find a simple stone. A black stone is ideal, but any stone will do. Light a candle, and if you want to first perform a ritual for invoking the ancestors, you can do that now. (You may reference the Rite for Honoring Your Ancestors in my book, By Candlelight). Continue with the following invocation:
Oh my Ancestors, and all my friends in spirit,
at this time I ask for your help
in banishing my sorrows.
[Describe the nature of the problem or illness.]
You, who know the powers of the underworld,
please take some portion of my sorrow with you,
down to the powers of Earth, to be transformed to good.
Here, I direct my sorrows into this stone,
which will be buried in the Earth.
Now, hold the stone in your hands, and imagine the negative energies flowing through your body, and out through your hands into the stone. When the stone feels thoroughly warmed, continue:
As this stone is given over to the Earth
and the powers of the Earth,
in the darkness of the Earth
my sorrows shall be transformed.
There, negative energies shall be released
to be metabolized by the Earth,
for the Earth can well absorb them,
and the Earth can well contain them,
and the Earth can well transform them,
as it changes everything
To good and growth.
Now, bury the stone in your backyard or some other outdoor location. Because the ritual states that the bad energies are directed to the chthonic powers for energy conversion, the stone will do no harm to the immediate area where it is buried—it simply returns to being a stone.
