The Draught of the Long Descent is a dreams potion spell, brewed to carry a sleeper past the shallows of ordinary rest and down into the deep, true-dreaming country where memory and vision surface of their own accord. The waning moon draws all things downward, and sleep is only the first of many depths; below it lies water that remembers. This potion loosens you from the surface so that what waits in the dark can be met, remembered, and carried whole into morning.
Correspondences for This Spell
- Colours: silver and indigo blue
- Herbs: lavender for rest, mugwort for prophetic dreaming, and jasmine for pleasant dreams
- Crystals: amethyst and moonstone
- Day: Monday
- Planet: the Moon
- Element: Water
- Moon phase: the full moon for vivid dreaming — though this descent is timed to the waning moon (see below)
For more on aligning your craft with these energies, see the correspondences guide.
What You Will Need
- A small hand bell with a clear, sustaining tone
- A wide bowl of glass, silver, or dark stoneware
- Cold, still water — spring water, or tap water left to stand until it forgets the tap and grows as quiet as a well
- Valerian root, for its heavy, sinking pull toward the deep
- A single star of anise
- One slow thread of honey
- Optional dream herbs from the list above — lavender, mugwort, or jasmine — to colour the dreaming
The Best Time to Cast
Brew this draught on the waning moon, when the tide of the month is already pulling inward and downward — the very motion the spell asks of the dreamer. A Monday night is best of all, the day of the Moon that governs sleep, water, and the deep tides of the unconscious. Cast when the house has gone entirely still, in the last waking hour before bed. A bright full moon lends vivid recall, but the long descent belongs by nature to the waning dark, when things sink easily of their own weight.
The Working
- When the house has gone entirely still, draw water cold and let it stand in a bowl until it forgets the tap and grows as quiet as a well.
- Warm it barely, and steep within it valerian root, a single star of anise, and one slow thread of honey, stirring only widdershins.
- Hold the bell above the steam and ring it once for each fathom you mean to sink — three for remembering, seven for the far country — letting each note fade wholly before the next.
- Bend close and speak the incantation into the rising warmth, so that your breath and the steam go up together.
- Drink half the draught down; pour the other half back into the bowl and set it at the bedside as a tithe left open to the dark.
- Lie back, name nothing, want nothing, and let the descent have you.
- On waking, before you speak a single word, ring the bell once more to moor the dream in memory, then tell it over to yourself in full.
The Incantation
Down past the shallow and the shore,
down where the drowsy waters pour,
carry me, current, fathom-deep,
into the country under sleep.
Let me be given, let me be shown,
let me climb back with it my own.
Variations & Substitutions
- No valerian on hand? Steep mugwort instead for a more prophetic, image-rich descent, or lavender for a gentler rest without the same depth of pull.
- If you avoid honey, a thread of vegetable glycerine or a pinch of dried jasmine will sweeten the draught and lean it toward pleasant dreams.
- No bell? A struck singing bowl, or a wine glass rung with a wet finger, will serve just as well to mark the descent and moor the dream on waking.
A Word on Intent
The Wiccan Rede reminds us: “an it harm none, do what ye will.” This is a working of your own sleeping mind, and it should be cast only upon yourself and only with a willing heart — never brewed for another without their knowing, and never to force dreams upon someone who has not asked for them. Drink no herb your body cannot safely take: valerian and anise are gentle for most, but check for allergies and interactions, and set the draught aside if you are pregnant, nursing, or must drive before morning.
Related Dreams Spells
Record your descent and whatever the dark returns to you in your Book of Shadows, and explore more spells and lore in the Grimoire.