This is taken from Eva Rose's branch lesson homework on Planetary Magic which was written and is run by Sue Perryman. Eva has given us kind permission to share her work.
Saturn
Saturn’s correspondences:
Influences:
Constricting, Binding, Boundaries, Old Age, Grieving, Home, Money, Hardship, Artistic Creativity, Manifestation, Karma, Limitations, Protection, Discipline, Order, Structure, Studying.
Day: Saturday
Metal: Lead
Colour: Black, dark colors
Chakra: Third Eye
Crystals: Onyx, coal, star sapphire, diamond, smokey quartz
Element: Earth, Water
Herbs: ivy, lilies,
Trees: Hemlock, cypress, elm, poplar, hickory, Blackthorn
Incense: myrrh, pine
Deities: Cybele, Demeter, Hecate, Hera, Isis, Kali, Nephthys, Rhea, Bran, Cronus, Ninib, Saturn
Number: 3, 9, 15, 45
Zodiac Aquarius, Capricorn
Animals: Burrowing animals, protective animals, horned animals, carrion birds,
Symbols: grave yards, mountains, cells, caves, dark places, prisons, walls,
As the harvest season is drawing to a close, I am still finding some things that can be foraged while out on my morning walks. This morning I found a great haul of sloes. I have never made sloe gin before, but I thought a magically charged one is in order.
Blackthorn is ruled by Saturn (and Mars, but I already did my Mars lesson). It also corresponds protection. Gin, with various herbs, but mainly juniper, also has protective energy (although ruled by Jupiter).
Sloe Gin of Protection
100 g sloes
50 g caster sugar
200 ml gin
Blackthorn or metal cocktail skewer
Jar big enough to hold said ingredients
Black ribbon
Black candle
Smokey quartz or onyx
1) prepare altar and working area to align with the energies of Saturn. Wash and pat dry the sloes.
2) Ground and center, focusing on the feeling of protection. Feel the energy of Saturn radiating and draw it through you. Feel yourself pulling a dark, yet comforting, beam of energy from Saturn that wraps around you and your workspace like a bubble.
3) Light candle, and say:
Hecate,
I ask you to bless this work today.
May the protective energies of Saturn infuse my potion.
4) Holding your hands over the sloes, direct Saturn’s protective energy into the sloes. Using the thorn or the skewer, prick each sloe 3 times and place into the jar.
Blackthorn, spirit of sloe and thorn,
I ask you to lend your protective energies to this working
5) Pour sugar into jar
Sugar, sugar
Sweeten and bring comfort to this working
6) Pour gin into the jar.
Thorny Juniper,
I ask you to add your protection to this working
7) Seal jar and tie a black ribbon around it. You can even add some black wax to the top, gluing the thorn to the lid as well.
Give it a good shake, while saying:
Sloe gin, sloe gin
Protect me and mine
Steep and infuse to grow stronger over time.
Hecate I ask you to bless
And Saturn to protect.
8) Place the jar in a dark cupboard, and shake it daily for 9 days, repeating the above mantra.
9) Allow it to sit for 9 more weeks undisturbed. Then strain through a muslin cloth into a clean, sterile jar/bottle. It can be drank immediately, but letting it sit for several more months is best.
Ideally, you can use it in a Protective Sloe Gin Fizz (based on the BBC Good Food recipe):
50 ml Sloe Gin
25 ml Lemon juice
2 tsp sugar syrup
Sparking water
3 Blackberries (also protective!)
Shake the first 3 ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker, infusing it with protective energy. Strain into a tall glass, add a few ice cubes, top with sparkling water and stir in the blackberries.
