SHAKESPEARIAN DROPS
A Rite of Orange Magick

Background:

Shakespeare is a widely-recognized master of words and drama. As such, in this rite he is used as a conduit in order to tap into and magnify one's own mastery of speech and words. This rite uses Shakespeare to raise certain Mercurial properties, enhance and charge them, and then take those heightened properties and contain them in portable vessels - cough drops - that may later be ingested when a need arises for super-charged Mercurial power.

Items Needed:

- One box of orange cough drops or orange candies
- A passage from Shakespeare (your choice)

Preparation:

Prepare for the ritual by decorating the box of cough drops with any desired symbols of Mercury, such as its sigil, its kamea, or by painting it orange. Set the box on the altar where you will be working. Next, set the "stage" for your Shakespearian exercise by making most of the room dim or candle-lit. You could even don a costume if it aids your sense of the dramatic. Unless you've memorized your Shakespearean passage, you will be reading from a text, so allow adequate lighting so you do not stumble or strain over the words.

The Rite:

Once you've set your stage and have the items needed at hand, take 8 deep breaths and settle into character. Then begin the readings of the passages. You will be reading this passage 5 times, each time in a different style, addressing an imaginary audience.

1. Read the passage dramatically, infusing it with as much emotion and passion as you can. When you are through, pause, and then intone:

"I am a master of voice and words.
I have the power to sway others."

2. Sing the passage. When you are through, pause, and then intone:

"I am a master of voice and words.
I have the power to soothe."

3. Whisper the passage seductively. When you are through, pause, and then intone:

"I am a master of voice and words.
I have the power to captivate."

4. Speak the passage directly and firmly. When you are through, pause, and then intone:

"I am a master of voice and words.
I have the power to convince."

5. Read the passage an engagingly as possible, smiling a lot and with any gestures of camaraderie. When you are through, pause, and then intone:

"I am a master of voice and words.
I have the power to charm."

6. Set the text aside. Next, in a standing position, intone the following. As you mention each power, envision it before you as a small orange orb of light and grab it from the air into your hands.

"I have the power to sway others.
I have the power to soothe.
I have the power to captivate.
I have the power to convince.
I have the power to charm."

7. Hold in front of you your cupped hands with the orange orb of light (now five times larger from absorbing each of the five powers). Intone:

"I am a master of voice and words.
I hold here a sample my powers.
Mercury, I invoke thee to multiply this sample eight-fold."

Envision the orb growing eight times.

8. Take the orb with your hands and throw it firmly into your box of cough drops.

"Store in each of these vessels this orb of my powers,
eight-fold, keeping it safe and strong until ingestion."

9. Note that you have only committed a sample of your powers to the box of drops and you will still in everyday life retain your mastery of voice and words. But when you need an extra boost, ingest a drop.

Afterword:

As the wording for charging the vessel states "until ingestion," the implication is that anyone ingesting the drops will have this eight-fold power of the charger available to them. It might be an interesting experiment to have someone who is already an exceptional speaker do this rite and charge the drops and then allow a more inhibited speaker to ingest them to see what results are produced.

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