It’s a day that comes around once every four years so of course there is going to be some boosted magical energy for us to harness for ourselves and our lives. Leap Year is a rare moment to step out of the ordinary flow of time. It’s an opportunity to recalibrate, reflect, and realign with the Earth’s natural cycles.
Leap Year is a potent day for deep magic and transformation since it’s a day out of time, offering a powerful energy boost for spells and rituals. If you want a change in your life this year, then there’s no better time for doing spell work than on February 29th.
So, let’s leap into the rest of 2024 with magic, motivation, and confidence together in this blogpost.
What Leap Year Means
With its extra day, Leap Year is a way of syncing our calendar with Earth’s orbit around the sun. It’s like the universe’s version of a time-out, giving us a moment to align more closely with celestial rhythms. Leap Year happens because our calendar year (365 days) is shorter than a solar year (about 365.24 days). Julius Caesar, back in 46 BCE, introduced the leap year as part of the new Julian calendar.
Traditions and Superstitions
Leap Day is associated with various customs, traditions, and superstitions that have evolved over time. One of the most well-known traditions is that women can propose to men on Leap Day—a practice believed to have originated in Ireland during the 5th century. According to legend, St. Bridget struck a deal with St. Patrick to allow women to propose on Leap Day, leading to the tradition of “Bachelor’s Day” or “Leap Year Proposals.”
Superstitions surrounding Leap Day include the belief that it is an unlucky day for weddings like in Greece. In some cultures, Leap Day is also associated with unusual weather patterns, strange phenomena, or mystical occurrences.
February 29th is a liminal day
Occurring as it does once every four years, February 29th is a rare day. It exists, that much is true, but the fact that it does so on such an infrequent basis makes a highly charged, unique and powerful day that exists both in and betwixt the realms.
It is a liminal time, not completely unlike periods such as those surrounding Samhain and Beltane, respectively, when the veil is especially thin.
February 29th is a day and time on the edges and periphery. A brief period of once-ever-four-years time that quickly transforms into the more commonplace occurrence of March 1st.
The Numerology of Leap Day 2024
Numerology is a practice that believes every number has a special spiritual meaning and significance. Like observing the planets in astrology, we can track the patterns in numbers to find clarity and enrich our everyday lives. Every number, including dates on the calendar, carries a unique blend of energy that can be used to align our lives with the cosmos.
This year’s leap day has a numerological meaning of 3. Here’s how the numbers break down: 2/29/2024 = 2 + 2 + 9 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 21, which turns into 2 + 1 = 3. The number 3 in numerology is significant in influencing communication, curiosity, and creativity. Today is the perfect opportunity to focus on a project close to your heart and watch it flourish.
Leap days are also special in numerology because they hold the power of Master Number 11 within them. Because leap day always falls on February 29 (2 + 9 = 11), you can also expect a deeper connection with your intuition and spirit guides.
In numerology, Master Number 11 is intuition, connection, sensitivity, and oneness. It’s considered one of the most powerful numbers in numerology, designed to clear and align. Master Number 11 invites us to be at one with the universe. Take advantage of this moment to indulge in new ways of seeing and appreciating the world.
Realignment Spells
Leap Years are necessary to synchronize our modern-day calendar with the Earth’s movement around the Sun. You should perform realignment spells if you need to adjust something in your career, your family, marriage, or yourself. The key is to take a little step back and see what needs to be tweaked a little from all aspects of your life. If you’ve already identified this, then get set for February 29th for a very strong realignment spell. Realignment essentially means saying goodbye to the old ways and to make way for the new.
One form of a realignment spell is using banishing magic. Leap days come and then they vanish just as quickly. A banishing spell cast on this day will be extra potent, as it will carry the transience of the day in its very essence. I am especially fond of doing banishing work involving written messages or intentions and burying them outdoors at either 4 am or 4 pm on February 29th (the hour of four-o-clock corresponding to the fact that leap years generally transpire once every four years).
Spirit work
Leap days heighten psychic abilities and break down barriers. This makes leap days perfect for divination, scrying, and spells that connect to the spirit world. Follow your intuition and listen to whatever method is calling to you and be open to any messages you may receive. But, don’t forget to protect yourself with your basics as well.
Fae work
Leap Day is the other day of this year where you can easily access the world of faeries, sprites, elves, and other spirits of the woods. Like the spirit world, the realm of fairies is easier to access on days when the veil between worlds thins. Use leap day magic to contact the fairy realm. If you want to ask something to those belonging to this realm, opening channels of communication on February 29th is ideal.
Long Term goals and Intentions spells
Since leap days only happen every four years, they are wonderful for spells that take longer to come to fruition and spells that you need to unfold over time. Use leap day magic to solidify long-term goals and set lasting intentions. This spell is part of laying the groundwork for your future undertakings. Just like building your network or ensuring sustainability for your business, doing a long-term spell on Leap Day will ensure that whatever plan you carry out is insured with prosperity and good fortune.
