Magical Unicorns
Like many people, I have been fascinated with the legend of the magical unicorn since I was a child. So many people like unicorns and what they represent that fans celebrate National Unicorn Day yearly on April 9th. Unicorns can have a whimsical place in your practice and self-care. I absolutely love them!
History of Unicorns
How did the legend of the unicorn come to be? No one knows for sure, but the story is an ancient one. One-horned, four-footed animals began appearing in Indus Valley carvings beginning around 2000 BC. Ancient Greek writers referred to them in their histories. Even Marco Polo reported sighting unicorns on his travels.
Unicorns have been associated with magical qualities for centuries, including alchemical practices. Legend had it that a unicorn could purify a poisoned water source with its horn. In the Middle Ages in Europe, royal chalices were fashioned from “unicorn horn” (narwhal tusks) to protect the drinker from poison. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that a unicorn could only be tamed by a maiden, as it would gently approach and put its head in her lap. This made it vulnerable to hunters, as depicted The Hunt of the Unicorn, a set of 16th century tapestries now displayed at The Cloisters in New York. The vulnerability and purity of the unicorn became associated with Christian themes: the sacrifice of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
In Celtic culture, unicorns symbolized rarity and innocence, but also strength and power. Medieval Scots adapted the unicorn as its symbol on heralds and coins as it was believed to be the one animal that could defeat a lion (depicted on British heralds). The Royal Arms of King Charles III includes both animals for both countries.
Unicorns in Popular Culture
While people have loved unicorns for centuries, unicorns became a popular theme for children’s toys, parties and apparel with the release of the 1983 Hasbro toy line, “My Little Pony,” and subsequent animated special in 1984. Most recently, unicorns were adopted as a symbol of queer culture, because of their association with magic and uniqueness.
Movies featuring unicorns include Fantasia (1940), The Last Unicorn (1982), Legend (1986), Stardust (2007), My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010) and Unicorn Store (2017).
Ways to Bring Unicorn Energy Into Your Magic and Self Care
Unicorns represent positive qualities, such as purity, innocence, magic, imagination, play, gentle courage, freedom, strength, grace, beauty, rarity, mystery, wonder, and peace.
You can meditate or journal about your favorite aspect and how it aligns with your best self, raises you to your highest spiritual vibration or supports your personal transformation goals. Use a beautiful, multi-colored unicorn stone to ground you during your contemplative time.
Compatible intentions with unicorn energy include healing, self-acceptance, positive personal change, self-care, imagination, creativity, intuition, dream magic and manifesting.
Unicorns have been perceived as both gentle and powerful. For this reason, some associate unicorns with good luck or protection. I keep a toy unicorn figure (Walgreens) as a protective charm in my car for this reason.
Use a unicorn oracle deck to discover inspiring messages. The one I use and love is Oracle of the Unicorns by Cordelia Francesca Brabba. I have had good results with my readings.
Add unicorn figurines or images, crystals, candles, flowers and apples to your sacred space to access positive unicorn “energy.”
Thinking about unicorns can be a form of self-care because reflecting on the positive attributes associated with unicorns can be relaxing and fun. Using the imagination opens our minds to creative and different ways of thinking, which can help with everyday problem-solving.
Thinking about magical creatures, like unicorns, can be a healthy way to get in touch with your inner child and inspire your creativity. You can craft, paint, or color unicorn pictures, for example.
Some Suggested Crystals to Support Your Intentions
- Unicorn stone composed of lepidolite (calming), pink tourmaline (emotional healing) and smoky quartz (grounding). These can be hard to find, but I found an Etsy seller who sold me the rough (untumbled) crystals. I also have a smooth-polished, small tower, but I noticed that, to me, the colors and sparkles appear more noticeable in the rough crystals, if you are shopping and trying to decide between tumbled or rough.
- Amethyst: calming, intuition, spiritual connection
- Lepidolite: calming, self-love and acceptance
- Fluorite: positivity, helps with focus
- Rainbow moonstone: healing, harmony, spiritual protection
Unicorn Colors & Candle Colors
- White - clarity, healing, intuition, lunar energy, purity.
- Silver - intuition, divination, dream magic, lunar energy.
- Gold - power, happiness, prosperity, strength, solar energy.
- Purple - psychic power, spiritual connection or healing, royalty.
- Pink - balance, friendship, self-love, forgiveness, soothing,
- Light blue - peace, patience, sincerity, inspiration, calming,
Unicorn Spell Jar
Prepare a clean jar with smoke from sandalwood incense. Add rose petals, lavender and/or lemon balm for calming and healing. Or add mugwort or elecampane to develop your powers of intuition. Add a unicorn image, crystal and your written intention. Say, “Spirit of the Unicorn, I invoke your power to help me achieve (intention) and my highest good, with gratitude.” Seal with candle wax.
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And the color correspondences, crystals, ways to channel unicorn energy, history, folklore, tips, and more - goodness, this is an awesome and very helpful collection of uniorn wisdom, Mary! 
