The Autumnal Equinox is the second of the three Harvest Sabbats, focusing on giving thanks for the abundance of the season. This is a time of preparing for winter, getting rid of what is unnecessary.

Color Magick is a very simple, yet effective way to use magick. This series of short articles will focus on the properties of various colors and how they can be used not just in spells, but in your everyday life.

Red
Red is a strong, powerful color. Magickally, we find it linked with Fire, element of Change and Transformation. This color,  reminiscent of blood, is protective and energizing. 

Wear a red shirt when you need to feel confident.

Carry a red stone when you need to be brave.

Burn a red candle as part of a healing, to burn away disease and sickness.

Orange
Warm and attractive, Orange is stimulating and can be used to assure success, as it corresponds to the Sun.

Wear this color to subtly stand out and increase your confidence; it is a softer version of Red.

Orange can also increase your energy and draw others to you.

Yellow
Not quite as stimulating as red or orange, this color's effects are felt more so in the mind and emotions. 

Relating to both the Sun and the Element of Air, the color Yellow can create a feeling of optimism and increase creativity. 

Wear Yellow when you need to be confident, yet want to avoid any feelings of superiority.

Surround yourself with Yellow to defeat the winter blues and invoke the power of the Sun.

Green
A field of tall green grass rippling in the wind; a forest of trees, branches heavy with green leaves; the color Green reflects health in Nature and can instill a sense of balance within us. 

It also symbolizes fertility and prosperity, especially in countries where the currency is green.

A lump of healthy soil or compost tied up in a Green pouch or square of fabric can be a potent fertility talisman.

Incorporating Green into your clothing can help you feel centered and more aware of your connection with it all.

Blue
Calming and peaceful, Blue is a color that can bring balance and healing.

The tranquil blue of an endless Sky is a perfect color for harmonizing oneself, while the near indigo Blue of a deep mountain lake is ideal for healings, especially ones that require a bit more force.

Wear a necklace of blue stones to aid in singing, a light blue shirt to feel at peace with yourself and your surroundings. 

Painting the walls in your dining room blue can aid in losing weight, as the color calms and encourages one not to eat too much.

Violet
Stimulating on a psychic level, the color Violet relates to spirituality and meditation.

Originally a color worn solely by royalty, this color corresponds to success, independence, and wisdom.

Wearing this color can provide a subtle shift in consciousness, allowing one a deeper awareness of events and situations.

Corresponding to the Third Eye Chakra, the color Violet can aid in enhancing psychic abilities and provide confidence when honing a new psychic skill.

White
White is a rather versatile color that lends itself well to any goal or need. 

It traditionally symbolizes purity, honesty, and peace, things that are unblemished and untouched. The color White is without, it is the absence of anything and everything.

But White is also the color of full spectrum light. Shone through a prism and the light diffuses into separate colors, each with their own properties and correspondences. Yet, all are present in the color White.

Wearing this color can help us to maintain our inner calm, increasing our inner strength, and thus awarding us a little extra protection.

White stones and crystals are useful for meditation, promoting a calm mind and ability to focus.

The color White keeps our minds free of clutter.

Black
Symbolic of the vastness of the Universe, Black is a color that that simultaneously represents everything and nothing.

When we wear the color Black, we remind ourselves of our place in the the Universe: that we are just one small part of an endless and infinite dance.

Black is often associated with Death and mourning, and as such, can be used for banishings, cord cuttings, and meditation. 

But Black is also the color of fertile Earth and can be used for New Beginnings (every begins in Darkness) and protection.

Brown
Typically associated with the Earth, Brown is color useful for anyone who works with animals. It is a basic, primal color that resonates well with the innate spirit of untamed animals.

Brown is also a color associated with the home, as shelter is one of our basic needs, and like the brown soil, our home is the base from which we build all other aspects of our lives.

It is a color of humility and simplicity and incorporating Brown into our lives can warrant a sense of stability and groundedness; it can help to keep one focused on the here-and-now and on what needs to be done.

Pink
A gentler form of the color Red, the inclusion of White allows Pink to embrace the more lasting side of romance: love and sincerity of emotion.

This means that Pink is also the color of friendship (platonic love,) and has attributes of fidelity (commitment is honesty of emotion.)