Spells for Courage, bravery, and Self Confidence
Leap days are traditionally days where the mundane is replaced by the unexpected. This is a great day to be bold and try something new. Cast a spell of courage, daring, or passion. Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Love Magic
Love magic to help you find, if desired, a long-term partner (you can also perform friendship magic to help bring new long-term friends into your life as well – keep in mind that love magic does not have to strictly be romantic by any means; plutonic love is highly important in most peoples’ lives as well).
Other long term spells and rituals to do
-Banishing work.
-Beginning a new journal, Book of Shadows, Grimoire or other personally meaningful spiritual or magickal related record.
-Breaking bad/negative/unwanted habits.
-Bringing your deepest, most poignant dreams into reality.
-Burry, in either a more literal or a figurative or representative way, aspects of your life, magick practice, and spiritual journey that no longer serve you well or which are holding you back from blossoming in the ways that you need and want.
-Committing yourself to thoroughly learning a subject, art, technique, etc that pertains to your magickal practice.
-Engaging in long-term shadow work.
-Fertility magick.
-Health, wellness, and fitness-related workings and goals.
-Launching new projects, such as a business, blog or website, volunteer endeavor, or doing home renovations.
-Planting/starting a new garden or a brand new section of an existing garden.
Shorter-term magic for the leap year
If you’re feeling drawn towards shorter-term magic and spiritual undertakings, here are some useful suggestions that you may wish to put into practice specifically on the last day of this February.
-Astral projection and lucid dreaming.
-Courage magick to help you do something that you’ve been struggling to muster the gumption needed to undertake.
-Curse and hex breaking (or placing, if that’s up your alley).
-Doing twelve-month tarot and oracle card spreads to help provide you with a clearer picture of your life over between now and next February.
-Finding lost objects. February 29th is “hidden” for a few years at a time, when it reappears, jump at the chance to use its powerfully unique energy to aid you in locating missing or lost items.
Leap Year Correspondences
-Trees: Cedar, pine, rowan, cypress, and laurel.
-Herbs, spices, and flowers: Hyssop, bay leaves, anise, myrrh, sandalwood, frankincense, pine needles and pine resin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ylang-ylang, mint, rosemary, balm of Gilead, sage, thyme, basil, tansy, wisteria, jasmine, heliotrope, palmarosa, lemon balm, primrose, heather, snowdrops, and patchouli.
-Colours: White, blue, violet, purple, grey, light yellow, pale green, pink, red, brown, silver and gold.
-Crystals and stones: Clear quartz, diamonds, rose quartz, citrine, amethyst, fluorite, silver, pyrite, angelite, aquamarine, ruby, garnet, jasper (including dalmatian jasper), ammolite, bloodstone, turquoise, black tourmaline, onyx, and selenite.
-Animals: Sheep, cows, foxes, rabbits, hares, bears, deer, otters, groundhogs, prairie dogs, eagles, robins, owls, chickadees, blue jays, and unicorns.
-Gods and Goddesses: Brigit, Kuan Yin, Diana, Eros, Persephone, Aphrodite, Demeter, Venus, Selene, The Muses, Mars, Pan, Boann, Shakti, Branwen, Parvati, and Bast.
Nature spirits: The fae, including faeries who are connected to the home, one’s property and garden.
-Foods: Those associated with Imbolc and the end of the winter, with an emphasis on warm spices, fresh citrus fruits, grains, seeds, breads, potatoes, and most types of fresh and dried green herbs.
-Magickal supplies: Candles, salt, dried herbs (including those listed above), tools made out of silver and silver-tone metals, altar tiles, crystal wands, and ogham runes.
-Elements: Air and water, though fire is an important element for February as well, particularly as it relates to Imbolc.
-Astrological sign: February 29th falls during the time of Pisces, whose ruling element is water. Pisces is ruled by Neptune and is represented by a fish.
Spell to Manifest on Leap year
What you will need; some bay leaves, pen, and a candle.
With your bay leaf, pen, and candle ready.
Make sure to do this ritual either at 4am or 4pm on February 29th.
Get into sacred space.
Take several deep, soothing breaths in and out, and focus on your surroundings. As you do so, think about an area in your life that you’ve been struggling to overcome or more past.
This could be just about anything. From ditching an unwanted habit to working up the courage to ask for a raise at work to finally standing up for yourself with your family.
Light your candle and visualize what or who it is you want to release. How does it feel to completely release the thing, event, or person?
Once you feel that vision is grounded in your mind’s eye take your pen and write 1 word or a sentence of what you want to release
Once written focus your energy on the leaves and envision the strength that you need to overcome this issue in your life entering your body. Scrunch up the leaf/leaves and throw them away from you. While visualizing the energy completely releasing to the universe and the energetic chord dissipating
AMEN. AHO. SO MOTE IT IS!
Leap with Confidence
However you chose to connect to it this year do so with intention and confidence to carry with you the through the rest of 2024! Leap Year is a rare moment to step out of the ordinary flow of time. It’s an opportunity to recalibrate, reflect, and realign with the Earth’s natural cycles. The first two months for me this year were more challenging than I was prepared for so, I plan to harness the magic and energy of this day as much as can and I hope you do too!