The Glass That Gives It Back is a healing mirror spell that trades a sickened reflection for a whole one. A mirror by candlelight is a doorway that swings both ways, and under the full moon it hangs widest open, answering back in kind whatever you set before it. In the narrow space between glass and flame lives a shadow that will take an illness gladly, keeping it on its own side of the silver while it hands your wholeness back across. This is an advanced working, cast for restoration and release.
Correspondences for This Spell
- Colours: blue for soothing, gold and yellow for vitality, green for the body
- Herbs: chamomile, rosemary, eucalyptus
- Crystals: amethyst and clear quartz
- Day: Sunday
- Planet: the Sun
- Element: Fire
- Moon: the waxing moon, to restore what was lost
For more on how these align, see the correspondences guide.
What You Will Need
- A mirror large enough to hold your face and gaze, freestanding or propped upright
- A single candle, ideally blue or gold, to float your reflection in its light
- A generous measure of salt, sea or rock, to ring the mirror’s base
- A bowl of clean water to catch and double the flame
- A dark cloth to cover the glass and seal the working when it is done
- Optional: a sprig of rosemary or eucalyptus and a piece of amethyst to steady the intent
The Best Time to Cast
Cast this on the night of the Full Moon, when the mirror-doorway hangs widest and the reflection you draw back is at its brightest and most complete. If you can choose the day, a Sunday lends the Sun’s vitality, its planet of health and returning strength, to the wholeness you call home. And where the moon is concerned, let the light be building rather than waning, for the waxing days toward fullness are the moon’s own season of restoration, so that everything about the night pulls toward gain and repair.
The Working
- Set a mirror upright beneath the full moon and ring its base with an unbroken circle of salt.
- Place a lit candle between yourself and the glass so your reflection floats up in its light.
- Set a bowl of clean water before the mirror to catch and double the flame.
- Look into your own eyes in the glass and name aloud the sickness you would be rid of.
- Breathe the illness toward the mirror and watch the shadow behind your reflection take it in.
- Look again and name yourself well, drawing the whole reflection back into you with one slow inward breath.
- Cover the mirror with a dark cloth to trap what it has kept, and pour the water out upon the salt.
The Incantation
Silver, keep what I release,
shadow, hold the hurt in peace,
give me back the face I knew,
hale and clear and moon-washed new.
What the glass has taken in,
seal behind the salted skin.
Variations & Substitutions
- No standing mirror at hand? A dark bowl of still water or a small handheld glass will hold the same doorway; simply gaze down into it by candlelight instead of ahead.
- Choose your candle by need. Green speaks to the body and its mending, blue to a fevered or restless spirit, gold to sheer returning vitality. Let the colour name the healing you seek.
- Dress the water or the salt with a supportive herb. A little chamomile calms, rosemary clears and strengthens, and eucalyptus opens the breath, especially fitting when the illness sits in the chest.
A Word on Intent
Healing magic is only ever offered, never imposed. Work this for yourself freely, or for another only with their knowing consent, for to send healing to someone who has not asked is to reach across a boundary that is not yours to cross, however kind the impulse. Remember too that this rite supports care, it does not replace it; let it walk beside medicine and rest rather than in their stead. An it harm none, do what ye will, and let the harm-none reach even to the shadow you have asked to hold your illness. Thank it, release the working cleanly, and uncover the glass only after a full night of rain has cleansed it.
Related Healing Spells
Return to the Grimoire for more workings, and keep your own findings in the Book of Shadows.