Rub the blade with fresh basil, rosemary or oak leaves, at sunrise, outdoors where you will not be disturbed or seen. Lay the sword or Athame on the ground with its point to the South. Walk clockwise around it thrice, scattering bay leaves (perferably fresh) over it.
Take up the sword or Athame, stand facing East and, holding it upward but with arms lowered, invoke the God to infuse your Athame or sword with His strength.
Point it to the sky, invoking the Goddess to charge your blade with Her love and power.
Wrap your Athame or sword in red
cloth
and take it
home. It may be stored in the cloth, if
desired.
Early in the morning, go to a forest (or park, garden, or your indoor garden). Choose the most beautiful and vibrant plants. Touch the point of the Boline gently to these in turn, forging a connection between your Boline and the plants (and, thusly, the Earth).
Next, sit on the Earth. Ensuring that
you are quite
alone, draw a pentagram with the
Boline's point on the
ground. It is done.
If the wand is of wood, take it outdoors at sunset and rub it with fresh lavender, eucalyptus or mint leaves. Raise it in the air toward the East (or the Moon if it is visible) and invoke the Goddess.
At
sunrise, take it again
outdoors, rub with the fresh fragrant
leaves and invoke the
God by raising it to the East.
Place the pentacle on bare Earth. Lay upon it dried parsley, patchouly, mistletoe, or fress jasmine or honeysuckle flowers. Sit before it facing North for several seconds, visualizing the pentacle absorbing the Earth's energies. Then pick it up and scatter the herbs or flowers to the four quarters, beginning and ending in the North.
If this must be done indoors, fill a
small dish with
fresh Earth and place the pentacle on
this. Proceed as
above, saving the herbs or flowers to be
scattered outdoors
at a latter time.
Fume pure rosemary, frankincense or
copal within the
censer prior to its first use. Do this
for about an hour.
Take the cauldron to a stream, river, lake or ocean. Gather the leaves of some plants growing nearby (at the sea, perhaps seaweed). Dip the cauldron into the water to fill it. Place the leaves in the cauldron, then set it on the water's edge where it is on both water and sand.
Place your hands on the cauldron and dedicate it to the Goddess in any words you like. Empty and dry the cauldron, and return home. The charge has been made.
If performed inside, place the cauldron in a large basin of water or the bathtub, in a candle-lit room. Add a bit of salt to the water, which should be cold. Proceed as above.
Salt water corrodes metal. Thoroughly
wash the
cauldron after immersion in sea or salt
water.
Anoint the base with gardenia, rose or violet oil and fill with pure spring water. Then set afloat a sprig of ivy, a small rose, a fresh gardenia or some other appropriate flower or herb.Gaze into the Chalice and invoke the Goddess to bless it.
You
might also wish to
take it outside as night, filled with
water, and catch the
Moon's reflection within it.
It can be fashioned from an ash staff, birch twigs and a willow binding. Brush the broom with chamomile, willow, lemon balm, elder or mallow stalks and branches, then bury these with due solemnity.
You might
also
wish to carve a
cresent Moon upon its handle.
On the night of a Full Moon, rub the sphere with fresh (or dried) mugwort, then take it outside. Hold it up so that it drinks in the light and energies of the Moon. Gaze at the Moon through the crystal by holding it before your eyes.
Repeat at least thrice yearly
for
the best benefits.
Sew into the cover of the Book of Shadows leaves of the sacred herbs vervain, rue, bay, willow or others, if you wish. They should be well-dried and secretly placed by the light of the Moon.
The covers of
the
Book of Shadows
should, of course, be covered with cloth
for this purpose.
If you choose to wear one, lay it
among
sachets filled
with lavender, vervain and cedar when
not in use. Sew a
bit of rosemary or frankincense into the
hem while
fashioning it, if desired (and if the
resulting stains
won't show after washing).
