Feeling “blocked” or “off” somehow? Wishing for more clarity in life? Maybe you need what Mya Spalter calls in Enchantments an uncrossing.
What’s an uncrossing? Mya explains it as “a clearance of negative energy, a removal of blockages, a dispersal of icky vibes, and a shedding of all the dusty old spiritual and emotional junk that sometimes sticks to a body.” It’s basically getting clarity, getting clear.
There are many “high-drama words for slipping into some degree of slump” and she and others at NYC’s oldest witch shop Enchantments prefer working with the inverse – uncrossing, unjinxing, unhexing… because words matter! Would you rather think of yourself – and continuously announce to the universe – as cursed or in the processing of or being uncrossed?
Uncrossing is part of magical hygiene and routine maintenance. Other metaphors Mya offers in the book – Spiritual Drano and a shake of your Etch A Sketch.
How to Uncross & Getting Clarity
Step 1 – Get Clean
Clean your home space.
Feng Shui expert Marie Diamond says when working with vision boards that our vision is reflected in our actual physical space. Likewise here. Everything is linked. Everything is a microcosm of a macrocosm, a macrocosm of a microcosm, a fractal of existence.
Look for linked metaphors in your life and your space. The example Mya gives is if you feel things are falling down around you in life, make sure nothing is actually falling down at home.
So first, get your place ship shape.
Cleaning Mya reminds us is already a powerful ritual and to make it even more magical, we just have to train our intentions on it. So yeah, instead of complaining about having to clean (not good juju, by the way – complaining that is), change up your thoughts and energies about what you are doing.
The magical chore of cleaning is slightly different in that we are looking to get rid of the unseen residue. She suggests diluted Florida water or aqua florida to mop your floor a second time. An American eau de cologne, this is a blend of floral extracts of usually lavender, bergamot or neroli, lemon, and cinnamon or clove. If you are not into Florida water, try lemon or pine which Mya shares is great for magical cleansing and uncrossing.
And while you are at it, take a cleansing salt bath before doing your candle magic.
Step 2 – Candle Spell
In the book, Mya devotes a whole chapter to candles. You probably already know candles are magical. And I don’t just mean how magical everything (and everyone) looks in candlelight. I don’t think I can overstate the importance of intentions. So spend time here and up your visualization skills. An uncrossing candle is also generally good to clear out confusion.
Chapter 3 includes Mya’s seven steps to candle magic, a great intro resource to how to choose your candle and what to do with it. The candles with their colours, scents, sigils, glitter, etc are what she calls the “support system around your intention to help it grow into fruition.” So attention and intention are key. Mya also shares her sigil tutorial and suggests additional readings to really get into candle magic.
Intentions
What we really want with uncrossing is clarity. The visualization here is imagining yourself at the centre of a crossroads with a clear path toward and away in each direction.
Colour
By using a candle, you are using colour magic as well. Each colour has its own vibration and energetic frequency. Yellow represents the sun and solar energy, attraction, healing, invitation for brightness, and joy. For uncrossing, white candles are used. Containing all colours, white can be used for any and all intentions, though most often for cleansing.
Symbol
Carve a crossroad sigil onto the candle. If your candle is in a glass container, draw it on with a marker. She shares an example of an uncrossing symbol on page 130.
Anointing
Anointing sounds super ritual yeah? It’s simply putting an oil onto your candle. Choose your oil based on your intentions. You want to take about a teaspoon of oil (depending on the size of the candle) and rub it onto the candle, into all the grooves of your symbols and sigils. Or if your candle is melted into a glass jar, add a few drops to the top. Next, add glitter, dried flower petals, and crushed herbs. For example, silver is used for balancing and neutralizing so maybe some silver glitter. Be sure to check what is environmentally-friendly and safe to burn.
Scott Cunningham has a range of resource books you can check out. I’ve had The Complete Book of Incense, Oils, and Brews for as long as I remember and I still refer to it. If you like working with plants, try his Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.
An important note about uncrossing magic – God (or the universe) works in mysterious ways. What can happen – and yay for this – is that we are taken back into the big picture. The extraneous, the blockages, what is not supportive may be removed. Perhaps it’s a job you already feel trapped in but may lack the courage to leap from. The wise Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that most people prefer suffering the familiar than letting go. Clearing out can be scary. Sitting in the void, in emptiness, also aka potential, is a practice we can all get better at.
There are many reasons we lack clarity. Sometimes we prefer the mud over clear water because we fear what we may see through the crystal facets of reality and who we really are. While many people may wish for clarity, they resist it, even if they are well-resourced to rise to it. Like Marie Kondo says, it’s our heart that is cluttered. So be sure you want what you wish for.
