The Draught of the Undaunted is a courage potion spell: a moon-brewed draught you steep, bless, and drink so that steadiness travels down into the low, wordless places where fear takes hold. Under such a sky you brew a courage you can swallow. Worked with bitter herbs for the nerve and warming spice for the blood, it turns the full moon’s fearless clarity into something you carry in your own body, cup by cup.
Correspondences for This Spell
- Colour: red, the hue of Mars, blood, and rising nerve.
- Herbs: thyme, ginger, and yarrow, ginger to warm the blood, yarrow to steady the nerve, thyme for old battlefield valour.
- Crystal: carnelian, bloodstone, or red jasper, set beside the bowl to charge the water.
- Day: Tuesday, the day ruled by Mars.
- Planet: Mars, the fire of will and daring.
- Element: Fire, carried here as warming spice.
- Moon: the waxing moon, to strengthen courage as the light grows.
For a fuller table of magical associations, see the correspondences guide.
What You Will Need
- A clean bowl or cup to brew and drink from.
- Fresh water, spring or filtered, to catch the moonlight.
- A bitter nerve herb: yarrow, angelica, or vervain.
- A warming spice: a curl of fresh ginger or a whole clove.
- A single drop of oil, plain olive or a thyme-infused courage oil.
- Optional: a carnelian or bloodstone to rest beside the bowl as it gathers light.
The Best Time to Cast
Brew this draught under the full moon, when the light pours out whole and hides nothing to shrink from. Cast on a Tuesday if you can, the day of Mars, and the planet of courage lends its edge to the working. Between new and full the moon waxes and grows, and a courage worked while the light is still building rises with it, so begin your steeping as the moon nears its fullness and drink at the peak.
The Working
- Under the full moon, set a bowl of clean water where the light falls fully upon it and leave it to gather silver for one hour.
- Warm the moon-water gently and steep in it a bitter herb for the nerve, yarrow or angelica or vervain, until the water darkens.
- Add a thread of warming spice, a clove or a curl of ginger, to carry the working down into the blood.
- Stir in a single drop of oil and speak over the cup the deed you mean to do without flinching.
- Strain the draught clear and hold the cup up to the moon, letting its light rest a moment upon the surface.
- Drink it down in three long swallows without pausing, and feel the warmth spread from throat to belly to fingertip.
- Rinse the cup with the last of the moon-water and pour the rinsings out beneath open sky.
The Incantation
Bitter on the tongue and warm in the blood,
moon in the cup like a silver flood.
Down past the throat where the fear takes hold,
carry me steady, carry me bold.
Three long swallows and nothing spilled;
what the moon poured out, I have drunk my fill.
I go to the deed with an even hand,
undaunted now, and I understand.
Variations & Substitutions
- No fresh ginger? A pinch of dried ginger or a single black peppercorn carries the same Mars-fire warmth into the blood.
- If yarrow is hard to find, steep thyme instead, the old herb of soldiers, for the same steadying of the nerve.
- Cannot wait for the full moon? Brew on a waxing Tuesday and set a lit red candle or a carnelian beside the bowl to stand in for the growing light.
A Word on Intent
An it harm none, do what ye will. This draught is meant to steady you for a deed that is yours to do, a hard conversation, a first step, a stand you have chosen. Courage is not a weapon to press against another or a licence to override anyone’s wishes. Drink it to face what you must face with an even hand, and let the nerve it lends be spent only on what is yours to carry.
Related Courage Spells
Do the deed while the draught is still warm in you. Find more workings like this in the Grimoire, and keep your own notes in your Book of Shadows.