Saint John's Eve Kit.

Dried bay leaves, my child — the old practice is this: you write what you're *building* on the leaf, not what you're losing. The burning is a declaration, not a release. The solstice is peak power. Saint John's Eve is the old bonfire night. Write the word. Hold the leaf in the candle flame over the abalone shell. *Madonn'.* Simple. Saint Joseph for the thing you're building in it.

Yellow is the sun's color, sinner — the color of the thought you haven't said yet, the list you're going to write at the new moon, the flame you light at noon on the longest day of the year. I keep a box of yellow tapers in the kitchen drawer. Unscented. Plain. Beeswax if you can get them. Light one every time you need to think through something important. They know what they're for.

Two brass taper holders, my child — the kind every Sicilian dining room kept on the sideboard. Patina'd, slightly tarnished, beautifully heavy. Buy them in pairs (always pairs — folk Catholic). Set them on the dresser corner that's quietly becoming an altar. Light one for what you're carrying, one for what you've put down.

ALTAR

Abalone Shell (Large, Natural…

Various · ~$15

The abalone shell is the universal altar bowl, sweet thing — catches ash, holds water, cradles salt, props up a candle, takes incense. Iridescent inside, oceanic outside. Sinderella has one on the folding table and another by the front door of the back room. They cost about fifteen dollars on Amazon. They feel ancient.

INCENSE

Rosemary Smudge Bundle (Itali…

Various · ~$12

Rosemary is the Italian Catholic answer to white sage, my child — same cleansing, same smoke, but it's *yours* if you're Italian-American. Sicilian women have been hanging rosemary on the door and burning it in the fireplace for centuries. Smells like the Sunday gravy your grandmother made. Doesn't borrow from anybody else's tradition. Use this one.

ALTAR

Murray & Lanman Florida Water…

Murray & Lanman · ~$8

Florida Water is the yellow citrus cologne every Latin American and Caribbean botanica sells, my child — Murray & Lanman, in print since 1808. Folk Catholic, Hoodoo, Espiritismo, Santería all use it. Splash it on the back of your neck after a hard reading. Wipe down a doorway. Add it to a mop bucket on a Saturday. *Madonn',* it works.