That being said, my moment of emotional self-disclosure over (yes, i'm being sarcastic at my own expense lol), tonight I was putting together a portable cleansing kit. Sometimes I putter around with things like this because I'm often called upon to go cleanse people, places, and things. If i had to pick two things that I prefer never to be without, one would be my divination kit and the other would be my cleansing kit. Of course I"ve also been trying to pare down what I carry with me because after awhile, it can get out of hand; so tonight, I was redoing my kit.
I've had lots of queries recently from friends and colleagues, students, and random readers of my blog about what I put in my kit. Someone just emailed me this past weekend so I will tell you what i have in my two portable kits mentioned above, because while I"m always kind of surprised when people ask me about things like that, I realize that before I decided on what to keep in my working bag 'o stuff, I was also terribly curious about what other magicians do.
Also, I"m having a rare relaxing couple of days. All my deadlines (save one, which is percolating in my brain and will be dealt with over the weekend) are met, so I am feeling particularly self-indulgent, sitting here listening to music, and…puttering. It's very strange having free time. ^___^
So, of everything that I keep in my kit, two parts of it are things that I always like to have with me. Because of that, and because I really like to travel light, I try to condense and keep them as small as possible.
Divination Kit
in a small zippered pouch about the size of a box of greeting cards, I have a set of runes, a set of tarot, and two other types of divination systems (I'm not giving away all my tools and secrets on my blog). It fits neatly in my purse.
Cleansing Kit
I keep this in a box about half the size of a cigar box. It's a pretty thing that I found on sale at a local craft shop and has a clasp. In it i keep the following:
*a small bottle of florida water
*four cubes of camphor
*a tube of dragonsblood incense (sometimes I make my own banishing incenses and use one of those instead, though I like dragonsblood by itself. it's an old standby).
*a small pill box of excedrin.
*a piece of chalk
*a tea light and lighter
*two charcoal pieces
*a bar of dragonsblood soap a friend made for me
*a small stick of mugwort or juniper
* white scarf---when I do certain types of workings (including calling upon archangels) I cover my head. It's a habit I picked up from my teacher. Plus it can double as an altar cloth if need be.
*hand sanitizer
*a small knife
*red ochre and white kaolin clay
*diabetic lancets
*2 protective amulets
*tobacco
It sounds like a lot but packed correctly, it fits in a small box and while it's a bit much to keep in my purse, it's not that difficult to toss in a larger tote. That's generally all I need and all I carry. If i need more than that, I'm getting sloppy. Why? Because it's not about "stuff." Magic is about using a trained and disciplined will to bring about specific changes and achieve specific goals in the everyday world. All the stuff is tangential to that. Still, it does occasionally make life easier!
Every so often I go through my kit and change it all up, switch what I carry, add, subtract…it's something that serves my needs so i'm not wedded to any particular set of things. I caution all my students though: keep it simple, as simple as possible because it's never good to rely on things.