, "The interview went great! If I don't get it, it at least wasn't my fault for being unprepared, it was someone else being extra good. I'm happy with it!"

I'll comment here with the end result when we find out!

I cannot quite wrap my head around how energized and alive I have felt all morning. I have been wrestling with grief over my lost Christian faith for 10 years now. I think there is something deep in my brain stem that deeply craves ritual, and it's like I let it sip life-giving water for the first time in a decade.