Is chocolate a magical substance? According to Lynne Sturtevant in this year's Llewellyn's Magical Almanac, the people of ancient Mexico thought so. They considered chocolate so sacred, so magical, that only the wealthy had regular access to it. But, in modern times, I don't think we have to look so far to determine its' magical qualities. Just ask any woman with PMS (or anyone who lives with her!) In my opinion, if chocolate can combat the "monthy crazies" it is highly magical, indeed.

So how do we access this potent magic? As I sat on my bed this afternoon, consuming Peanut Butter M&M's, I noticed that they come in nearly every color I use in magic (and some I don't.) The next step was easy!

If I'm feeling stressed, the obvious solution is to put three or four (ten, if I'm REALLY stressed!) blue M&M's in my hand, and focus on the "blue" energy they contain. Allow that blueness to calm me. Then (and this is the best part *grinz*) place them in my mouth and consume this highly magical substance.

The technique is the same for any need, choosing the colors according to the correspondences you use. Mine are:

Red: Wanna be in a good mood for that romantic encounter? (Yes, folks, it is the red ones, not the green ones that do that! *grinz*)

Orange: Need some extra energy or creativity? (Chocolate's natural stimulating properties make this doubly effective.)

Yellow: Great to use while studying or learning. Also helps with communication issues.

Green: Feeling a little under the weather? Then green is your color for health. Need some extra money? Green is the ticket for that, too. A word of caution: if you invest too much into the materials for this spell (several bags of M&M's) you may be working against yourself.

Blue: Blue is great for calming and peacefulness. Of course, if you are really stressed, you might want to limit the number of M&M's used in these spells, or the waistband of your pants might become stressed.

Brown: Animal magic (I wonder how many M&M's it will take to make me able to cope with that dog!!!!! Hmm, I better use brown and blue together on that one!) Some traditions use brown for money issues, and since there's more brown M&M's in each bag than any other color, maybe that would work better.

Now, all we need are pink and purple M&M's, and I may never use any other kind of spell again. I think I'm really onto something here. In rituals with my coven, no more "cakes and ale." (We never actually used cakes and ale, anyway.....) Now, it's wine and a bowl of M&M's. Or maybe cocoa and M&M's. Oh, what a magical bunch we will be!