The culture continues to embrace the occult in ever more creative ways. This popular UK news site is recommending that females can have their “luckiest year ever” by resorting to magic spells, superstitions and rituals.

Appearing in the Femail section of the Daily Mail, author Liz Hoggard takes excerpts from a book entitled, The Magpie And The Wardrobe: A Curiosity Of Folklore, Magic And Spells by Sam McKechnie and Alexandrine Portelli and uses them to give women ideas about how to make their lives more “magical.”

For instance, in January, Hoggard recommends that women try a little “candle magic” to get what they want. This ritual requires the use of a new candle that is lit while concentrating on a wish.

In February, girls can make their dreams come true by using that “magical mineral” known as salt which is used in many magic spells. It is recommended that the salt be used in much the same way as blessed salt is used by sprinkling it on windowsills and thresholds to ward off evil spirits or by putting small bowls of it in the corners of a room to “cleanse and purify it”. (The use of unblessed salt in this way constitutes superstition because instead of relying upon the power of God, it relies upon nothing more than the salt.)

Smudging is recommended for spring cleaning in April and horseshoes placed over a front door in June are supposed to protect a home from back luck. If the shoe is hung with the ends pointing up, it’s said to bring good luck.

The month of August is the time to look to the moon for help by employing a “paper moon spell” on the night of a full moon, the article continues. This ritual consists of writing down all of the negative and unwanted things in life and then burning the paper “in direct and full moonlight.” (If only we could rid of our IRS bills so easily!)

In September, gals should split open an apple and read their fortune in the seeds. “A large, thin seed means the arrival of an important letter, while finding only one seed is a portent of unexpected fortune,” Hoggard writes.

Fortune-telling by gazing into a fire is also recommended for the month of November. Known as “fire-gazing”, it dates back hundreds of years and consists of sitting and staring at the fire in silence for 15 minutes while searching for your fortune in the flickering flames. But be sure to make a cross in the ashes to ward off evil spirits before lighting the fire! (As if God will have anything to do with a magic spell! See Deuteronomy 18:10)

You can make all your wishes come true in December by stringing together a large bunch of bay leaves, then writing your wishes on each one with a needle just before tossing it into your favorite soup or stew.

In other words, if you want a good and healthy life, never mind praying to God and asking for His blessings. Instead, conjure up a bunch of superstitious nonsense, interwoven with a bit of sorcery and a whiff of an old wives tale, and invite all kinds of evil into your life.

The title for this article, “Make a wish for a happy new year: How to make 2016 your luckiest year ever using rituals, spells and folklore” is a misnomer if I ever heard one. As any spiritually savvy person will tell you, this is more like a recipe for disaster than for a happy new year!