March is a fantastic time for prosperity spells. As the days lengthen, solar energy rises, warming the earth as the first tender buds of life poke through the soil and ripen on the trees. Soon, the world will be suffused with a translucent green glow as April’s rain softens and nourishes the earth.
"Seeds" ready for planting!
Bowl spells, in particular, are effective during this season because—much like planting a seed—you can simply plant your intentions and watch them flourish throughout the warming seasons. You can make a bowl spell for any purpose—from healing and self-love to things a bit more baneful—but they’re particularly popular for money spells. They’re simple, require little maintenance, and manifest over long periods of time to achieve the intention you planted.
Why build a money bowl?
The most obvious reason to build a money bowl is, of course, to attract monetary prosperity. However, they’re also useful for stewarding and growing the money you already have, or for overcoming scarcity mindset.
If you want to grow and steward the money you already have—such as a savings account or cash flow from a growing business—you’ll want to include symbols of those things. Perhaps small faux eggs to represent your nest egg for the future, your business’s logo, or some money from either of those sources.
For overcoming scarcity mindset, design your money bowl to feel lux. There should be symbols galore of things that you already have and experience that make you feel secure, satisfied, and rich in pocket and spirit. This may be tiny photos of loved ones, favorite jewelry (you can still wear it, just return it to the bowl afterwards), images of your favorite foods, a packet of the gourmet tea you always have on hand, or absolutely anything else that feels like a treasure to you.
There’s also something wonderful about treasure-hunting in your own home. Since alleviating scarcity mindset was part of this working for me, I challenged myself to purchase absolutely nothing to build my bowl. Everything that went into it had to be something I already owned, and I had a fantastic time sorting through my witchy supplies, crafting cabinet, jewelry box, and kitchen cupboards to amass a very satisfying collection of treasures to include.
Note: Just because I’m a fancy witch doesn’t mean you have to be. A simple money bowl full of salt or rice and spare change can be just as powerful as something more complex. Your practice is your practice and you should always build spells according to what feels right for you.
Building the Bowl
As mentioned above, money bowls can be as simple as a bowl filled with salt or sugar and your spare change, or as elaborate as a tiny Zen garden filled with items each imbued with their own meaning. I took a middle road, choosing a combination of ready-made items and enhancing certain objects to suit my purpose.
1. The spell base. I chose a pretty wooden salad bowl from a set my wife and I received for our wedding, and some rice leftover from a previous spell. Not pictured are some ~secret items~ I placed in the bottom of the bowl, which were meant to protect, break down obstacles, and act as seeds for the working.
Rice has long been a symbol of prosperity wherever it’s consumed, but salt, sugar, and all kinds of grains are also popular choices.
2. Essential oils. I used a combination of essential oils in my bowl, rather than a blend of dried herbs and spices, as is traditional. This was simply because I didn’t have dried seasonings on hand, and the oils made the bowl smell nice.
I used cinnamon, orange, lemon, clove, rosemary, lavender, and peppermint. I added them to the rice in a separate mixing bowl, stirred them with intention, and poured them into the wooden bowl, covering the ~secret items~ at the bottom.
3. Culinary magicks. On perusing my witchcraft supplies, I found a few stray cinnamon sticks, some sugar crystal wands, alum, and some protection salt. I mixed the salt and alum into my rice, and placed the sugar and cinnamon with the items on top of hte rice.
Alum is fantastic for absorbing and canceling out negative energy, while the protection salt and cinnamon sticks represent both protection and abundance. Sugar “sweetens” the spell to help everything flow.
4. Treasures! I assembled a number of treasures for my money bowl, including green and gold vase filler (symbolizing jade and gold “nuggets”), a lucky euro-pig gifted to us by a friend, lucky pennies and foreign coins, buttons that look like old coins, and additional vase filler that made me think of precious gems.
I also drew gold sigils on book labels to represent paper money, and made a strand of jade beads with Chinese coin beads on either end to up the lux factor.
I also found a tiny pewter dragon statue that seemed perfect for guarding my treasures.
Though pictured, I didn’t end up using the glass vial of rose quartz beads.
5. Crystals, rocks, and more. From my crystals, I picked green kyanite points, red tiger’s eye, aquamarine, serpentine, and quartz point. I also included some raw mica-infused pebbles, and some river rocks I decorated with a gold leafing marker.
I also found a tiny pewter dragon statue that seemed perfect for guarding my treasures. Additionally, I drew gold sigils on book labels to represent paper money, and made a strand of jade beads with Chinese coin beads on either end to up the lux factor.
Though pictured, I didn’t end up using the glass vial of rose quartz beads.
5. Crystals, rocks, and more. From my crystals, I picked green kyanite points, red tiger’s eye, aquamarine, serpentine, and quartz point. I also included some raw mica-infused pebbles, and some river rocks I decorated with a gold leafing marker.
Again practicing restraint, I ended up not using the seashell and the flat stone pictured.
Assembly and Activation
After assembling all of my supplies, I placed them in a ritual area and smoke-cleansed them with some incense. I used good ol’ nag champa, but any cleansing method will do (remembering, of course, that white sage is a closed practice).
Once everything was cleansed, I got to building. After pouring my oil-infused rice over the ~secret items~ in the bottom of my bowl, I began simply using instinct to gently place and snuggle as many of my treasures into the bowl as would fit.
I started by gently pushing a tealight into the rice, then surrounded it with a landscape of artfully placed items. I worked by instinct, allowing my heart to communicate with my hands. As I touched on above, some things didn’t make the cut because they would have overcrowded the bowl and weighed down the energy. I allowed myself to be selective, rearranging items as needed until I was fully satisfied.
When everything was placed to my liking, I lit the tealight to activate the bowl, and placed it in an area of my home where I can interact with it as much or as little as I like. I’m deeply pleased with the results, and am seeing significant shifts in my perceptions and an uptick in opportunities coming my way.
The tiny dragon guardian may be my favorite part.
Thanks for coming along and sitting for a spell, friends. I hope any bowls you build prosper and flourish with your intention!