Winter magic is about reinvention. When you cozy up for the dark months, your magic is about cleansing your spirit, settling your relationships, crafting a new happiness.

Snow and ice combine the cleansing, life-giving properties of water with the energy focus of crystals. Their natural transitions through melting and freezing promote other magical transformations.

The way you gather your materials will have an impact on the type of spell you cast: For calming energy, collect snow soon after it stops falling. Avoid packing it tightly. And if you need an awesome super-blast of wintry power, collect during a storm or blizzard. (But be careful—those winds are dangerous!)

* To free yourself of anger, jealousy, or misplaced affection: Activate the crystals in snow by moonlight or sunlight by rubbing them between your hands. Form the snow into a loose ball and whisper the name of the bad feeling (or bad person) you want to be rid of, then bring it inside, set it in a bowl, and watch the negative energy melt away. You can give the spell an extra boost by pouring the water into your favorite potted plant and letting it help a good thing grow.

* To attract the love of someone who is cold to you, harvest the biggest icicle you can find. Add something that belongs to the person, if you have such an item; otherwise write their name down and wind it around the base of the icicle. Take it to bed and hold it in your arms. You’ll melt that cold heart in no time.

* To freeze someone out of your life or just put a relationship on hold for a while: Write the name of the bothersome person on a slip of paper, then pack it into a snowball (as tight as you like!), or freeze it in a bowl of water. You can keep the person on ice by transferring everything to your freezer, but eventually the magic will start to fade, so it might be wise to deal with your emotions sooner than later.

* Any spell for which you need a poppet can be worked with a snow woman or snowman. Snow poppets are especially good for white magic of transformation: Give the figure your own name, for example, and decorate it to represent the qualities you want to develop in yourself—make it stand straight for confidence, give it a smile for happiness, put a coin in its pocket to bring prosperity. As the figure melts, your magic and intentions water the earth, and they will become part of your personal landscape.

* Try this even if you don’t live in a snowy clime: For good luck and prosperity, fluff up your feather pillows and duvet until the down floats like snowflakes. Announce out loud that the white storm is for Frau Holle (or Hulda, Holla, etc.), also known as the Dark Godmother or White Lady. She is a witchy Germanic goddess who spins and weaves, sometimes flies about on a broomstick, and welcomes the spirits of children who have died young. When she makes her bed, the feathers reach the earth as snow; she rewards mortal feather flurries with golden coins.

* For the simplest cleansing of all, write the word for your negative emotion in the snow. As the sun melts the word envy (for example), it lifts the monsters out of your heart.