Last week I got a parking ticket in the exact same place where I got a parking ticket last time Mercury was retrograde, but for a different reason. Last time, I fed the wrong meter. This time, I failed to read the street sweeping sign. It's said that Mercury retrograde periods will bring back the same lesson until you've learned from it and received the hidden blessing within. And, as I relaxed in the bathtub yesterday it popped into my mind that it might be very fun to create an amulet to ward off parking tickets and to hang it from my rear view mirror...Could that be the hidden blessing? It's certainly a way of making something magical out of something dreary, so why not?

You may have heard that Mercury goes direct tomorrow. Also, Wednesday is Mercury's day, so this Wednesday would be an excellent time to create this amulet, but really any Wednesday when Mercury is direct will do.

This amulet is made out of a peach pit: an ingredient that has been employed extensively in China for protection from demons. I don't mean to imply that a parking cop is a demon (he or she is just a person with a job!), but rather that a parking ticket is demon-like in the way that it is an unwanted condition that wreaks havoc in some way.

Please note that the amulet will not do all the work of keeping parking tickets away. You must also do your very best to follow the rules.

Ingredients:

A dried peach pit

Golden craft paint

1 foot of jute twine

Take the peach pit outside and hold it in bright sunlight while empowering it with the intention to keep parking tickets away. Bring it back inside and paint it yellow-gold, to align with the planet Mercury and to symbolize retaining wealth. Let dry. Fold the twine in half and place under the peach pit, with the loop behind it (figure 1). Slip the ends through the loop and pull (figure 2). Tighten, and tie a knot close to the pit (figure 3) while thinking "I banish and ward off all parking tickets, now and forever."

Now hold the amulet in both hands as you say:

"Mercury, dear and ancient guide,

Please protect my earthly ride.

May I be safe, retain my cash,

And keep citations off my dash.

Thank you and so mote it be."

Visualize very bright golden yellow light filling and surrounding the amulet. Then tie it around your rear view mirror.

original parking ticket image (without circle and line): Flickr/Alice Keeler