Magickally, this color is useful for all honest matters of the heart. Use it to strengthen love, remind a friend you care, or to attract true love to you (i.e. the emotion, not a specific person.)

Silver
Moonlight glinting off water, a pocketful of coins; the color Silver is often associated with the Feminine Divine due to its association with the Moon. Given the degree to which the metal of Silver has been prized throughout the ages, the color is also associated with riches and wealth. Pair this with the belief that the Full Moon is an auspicious time for wishes and asking the Gods for that which we truly desire, and we see that Silver also corresponds to wishes and hope.

Through further association with the Moon, the color Silver can also be used to reveal the truth in matters or to clear away unwanted influence and negativity.

This color can also be used for healing, through the Moon's relation to Water (a healing Element,) and the belief that the metal Silver can create an energetic barrier (which is why some healers wear Silver rings and bracelets, to prevent any negative transference.)

Gold
Long associated with the Sun and prosperity, the color Gold can imbue one with confidence and help to ensure success. 

Gold is useful for magick concerning the gaining of riches and wealth, increasing one's self esteem, garnering success, and honoring Solar Deities. 

This color is masculine, assertive, and leaves no chance for failure.

Dark Moon
Lasting anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 days, depending upon location, the Dark Moon is highlighted by the New Moon. It is the end of one Lunar cycle, the beginning of another. This time is not suitable for magick. Turn your focus inward, find what needs to be fixed.

Waxing Crescent
First Quarter
A tiny sliver of Moon appears in the sky, steadily growing larger. This phase lasts for only about a week, but it is a great time to begin new tasks. Begin magick that needs time to build, culminating at the Full Moon, or magick that focuses on increase and opportunities.

Waxing Gibbous
Second Quarter
The power of the Moon grows strong and the force of the Full Moon will soon be felt. Magick and Spells started at the New Moon will have a good amount of energy behind them. This is a good time for strengthening that which has already been started, maintaining, adding last minute touches before the perfection of the Full Moon is upon us.

Full Moon
Rising at the setting of the Sun and setting at Dawn the next day, the effects of the Full Moon can be felt and Her energies utilized a full 3 days before and after the night of the Full Moon, making for a week's worth of magick.


Waning Gibbous
Third Quarter
The Lunar energies gradually decrease. Time for magick concerning banishings, cleansings, purification, endings, protection, and weight loss. Tye that which you wish to be rid of to the power of the Moon and as She descends into the shadows, so too, will  that which you need be done with.

Waning Crescent
Fourth Quarter
The Moon appears as just a sliver in the Sky, growing smaller with every passing night. Her force diminishes. With only a week left till the Dark Moon, now is the time to focus on completion: wrap up those spells you started last quarter and  begin preparations for the Dark Moon.

Throughout the year, we find a number of ways to align ourselves more easily to the natural world and the cycles of the Earth. The most recurrent of these is the Lunar Cycle, which is comprised of four phases: Waxing, Full, Waning, Dark; in one year, there are 12 to 13 Lunar Cycles, each lasting 29.531 days. However, the most obvious is in the four seasons, each having its own unique energy and associations. We also find eight days in particular, two for each season, that help us to get a better feel for the rhythm of the Natural World and to better understand these energy differences in the seasons. These days are referred to as Sabbats and are seen as Sacred Days of Power. These eight Sabbats split the year into eight sections, which when divided in half, give us the basic break down of the Solar Cycle: the waxing half of the year and the waning half.

It is through these three cycles (the Lunar, the Solar, and the Seasonal,) that we see one common theme, repeated over and over again: the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. We also see just how the Sacred Year relates to not just our own lives, but all life. The year is born, ages, dies, and begins again. The Solar and Lunar cycles go through this same cycle, the Sun on a larger scale that is more intimately related to the seasons*, and the Moon on a smaller scale, in that it goes through this entire cycle in just under one month. So, in the basic underlying rhythm of the Earth and Nature, we have a promise that after our time in this life is ended, we too shall begin again, a fresh start, with all the wisdom of the past to guide us. For all life travels in spirals, always moving forward, changing slightly, but moving through the same theme of life, death, and rebirth.

*The Sun also goes through a smaller cycle each day, very similar to the yearly cycle.